Meet the Press NOW — June 16

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If it's Monday, the stuff of nightmares designed to inflict fear, injure, and kill. That's how investigators are describing the deadly plot to attack Minnesota state lawmakers as the suspect appears in court for the first time. Plus, a new strike's rocked both Israel and Iran with no sign of a ceasefire in sight. President Trump declines to answer what it would take for the U.S.

to get directly involved as world leaders meet in Canada. And President Trump calls on ICE to ramp up deportations in Democratic-led cities, but pauses ICE operations from targeting certain work sites just one day after millions turned out across the country to protest the administration and its sweeping mass deportation program. And welcome to Meet the Press Now. I'm Ryan Nobles in Washington.

We are following breaking news out of Minnesota where the suspect accused of carrying out targeted political shootings just appeared in court as we learn more details of how he planned and executed his deadly crimes. 57-year-old Vance Belter was taken into custody late last night after the largest manhunt in state history. Authorities now say he went to the homes of four Minnesota politicians early Saturday morning, quote, with the intent to kill them. Belter is accused of killing Minnesota state Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, and wounding Minnesota State Senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette.

He's being charged with six counts of stalking and federal murder, as well as first-degree murder, among other charges at the state level. Federal prosecutors are calling the shootings a, quote, chilling attack on democracy, saying the suspect had an extensive plan. Political assassinations are rare. They strike at the very core of our democracy.

But the details of Belter's crime are even worse. They are truly chilling. It is no exaggeration to say that his crimes are the stuff of nightmares. Belter stalked his victims like prey.

He went to their homes, held them out as a police officer, and shot them in cold blood. Belter planned his attack carefully. He researched his victims and their families. He used the internet and other tools to find their addresses and names, the names of the family members.

He conducted surveillance of their homes and took notes about the location of their homes. Authorities detail how the suspect knocked on State Senator Hoffman's door wearing a silicone mask, impersonating a police officer, complete with flashing lights on his car. When they opened the door, Belter shined the flashlight in their faces and said there had been a shooting reported in the house. Belter asked if they had any weapons.

When Belter lowered his flashlight, which he had shined in their face, they realized that he was not a police officer. They shouted out, you're not a cop. You're not a police officer. Belter then announced, this is a robbery, and forced himself into their home.

When Senator Hoffman attempted to push Belter out and stop him from entering his home, Belter shot him repeatedly. Belter then shot Miss Hoffman repeatedly. Well, prosecutors did not give details on a motive. They did say that the suspect had dozens of names of state and federal officials on hundreds of pages of documents, and that abortion rights supporters were among the names in those documents.

Here in Washington, the shootings have further heightened concerns with lawmakers on edge after yet another episode of targeted political violence. Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty today sounding the alarm about the state of political discourse in America. It is a frightening time we are living in. Political violence is prevalent, and the way we talk to and about each other has raised the temperature to unfathomable levels.

We cannot continue on this way. I encourage those out there seeking to create additional chaos to stop spreading misinformation and conspiracy theories. Adrian Broaddus is on the ground in Minneapolis with the latest. Melanie Zenona is on Capitol Hill with how lawmakers are grappling with yet another instance of political violence.

Adrian, let's start with you. We heard from federal and state officials today. What can you tell us about the new details that we learned? Well, we know now that he went to the home of at least four lawmakers, and he had plans to do so much more.

Lawmakers and federal authorities telling us today he stalked these lawmakers and their families like prey. They discovered what they say were many, many notebooks with at least 45 names of lawmakers listed, not only lawmakers, but their family members. Authorities telling us today he had done surveillance on their homes. He had maps, and they believe he had been planning this for a long time.

Not only did he show up impersonating that officer, he had an SUV that was blacked out with a license plate that said police. We found out today it was the daughter of the Hoffman's who was able to call 911. That was after that struggle, which you mentioned at the start of the broadcast where he knocked on the door saying, this is police. And they weren't letting him into the home, but he was able to push and force his way inside of the home.

