Meet the Press NOW — July 8

If it's Monday, an increasingly frustrated and defiant president Biden insists he is staying in the 2024 race, dismissing the growing number of Democrats, Democrats calling for him to step aside and blasting what he calls the elites within his own party. Plus, ahead of next week's convention, the Trump campaign unveils the new Republican Party platform, softening its stance on the issue of abortion while doubling down on the former president's most aggressive policy proposals, like mass deportations. And voters in France blocked the far right from power in a surprise upset victory for centrist and the left, as the country enters a new phase of political uncertainty with no clear majority to former government. And welcome to be the press now.

I'm Aaron Gilchrist in Washington, where a defiant president Biden is pledging to stay in the race no matter what, even as more Democrats calling him to reconsider running or step aside. Today, in an animated and occasionally testy phone interview on MSNBC, the president was adamant that he will not withdraw as he lashed out at political elites within his own party. The bottom line here is that we're not going anywhere. I am not going anywhere.

I wouldn't be running if I didn't absolutely believe that I am the best candidate to beat Donald Trump in 2024. I'm not going to explain anymore about what I should or shouldn't do, I am running. I'm getting so frustrated by the least, now I'm not talking about you guys, but about the elites in the party, who they know so much more. But that is nice.

I don't think I should run against me. Go ahead. Announce the president. Challenge me in the convention.

Now, this comes after the president sent a letter to congressional Democrats with a similarly defiant tone suggesting that those calling for him to step aside are defying the will of Democratic primary voters. So far, at least five House Democrats have publicly called on President Biden to drop out. With NBC News reporting for others, including the top Democrats on the judiciary and armed services committees, privately calling on the president to step aside during a call with House Democratic leader, Hakeem Jeffries, yesterday. Now, the Biden campaign telling NBC News today that President Biden is continuing his outreach, trying to reassure Democrats their concerns are being heard, as after his high stakes interview on Friday with ABC News failed to quell worries about the viability of his candidacy.

In that interview, the president appeared confident and at the same time dismissive, denying the alarm bells from recent polling. If you can be convinced that you cannot defeat Donald Trump, will you stand out? With the fans of the Lord Almighty comes out and tells me that I might do that. Mr.

President, I've never seen a president if 36% approval will get reelected. Well, I don't believe that's my improvement. That's not my position. Now, President Biden's poor approval rating is not just a post-debate phenomenon.

Polling shows his approval has been below 40% for months. It is the same story when it comes to voters' concerns about his age. NBC News polls from this year and last year showing three quarters of voters have major or moderate concerns about President Biden's age. That includes more than half of Democrats.

But a major argument from the president right now is that those same Democrats did make him the nominee in primary voting. Now, this weekend, congressional allies urge the president to talk to the right people about his future. I want you to hear what Congressman Adam Schiff told my colleague, Kristen Welker, yesterday. When I would advise the president is seek out the opinions of people you trust.

He's obviously talked to his family about this. And that's important. But he should seek out people with some distance and objectivity. He should seek out pollsters who are not his own pollsters.

He should take a moment to make the best informed judgment and if the judgment is run then run hard and beat that SOB. Either he has to win overwhelmingly or he has to pass the church to someone who can't. It's as simple as that. Let me very quickly ask you about the vice president.

You saw the polling one poll shows her doing better against former president Trump. Do you think she's a stronger candidate to take on Donald Trump? I think the vice president would be a phenomenal president. I think she has the experience, the judgment, the leadership ability to be an extraordinary president.

Could she win overwhelmingly, Congressman? I think she very well could win overwhelmingly. Joining me now from the White House is NBC's Ali Rafa and Sahel Kapoor is on Capitol Hill for us today. Ali, I'll start with you here.

We've seen this shift in the president's tone when he's talking about his debate performance. He's increasingly defiant, somewhat frustrated, I think. What is the campaign strategy going forward in the face of these questions from within the Democratic Party now? Yeah.

Well, you know, the White House, the Biden team waited almost a week before publicly addressing that poor debate performance by the president. And during that press briefing, that first press briefing, after that debate performance, it really took center stage. And Democrats have been criticizing the White House for taking that approach, saying that it only allowed these concerns to grow and it only fostered them. So the White House appears to be trying at least to make up for lost time now.

The president, as you mentioned on Morning Joe this morning, appearing at times frustrated, very annoyed to be honest, saying that he is in this race to win it, saying that he even challenges Democrats to challenge him at next month's convention. He said that he is blocking out the sounds and the voices of the elite members of this party that the only opinions he cares about are the opinions of voters. And he said that the voters that he interacted with over the weekend, when he went to Michigan on Friday and then Pennsylvania over the weekend, were really the ones who gave him the confidence to restore that confidence, to be able to say, I'm going to stay in this race and I can serve another four years in office. Of course, the focus right now, as lawmakers come back for the first time since that debate, come back to the Hill, the White House now focused on that.

