If here, the Ford is a big deal... Not yet, the Ford is a big deal. Oh guys, just wait. The Ford is a big deal event is on.
Really? Now! Hurry and release the 2026 Maverick XLT Hybrid All-Wheel Drive for $197 bi-weekly at 5.29% APR for 60 months with $2,995 down. That's like $99 a week.
The Ford is a big deal event. Visit your Ontario Ford store or ford.ca. [Music] If it's Wednesday, test it on the world stage. President Biden pushes to expand NATO as Vladimir Putin seeks deeper ties with China.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen heads to Beijing. And U.S. forces intervene as Iran tries to seize a pair of oil tankers. Plus, cocaine mystery at the White House.
A lab test confirms that the substance discovered inside the West Wing Sunday night was in fact cocaine. As questions swirl over who it belonged to and how it got there. And violence and grief grip the Middle East as the deadly conflict between Israelis and Palestinians raises new alarms about the potential for spiraling violence in the region. [Music] Welcome to Meet the Press Now.
I'm Peter Alexander. And today for Chuck Todd as the White House and President Biden find themselves facing a series of new clashes and confrontations with the U.S.'s most significant foreign adversaries. Russia, China, Iran. As the war in Ukraine rages on this afternoon, the president renewed his effort to expand NATO's power, welcoming Sweden's prime minister to the White House and pushing for the Nordic country to be added to the NATO alliance.
I want to reiterate, the United States fully, fully, fully supports Sweden's membership in NATO. And the bottom line is simple. Sweden is going to make our alliance stronger and has the same value set that we have in NATO. And we're really looking and actively looking forward to your membership.
The move comes amid new calls from foreign policy experts, even some NATO member states, for the White House to help pave a path for Ukraine to join the NATO alliance as well. But Putin says would be a red line for Russia. Meanwhile, the Russian president in the aftermath of last month's armed rebellion is looking to deepen his ties to U.S. rival China, appearing virtually alongside Chinese President Xi and a number of leaders from Central Asian nations.
That summit comes as the Financial Times is reporting that Xi personally warned Putin against using a nuclear weapon in Ukraine, a report we should note that the Kremlin denies. With the Russian-Chinese alliance in the spotlight, U.S. Secretary Janet Yellen is now in route to Beijing as the administration tries to stabilize relations with China despite months now of escalating military, economic and diplomatic tensions. And amid all of that, U.S.
officials are also facing new reports of Iranian aggression. Today, the U.S. Navy says it intervened in the Strait of Hormuz after Iran tried to seize a pair of oil tankers. The military releasing video images of the confrontation, which it says Iran opened fire on one of the vessels.
Iran has denied claims they tried to seize those ships. To get us started, this very busy day for the White House on the world stage. We're joined now by Mike Memoli. He's outside the White House.
Kelly Cobiella is in Ukraine for us. And Courtney Kuby is at the Pentagon today. Men, let me start with you on the North Lawn, if I can. We know the Swedish prime minister on the guest list there meeting with President Biden today.
Talk about the significance of their potentially joining NATO here. And how confident the administration is that they can get Turkey and Hungary to back down. The desire was to get this all signed and sealed before the president heads to NATO next week. Yeah, that's right, Peter.
The president was very happy to welcome Sweden's prime minister to Washington, to the White House, today. But he would much prefer to be meeting with him as a NATO member in Vilnius next week at that NATO summit. There had been a strong expectation just a month ago, in fact, President Biden saying during that Air Force Academy commencement, we all remember for that stand back incident, that it will happen soon, I promise you, as it relates to Sweden membership. But the nature of NATO membership is every single one of the NATO allies need to agree on any new partner.
And at this point, Hungary, as well as Turkey, continues to have reservations about it. Why would it be significant? Of course, well, President Biden considers one of his biggest accomplishments in office so far the fact that he's not only kept the Western alliance together in the face of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but he's actually strengthened it by adding Finland already to NATO and Sweden, which would be a very capable military partner to that alliance. And so there is continued outreach to Turkey and to Hungary to try to move this forward.