There was a bit of a struggle. He shot him and then took off on foot. So some chilling details about what happened early Saturday morning. And have we learned more from the charging documents and the police affidavits about whether or not he may have had any accomplices or contacts that would have helped for him to execute these crimes?

You know, Ryan, right now, investigators are saying that he had any accomplices that they know of. They are looking into it. And I do want to read a little bit from the affidavit. According to it, he sent a text to his family member in a group chat around 6 a.m.

saying in part, quote, Dad went to war last night and break. And he also said, I don't want to say anymore because I don't want to implicate anybody. Now, we know law enforcement pulled over his wife at some point and she consented to a search of her car. The affidavit says police found two handguns, $10,000 in cash and passports.

A witness says he later bought an e-bike and a car from someone he met at a bus stop. The affidavit also laying out and saying at some point he was able to return home. Who he bought the car from right now is unclear, but you know that car was a big clue, a big break on Sunday. That's when in Sibley County, in a rural area, they found that cowboy hat he had been wearing, which was seen on surveillance video.

And they also found that car. And I know police have described this already as a political assassination. They mentioned the names of dozens of state and federal lawmakers that were found in the suspect's documents. What's the reaction been from Minnesota lawmakers today?

You know what? There's grief and gratitude, specifically gratitude for the members of law enforcement who responded. Because after the daughter made that 911 call, there was a sergeant at the Brooklyn Park Police Station who told his investigators, hey, run by the state rep's house and do a wellness check. And it was officers who were able to approach him.

When they encountered him, he took off on foot. So that likely foiled the plan. And Senator Anne Ress, who lives in New Hope, Minnesota, released a statement, which I want to share with you. She said, I've been made aware that the shooting suspect was parked near my home early Saturday morning.

I'm so grateful for the heroic work of the New Hope Police Department. So there's the gratitude. But here's where the grief comes in. She says, I grieve for the loss of Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark.

I'm praying for the recovery of John and Yvette Hoffman. You know, John and Yvette were shot and underwent surgery. OK, Adrian, brought us with the latest stuff from Minnesota. Thank you for that.

Mel, let's turn to you now on Capitol Hill. What can you tell us about how lawmakers are feeling when it comes to their safety after the shootings this weekend? What conversations have been happening here in Washington about keeping lawmakers safe? Yeah, Ryan, lawmakers were incredibly shook by those horrific shootings on Saturday.

So much so that lawmakers have started to request and receive security briefings from both the Capitol Police and the House and Senate sergeant at arms here on Capitol Hill. The House Republicans had their call on Saturday for that briefing. Democrats in the House as well as the Senate will get their briefings tomorrow. And I'm told that on that Saturday call, member after member expressed concern about their personal safety, particularly when they're back home in their districts away from the Capitol, which has tons of security, as you know, Ryan, up here on a day to day basis.

They also expressed alarm that their personal information is so widely available, publicly available. And we should also note that on Saturday, it actually was the eight year anniversary of the congressional baseball shooting where Steve Scalise, a member of leadership, was nearly assassinated on that field by a deranged gunman. But the only reason why he survived This is an attack on legislators, this is an attack on the American people, because it compromises their ability to be represented, it compromises the ability of their voices to be heard, and it can have a chilling effect on who's willing to run for office. We want the best, good people to run for office, and we need to make sure that people know they can be safe.

You mentioned about trying to turn the temperature down when it comes to political rhetoric. How do you do that? Well, I think it starts from the top. We need the president and leadership in the House and the Senate to unequivocally call for an end to political violence and to call an end for heightened rhetoric that calls for violence.

That is just full stop needs to happen right now. And I think all of us as Americans need to pause and think before we share a tweet or a post. And we need to get back to having conversations with each other. I've been talking about a kindness revolution.

I really think we need to be good to each other. We need to take care of each other. This is what who most Americans are. And we really need to lean into that in this moment.

I think it's incredibly important. You mentioned that it needs to start at the top. Governor Walz says that he's not heard from President Trump since the shootings. He has condemned the shootings, but I'm sure you saw that the president told ABC News when asked about this situation, he described Walz as being a terrible governor and said that he's a grossly incompetent person.