So the president is fostering outreach to those lawmakers, trying to quiet those concerns. He released that lengthy letter to lawmakers, Democratic lawmakers this morning, really reminding them that the Democratic process is what got him here, that he won the primary and that that is what several primaries rather and that that is why he is the Democratic nominee. The campaign also circulating a memo to lawmakers highlighting the president's travel since that debate. And so travel, he has coming up here.

And I want to ask you more about that in a second here, but I do need to talk about this reporting, Ali, that Parkinson's expert was at the White House at least eight times in the last or in an eight month period. I saw the briefing with the press secretary, the contentious briefing on this very topic. What's our understanding now? What do we know about those visits and potentially any sort of condition the president might have?

Yeah, times of very fiery press briefing as the White House trying to offer some clarity after this revelation that a doctor and neurologist from Walter Reed visited the White House at least eight times in eight months and the saying of variety, the White House saying of a variety of specialists, though, from Walter Reed, visit the White House to treat various members of the military who are on these grounds. And it's still unclear, Aaron, whether the neurologist met directly with the president or met with his personal doctor, a press secretary here on the street here repeatedly asked whether to confirm the name of this neurologist from Walter Reed, the name that has listed in these public White House visitors' logs and repeatedly judging that question. Listen. I cannot share names of specialists broadly from a dermatologist to a neurologist.

We cannot share names. There are security reasons. I'm not going to confirm a name. It doesn't matter if it's even in the law.

I am not going to do that from here. That is not something I am going to do. What I can't share with you is that the president has seen a neurologist for his physical three times, three times. And it is in the reporting that we share a comprehensive reporting.

Matter of fact, it's more than what the last guy shared. You heard her say there, the president has had three annual physicals and what company that were these neurological exams, but she did not clarify whether these neurological tests she said he had done were at Walter Reed without physical or at the White House, the White House, those stressing that during those exams, they found no sign of Parkinson's or any other age-related illnesses and clarifying that the president is not being treated for any of them at this time here. All right. Let me turn this out here on Capitol Hill.

So NBC has been reporting that there are nine Democrats now who are calling on President Biden to step aside here. That's nine out of more than 200 Democrats in the House. Is this the beginning of the dam breaking here or should we expect to see Biden's allies on the Hill really step up to sort of stem the bleeding this week? Well, Aaron, I would not say the dam has broken yet.

It's been more like a slow trickle of Democratic lawmakers coming out, a few of them putting their names on statements that President Biden should no longer be the Democratic nominee in this presidential race. But on the other hand, you see President Biden and his allies ramping up their defense of his embattled candidacy, trying to keep trying to stamp out the criticism and the concerns from lawmakers insisting that he's staying in this race, telling them, I'm your candidate, better get behind me now if you want to defeat Donald Trump. There is one crucial lifeline appearing for President Biden here, and that one of the key groups rallying behind his candidacy is the Congressional Black Caucus, which is very influential here on Capitol Hill. And within the party, let's show a statement from Congressman Stephen Horse for the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus saying, quote, President Joe Biden has been selected by millions of voters across the country, including voters here in Nevada, they're focused on moving forward and rejected divisive politics of those who would like to take us back, unquote.

That's a taste of, I think, what we are expected to hear from a number of the President's Don just allies on Capitol Hill. This is going to be a crucial week for his candidacy, because Congress is back both the House and Senate for the first time since that shocking debate performance, and lawmakers are going to get asked about this. The next few days are going to be very important for President Biden to keep a lid on his critics or face a potentially insurmountable amount of pressure that we consider. So we've been talking a lot about what's been happening at the House and some of the worry that's coming from there.

What about on the Senate side? So what are you hearing, if anything, from Senate Democrats? So mixed reactions from Senate Democrats, of course, the Senate's been on recess ever since that debate between Biden and Trump and Atlanta, but they're starting to come back in now. The Senate just gabbled in a couple of hours ago for the first time since that debate.

Our team caught a hole of Chuck Schumer, the majority leader, who said only I'm with Joe. Then there are some swing state Democrats who are facing reelection and very difficult races, such as John Tester in Montana, face of the fight of his political life, issued a statement talking about how saying in his words, quote, President Biden has got to prove to the American people, including me, that he's up to the job for another four years, a couple of moments ago, I spoke to Tom Carper, a Democrat from Joe Biden's home state of Delaware, who said he's not ready to walk away from President Biden yet. There is this notable dynamic here, where the Senate is also full of a number of very old numbers, and that may be fueling the reluctance on their part to call on someone like Joe Biden to step aside from the race. All right, so I hope the poor for us on Capitol Hill, Ali Rafa, near the White House for us.

Thank you both. Joining me now is Hawaii Democratic Governor Josh Green. He was a part of last week's meeting between President Biden and Democrat governors. Governor, we appreciate you making some time for us today.