Turkey's objections have to do with the fact that they're concerned about anti-Muslim protests that we've seen recently in Stockholm specifically. And so there's likely all likelihood not going to be resolving this in the week, but certainly the president believes, Silk, and has confidence, we're told, that ultimately they will join that alliance. Mike, let me ask you about the White House and what you're hearing there about this meeting with Modi, the Indian president meeting with Vladimir Putin and Xi after Biden rolled out, President Biden rolled out the red carpet for him, for Modi here, that state visit only a couple of weeks ago. Yeah, one of the reasons you did see that quite warm welcome, despite some of the Democratic objections, concerns that were raised, Democratic with a small d, about India's human rights record, for instance, was because the White House sees India very much as in play here at a time of great competition between autocracies and democracies.
You've seen the president embracing India as a member of a quad, an alliance primarily about sort of countering Chinese efforts to expand their influence. But even more so, the fact that the White House had concerns about India's reliance on Russia for military hardware. That's why some of the announcements were so significant from the perspective of White House officials that were made as part of that state visit. One, opening up port access to India, to American naval vessels for repairs and the like.
But secondly, also that announcement of potentially providing the software, the power, the ability to construct engines for their own military aircraft in India to bring them closer to them as well. So they understand, they see that India has continued to have these relationships with Moscow in particular at a problematic time. But that's why the full court press continues on the part of the White House to keep Modi close to them as well. Of course, Presidents Putin and Xi, I should say, Prime Minister Modi, he just said that we get all right for the sake of this conversation.
Kelly, on the ground in Ukraine, I want to ask you about the circumstances there. We've seen these traded accusations between Ukraine and Russia about the situation around that Zaporizhia nuclear plant right now. What is the latest, especially as it relates to the new threat that we're learning about there? Yeah, so Ukraine has been sounding the alarm on this, Peter, for some time now.
But that has really been ratcheted up over the past 24 hours or so. We've been hearing from several top level government officials warning that Russia was planning some sort of an attack at the plant. President Zelensky even weighing in last night, putting out a tweet accusing the Russians who have controlled that plant, occupied it since March of last year, of planting some sort of explosive on two of the power units. Now, not necessarily to create some sort of nuclear meltdown, but really more of a an incident to blame Ukraine for acting recklessly during the war and firing some sort of explosives toward the plant.
It got to the point, Peter, last night where people were checking their newsfeeds almost through the night, worried that they were gonna have some sort of alert to evacuate the area. That's how anxious people were here. Obviously, nothing happened, but Zelensky and others have been jumping up and down trying to get the world's attention on this for some time now, for a number of days, if not weeks. The Russians have denied that they've planted anything.
The IAEA, the nuclear watchdog for the United Nations, said that they were at that plant a couple of weeks ago, didn't see any evidence of any kind of sabotage. They've now requested access once again, just to be sure that there's nothing going on there, Peter. If I can, Kelly, I wanna also ask you about Vladimir Putin making his first appearance since that Wagner rebellion, said that things inside Russia are effectively going well. What do we know about his status, the circumstances there?
It was sort of a notable scene to see him and Xi and Modi side-by-side-side virtually today in the wake of that potential, that attempted mutiny that appeared last, just a couple weeks ago. Yeah, and it seems that there's a concerted effort on the part of the Kremlin to put him front and center now, since that attempted rebellion. We've seen him several times now, and we've seen him in some situations where we're not used to seeing him, and with some expressions, frankly, that we're not used to seeing. In that virtual summit, the message there was very much that he is still in control.
He said that Russia is more unified than ever, trying to project the idea that Russia is solid and stable and that he is in control. And also a message of defiance to Western leaders, saying that they would continue to oppose Western sanctions, that Russia was still growing, despite what he called external sanctions, provocations and pressure. But then, in addition to that, Peter, we also saw this very interesting, as you mentioned, that was the Prime Minister Modi and President Xi of China both watching in. And in addition to that, just a few hours later, we saw President Putin in his Kremlin office with a little girl smiling will argue against it to Yellen, who is seen as more sympathetic on the issue.