But I may call him. He said he may call other people as well. Is that OK with you? Has President Trump said enough in the aftermath of these shootings?

And was it appropriate for him to attack the governor in that way? Ryan, that is unbelievably disappointing. Campaigns are one thing, but he is the president of the United States and it is his responsibility to care for every American. And he should set aside any kind of political differences or bad taste from campaigns and care for the people of Minnesota.

That's an example of the kind of behavior that needs to stop right now. And do you get the sense at all that President Trump is interested in turning down the political rhetoric? Does that concern you? It concerns me a lot.

And I would like Republicans in leadership in state houses across the country in the United States Senate and House to call on the leader of their party to change his behavior. This is the clarion call right now. This is our watershed moment. It's got to stop.

Congresswoman Kelly Morrison, I know you and your colleagues are dealing with so much right now as you deal with the aftermath of the shooting. Thank you so much for being here. We appreciate it. Thank you, Brian.

Coming up, Israel and Iran both expand their attacks further, escalating this conflict and raising fears of a wider war that could draw in the United States. Plus, the Trump administration announces it will halt ICE operations at some work sites, including meatpacking plants, hotels and restaurants. What it means for the president's mass deportation efforts ahead. You're watching Meet the Press Now.

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Welcome back. The conflict between Israel and Iran shows no signs of easing, with new attacks today from both sides. Air raid sirens sounded in northern Israel today, with the Israeli military confirming Iran launched a new wave of missile strikes. That follows overnight strikes on Israel that killed at least eight people, according to the IDF.

Meanwhile, Israel is expanding its operation in Iran, targeting the country's oil facilities and military sites. Israel is also claiming air superiority over Tehran, saying they can fly over the Iranian capital without facing major threats. And there was a stunning moment in Tehran today as an explosion abruptly interrupted a TV anchor during a live broadcast. You could hear the blasts as the building shook and smoke filled the screen.

Israel confirmed the strike, calling the Iranian broadcaster a source of propaganda. Speaking to reporters at the G7 summit in Canada today, President Trump said that he's seen signs that Iran is looking to de-escalate. Have you heard any signal or seen any messages from intermediaries that Iran wishes to de-escalate the conflict? What have you heard?

What have you heard from the Iranians? They'd like to talk, but they should have done that before. But I'd say Iran is not winning this war. And they should talk and they should talk immediately before it's too late.

It comes as we're learning that President Trump rejected a proposal from Israel to assassinate Iran's supreme leader. Joining me now is Matt Bradley. He's in Tel Aviv. And Yamiche Alcindor is covering the G7 in Calgary, Canada.

So, Matt, what is the latest on the ground today in Tel Aviv? Are people bracing for another night of Iranian airstrikes? Yes, it's been a relatively quiet day by the standards of the last four days. Again, this is the fourth day that we've seen these back and forth between Iran and Israel.

You mentioned that there were airstrikes, that there were warnings and sirens in the north of the country. That's where around Haifa there are a lot of strategic assets that the Israelis have military related sites. Of course, here in Tel Aviv, there are many as well. But today we managed to avoid hearing anything in the way of sirens or explosions.

That was very different from overnight last night when we did hear quite a bit of bombardments. We saw eight people were killed here. And for the first time in central Israel, we saw that two of them were actually inside those safe rooms that are basically required of almost every building. I have one here in my apartment building.

It's communal, but everybody has one. And it has created a sense that the Israelis are going to be able to survive anything that happens. This time, these two people were inside the safe room and it took a direct hit. Now, according to the IDF, all of these safe rooms are built to take the concussive, the concussion blast of a nearby bomb or projectile and to take shrapnel.

They're not expected to withstand a direct hit, which is what killed these two people. And what are you hearing from officials in Israel? Do they view the military operations against Iran as a success right now? And what's the end goal?

Yeah, absolutely right. I mean, when we speak to them, they can barely hide their glee at the success of what's been going on. As you mentioned, they've been boasting about that thing you said, that the Israelis have enjoyed air superiority over Tehran, Iran's capital, for the better part of the past two days. Allowing them to essentially fly over the capital without facing any anti-air fire.