President Biden was unequivocal this morning in that interview he did with Morning Joe on MSNBC. He said that he is running. What's your read? Does that mean that the discussion is over on this?

Has he demonstrated what he needed to after the debate that we saw last month? Well, it really feels to me like he's had his mojo on the last couple of days, which is what we all wanted and why we love this president. He was incredibly energetic when he was helping care for my state after the Maui wildfires. He walked mile a mile with us on Front Street and he greeted 300 of the people who lost their homes.

I mean, he was dynamic. He had a bad debate night. But I'll tell you, this president has done a great job for us across the board, at least for my state and for the last several years. So I think he is winning back a lot of trust.

I think it's also time we start talking about the former president's health. We're going to talk about this president's health. Both of them are older gentlemen. This president, he had a hitch in his step, of course, on the debate night.

But if we're going to force him into all of these discussions about neurologists and look, I'm a physician. I live this life for 25 years. We're going to talk about neurologists and neurodegenerative diseases. We absolutely have to apply the same standard to the former president.

He has to undergo psychiatric assessment to discuss his personality traits and personality disorder, which are much more impactful than a person's gait. So these are the kind of things that have to be debated nationally, but the president's been pretty good these last few days. He seemed to imply that the criticism here, the only real criticism that he's facing is coming from political elites. People inside the beltway who pay more attention to this, perhaps than regular folks, if you will.

Is that true? What's your feeling on this? What are you hearing from people that you've talked to about this topic about his fitness for office? The whole country worries about the president.

And he's received tens of millions of votes over the years. So look, everyone's talking about it in coffee shops, in my cabinet, amongst our 25 Democratic leaders, their governors, amongst the Congress and the Senate, everyone's talking about it. But at the end of the day, there's a lot of agendas in DC and a lot of people get panicked because they don't want to see kind of a ripple effect from the top of the ticket. But I will absolutely say that the Biden-Harris team were dynamic when they spoke to us.

I asked him personally about his well-being because I care about the president, and he was feeling very under the weather. And he has four months, which is an eternity in eternity in today's politics, to convince the American people that it is better to have a president that has an off-night as opposed to a president who has an off-personality. And I think that that is what's going to happen in the coming four months. If the president chooses, if he chooses with Jill and Schumer and others to not run, then he will hand it off to a kick-ass vice president, and she will do her best also to be Donald Trump.

And if he chooses to say in this race, which he won, President Biden won this nomination amongst Democrats over the last year, then it's his call to make. We should respect him. I am curious about your opinion, though. I want to put up some of the letter that President Biden sent to Democrats on Capitol Hill today.

And part of it said, I wouldn't be running again if I did not believe, absolutely believe, I was the best person to beat Donald Trump in 2024. Do you agree with him on that? Is he the best person to beat Donald Trump for the Democrats in 2024? Well, let's be honest.

Donald Trump should have a functional ceiling of about 44% of the country because he's got a nightmare personality and only people who are willing to have their rights taken away from them and can still vote for him. It's incredible. President Biden really drew a great coalition of African Americans, like you saw, of many, many millions of women. He has the right profile to win.

And he's been a good president. He created 50 million jobs. Trump took the reproductive rights away from 65 million women across our country. So he has the great profile.

But if the president were to decide not to run, he knows to hand it to RVP, and she would pick someone special that can get us across the finish line. This guy won, though. I know that there was a lot of contention in the previous election between Secretary of State Clinton and Mr. Trump.

And that was terrible when Hillary got more votes but didn't win the election. But then Biden was able to get across the finish line in states like Pennsylvania, where I grew up, Michigan, Wisconsin, and so on. This guy knows how to beat Mr. Trump.

I know people are panicked. Everyone should take a deep breath and not worry about neurology so much as they should worry about what is inside that man. That man cares about Republicans and Democrats and independents. And he can definitely get several more million votes than Donald Trump.

He just got to get him in the right places. Right. I understand that. Is your feeling that there's no one else in the Democratic Party today that could do the job, that could beat Donald Trump for the Democrats in November, except for Joe Biden?

We have a bench of about 10 or 12 people that are phenomenal and excessively ambitious and all would be great presidents or vice presidents. Barack Obama is not allowed to run again. Michelle Obama is not running. I know everyone wants to talk about those things.

President Clinton has awesome heated his two terms. There's a lot of people that we love and admire. But this president has had a very good three and a half years. It's impossible to say who would be best on the day because there's a lot of fluctuations in people's attitudes about where the country is, about Israel, about all of these things.

But I will tell you, there are so many women that absolutely are going to vote against Donald Trump in the election this year. So many millions of women, some of whom are very conservative, that I would give us a very good chance with President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. If you want to find some magic person that's even slightly better, we could talk for hours about celebrities and other people that have been around. But this guy has had four decades of experience in the Senate.

He was vice president to one of the most extraordinary people. And I think he can do it, really. Let me ask you this very quickly here. Obviously, Biden says he's running, right?