She's widely quoted in state media for saying decoupling, what Chinese believe is the same as de-risking, would be disastrous. Expectations are low for a significant change in the relationship. Indications are that the Chinese are not willing to address Washington's concerns about their policies. On Monday, China announced curbs on exports of two metals used in electric cars and microchips from August 1st, which could present problems for American industry.
It is exactly the kind of step encouraging Washington to restrict its economic ties to Beijing. And on Tuesday, President Xi Jinping attended a virtual conference, which included Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi. Deepening relations with some of America's adversaries. Peter?
All right, Eunice Yoon, appreciate that reporting. There and coming up right here, we are digging deeper into the consequences of the deteriorating relationship between the U.S. and China. A Republican member of the House Select Committee on China will join us next.
Plus, confirmation of cocaine in the West Wing. The latest developments on the Secret Service investigation into how it got there and who it belongs to. Some new information we're hearing now from the White House on this. You're watching Meet the Press Now.
We have disagreements. My hope in traveling to China is to reestablish contact. They're a new group of leaders. We need to get to know one another and we need to discuss our disagreements with one another so that we don't have misunderstandings, don't misunderstand one another's intentions.
Welcome back. That was, of course, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen speaking to MSNBC recently about her trip to China. As we mentioned, Yellen's visit comes after President Xi met with the leaders of Russia and India as Beijing tries to expand its global influence amid growing tensions with the West. Joining us now is the South Dakota Republican Congressman Dusty Johnson.
He is a member of the House Select Committee on strategic competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party. Congressman Johnson, I appreciate your being here. I hope you had a good fourth. I want to get right down to the business of, well, what we're witnessing happening overseas right now.
The Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, you've heard her downplay recently the expectations for this visit. But what does success in your eyes look like in the near term in the U.S.'s dealings with China? Well, I would say first off, when Secretary Yellen is in China, I certainly hope her tone is one of firmness rather than flirtation. We do want to make sure that we're talking to China.
That communication is critically important. But we, I think at different times in this relationship, particularly with the Biden administration, have looked almost supplicant as though we're trying to make sure that China likes us. This is a relationship that we've got to rebalance. We have got to make sure that this relationship serves American interests rather than just Chinese interests.
And as far as what does success look like in this relationship long term, we have got to see some behavior change with the Chinese Communist Party. We cannot let them continue to undermine the basic American and world values of liberty, prosperity and freedom. And Congressman, for clarity, the president has been anything but flirtatious with President Xi recently behind closed doors in the last several weeks. President Biden called President Xi Jinping a dictator.
Do you agree with that? Well, I thought that I give the president some kudos for that statement. I think that was maybe on an unintentional bit of truth telling from him. There was some walking back from the administration because he said publicly and stood by it.
That's right. Well, and frankly, let's be honest, Xi Jinping is a dictator. It's not the kind of thing you normally say in sweet diplomatic talk. But I give the president kudos for coming right out and saying it.
All right, fine. Let me ask you about this visit. It comes, of course, at a time when President Xi is meeting with Russia's Vladimir Putin, India's Prime Minister Modi there as well meeting virtually. How concerned are you about China's dealings with these two countries at this time?
I wouldn't overstate the importance of this summit. It's been going on for 20 years. I think it is noteworthy that India, the host, decided to have this be a virtual summit. Modi, I was part of the escort team for the prime minister when he was in D.C.
a couple of weeks ago, did have an opportunity to briefly talk with him. And while he was in Washington, he talked a lot about the importance of democratic values. I don't think he liked the look of having Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin strutting around his country. So the move to virtual summit was good news.