And that's because in the early hours of this operation on Friday morning, they took out so many of Iran's anti-air capabilities. They now say that they've taken out about a third of their ballistic missiles. And it's ballistic missiles that pose the biggest threat here in Israel. That's what we're hearing raining down from the sky, along with some drones, which aren't nearly as dangerous and don't make the same impact as we've been seeing throughout the city.

So, you know, we've been hearing from these officials who are just ecstatic at how good this operation has been. But at the same time, there is a lot of concern because the death toll is increasing. As I mentioned, eight last night, 10 the night before. Some bodies have been found inside destroyed buildings in Bat Yam and other places that have also increased the death toll, which is now about two dozen.

That's probably going to increase. And again, we're talking about a country that had been used to the fact that they have very strong defenses and very good early warning systems. OK, Matt Bradley, thank you for that. Live from Tel Aviv.

Let's turn now to Yamiche, who is in Canada traveling with the president. Yamiche, what are you hearing from administration officials as this conflict between Israel and Iran escalates? Is there concern that the U.S. military may need to get involved?

Well, there's definitely a conflict and a contrast. You have traditional Republicans who are sort of toying with the idea that the U.S. military might need to get involved in this escalation between Iran and Israel gets worse. But then you have traditional MAGA sort of conservatives who have been with President Trump since he rolled down that escalator 10 years ago.

And they don't want to see the U.S. pulled into another war. And, of course, President Trump has campaigned first for now three times, actually, on the idea that the U.S. was involved in too many wars and that he wasn't going to be spending our military personnel into any wars.

That being said, the president has been very clear that he's going to continue to support Israel and its right to defend itself. We know that the United States has been helping Israel shoot down some of those missiles that Iran has been shooting toward it. I also just talked to a source who confirmed with me that President Trump is not going to sign So Israel has to face up to the fact that neither the elimination of Iran's nuclear might nor a regime change is something they can necessarily accomplish with military force. So then the question is, where do they go from here?

All right, let's quickly talk about the G7 summit. I want you to listen to what President Trump said today. The G7 used to be the G8. Barack Obama and a person named Trudeau didn't want to have Russia in.

And I would say that that was a mistake because I think you wouldn't have a war right now if you had Russia in. He also opened the door, the president did, to China potentially joining the G7. How are those remarks going to go over with the other G7 allies? Well, the Russian one won't go over at all, Will.

The United States is really in a very different place when it comes to Russia, Russia's responsibility for the ongoing war against Ukraine. China is a more complicated decision, but again, there's other fora for that. You've got the UN Security Council, you've got the G20, and so forth. The whole idea of the G7 is to really be a coordinating committee for what we used to call the West.

The United States, its principal allies in Europe and Japan. And I actually think there's still a case for that. And there's other ways to reach out to Moscow or Beijing through other channels or other fora. Okay, what's your hot spot?

Covered a lot today, sir. Thank you so much for being here. We appreciate it. Thank you.

Up next, hundreds of thousands of protesters took to the streets nationwide to protest the actions of the Trump administration, including immigration raids taking place in major cities. You're watching Meet the Press Now. Last summer, the coolest place in the house was in your freezer. This year, it's time to level up.

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Prices subject to change. Visit today.com slash Xfinity for full offer terms and details. Welcome back. The White House tells NBC News it will deliver, quote, the largest single mass deportation program in history, even as it's now pausing some arrests.

This according to a memo obtained by NBC News. ICE will pause immigration enforcement activities at work sites pertaining to the agriculture, restaurant and hotel industries. That reversal in administration policy comes amid concerns from industry executives about losing reliable workers. Meanwhile, the president is calling on ICE and other law enforcement agencies to expand their deportation efforts in Democratic run cities.