You obviously support him. There are still lawmakers who want him to drop out now. How do you put the genie back in the bottle on this? How do you get the folks who seem to not be on board to get on board?

Well, only a small part of the genie came out of the bottle. I mean, you got what you're looking at, nine people who are people I respect, you know? But they are just like other human beings. They panic sometimes.

They listen to a pundit and they worry. You know, the debate sucked. There's no question. But on the flip side of that, when someone has created millions of jobs and more Democrats, I think we should check ourselves just a little bit before throwing this extraordinary person under the bus.

And so, give Biden the chance, the president, the chance with his absolute best advisors to make a decision. Of course, watch the polls so that we don't make a truly idiotic move and run into a buzz saw. But this guy has run through a lot of those kind of challenges and won. President Biden won a couple years ago because he was the right choice to beat the former president.

And let me say again, as a person who watches people's health and wellbeing, judge both of them if you want to judge the president, judge the president and judge the former president because he's got a narcissistic personality disorder. And that translates into policies that hurts people, that hurts women, that hurts minorities. Those individuals should be very, very sensitive to what is underneath the hood of the former president, Mr. Trump.

You're sitting in on TV, President Biden, but look under the hood of the other candidate too and then make your decision. I only have a few seconds here, but I want to ask you about a part of the interview from Friday night on ABC. And I want you to see also this part of Congressman Adam Schiff's reaction to this. Watch this.

If you stay in and Trump is elected and everything you're warning about comes to pass, how will you feel in January? I feel as long as I gave it my all and I did the good job as I know I can do. That's what this is about. Is that answer satisfying to you?

No, that is the answer that most concern me as well. This is not just about whether he gave it the best college try, but rather whether he made the right decision to run or to pass the torch. That is the most important decision for him to make right now. This is about whether this country remains a democracy, whether we veer off into some kind of pseudo dictatorship.

So quickly here, Governor, do you agree with Congressman Schiff there? Did those comments from the president sit right with you? You know, the president throws a few words out here and there that, you know, make your eyes roll. But on the flip side of it, we've had decades and decades of extraordinary efforts from him.

So do not judge in that way. If any of us were put to the question about where we had our best every single moment of every day, there's no way. And look, Mr. Schiff and I are not quite as old as the president and the former president.

So there are going to be moments for both of them. Second guessing people right now is not helpful. The president should be trusted to make the best decision with his team. And if he chooses, if he chooses not to run, then we will have the vice president and some kick ass colleague of hers to go and win the election in November.

But I don't think we should be second guessing people. And honestly, judge people on what they've done, what they've accomplished. Don't worry about sound bites. This sound bite universe is not healthy for all of us.

All right. How are you Governor Josh Green? We will leave it there. Sir, thank you again for your time.

Thank you very much. And coming up, doubt, defiance and Democrats deepening political crisis. We are digging deeper into the fallout as President Biden doubles down in his reelection bid. The spike pressure to reconsider the panel is up next.

First though, Trump hits the trail and tries to distance himself from a controversial right wing plan to reshape the federal government if he wins back the White House. You're watching Meet the Press Now. Welcome back during his interview this morning on MSNBC, President Biden tried to quell concerns about his abilities by pointing to his post debate schedule and contrasting it with his opponents. I've been on the road so much all over the country.

And while Trump is riding around in the golf cart, filling out his golf cart before he hits the ball. He hadn't been anywhere in 10 days. I've been all over the country. Now we should know it's not unusual for a rival campaign to sort of lay low when their opponent is struggling as Biden is.

But former President Trump will be back on the trail in Florida tomorrow night as we await his choice of running made ahead of next week's Republican Convention in Wisconsin. And ahead of that convention, the Trump campaign released a newly adopted Republican party platform this afternoon. It includes planks straight from Trump's speeches like calling for the largest deportation effort in US history and ending taxes on tips and has very little on abortion policy. Joining me now is von Hilliard.

He's covering the Trump campaign for NBC News. So, Von, as you heard there, President Biden pointed out this morning that former President Trump has not been on the trail really in the last 10 days or so. What do you know about that? Is that by design?

What's he been up to? Right. You could say this has been unusual for Donald Trump to not be so, I think, publicly out there. Of course, over social media, he has been firing off through social posts consistently over those last 10 days.

And it's not uncommon for him to not have really that many campaign events, but it's notable that there's a video that you posted on social media over the course of this weekend of him out on a golf cart in which he was talking with some other individuals. And he may reference to knocking out Joe Biden out of the race and that Kamala Harris and his words was pathetic. And that is what is going to be notable about tomorrow, that it's going to be his first campaign event since that debate. He's going to be in Burrell, Florida at his golf club.

And then on Saturday, he will be holding a campaign rally over in Pennsylvania just outside of Pittsburgh. Well, we mentioned too that the RNC approved its proposed 2024 platform as well. Talk to us about that. And talk about what it did and didn't contain.