So President Xi reportedly warned Putin against using nuclear weapons in Ukraine. That's one of the new headlines first came from the FT. Is that an encouraging sign or is it something that you're skeptical about? I do want to see even more from the Chinese Communist Party.
They could help make sure that this Ukrainian Russian conflict moves in the right direction. There is all kinds of evidence that they have been providing a nonlethal, nonweapon aid to Russia, but aid nonetheless. I like the fact that they're warning against nuclear arms or nuclear action, but I'd like to see them go even further. Let me ask you about that region for a minute.
Some striking new polling from NBC shows that a majority of Republican primary voters right now say they would be less likely to vote for a candidate who supports funding Ukraine's war effort. You clearly have backed additional funding for Ukraine. What is your reaction to that number? What is the consequence if the majority of Republicans, the majority of members of your party, get their way on that issue?
This is not a binary issue where it's either, yes, no more money or no, never get any more money. Most primary voters I talk to, and frankly, most members of Congress, they'd want to make sure that whatever we do in the future, it doesn't look like a blank check. We do need some accountability. It has been a lot of money.
We do want to make sure that the Ukrainian government is making good use of those dollars. And most primary voters I talk to are a lot more interested in providing a lethal aid, making sure that the Ukrainian soldiers have the ammunition they need to hold the line. They're more comfortable with that than checks for, you know, 10 or 20 or $30 billion. Yeah, I was going to say, that's not what our poll shows, though, obviously.
That's not what a lot of Republicans lawmakers, frankly, have said publicly as well on this issue, right? I mean, what is the consequence, do you think, if that were to happen, if the funding were to stop? What's the risk if these voters, at least according to this polling, by a wide margin, got their way? Well, ask stupid questions, you're going to get stupid answers.
This is not a binary issue where it's yes or no. I think most Americans who follow this at all have a nuanced view of this. They know that Putin is the bad guy. They know that the Ukrainians need to have the primary responsibility for defending their country.
But to some degree, they know that freedom-loving countries like America and in Europe have a role to play. I think the American voter has a lot more nuance than maybe the question would let on. Let me ask you about President Biden. He's meeting with the Swedish Prime Minister today as Sweden is angling to get, you know, to get into NATO right now.
Why doesn't the administration deserve credit for how it's fortified and even expanded NATO to this point? I don't know that I'm denying them any credit. I do think we want to take a long view. The leading Republican voice, Donald Trump, is, I guess.
So I just say that as you may not be, but many Republicans have been denying the president for credit, I think, for his handling of this circumstance. Would you think that's unfair? Let's be frank and earnest. There is so little confidence among, you know, among Republican members of Congress for the competence of the Biden administration.
I just don't think they're inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt. And I think particularly — You do? Oh, there are times when I think the Biden administration does good things, of course. I mean, isn't NATO, do we agree that NATO is stronger?
I'm going to be in Vilnius with the president next week. NATO is going to be stronger than it's been in certainly in the last, I think, several years, perhaps in the last decade plus. There's a new name that's joined at Finland. The president will be there as well.
And Sweden may join it soon. I wouldn't want to give Joe Biden too much credit for that. I think Vladimir Putin deserves the lion's share of the credit for the sense of unity that the NATO countries have. When you're talking about, you know, new entrants, though, you immediately get to Ukraine.
And I do think there are some very prominent voices that want to make sure that anything we do with regard to NATO expansion is going to make the world safer as opposed to less safe. Let me ask you a little bit about politics and I can't before we go. Your state's two senators, both have publicly backed Tim Scott for president. Who are you leaning toward?
Anybody that you will not back in this race? I don't really do endorsements. I've grown more and more irritated by them. I just don't know that any South Dakota primary voter is going to vote a particular way because Dusty Johnson tells them so.
So I'm not planning to endorse anybody. Tim Scott would be a great president of the United States. I would be ecstatic if he was elected. But that doesn't mean I'm going to endorse him or anybody else.