Speaking to reporters today at the G7, President Trump reiterated his plan to go after immigrants in sanctuary cities. I want you to focus on the cities because the cities are where you really have what's called sanctuary cities. And that's where the people are. Biden allowed twenty one million people to come into our country of that vast numbers of those people were murderers, killers, people from gangs, people from jails.

They emptied their jails out into the U.S. Most of those people are in the cities, all blue cities, all Democrat run cities. It follows a weekend of protests in cities like Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and Philadelphia marching in opposition to the president's agenda. Joining me now on set is NBC News senior homeland security correspondent Julia Ainsley and NBC News chief justice and national affairs correspondent Kelly O'Donnell.

Thank you guys both for being here. Julia, let's start with you. I mean, what more can you tell us about this new exemption that the president announced over the weekend? He kind of teased it.

Now it looks like it's actually being implemented. What does it mean for immigration enforcement? Well, it means that they're going to be prohibited on where but not who they can arrest. So this is primarily focused on the workplaces for anyone in the agriculture industry.

That includes fisheries and meatpacking plants as well as hospitality, restaurants and hotels that they don't want to do. Worksite enforcement at those places, but it does not prohibit them from arresting those people, those employees in their communities, at their houses, dropping off their kids at school. What this means is it protects the employers more than the employees and really saves them from that optics of a workplace raid. What it also does is it's another hindrance for ICE when they're trying to meet this 3000 daily quota that Stephen Miller set.

So far, they're usually averaging over 2000 arrests a day, which is still a historic high. But without those workplace raids where sometimes they could sweep up over 100 people, they admit in this memo that this will be a problem in trying to reach those target numbers. Also, what's the sense in shielding employers that are also breaking the law? Obviously, they feel that the folks that are in this country illegally are breaking the law, but aren't these employers somewhat complicit?

Well, in the first whisper that we had of this, it came from Trump when he posted on Truth Social on Thursday where he said if he was hearing from the leaders of those sectors. So it seemed that he wanted to do something that's sympathetic to the employers, not to the employees. Raise some questions about the decision making there. But we've also seen how Los Angeles has responded to the ICE raids.

How are officials in these Democratic cities, the cities that President Trump was attacking there? How are they preparing for these similar crackdowns? Well, we've definitely seen some fierce opposition from the mayor of Chicago as well as Gavin Newsom posting on X just yesterday over Father's Day, making a lot of his posts about how against he was of the Trump enforcement actions that have been going on in LA. We're also starting to see more protests potentially coming soon in Portland.

Seattle is another area they plan to target. And we also know that they have plans to send ICE SWAT teams into New York, Philadelphia and the D.C. area. So this will be the test for these mayors to see, do they change their sanctuary city policies?

That seems less likely, or is this their chance to stand up to Trump and really try to say that this is a moral line that they're drawing here? Kelly, the president and his associates have bragged that immigration is their 70-30 issue. How is the base of the party responding to this carveout that he's seemingly pulled out of the blue? Well, we've seen, especially from Trump supporters, broad support for his most talked about approach, which is those who have criminal records and that kind of thing.

When it gets to areas of the workplace, there can still be a bit of the support in the mega faction, but more of an understanding of the practical and of how the demands of the workplace, whether it is rural and agricultural or in a city factory location. And frankly, there are many businesses that rely on undocumented migrants to work positions that are critical. But you do see a bit of a concern about what you might even describe as the migrants people know, people who have a relationship in their community with people who are providing childcare or working in nursing homes or working in restaurants and all those different places where they might find employment. So there's a bit of a divide there, but overwhelmingly the president does say that this is a policy that sticks.

I think one of the other questions will be, is the law being applied equally around the country? If he is targeting blue cities and blue states, when is there an unequal enforcement of the law? Right. And I guess that goes back to my earlier question about the employer's being a bit complicit in this, right?

Because isn't this part of the problem with the immigration policy right now? Is that you have a situation where the economy to a certain extent is propped up by all of these workers who are in this country illegally. And it begs the question, Kelly, when the president says that these immigration operations are going to target these democratic led cities and not the heartland. Well, we know how that looks on the map, right?