Right. This is going to be the proposed Republican party platform for 2024 and beyond. It's going to be voted on by the entire delegation at the convention in Milwaukee next week. But Donald Trump's team in a campaign statement said that they back what was voted on today by this platform committee.

And this is the first update that it's gone through since 2016. And notably on the issue over abortion in 2016, there is a direct call for what they refer to as a, quote, human life amendment to the US Constitution, essentially passing also legislation to codify a ban on abortion, as opposed to here in 2024, when abortion was discussed. It was suggested that this should be a matter of states rights and states decisions. And then on the issue of the same sex marriage in 2016, it was noted that it should be between marriage should be between one man and one woman here in 2024.

This proposed draft only refers to the sanctity of marriage, but doesn't go as far as to denote the sex of individuals in individuals in marriage. One other thing, though, is also there was, of course, mentions about the largest mass deportation program ever. And so for this party here, this is a party that is cognizant of the election just for a month's away. And clearly, softening its language on same sex marriage and abortion, which are two issues that have a strong public support, majority of public support around the country.

I want to ask you quickly before you go. We are about a week now away from the convention. What do we know about Trump's VP pick at this point? Has that period after the debate changed?

Any of the calculus around that? Right. They have definitely lied. Michael Rubio, an advisor to the senator from Florida, tells our colleague John Allen that he will be in Baral for that event tomorrow.

And of course, there's some question marks over whether having the Florida senator, whether if he were to run for the VP, would he have to go and give up his spot as a senator? Because of potential challenges over the electoral votes coming out of Florida with both Donald Trump and he, claiming residents in Florida. But of course, by next week, we'll need to know who that VP pick is. Of course, that announcement could come on Saturday at the rally in Pennsylvania.

Doug Bergum is also still, in our understanding, potentially under consideration, the governor of North Dakota. JD Vance, the senator from Ohio as well, it's notable that he and Marco Rubio were the two individuals that appeared on Sunday television shows this weekend. Doug Bergum did not err. All right.

I'm Hilliard for us today, Vaughn. Thank you so much. Joining me now on set is Benji Sarlin, Washington bureau chief for SEMA4, former Maryland Congresswoman, Democratic Congressman Donna Edwards, she is also an NBC News political analyst and Sarah Chamberlain, president and CEO of the Republican Main Street Partnership. Thank you all for being here.

A lot to unpack today. Sarah, I'll start with you, since we were talking about former President Trump here, staying relatively quiet over the last several days. Is that the right move to make the smart move to make? Absolutely.

When your opponent is in all this trouble, why stick your head up to stay quiet, enjoy some quiet time, play some golf and relax because next week it will be our turn. Now this will shift to the Republicans when they get to Wisconsin. Well, given that fact, when we get to Wisconsin, we'll be looking at this party platform that Vaughn just talked about. The elements that we've learned about today, is that what you would expect to see sort of trying to avoid maybe some of the controversy around some of these particular issues?

Absolutely. I think it's the right way to go. They're trying to go for suburban women like myself. Those are two issues that suburban women are not happy with, the abortion and gay marriage, they support.

So, going to be interesting, but absolutely, that was the right way to go. Let's quiet it down. Let's not cause controversy within the Republican party and let the Democrats have it on and see if they can destroy each other. Congresswoman, this platform that was laid out by the RNC, while it may seem softer, in your mind, is that believable?

Is it Bible or do you think that this is just to get through the convention and then something more extreme? All of these years, proclaiming pro-life and anti-abortion and attacking LGBTQ people, even a party platform, is not going to allow the concerns of voters that they understandably have. Also, Republicans aren't going to be able to avoid the issue of abortion. Donald Trump at every event celebrates the justices he appointed to the Supreme Court.

Abortion is going to be on the ballot in half a dozen or more states. It's not going to be an issue that just because it's not in the platform, Republicans are going to be able to avoid. Benji, let's talk about President Biden. Obviously, he's been in the headlines or he headlined politically for a week or so.

This morning, we saw the President call into a cable news show and really take aim at political elites. That was the term he used, elites talking about, I believe, people here in Washington. What's your read on that? Focusing on that, as opposed to really understanding maybe the polls that have been out there as a late?

Sure. This is an extremely familiar scene. I've seen a bunch of times before as a political reporter, a presidential candidate, phoning in for an interview with Morning Joe in which they rail against the elites who are trying to push them out of their rightful position as the party nominee, I mean, I'm referring to Donald Trump, of course. This is exactly a scenario he went through repeatedly.

And Biden is frankly sounding a lot more like him. What he's warning his party is that this is a situation of mutually assured destruction. He's not going to go quietly, even if you don't think he should be the nominee, which means if you take him at his word that he's not going anywhere, every time you question his age or health or mental or political agility, you are weakening him and you're dragging down the entire party in November. I mean, this isn't a pleasant place for Democrats to be, but if we're going by game theory, I see what Biden's game is.

If you call it Trumpy, I mean, if other people, if voters see it that way too, does it resonate? Does it work with Democratic voters who want to support President Biden if he seems or sounds more like former President Trump? Well, that's the million-dollar question. And Biden might sound like Trump, but his political profile and reputation is the exact polar opposite of Trump in many ways.

The thing that made Trump's threats so credible is that he had millions of voters who were personally loyal to him and him only who would not be in the Republican Party without him. And he could also threaten to leave Trump repeatedly threaten a go-3rd party if Republicans enact what he has to do as various demands or force them out of a nomination. Biden's the ultimate party insider. And Biden has not summoned with a huge cult of personality who can summon a bunch of people to challenge you in a primary.

But we'll see if there's a real grassroots backlash and he's definitely asking his supporters to act a little more like that. Well, Donna, you served obviously in Congress in the Democratic caucus. The House is back in session or back here in Washington now. What's the conversation that's happening now, do you think, with members of the House and members of the Senate, now that they're back physically together?

Well, I think it's I suspect that it's the same as it has been across the country. But one thing that I will note today, the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, Stephen Horsberg, came out with a very strong statement. Other members of the Black Caucus as well. I think it's tough to imagine that Democrats can pull some thing where they dump Joe Biden and then hope that they're going to get a nominee that then enjoys the support of the entire party.

I think that what Democrats are talking about is a way in which they can be unified going into the Democratic Convention. And Joe Biden has said really clearly he's not going anywhere. And so I don't think that there's anybody in the party right now who has the ability to either force him out or to, you know, to ensure that the convention does that too. I just don't see that happening and it's time for Democrats, frankly, to unite behind the president.

Otherwise, they're doing more harm than good by continuing to attack him. We talked, the president has talked about the voters, right? He said that the primary voters said that they want him to be the guy, right? We've looked at some of the polling that's come out as of late.

There was a poll from CNN that came out right after the debate that had 75% of voters saying that Democrats' chances would be better with someone else. So what are your thoughts about that? You look at a poll like that that says, you know, maybe people don't support President Biden as much as the Biden campaign might suggest. But someone else didn't step up to challenge the president.

And so I think that he is in a strong position to say that, you know, he got the support of the voters, however they felt going into it or however they feel afterwards and that he's going to run a strong campaign to become the next president of the United States in this election. And I think that given that, you know, really, you know, voters have also, you know, said that they made a decision about Joe Biden, who was old when they made that decision, and he's still old today. Sarah, what's the Republicans? I mean, the Republicans are sitting back watching all this happening, seeing these polls come out, seeing the back and forth that's happening within the party.

Is there somebody writing all this down saying, all right, when we start to talk again, let's hit this, let's hit that. How do they execute? Take advantage of this moment. They're having meetings talking to us about that.

How are we going to go after that? How are we going to make sure the swing voters don't vote for Biden, they either stay home or vote for Trump? Because we know the Trump base is going to come out. The Republicans are going to have a good shot at House, Senate, and White House November.

I mean, it's just the swing voters are afraid, and you see, and Biden's behind in all these polls. I mean, yes, he has his base, but he is behind. A Bloomberg poll that came out on Saturday looked at the swing states and found that Biden in fact is closing the gap among independents, and that he is within two points. We're not across there.

And so I think that we are many days away from figuring out where voters are and how they process what happened in the debate and how they're processing what Joe Biden is doing now. Benji, I can't help but to wonder about that. The incremental movement that some poll suggests is happening in one direction or the other I can't help but think conventional wisdom these days as it relates to politics may not be as useful as it was years ago. So first of all, I would just not make this decision on the basis of polls, but especially short term polls.

The case people were making when Biden was down in the polls before the debate was that look, you shouldn't get to invest in these either because that's before Biden's done his debate kicked off a general election campaign, done a bunch of events, done a bunch of interviews with local news outlets and in swing states to not this entire apparatus. But similarly by the same token, if you say, well, the polls are going to turn around and start, we start doing, as soon as we start doing the real campaign, and Biden completely flubs this first big event and now they're worried he can't seem to extemporaneously do interviews, hold events, speak articulately about the attacks that they believe do work against Trump. I mean, that seems like the bigger problem projecting for it. I agree.

I think polls are too wonky, especially in the short term after a big event like this. It might take a few weeks to figure out where things are now, but by then this debate will basically be settled. Biden would be the nominee by then. You can't wait that long and make a decision.

Well, it is settled right now because Joe Biden has said that he is running for reelection and there is nobody out there who's prepared to kick him to the curb, even as we have voices that are coming out on Capitol Hill. So I don't really see how this goes in a direction in which Joe Biden is not the nominee. I would rather be the Republican than a Democrat right now as we watch this. And there we will leave it for today.

I appreciate it. Sarah, Donna, thank you all so much. Up next. What happens next in France?

That's after voters rejected the far right in the second round of voting. We are live in Paris. Straight ahead. You're watching Meet the Press Now.

And welcome back. National Rally, the far right party in France, was poised to take over Parliament after last week's first round of votes there. But President and Manuel Macron's centrist coalition and the country's left wing party staged a really stunning comeback yesterday in the second round of voting there blocking the national rally from securing a majority. So instead of France installing its first far right government since Nazi occupation, it finds itself in political limbo with no faction even close to securing a majority needed to form a government.

All this turmoil comes just days before Macron is set to come to Washington for the annual NATO gathering. And as Paris is set to host the 2024 Olympic Games. Joining me now from Paris, as NBC News International correspondent Josh Letterman, Josh, how were the left wing and Macron's centrist party able to block the far right from securing that majority in Parliament? Well, Aaron, in the first round of voting, there were multiple candidates in pretty much every race.

And so voters were essentially picking between the far right candidate, a centrist candidate, a far left candidate, possibly some others. And that split vote allowed the far right national rally to really surge ahead. What happened in between was essentially a last minute agreement between the centrists and the leftists to try to join forces. And so hundreds of candidates who had placed in third place dropped out, leaving only one non-far right alternative to the far right candidate need to race.

And essentially they consolidated their voters behind one person who was not the far right. And that was enough to create essentially a firewall that kept the far right national rally from getting the majority that many had expected they were going to get just a few days ago. So Josh, then with no clear majority here, what happens now? Is it clear how government operates at this point?

It's not. This is an unprecedented period of uncertainty for France. And that is on the minds of a lot of voters who are waking up today to this turmoil, this lack of knowledge of certainty about what is going to actually happen, whether they'll be a functional government. I want you to hear from one voter I spoke to here in Paris earlier today who had opposed the far right about how they're feeling the morning after the election.

Take a listen. Are you feeling relieved then that the far right did not take power? Not completely, unfortunately, because it's still not stable. It's still unsure how the next weeks and months will be.

So nothing is true, in my opinion. No party is going to have a majority in parliament that's going to make passing domestic legislation very difficult. And President Macron is going to have to name a new prime minister from the far left, but he's going to wait to do that probably until after he comes to Washington for that NATO summit. He's asking his current prime minister, Gabriel Atal, to stay in his job for now, really until the dust settles there.

All right, Josh, let him in for us in Paris and you're the architrion. Josh, thank you. Appreciate it. We're going to turn now to another closely watched election with an unexpected result as well.

This one in Iran, reformist candidate Masoud Pasekian defeated his hardline rivals, i.e. Jalili in the presidential runoff election there, Pasekian, a cardiac surgeon and former health minister went into this election as really a long shot candidate. During his campaign, he promised to relax rules on women's head scars, suggested that Iran's future depended on better relations with the West and even a return to the nuclear deal. However, Iran's supreme leader ultimately wields power in that country, and any more progressive policies will likely be challenged by a government made up largely of hardliners.

The election was held without internationally recognized monitors and turnout was near historically low levels. According to Iran's interior ministry, fewer than half of eligible voters cast a ballot. Also, to calm new signs of progress and talks to reach a potential ceasefire deal weeks after negotiations collapsed. We have the latest reporting from Israel for you next.

You're watching Meet the Press Now. Welcome back. Ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Washington to deliver an address to a joint session of Congress, family members of those held hostage in Gaza are urging him to prioritize a hostage deal and to delay his visit until an agreement is signed. In a hopeful sign, top negotiators, including CIA director Bill Burns, are headed to Cairo and then to Doha to resume those talks.

Last week, senior Biden administration officials said there was a quote breakthrough in the ceasefire process after Hamas appeared to soften its position. Netanyahu, meanwhile, is facing immense political pressure at home with far-right members of its cabinet, urging him to reject any deal and forge ahead with Israel's military campaign. This comes as Israel's military announced new evacuation orders for civilians sheltering around Gaza City, one of the first areas where the IDF focused its efforts at the start of the war. NBC News International correspondent Matt Bradley is in Tel Aviv now with more.

Well, the people of Gaza endured what they're describing as one of the worst environments they've seen ever since the beginning of these latest round of hostilities back on October 7th. This was focused primarily on the Gaza Strip and health authorities in Gaza have said that some 40 people have been killed in just the past 24 hours, about 75 of them were wounded. Now, these are ongoing attacks and they really do undermine a lot of what we've been hearing from the Israeli government over the past several weeks. They are moving on now to a second or third less intensive phase of the war in the Gaza Strip.

They're going to be retreating to certain positions, namely the perimeter of the Gaza Strip and some of the corridors they've established throughout the center and in the southern part of the Gaza Strip. And using that, trying to launch more surgical, more pinpoint strikes against what they believe will be Hamas installations. But now, it looks as though they are still attacking in a broad military formation. Now, all of this happens as we see a little bit more optimism around the possibility of a negotiated end to the war in the Gaza Strip, as well as the release of those remaining Israeli hostages there.

Now, at the same time, we heard this just before the weekend from the United States saying that Hamas had budged on their primary demand, which is that they will not release any hostages unless Israel agrees to finally and fully stop their attacks on the Gaza Strip. Now, we heard last night from President, excuse me, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He said that that is non-negotiable, that even though there has been some movement on the Hamas position, which we've been hearing about, he will not stop the fight in the Gaza Strip as long as Hamas remains intact. That's one of the main goals of the fight, and we're going to completely dismantle the terror organization.

Now, at the same time, this does make it sound as though it will be difficult to have these negotiations. We'll be arguing that senior American officials are joining other negotiators, Cairo, and then later on in Doha, trying to hash out a deal that could bring some measure of peace to Gaza Strip. Thanks to Matt Bradley there for that reporting. Still to come, closing arguments now underway, and Senator Bob Menendez's criminal corruption trial.

What we heard in court today, and how long until the jury gets the case? That story's up next. You're watching Meet the Press Now. Welcome back.

The fate of a top Senate Democrat will soon be in the hands of a jury. Closing arguments began this afternoon. And Senator Bob Menendez's federal corruption trial, jurors have heard nearly two months of testimony there. The Senator himself did not take the stand.

Now, federal prosecutors are accusing the New Jersey Democrat of acting as a foreign agent for Egypt. They say that Menendez who chaired the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and his wife accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of bribes. Prosecutors say they found gold bars and hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash during a search of Menendez's home in 2022. Both Menendez's have pleaded not guilty.

So let's dig a little deeper into this with NBC News correspondent Rehima Ellis, Rehima. Thanks for joining us today. Talk to us about what we know about the closing arguments here. How long they might last when the jury might start deliberations?

Well, the prosecution began its closing arguments this afternoon for three hours, maybe a little less than that. And it already signaled that its closing argument would last at least five hours. So that's going to go into tomorrow as well. And in those closing arguments, one of the things that they said to the jurors is that Senator Menendez put his power up for sale in this bribery scheme involving 18 different charges, including bribery, extortion, obstruction of justice, and acting as a foreign agent.

After that closing argument from the prosecution, the defense will come up. And it's not known exactly how long the defense argument will be, but it's expected that these closing arguments could take most of the day tomorrow before the judge gets an opportunity to charge the jury in this case, before the week is over, and certainly it's expected it could happen as soon as Wednesday. Now, you've been following this case, obviously, for a while now. Let's talk a little bit about the witnesses here.

On the prosecution side, was there sort of a star witness or a compelling testimony that we heard? There was a star witness. And in fact, it was bombshell testimony, if you will, because it is one of the three New Jersey businessmen who was accused in this bribery scheme that the government has alleged against Senator Menendez, and that prosecution witness, he came out and he confessed to buying the senator's wife a $60,000 Mercedes-Benz in exchange for her influence over her husband. That's something that the jurors had not heard before.

And this particular witness, again, he was a friend of the family, if you will, and testified that he gave this car to Mrs. Menendez specifically in exchange for her making certain that they were favors that would be coming from her husband, the senator. So, Raymond, the senator had said from the beginning here that he intended to vigorously fight the charges against him, obviously. When you look at the defense's case here, what was really the crux of the argument coming from Menendez's team?

There were a couple of things in Menendez's case. One of the things they were saying is that the amount of money that was found in the home, he said it was a cultural thing, that being the son of Cuban immigrants, that Cuban-American families were accustomed to having large sums of money in the home, coming from the Castro regime, where things and possessions could be taken from a family without any notice, and all of a sudden. And in addition to that, one of the things that the defense said is that Senator Menendez's wife kept him in the dark about what was going on. They said she tried to get cash anywhere she could and any way that she could.

So, in some measure, they're saying that the wife was more responsible for this than the husband was, and that seems to be the largest and the most prominent aspect of the defense in all of this. If the jurors get this case this week, the six men and six women will have to decide who's innocent or guilty, but if the senator is found guilty of this, he could face decades behind bars. Aaron? It is an interesting argument to hear in this particular case.

Of course, we're watching to see how it all turns out. Thank you for joining us today. We are back tomorrow with more Meet the Press now, the news continues with Holly Jackson right now. As the day wraps up, get this scoop on what's been happening with Here's a Scoop, a new podcast from NBC News with me, your host, Gazzam Dazoogea.

We'll take a deep dive into the day's top stories with NBC News's trusted journalist. It's a fresh take, a sharp, thoughtful, candid, informative, bringing you closer to the headlines and conversations that are shaping our world on the front page, the Zeitgeist. Here's a scoop from NBC News. Listen daily on SiriusXM.