All right. Well, we appreciate your humility on that answer. Congressman Dusty Johnson. Nice to see you as always.
targets on the street to be able to counter that, but it's almost impossible to do. And this is just one example of a series of court decisions lately, some coming from the Supreme Court, we should note right now, obviously. Does this one sort of add to that culture war? Is this something that's going to sort of fortify the culture war argument a lot of Republicans are making right now, John, on the campaign trail?
I don't think so. I think something very specific is going on here. Facebook and Twitter two social media companies that matter here are private companies. They're private Twitter is privately held, obviously by Elon Musk, and they're private companies and they can do with misinformation and how they think it is important to moderate content.
That is their business. It is a very open question whether the government of the United States under governed under the first amendment of the constitution, which says Congress shall make no law abridging freedom of the press. What possible role the government of the United States should be playing in fingering, targeting or guiding private businesses that deal with content and telling them what is and what is not battered with content. This is a very slippery slope.
That's why the judge said that there was something Orwellian about it. And I think a lot of the coverage of this assumes that there is something righteous about going after misinformation. Governments aren't supposed to go after misinformation. That's what your thoughts on that.
I don't disagree with you, but I want to focus on that Orwellian point because I think what we do see just as average American is that when misinformation spreads quickly, we get things like January 6th. And so the question is, how do you push back on that? How do you fight that? And that's sort of that area that we haven't figured out yet because there are people out there who are clearly ready to do harm in various ways.
How do we get these companies to be able to stop that by, by limiting the kind of information that they put out and the speed with which it spreads. And then all of this, obviously against the campaign backdrop here, right? So as we look ahead to 2024, President Biden facing some challenges domestically, foreign challenges, as well as he prepares to travel overseas. I'll be with him next week right now.
We haven't really heard from President Biden publicly in some of these key moments right now. We did hear from the former White House advisor, David Axelrod, who told the Wall Street Journal, this quote was writing having the discretion to know when to speak and when not to speak is a good presidential ability. It's not necessarily a good campaign strategy. There is also a need to tell the story, Basil, about where the country is going.
What do you make about this unique challenge the White House faces right now? Because President Biden, obviously the challenge is to sort of break through in these moments. He enjoys looking presidential when the former president might be facing indictments. But even on key issues like the proposed, the apparent mutiny we were witnessing in Russia, we heard almost nothing from President Biden.
It is it is a challenge. It's interesting because years ago we were concerned about how much he does say because he has this ability to to gap quite frequently right now. It's almost too controlled. And that's concerning, not just because of what you mentioned in terms of Russia, for example.
But how much is he able to do and say based on all these issues that are going to be able to motivate voters? That is the Supreme Court is deciding on, you know, if he doesn't speak on it enough, if he's not engaged enough, the danger is that he is not going to gin up the base in the ways in which it can to get out those supporters. Even among his base, we saw that African-American voters didn't come out in the numbers we expected in 2022. That cannot happen again in 2024 for the president.
Is it enough for the president, for the White House, for Democrats to just let Americans watch what the Republicans may be arguing over and some of the views that the White House deems are more extreme? Is that enough to do it or do you have to hit them over the head and make it clear where your positions differ? Well, it's like a prevent defense, right? What they're afraid of is Biden tripping over himself, not only gaffing, but seeming old, seeming out of touch, seeming as though there is some issue involving his mental acuity.
And therefore they seem to have decided the caution is better than daring. And I think that prevent defense is generally a bad idea in football. And I think it's a pretty bad idea in politics, particularly when you have a hyper aggressive guy in Trump. And the simple fact of the matter is that the polling is not showing that this is working for Biden.
His approval numbers are down. He and Trump are basically tied in national polls. He cannot imagine he cannot. They can't really believe that they have 16 months from now in which they can say as little as possible and sort of play the pandemic game of being in the basement and coming up and saying things and then going back down.
There's no pandemic. There's no excuse. There's no way to avoid engaging in these issues. And if you avoid it, you're going to look like you're hiding and like you have something to hide.