The democratic cities are all blue. The heartland is red. Is it really more about politics than it is policy? Well, certainly he is linking it to the sanctuary city concept.

And of course, that came out of the thinking that if you inhibit people in communities by having local law enforcement working with federal immigration law enforcement, that there are a lot of social problems that come from that. People who are afraid to report violent crimes, which would be a local or state matter, and it inhibits the community. It puts a chilling effect on the community. That's where that comes from.

Very different than some of what the president is concerned about. But the heartland and the rural states, obviously many of those locations voted overwhelmingly for president Trump, but they also have agrarian workers. They also have undocumented migrants who are working in all kinds of areas. If you go to a dairy location, if you go to a meatpacking, you're going to find there are a And the people seem to have right now around the future of the country.

We have just an extremely polarized environment when it comes to politics. You saw the shooting in Minnesota. You saw the president extremely contending it, saying that he's going to launch an investigation with Attorney General Paul Bondi and asking the FBI to take this on, really. But at the same time, you still have him criticizing Governor Walz.

We know that Vice President Judy Vance has spoken to him specifically, and you had bipartisan condemnation. But there's really still an air of right-wing conspirator. They've really driven extremism and some of the violence that we've seen over the last couple years. So Stephen, Republicans will say there's been Republicans that have also been victims of political violence.

Of course, we're around the year anniversary of the baseball shooting. Rand Paul was a victim of political violence. But how much of this do you think emanates from President Trump and the rhetoric that he has brought to the table 10 years ago when he first launched his political career? Yeah, a good bit of it.

I mean, I do think it's the case. It's always frustrating after incidents like what happened in Minnesota when you have partisans who immediately start to cheer for the possibility that this is not associated with their political parties. Whooped mentality in my mind. But look, I mean, it's not just Donald Trump's rhetoric.

It's what he did. I mean, one of the first things he did as president in the second term was pardon the January 6th rioters, including people who had committed violence against police officers. That's an unmistakable sign that as long as you commit violence on my behalf, violence is not objectionable. And of course, President Trump has been the victim of political violence, right?

As he was almost killed during an event during the campaign and it's been 10 years since he descended down that golden escalator. We haven't seen him really break from this rhetoric, this harsh rhetoric that he's used since he launched his campaigns. He echoed some of that same language we heard in his earlier speeches. He's accusing cities like New York and Chicago, the immigrants there being criminals.

Should we be surprised at all that this is now manifesting itself in these ICE crackdowns and then the resulting kind of political tumult as a result? Well, he's benefited from making politics tribal and his tribe is particularly significant, influential, impactful, as you know. And it's always rewarded him to galvanize his base, even with the purple numbers that you were just talking about. You see intensity among his core supporters often telling that core base of people, I'm in some degree of a fight with either partisans or undocumented immigrants.

And I find it all heinous, but I'm reminded that, you know, good leaders, when they talk, your words fall on the serious and delirious alike. You never know who's listening and who's going to pick up the wrong coded message from you. And good responsible leaders know that and are trying to channel people to their better humanity and the better ambitions. And unfortunately, we have a president who often likes to cater to the worst.

So then how do Democrats respond? Because it seems as though they've had a very difficult time over the past 10 years. Some have tried to meet his rhetoric and attack with just harsher terms. Others have tried that more kind route.

None of them seem to be working. What is the path forward for Democrats, A, to win elections, but then do so in a way that brings that rhetoric and that kind of tension down? Just integrity. I mean, knowing that when you say things, it's not a political game, that you have sincerity and convictions around wanting to do something.

When you're a political party, the purpose of being a political party is to be a governing party. So that when I am a governing party, I will do things to improve your life. And right now the Democratic Party is suffering from the fact that it has the least definition, at least in my lifetime, of being for an agenda. If I pulled you right now, Ryan, and said, hey, you know, Democrats in the House and Senate and the president, what are they going to do?

I don't think you would know. And I think a lot of people would know. And that there you go is your challenge with the Democratic Party. I think at a very minimum, Democrats have to avoid doing the same thing, right?

I mean, we remember Chuck Schumer basically threatening Supreme Court justices if they voted the wrong way on an abortion case. You had, you know, somebody like Senator Chris Murphy, who after the assassination of the United Healthcare CEO, you know, put out a statement and said, look, I don't, of course, I don't agree with murder, but people are really upset and we should really take heed of these things. And I think Democrats have every bit of as much an obligation as Republicans do to be very careful about their language. But I like the line about serious and hilarious.

You don't know who's listening. Right. I want to put up some numbers from our new NBC News poll powered by SurveyMonkey. The poll found that 51% of Americans approve the president's handling of immigration issues right now.

49% do not. It kind of lends to what you were talking about before, this extremely divided electorate. But is that the fact that it is so divided? Is that any reason for the White House to maybe rethink their approach when it comes to these immigration issues?

Well, we have seen President Trump rethink specifically deportations of farm workers and people in the hospitality industry. But something that's important about that is he specifically said that was for business reasons. And I think he's someone who is very conscious of the economy. He does not want to see those numbers trending in the wrong direction.

But when you get into those polling numbers, voters specifically say they're not comfortable with deporting people who don't necessarily have criminal records. But overall, when it comes to deportations, when it comes to people with criminal records, voters do support that. So this is really a thorny issue. And I think it's so hard for Democrats to support.

But President Trump still has the majority backing of Americans when it comes to his immigration policies. Stephen, does it make sense that he says the business owners that are employing these illegal immigrants should have special protections, but the folks doing the work could still be arrested and sent to their own country? I mean, it makes sense in the sense that you can understand why he would say it. No doubt he's been getting phone calls from some of his fellow business owners.

But I don't think it makes sense on a policy level. I think the interesting thing here is the split among not just Republicans, but Republicans in the Trump White House. I mean, Stephen Miller has been Trump's brain on this issue for as long as we can remember. And he's pushing more harder, harder core public line than the president is.

That's that's an interesting split. There was also a letter from six House Republicans last week asking for details about whether how many what percentage of these folks were that are being targeted were or have been detained, where it had criminal records. Republicans are starting to raise questions about those issues as well. If a bill comes to the floor in the House or the Senate that allows this carve out for hospitality workers and for farm workers, doesn't necessarily give them a path to citizenship, but it protects their ability to be in this country and work.

Should Democrats vote yes for that? They're going to be inclined to. Some of them probably. I mean, obviously, you want to protect certain people who have done nothing wrong.

And I promise you, as much as you want to protect them, there's people hanging out outside Home Depot similarly who have done nothing wrong. Apparently are not just continuing to be targeted from what I gather. And so I don't know that these carve outs solve the fundamental problem, which is, as I understood Donald Trump, the way in which he campaigned was to say there's criminals and I'm going after the criminals. And these people, you know, they're not the violent criminals.

And now that this the kind of slippery slope has occurred where apparently anybody and everybody should be fearing for their lives or their safety and their freedom. So it doesn't make a lot of sense. I think that thankfully the vast majority of American public know that. Let's put up this other poll about the track the country's heading on, according to our latest NBC News poll.

61 percent of Americans say that the country is on the wrong track. That's one of the big leading indicators heading into elections as to how people end up voting. Do you expect there's going to be more protests like we saw over the weekend? The organizers say five million people took to the streets in part because of how they're feeling about that.

Is this something that is probably only going to grow as we head to the 2026 midterms? Well, if you ask the White House about that poll, they would just point to another one just a few weeks ago that said just the opposite. They continue to believe that President Trump's policies do have the support of a majority of Americans. But you did see these protests over the weekend, thousands across the country.

The snows King's protests. And I think that message specifically about democracy was hard for Democrats to deliver in 2024. And I think it's going to continue to unless there's going to be more examples of problems with due process. Potentially the president overstepping state officials like we saw him doing in California.

OK, sorry, that's my fault. Thank you all for being here. We'll be back tomorrow with more. Beat the press.

Now this continues with Tom Gassel and for Helley Jackson right now. It's here. The Ford is a big deal. The Ford is a big deal.

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