President Biden goes to South Carolina tomorrow. He'll be focusing for the White House on what they're now calling Bidenomics, right? This is the way they're framing the economy right now. My take is somebody covers the White House day in, day out, is at the end of the day, what the economy looks like in those several months leading up to the election could be the thing that ultimately decides this in a 50 50 country right now.
But as they recast this economic issue, Basil, as Bidenomics, is that a positive or a negative there? The Republicans sort of like that framing. They say, hey, everything you dislike about the economy, call it Bidenomics. That's right.
You know, I think it works in this moment because the economy is doing well. A couple of months from now, why you say the economy is doing well by most metrics, the economy is doing well. Why do most Americans not think the economy is doing well? Because they've a lot have bought into the idea that the government's not for them.
Obviously, the Biden numbers, as you say, were soft. The numbers about Congress are soft and those on the Supreme Court are soft. People are generally not happy with where the government is right now. And I think that extends into other aspects of their life.
Plus, we also dealt with a period of inflation that's now starting to ease. But the economy is doing well, particularly when you look at the unemployment number. So he can talk about that. The danger is, does it flip?
Does it change as we get closer to the election and then he doesn't have the opportunity to sort of reframe and re-message. Having said that, very quickly, I do think that on all these other sort of issues, being in South Carolina is really important because of Jim Clyburn. Take that endorsement from 2020, talk about the ways in which he unites the older generation, the younger generation. That's why he's here.
Let's be clear. It's exactly right. Use that as a springboard to talk about economics or any other issue. I just think you can't look at the economy numbers and say you have to say inflation, inflation, inflation.
You can tell people that the economy is good. If they don't feel it at home, then you can speak forever. It's not going to make a difference. Basil Cycle, John Pador, I agree with everything you guys are saying on this topic.
Thanks, gentlemen, very much. After this break, an erect and serious threat to the public. New details revealed today by the Justice Department as federal prosecutors try to keep a January 6th rioter behind bars. You're watching Meet the Press Now.
We're back now with federal prosecutors issuing a stark new warning about a January 6th rioter who was arrested near former President Obama's home late last week. In a new court filing today, the Department of Justice called Taylor Toronto a quote direct and serious threat to the public. Toronto was arrested last week outside the Obama's home with two guns and 400 rounds of ammunition. Toronto appeared in court today for a detention hearing.
Ryan Riley covers the Justice Department for NBC News. He's joining us now with the latest on this. Ryan, what makes Taylor Toronto different from all the other January 6th defendants? You know, for one, he was publicly identified more than almost nearly two years ago.
Actually, the way this came about was online sleuths were looking for an individual who may have assaulted the late officer Jeffrey Smith, who was with the DC Metropolitan Police Department. They got a hit. It actually went back to a photo of Taylor Toronto of this individual who was actually posing with a cardboard cutout of former President Trump on a website affiliated with his county GOP. So very quickly, he was actually sued by the widow of this officer along with another future defendant who has subsequently been arrested just a couple of weeks ago.
When that other individual, David Walls Kaufman, was being sentenced, he eventually got two months in federal prison. I saw Taylor Toronto walk into the back of court and he was on his phone. He actually the marshal spoke to him and pulled him out of court because you're not supposed to be in your phone during these ongoing proceedings. But he's been living out of a van down by the DC jail for a couple of months now and has made trips over the course of the past almost two years to DC.
And it's been one of those sort of questions why the FBI hadn't arrested him up to this point. He had this this cane with him that day that had sort of a sharpened edge. It was like sort of a defensive cane and he was grappling with officers as they pushed him out of the that is just inured, just used to violence, and for them, this was just another day in a very violent life. This is a situation that I think is just going to be on repeat.
Yeah, Aaron, I was going to say to you, it does feel like that to much of the rest of the world watching what we saw there. Obviously, this was a larger scale effort by the Israelis in Jenin, but what does happen now? Prime Minister Netanyahu, he said that this was the start of operations in that area. What are you preparing to witness happen next year?
This is part of an ongoing piece, and I think the situation is going to get worse before it gets even worse. You've got three factors driving the situation. None of them can be ameliorated anytime soon. Number one, you have a Palestinian Authority that is unwilling and unable to exercise its security control, particularly in the northern West Bank, particularly in a city like Jenin, the third largest city in the West Bank.
Number two, you have the most right-wing fundamentalist government in the history of the state of Israel that is pursuing a policy of trying to annex the West Bank in everything except name only. And number three, you have the emergence of informal groups of young men, 15 to 25, not organizationally affiliated with Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad, but being encouraged by them, which are putting up a remarkable sort of resistance and maintain the capacity to carry out attacks against Israel in the West Bank and Israel proper. So the fact is, I don't want to trivialize by saying this because people were killed and many innocent Palestinians wounded, but this is a wash, rinse, and repeat cycle, which is only going to get worse. No massive sustained third intifada, I don't think, but just a long slog of daily, weekly confrontations between the Israeli Defense Forces and organized and unorganized Palestinian groups.
But Aaron, this is a bit striking, right, having been in that region with the president only a matter of months ago, right, in the wake of the Abraham Accords where Israel's had a new normalizing of relations with a variety of countries there, even the potential for some sort of relationship to develop with Saudi Arabia. It appears now that Iran again has been sort of fueling this effort on the Palestinian side. What is the state of the Palestinian people, though, right now? They are a people without a home there, as Israel has been building its relationships throughout that region.
Is this sort of Iran and the Palestinians' efforts, you know, to continue to fight back, I guess, independent of that effort? Look, not every national movement. You see it in the case of the Armenians and the Kurds, find their national aspirations fulfilled and requited. And Palestinians, in my judgment, the least bad option, frankly, is the pursuit of a two-state solution.
But frankly, under these circumstances, that's virtually impossible. So you have a divided Palestinian national movement. You have two of everything. It's like Noah's Ark.
You've got two constitutions, one in Hamas controlling Gaza, one in the West Bank by Fatah. You have two sets of security services and two sets of patrons. So it's virtually impossible for me to believe that you're going to have a unified Palestinian national strategy. And even if you did, you have a government in Israel that is unwilling to even meet basic or minimum Palestinian needs.
So what should the U.S. role then be in this region vis-à-vis this conflict? You know, I worked for half a dozen secretaries of state in both political parties. My days of providing advice to the United States, frankly, is over.
I would only say this to you. The government is about choosing. It's deciding what your priorities are. And at this moment, this administration, with the president running for a second term, with a dysfunctional political climate of hyperpartisanship, with Russia and Ukraine and a rising China, frankly, if you were Mr.
Biden, you would wish, if you had a wish, that you wouldn't hear from Israelis or Palestinians at least until 2025. I think that, unfortunately, is probably the way that the priority system works right now with the situation in Russia and Ukraine so urgent, the real fears about the situation in China as well. Matt Bradley on the ground for us in Jerusalem now, safely out of the West Bank. Aaron David Miller, always a pleasure to get your perspective and hear your expertise.
Thanks for making time to talk to us. That's going to do it for us at this hour. We are going to be back tomorrow, obviously. We'll have more reporting on Meet the Press Now.
We're going to keep a very close eye on the situation there in Israel as it continues to develop. President Biden, as we noted, will be traveling to South Carolina tomorrow. The latest on that as well. NBC News Now coverage continues with Hallie Jackson right now.
I'm Craig Melvin. Cheers. Cheers. Cheers.
I've always been a glass half full kind of guy. And now I'm talking to some people who look at the world that way, too. Some really fascinating folks who share their defining moments, their triumphs, the challenges. Their stories are funny and quite candid.
So I hope you'll join me each week. And who knows, you might just come away with your own glass half full. Search Glass Half Full with Craig Melvin. From today on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts.