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From the cliffs of Normandy, President Biden tries to rally Americans and U.S. allies in defense of democracy as the White House faces two wars abroad and mounting political challenges here at home. Plus, a dramatic day in court as Hunter Biden's daughter takes the stand for the defense, for emotional testimony driving her father to tears as the question now looms, will Hunter testify himself? And US Job growth comes in hot and mad with hiring and wa meeting expectations as President Biden struggles to make up political ground on the issue of the economy.
Welcome to MEET THE PRESS now. David Terrace in Washington as President Biden is once again on the world stage urging Americans and US Allies to renew the fight for democracy, while back at home he's trying to brand his opponent as a threat to democracy even as his presidency finds political headwinds and troublesome poll numbers. Today, the president spoke from Point Duhakan, Normandy, atop the steep cliffs that Allied forces scale to stop Nazi machine guns from firing at Allied soldiers as they stormed the beaches on D Day. The president invoked the bravery and the sacrifice of those men 80 years ago as he called on Americans to take up the cause of protecting democracy today.
As we gather here today, it's not just to honor those who showed such remarkable bravery on that day, June 6, 1944. It's to listen to the echoes of their voices, to hear them. Because they are summoning us and they're summoning us now. They ask us what will we do.
They're not asking us to scale these cliffs. They're asking us to stay true to what America stands for. They're asking us to do our job, to protect freedom in our time, to defend democracy, to stand up aggression abroad and at home, to be part of something bigger than ourselves. Like his remarks at the American cemetery in Normandy yesterday, the president also drew direct parallels to the threat from Russia and Vladimir Putin as he urged his support from allies more than two years into the war in Ukraine.
Defending democracy against extremism is a message the president often invokes at home as part of his re election campaign. But that message, rallying behind the cause of democracy, does not appear to be boosting the president's standing with voters. New polling shows President Biden trailing former President Trump in keyboard rounds and tied in Virginia, a state Biden won by more than 10 points in 2020. As an issue, threats to democracy are not voters top concern.
And the president has struggled to connect with voters on what is their top issue, the economy, despite a stretch of positive economic indicators, including today, as the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported surprisingly strong job growth for the month of May. But just last month, nearly half of Americans rated the country's economic conditions as poor, with just 22% calling it excellent. And joining me now from Paris is NBC senior White House correspondent Kelly o'. Donnell.
Vaughn Hilliard is in Scottsdale, Arizona with the latest from Trump World. And here with me on set is Jen Psaki, former White House press secretary and host of Inside with Jen Psaki on msnbc. Thank you all so much for joining me. Kelly, I want to start with you.
In Paris, a choice for a location for today's speech seems to be inviting the raid in comparison. So are the White House and the Biden team happy with what we heard from the president today? They are. And of course, it was history itself and battle and the events of that day that necessitated highlighting the beaches of Normandy and this particular cliff really described not only bravery but skill that American Army Rangers displayed 80 years ago.
And so having that Reagan comparison, he forced the well known speech 40 years ago, it certainly invites in the political space those who might be admirers of Ronald Reagan, who might be independent voters, who might be Republicans, who are not inclined to be in step with Donald Trump in this election. And so making those comparisons might open some doorways there. But the underpinnings of the history itself, the message about democracy being a call to each generation to do a job, maybe not a job that required the kind of life and death drama of D Day 80 years ago, but that there are other things in which Americans are asked to uphold values, to vote in the way that they believe would support the American ideals, and to take positions in everyday life that support freedom and support those kinds of ideas. To be willing to step up is basically the message of the president today.
So it had the location, it had history, it had political rhetorical history, and it had a chance for Joe Biden to talk about things that were not directly invoking Donald Trump, but that was certainly evident for those who were listening for it. Yeah, Kelly, you mentioned Donald Trump and perhaps reaching out to independent voters in the speech without actually mentioning his name. As you well pointed out, this wasn't a campaign speech. But how does the speech mesh with the ongoing theme of democracy under threat we've heard from President Biden in both his capacity as president and candidate?
How effective do you think that that message will be when it comes to voters over the next coming months? Well, it will be a test for Joe Biden, who has been talking about democracy and doing it in a lot of different venues. This may be a venue invoking all of the emotion and the reverence for D Day that takes people out of the contemporary political space and has them think about these issues in a bigger, more enduring way. Maybe that is a door that opens it up.
When you look at the debates that are going on, you have certainly lawmakers in Congress or supporters of Donald Trump who have not backed the war in Ukraine and the US Support there. There's conflict over the war in Israel and Gaza. There are concerns about the border and Republicans in Congress who did not support the bipartisan legislation. So the president went with an executive order earlier this week.
So there are all kinds of implications in terms of policy, in terms of national security that are current discussions of democracy. And this might be a way for the president to reach into that, using D Day as a means. Kelly o', Donnell, live for us in Paris with a beautiful backdrop. Kelly, thank you.
I want to turn now to Vaughn Hillier. He's in Arizona. And Vaughn, while President Biden has been in Normandy, his opponent has been on the campaign trail. So what did we hear from Trump yesterday?
We heard a lot about immigration here. This was his first return to the state of Arizona since October 2022, right before those midterm elections when you saw candidates like Carrie Lake, close allies of his, lose up and down statewide races. And in that 2022 midterms, you saw the democracy question and the election deniers who were the Trump aligned candidates running, the voters who Rep. Bringing up the threat of having the lack of certification of actual election results come into play at the state level.
You also heard about abortion. Those issues largely not just here in Arizona, but in key battleground states around the country, propelled Democrats in the midterms. And yet you saw in the poll that you suggested immigration remains a forefront of the concern of the general election electorate. You saw Donald Trump honing in on that and trying to play to that is an issue that he believes is politically relevant to him.
Look, even Donald Trump at the same time also likes to Talk about democracy. He did that just yesterday with Donald Trump misrepresents how 2020 election went. He lies repeatedly that he actually wanted, as he did just again yesterday, and he continues to paint false misrepresentations about the justice system here in the United States for the crowds that are ultimately going to be determining whether he gets put back in the White House, including about this trial calling a rigged trial against him. Of course, there's 12 jurors who were selected, and ultimately one of the ones that unanimously determined to convict him.
But for Donald Trump, so much of his political fate rests on the realities that he is painting for the electorate at large and putting it up against the one that Joe Biden is making a clear contrast about with his Republican rival. And, Vaughn, we were talking about this yesterday while you were at that rally. And former President Trump is really continued to flirt with that idea of revenge and political retribution after his conviction in the New York trial. Does Trump see that message as having any sort of appeal beyond his base?
This is the part, I think, Kate, where we get into the politics of how you win in a place like Arizona, lost by 11,000 votes in 2020. And on one hand, Donald Trump, his campaign, believe that they're going to be able to effectively convince part of the independent or historically resident conservatives toward him that he has been unfairly targeted and that these charges were brought against him for political purposes, that he was running for president of the United States. But there's also the part of the electorate that they hope they can turn from Trump supporters and Trump voters, those who can even vote in 2020, they believe, can be very angry and frustrated by what has taken place in the trial against him. I want you to listen to Donald Trump last night in a conversation with Dr.
Phil McGraw. You don't have time to get even. You only have time to get right. Well, revenge does take time.
I will say that it does. And sometimes revenge can be justified. But I have to be honest, sometimes it can. But is a country better or worse for them going after you?
I think the country is really worse for what they've done. And I think you see that when you look at the poll numbers, when you see that almost $400 million is poured in since this horrible decision was made. Narrative there for Donald Trump, him believing the high fundraising numbers, the $140 million his campaign is brought in since the guilty verdict, he believes it as justification for the way that he has portrayed his own conviction. And for Donald Trump, I think it's important to know what he's equivocated throughout the week on whether he would use retribution if he were to take back the White House.
Over the last year, Donald Trump has repeatedly named individuals who he would seek to have indicted or arrested everybody from Bill and Hillary Clinton to Judge and Goran who also oversized him for fraud trial to Letitia James, New York attorney general just yesterday, hopefully indictment of the members of Congress who are the January 6th select committee. And so. Well, he could quickly gain some answers like that where with Dr. Phil he is time again repeated that he believes that there should be individuals, those perceived political enemies of his targeted theory back in the White House in 2025.
Dave, Bonnie Hill, you're blocked for us in Arizona. Bond. Thank you. I want to turn now to Jen.
Saki was with me here on set. And Jen, you were just listening to that sound that we played from former President Trump. He said believe revenge can take some time. Yes.
What do you think? You know, I think it goes right at the heart of what actually Joe Biden was trying to remind people of, which is that, you know, the reason why he gave a speech like that one Ronald Reagan, as you said, he was, he was tapping into like the themes of that and the theme of Reagan's speech from 40 years ago and the theme of President Biden's speech. And they were similar. Right.
Which were about these rangers, these brave allied forces who were thinking about something bigger than themselves. And look in Kelly mentioned this as well. President Biden would of course, not give an overly political speech overseas. But think of how remarkable this is.
The president, Democratic president is now relying on a former Republican president to get his message, to try and attract more voters. Is that where we are in his campaign, that President Biden views himself as close to Ronald Reagan than Donald Trump views himself closer to Reagan? I think that's probably true and it is remarkable. But it also speaks to regardless of who's relying on whom.
Is that the theme of Ronald Reagan's speech and the theme of President Biden's speech has been consistent, not in a partisan way, about what US American values are, about fighting, standing, standing right beside our allies, about standing up for democracy. Those were the themes in the speeches. And so I think when you hear a comment, just go back to your original question, like revenge takes time. That's like revenge is his revenge on other people.
That is a campaign about himself. What the president is trying, President Biden is trying to convey, and we'll see if it's successful, is I'm going to fight for you. Let's think about who we are as a country, these brave men who scaled, you know, who went to the beaches of Normandy, who scaled the wall, who are these allied forces, these rangers. We are bigger than this.
It's about fighting for something bigger than yourself. And he's fighting for himself. Something that Vaughn alluded to I want to ask you about. It seems that Donald Trump and his allies now are really trying to co opt that message of threats to democracy.
We've been hearing President Vaughn talk about president for a long time, talk about him in 2020. His campaign is really hitting that hard this time around. But you think the Republicans are essentially turning it on its head and, you know, making this conscious effort to describe, yeah, I think there's a threat to democracy. But it's you Democrats prosecuting, you know, Democrats and prosecuting Republicans and weaponizing the justice system, as they say, are Republicans.
Does that cancel it out for voters? Does that neutralize the democracy? It shouldn't. But you've traveled around the world, you've covered a lot of things around the world.
You know, this is authoritarian esque tactic. It's a Putin esque tactic, which is to throw back, project onto others what you yourself are doing to muddy the waters. So it's a political tactic. Will it work?
It didn't work in 2022, as Gabe alluded to while snatching up in the polls now leading up to 2022, in the post analysis of the 2022 midterms, democracy was trend center for people and Democrats did well because of their fight for democracy. But yes, this is a, this is an authoritarian tactic I think Trump is using and his allies are using to try to muddy the waters, make everything seem corrupt, everybody seem bad. So whether or not that threats of democracy message actually works or not, something that a lot of people focus on the economy. There was a good jobs report today, do you think, in the next coming months?
We've been talking about the economy now for the last several months. The Biden campaign really, you know, hasn't capitalized on that. You know, some blame the media for not focusing on enough. But what do you think the campaign needs to do in the economy wants to really finally break through with that?
Well, I think what I can tell you from doing a lot of presidential campaigns is you can't tell people how they feel about the economy. Right. And nobody votes. And we all cover and talk about GDP numbers.
They're important, as are these monthly job numbers. People don't vote on data, they vote on how they feel. Right. And so for the what I think is incumbent on them.
And what they're discussing internally, I bet, is how to tap into kind of the emotions and the heartstrings of people to remind them that he's the person who's going to fight for them, not Donald Trump. That's what it's ultimately about, not necessarily the data because people vote on how they feel, not what kind of their GDP numbers are telling them. Yeah. And that's so interesting.
Tough part for politicians. Very tough. No question. Always a pleasure to be here to have your expertise.
And coming up, a highly emotional day in court with Hunter Biden's own daughter Naomi addressing her father's drug use on the witness stand. Now the question of whether Hunter himself could be called to testify or lie outside the courthouse with the very latest next. Plus, new NBC report by Republican Party insiders to help progressive activist Cornell west in his campaign for president. That story straight ahead.
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Day five of Hunter Biden's criminal trial in Wilmington, Delaware, has concluded, with the prosecution resting its case and Hunter Biden's eldest daughter taking a stand for the defense. It was an emotional day of testimony. According to our reporters in the room, Naomi Biden spoke quietly as she answered questions, saying she was nervous. Her father, Hunter Biden, could be seen wiping away tears as she spoke.
Naomi testified extensively about her relationship with her father, saying he seemed, quote, hopeful when she saw him in October of 2018, around the same time he purchased a firearm and attested on a federal background check form that he was not using drugs. The trial is set to resume Monday morning, at which point the defense will have to decide whether to call Hunter himself as their final witness. Joining me now from outside that courthouse is NBC News White House correspondent Mike Mendeley. Mike, what stood out to you about the defense calling Hunter's own daughter to the stand?
And how did the rest of the family react? Well, Gabe, there have been some difficult moments. There have been some emotional moments. And yes, there have been some embarrassing moments for hurt her by men for his family throughout the week.
But the word that really came to mind today as we took stock of this testimony from his eldest daughter, Naomi, was tragic that she came to the courtroom, she went to the witness stand clearly hoping to help her father's case. She testified in response to questions from the defense attorney, Abby Lowell, about seeing her father the summer of 2018, that she was proud of him, that he was as clean as he had been since the death of her uncle three years earlier. They talked about a trip to New York where they in addition to introducing her father to her future husband, they were able to spend some time together. And she was able to testify about not seeing any drug car family in the car that was ultimately where the gun was discovered.
Next day, a key piece of evidence. But then under some very, very tough questioning from the prosecution, she was confronted with some text messages that it wasn't clear if the defense counsel knew was coming about texts from her father late in the middle of the night where she wasn't sure where he was or why she was texting. He was texting that late about whether she was familiar with a man named Frankie, who we know from earlier testimony was a drug dealer, according to his ex girlfriend. And so this ended up feeling like a witness who ended up backfiring.
And the emotion of the family certainly reflected that where they had been previously, some handshakes, some hugs in a positive tone as they were leaving the courtroom during breaks and past days. Today was a much more somber tone than the family. You know, Mike, I want to pick up on something you said. How is it possible that the defense wouldn't have known about those text messages?
Well, there had been a significant amount of, especially in those pretrial hearings, debates and discussions about what evidence could be introduced. We saw Abilol wanting to introduce some text messages that were relevant during the testimony from Hallie Biden the day before that the judge had ruled out. And the tactics he used to try to get them introduced into evidence were very tortured. And so Abilol had said as well during some of these pre trial hearings that he did not have enough time to prepare for this trial.
He asked for an extension in the timeline. And so that kind of lack of preparation perhaps revealed itself today during that moment. And so Mike, what are some of the considerations going into whether Hunter himself will take the stand next week? That could be huge.
Well, given the direction that this week has gone and it feels like it's gotten in a very bad direction for Hunter Biden, the question is what testimony. Could he offer to both maybe bring the jury into his mindset to speak to whether he was in fact clean, at least in his own view, when he purchased that gun and checked that he was not an addict on that form? Is there any better way to maybe humanize him, to create some sympathy for him in the jury? Or could it under prosecutorial cross examination backfire yet again?
We understand that Hunter Biden has done some extensive mock testimony with his team, as much as 20 hours in the previous weeks. He certainly seems like he thinks he could do himself some good. But the way in which the defense counsel seem to abruptly change their strategy after Naomi's testimony today, canceling plans for James Biden's uncle to testify, it seems like this is a very crucial set of decisions that the family had to make over the weekend about whether serves his case. Mike Memoli live for us in Delaware.
Mike, thank you. And up next, new NBC News reporting and the guy the Republican Party just hired to help craft the party's platform, his deep connections to the election denying Stop the Steal movement and what it means for the Republican Party. You're watching MEET THE PRESS now. Welcome back.
Just over a month out from the Republican National Convention, the RNC is tapping a prominent supporter of the Stop the Steel movement to help craft its party platform. IMBC News colleagues Sahil Kapoor and Ryan Reilly report that Ed Martin, former chair of the Missouri Republican Party, who was in D.C. on January 6, was selected to serve as deputy policy director for the Republican Platform Committee, which drafts the policies the party will run on in November. And joining me now, one of the authors behind this piece, NBC News, is Sahil Kapoor.
And Saho, I want to talk about your reporting. Just break it down for us. Who is Ed Martin and why did the RNC bring him in? Hey, Gabriel, Ed Martin is a social conservative activist.
He's a protege of the late Phyllis Schlackley. He's outspoken on some common conservative causes, you know, such as opposing legal abortion, such as opposing same sex marriage. He opposes no fault divorce. What caught our eye here is how prominent a figure he was in that so called Stop the Steal movement leading up to January 6, 2021.
He was hired just a few weeks ago by the RNC to be the deputy policy director on the platform committee who will write the platform that the party runs on in 2024. And what we found is that he was outspoken and denying the result of the 2020 election he claimed Donald Trump won. When Trump actually lost, he spoke at a Stop the Steel rally on the eve of January 6th. And he attended Trump's famous speech on January 6th.
On the day of January 6th, he marched with a mob of Trump supporters. And he tweeted hashtag stopthesteel. He tweeted hashtag do notcertify onwards, saying that Congress should overturn the result of that election. And as the violence was happening, he downplayed it.
He compared it to Marty Groff. Later, he claimed that the optics of January 6th were staged, that the violence didn't actually happen, promoting several conspiracy theories that have persisted. Now, Martin has not walked back those comments at any point. He did not respond to our request for comment.
But after our story was published, he tweeted and let's show his tweet. Martin tweeted it with the caption, quote, thank you for noticing my work. That sounds like he believes that it's not relevant as being hired by the RNC or it's a net positive that election denial in this era of Donald Trump as he marches to a third successive nomination is a net positive for him within the party now. Yeah, it's pretty remarkable.
He likes the attention, obviously. So this is a trend inside the rnc. How many election deniers are there in positions of power right now? Oh, it absolutely is.
I mean, you start with the man right at the top, Donald Trump, former president. He's about to be nominated again. He has exerted tire control of rnc, appointing as his handpicked chairman named Michael Watley, who has refused to commit to, you know, accepting the 2024 election result of Donald Trump loses Trump at the point of the chairperson, his daughter in law, Lara Trump, who has claimed that there was massive fraud in the 2020 election, echoing his claims as well. And of course, some of Donald Trump's own vice presidential contenders, including senators like Mark Rubio, who are to certify Joe Biden's legitimate victory in the 2020 election, are now saying they won't commit to, you know, accepting the 2024 results.
So this is not a story about one person. That's the key thing here, Gabe. This is a story about the institutionalization of this Stop the Seal philosophy at all levels of the Republican Party. You either embrace it or you go along with it, or you quietly avoid criticizing it.
Because if you do criticize it and you do criticize the man at the top, Donald Trump, you probably don't have much of a future in the days. Sonic, thank you so much for that reporting. And turning now to more new reporting from our NBC Politics team, this time on a third party presidential bid from left wing activist Cornell West. My NC News colleague Alex Seitzwald reports that West's campaign is essentially broke and is struggling to get on the ballot across the country.
His campaign spent more on graphic design than ballot access efforts last month. And at the same time, Seitzwald reports operatives with Republican ties are trying to get west on the ballot in key states like North Carolina. Some Democrats are worried that it's part of a Republican effort to elevate west and pull votes away from President Biden. And joining me now is the aforementioned NBC News senior digital politics reporter Alex Heitzwald.
Alex, so empty the notebook for us. What is going on with Cornell's ballot access campaign and does his campaign actually know that these Republicans are trying to get on the ballot? Yeah, Gabe, this is something there have been rumors about for a long time and I've been chasing this story for about a month, but wasn't able to really nail down any hard evidence until I got an email earlier this week obtained through a FOIA request from a North Carolina elections official that showed the new party being formed by Cornell west ally as to get on the ballot in North Carolina authorized three people to pick up and drop off signatures on his behalf as part of the ballot access efforts. All three of those people work for a Republican consulting firm out of Colorado.
Why are they in North Carolina helping North Carolina on the ballot? They wouldn't tell me. They didn't respond to request for comment. So that leaves the only plausible supposition which is that they are trying to help Donald Trump and hurt Joe Biden by quote unquote taking votes away from Joe Biden.
That's what another Republican operator said when he was spotted in April outside a Trump rally also in North Carolina registering people for Cornell West. But does Cornel west know this is happening? No. Or at least they say they don't.
They did not respond to comment for days and then finally got respond to them today saying that they had no idea these people were involved with public confirmed, but they also did not disavow it. They say we have a wide range of supporters from across the ideological spectrum. The chairman of that new party in North Carolina that is trying to get them on the ballot said he knew these people only as volunteers and he said that their names had been given to him by the National Coronavirus campaign on a list of volunteers and march with people who had experience with petition gathering. So you know, do they know?
It's hard to really say, but it really looks like somebody we don't know who is trying to help Cornwall West Gang on the ballot. And his campaign is doesn't seem to be looking too hard into reading this. Alex Einswald, thank you so much for that reporting. We appreciate it.
And after the break, President Biden's personal apology to Ukrainian President Zelensky as he vows the US's unwavering support in its fight against Russia. The former ambassador to Ukraine joined is next. You're watching BE PRESS now. Stay with us.
I apologize for the those weeks of not knowing what's going to happen in terms of funding because we had trouble getting the bill. We had to pass that money in it some, some of our very conservative members who were holding it up. But we got it done finally. Welcome back.
That was President Biden earlier today in Paris offering a public apology to President Zelensky for the months long delay in getting US military assistance to Ukraine during which which Russian troops were able to make significant gains on the battlefield, particularly in northeast Ukraine. And during that bilateral meeting, President Biden also announced a new $225 million military aid package for Ukraine that includes much needed artillery, artillery and ammunition. In response, President Zelenskyy thanked the US for continuing to stand shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine. Joining me now is Bill Taylor, former U.S.
ambassador to Ukraine and Vice president for Europe and Russia at the US Institute of Peace. Ambassador, thank you so much for joining us. What was your reaction to hearing President Biden publicly apologize on behalf of the US for that delay in getting weapons to Ukraine? So as you described, that six month delay was painful, costly.
Soldiers died, many soldiers died. They lost territory. So I was there three times during that six months during the delay. And each time I could feel the anxiety on the part of the Ukrainians rising.
And in particular, again, as you said, the Russians took advantage. The Russians realized that the Americans were not providing the same kind of weapons that they had been and there was going to be some delay in the ammunition and the Ukrainian, Ukrainians couldn't defend themselves against the Russian attacks, in particular the drones and missiles. So the Russians took advantage of it and it was very painful. So this was this, this was good that the president recognized exactly the problem.
You just mentioned the anxiety of the Ukrainian people. But we've also been reporting about some of the friction between Kyiv and Washington over that pace of U.S. military assistance as well as attention. The current U.S.
ambassador about her focus on anti corruption reforms. What are you hearing on that front from the people in Ukraine? Is it not just anxiety but is there real friction here? Okay, there's always discussion, conversations.
I Wouldn't say friction. I would say there's emphasis. The emphasis clearly has to be on winning this war. They do have to win the peace, and that's the reform that needs to happen.
And they need to do that now. But their first priority has to be, and frankly is to win this war. So that is. That is the discussion.
Everybody agrees with that. There's no disagreement on the US Side or on the Ukrainian side on individual tactics, individual decisions? Yes, there can be conversations. The Ukrainians know best how they're going to win this war, and they need our help.
They definitely need our help. Once they have that, they can move forward. And I think you will see that that movement has support from this administration and from the rest of NATO. Ambassador, I want to talk about something that we're hearing will be a big topic of discussion next week at the G7 summit in Italy.
Sources familiar with planning tell me that one of the issues that we'll be talking about is this idea of funding Ukraine, the war in Ukraine, long term, essentially, because they acknowledge that the political will here in the United States and really around the world has been dropping in that sense. So they're thinking of perhaps using the interest off of seized Russian assets and giving that to Ukraine and perhaps in the form of some loan. Have you heard that? What is your.
What are your thoughts on that type of idea to help fund the war? Absolutely. No, that. That makes perfect sense.
Makes a whole lot of sense. At least take the interest from that $300 billion of Russian Central bank reserve that are in western banks. That 300 billion is frozen. And the question is what to do, how to provide that to the Ukrainians.
The first and likely first step is you do exactly what you said, take the interest, make it the down loans, the collateral for loans, and provide those loans to the Ukrainians. But they should really take the next step. Take the next step at 300 billion. It's frozen.
Seize it, Take it from those banks and provide it to the Ukrainians both to fund the war, but also to fund the reconstruction. So, yes, they should definitely do that. And this has got some attention as well. Later this month, there will be a gathering of world leaders in Switzerland for a peace summit focusing on Ukraine.
What do you mean? The fact that President Biden is choosing to attend a campaign event over that summit, is it a snub like some of his critics are saying? Vice President Harris is going to be there. Jake Sullivan is going to be there.
Other members of his staff are going to be there. But to write, to point out this is an important event. This is an important summit. There will be many heads of state, many heads of state from the G7 nations, not the US but other G7 nations sending their heads of state and others as well.
Some hundred nations are going to be represented at this peace conference, not the Russians, because this is the first of two summits that the Ukrainians and the Swiss have in mind, which is start the process. Start thinking now about what a just and lasting peace looks like. So that when eventually you get down to talking with the Russians, you'll know you've done some homework on for examp just in lasting peace in terms of food security, in adjusting lasting there would be food security, the Ukraine would be able to export their grain nuclear safety and adjusted lasting peace nuclear safety both at power plants, but also on the use of the non use of nuclear weapons, the humanitarian party, on returning soldiers, prisoners of war on both sides and returning the children, the children, the Ukrainian children that the Russians have taken from Ukraine, taken them back into Russia. Those kind of things ought to be discussed right now even as they're getting ready for a second summit with the Russians at some future point.
So many issues to discuss as this war grinds on. Ambassador Bill Keller, thank you so much for your expertise as always in turning out the Biden administration's ongoing diplomatic efforts in the Middle East. The State Department announced today that Secretary Blinken will soon be making his eighth trip to the region since the October 7 Hamas attack, making stops in Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Qatar. It comes as the administration and many Western partners continue to push Hamas to agree to the three phase ceasefire proposal currently on the table.
But Secretary Blinken will also be heading back to the region as Israel finds itself facing even further diplomatic isolation. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres announced today that Israel has been added to the so called blacklist of countries committing grave violations against children during an armed conflict. NBC News international correspondent Ralph Sanchez has more from delegates. Hey there.
The Israeli government says it has been informed by the Secretary General of the United nations that he plans to add Israel to a so called blacklist of states that harm children during wartime. This is not list that anyone wants to be on. It means Israel would be joining Russia as well as non state actors like Al Qaeda accused of harming kids during wartime. Eight months into the war in Gaza, thousands of children have been killed in the fighting.
Israel says it takes all steps to minimize civilian casualties. And Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today slamming that decision by the United nations, saying the UN put itself on the blacklist of history today when it joins the supporters of the Hamas murderers. The IDF is the most moral army in the world and no delusional decision by the UN Will change that. Now by this decision was a long time in the making, but by grim coincidence, it comes just one day after Israel bombed that UN School in central Gaza.
Israel says it was targeting a number of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad operatives who were sheltering inside of the school. But these schools have long been refuge for Palestinian families seeking safety during this war. And hospital officials tell US at least 14 children were killed in the attack. Now this is just adding to tension as it's confirmed that Prime Minister Netanyahu will be addressing a joint session of Congress towards the end of July.
Some Democrats, including Senator Bernie Sanders, have said that they will boycott that address. Sanders calling the Israeli leader a war criminal, an allegation that Netanyahu, of course, denies. We are also learning that an American military temporary peer off the coast of Gaza will soon be operational once again. It went offline after being damaged in bad weather, which is a major blow to the humanitarian effort, especially at a time when the Rafah crossing, the main lifeline for food and aid from Egypt, remains closed.
Back to you. We want to thank Ref Sanchez for that reporting from Tel Aviv. Until it comes, we'll break you down today's stronger than expected jobs report and whether it'll have any impact on voters, lackluster views of the economy. That reporting and the panel are next.
You're watching MEET THE PRESS now. Hey, welcome back. If it's the first Friday of the month, it is Jobstead. And the numbers from May show a surprising level of hiring.
Employers added 272,000 jobs last month, well before casts of 190,000. Unemployment rate moved up ever so slightly to 4.0% from the previous month's 3.9% as the Fed prepares to meet next week to discuss interest rates. This does not appear to be a jobs report that shows signs of an economic slowdown. And joining me now is CNBC economic editor Jeff Boxon.
Jeff, this jobs report beat expectations. So what's your take? Well, Gabe, I think there's a little bit of actually a lot of good news here and a little bit of bad news. As you pointed out, the top line number is very good, 272,000, well above the Wall street estimate was just for 190,000 and over 100,000 more than what we saw back in April.
And from what I talked to economists beforehand, they thought that this number, the risk here was to the downside so just another example of a robust US Jobs climate, at least in an economy that still continues to grow despite all the kind of naysayers out there. A couple of things, a couple words of caution here. You mentioned we saw that unemployment just kind of nudge a little higher 4%. That's the highest expense since January 2022.
The household survey that unemployment rate is derived from also had some disturbing trends in it actually saw individual workers over 600, I'm sorry, over 400,000 people saying that they were out of work over the past month. Also skewing, continuing to skew towards part time jobs instead of full time jobs. So kind of complicated picture here. But overall the labor market is still defined expectations and the economy is still continuing to grow.
So Jeff, what does this mean for the Fed? Is this report just too good for them to cut rates? There's really nothing in this report today that would tell the Fed, hey, we need to cut rates here. And to the contrary, we saw pretty robust wage gains 4.1% year over year.
Fed officials will say that is not consistent with their 2% mandate. So when they meet this week, there's no chance whatsoever they're going to be talking about cutting rates. I don't think they'll be cutting about rates, talking about cutting rates even in, I think maybe the earliest in September. But they're going to need to see some inflation numbers.
That's a big thing right now. They're going to need to see those inflation numbers start to come in. And of course, we will get another important report about inflation next week. On Wednesday, the Labor Department releases its consumer Price Index report.
Jeff Cox with cnbc, thank you so much for bringing us your expertise. Joining me now here on set is Julia Manchester, national politics reporter for the Hill, Simone Sanders Townsend, former senior advisor to Vice President Harris and co host of the Weekend on msnbc. And Stephen Hayes, editor and CEO of the Dispatch, also an NBC News Polar panelist. Thank you all so much for joining me.
Julia, I want to start with you. Look, we're talking about how great the economy appears to be and yet 46% of Americans rate the economy as poor in the new Gallup survey. Does this make the White House just want to tear its hair up? Yeah, it's really conducting under the Biden campaign and for the White House right now because there's no doubt this is progress.
This is good economic news and will continue to see them, you know, tout that the problem is Americans still aren't feeling that when Americans go to the grocery Store, they're still seeing prices that are higher than what they're used to. And Republicans are certainly seizing on that. So we're saying, look, we're still seeing inflation. So it's a conundrum for them and it's sort of a messaging issue.
So, Simone, they're calling this a vibe session. So, yeah, the disconnect, that vibe session untold is the difference between what the economy actually is and, you know, what people think it is. How does the Biden campaign finally cut through? We've been talking about this for months, how they got cut through.
They still cut through five months of the election. What happens? I think that there's two things just like there are. People say that they're like two Americas.
There are also two economies. Right? It is the sheer numbers. GDP is up, right?
These jobs, jobs reporters, by all means, a good jobs report. This is a trend for the Biden Harris administration. So that is true. That's one America.
The other America is America where people are still working two, sometimes three jobs in just order to put food on the table to get families housing. Housing is one of the number one issues when you talk to, as I say, real regular people across the country, whether they're white, black, Latino, Asian American, Pacific Islander. Otherwise, housing, rent, renting costs, the rent is literally too damn high. It is.
It is insane. If you want to buy house, interest rates upwards of 7%, even very, very rich people, like, I'm about to rent. So that is the reality that people are dealing with. In addition to the grocery store going down, you had companies like Target, for example, and that'll be slashing prices on household items.
The people behind that, to me says that it's also the corporation and it's not just the politicians of politics. So Candy, mixed back with Stephen, in an alternate universe, a Republican candidate looking at this would be laser focused on economy. And Donald Trump is not laser focused on the economy. Should he be more focused on the economy and kind of let this other stuff he's talking about fall by the wayside?
I mean, yeah, of course, right? I mean, look, the things that he does, the Greens politics that Donald Trump has mastered is helpful to him in that it galvanizes his base. They're excited about it. They want to hear more about it.
They think he's a victim. They think they're victims too. So to that end, he's probably smart to do that. But does it help him reach the kind of people who think are likely to decide the election in the middle?
The kind of people who are still worried about these roofing prices. I think that someone's right that some of these prices are coming down. The problem is if you compare where they are today to where they are four years ago, three and a half years ago, they're still way up. And the challenge, I think the Biden administration, the reason they're having so much difficulty making their case is people are reminded of this every week.
You go to the grocery store and get this is true me, I get a pound of ground beef and I think, ah, I keep getting whole. You really, really struck a chord there. It's something that Americans have to deal with every single week. Contrast that, Julia, to what the president was talking about today, a threat to democracy.
He's been, you know, hitting that message over and over again. Now he's doing it on the world stage. It wasn't an overly political speech. They sent a message at dubs tails with his campaign.
Do you think that that will be effective given you know what Stephen is talking about, that something like the economy is something Americans have to deal with week in and week out. Do they deal with the threat to democracy in their daily lives? You know, I think they do. And there's certainly the argument's a bit more abstract than the economy.
The economy is something we feel threat to the democracy. You know, it's a little more abstract. But I think also what Joe Biden did today is trying to draw a contrast with Donald Trump. Because while Donald Trump is continuing to rail against the skilting verdict and talking about appealing and such and holding these rallies, doing a lot of grievance politics, Biden is out with the big world players in Normandy, you know, celebrating the courage of Americans 80 years ago, creating that contrast.
I think it's also notable that he went to the place where Ronald Reagan once made a speech in Normandy, kind of in a way saying look how far the Republican party has changed. And Simone, I was talking about this with Vaughn earlier in the program. Now Republicans are, they're co opting that message, aren't they? They are talking about the rest of democracy.
But the way they see it is they claim that Democrats and Joe Biden are weaponizing the justice system as they see it, you know, with no evidence. But they do say that it is Democrats that are a bigger threat to democracy. What do you make of that mess? You know, I just, I think they're trying to gaslight American people in some respect because it's kind of hard for voter to believe that when I literally see the President sent on trial and he could do.
He could step in my department. He said properly, he's not going to do that. And so it's kind of hard for folks to leave the weaponizing this department. His own son is sitting there amidst the trial.
I do think the threats of democracy are real for folks when it comes to things like their freedoms. We talk a lot about the effect abortion is going to have in this election, and sometimes it doesn't show up in the data. But I do think this idea that you and your doctor are not the only ones making a decision for your lives and some elected official union even knows it in the state capitol somewhere wants to tell you what to do is something that people are really concerned about. And they're faced with that every single day when women are literally being told they have to bleed out or be near death before they can get the health care that they need.
That's happening in communities. Cost me. And Stephen, what do you think about the Republicans hitting this threat to democracy message in a completely different way than that? Yeah, look, I mean, I think there are legitimate complaints about what happened in New York.
I think there are legitimate complaints about the way the case was brought, the theory of it, and the way it was executed. But what Republicans are doing is conflating that with all of Donald Trump's other problems, legal problems, which I think most of which were he wrote on himself. I think the evidence is very strong in these other three cases. And I think Republicans have decided to use this as sort of a tool to galvanize that base to portray Donald Trump as a victim.
And he likes it. He's right in it. And before we go, I want to bring up some other news that broke a little earlier today regarding Clarence Thomas. For the first time, he acknowledged on his financial disclosure report those two 2019 trips that he took with a Republican donor, very controversial to Bali.
He finally acknowledged. Is this going to add more fuel to the fire on Supreme Court ethics? You don't think it very well could. And it comes at a time when Sengo Alito is already under a lot of pressure about the flag situation.
So absolutely. Remember, this is all brought lightly to a ProPublica report a couple of years ago. So absolutely, it keeps in the conversation. Simone, you know what we also found out from those disclosures reports.
Goodbye to Brian Jackson. She wants to see Beyonce. $3,700. I mean, then she had a good seat.
She asked me and shout out to Beyonce and Jay Z. I just look on the Supreme Court Democrats when they. I just think they need to play a little bit more hardball. This, this, this, this oh, so formalist of Supreme Court.
Some justices are literally thumbing their nose at the three branches of power, the structure at tradition, ethics in and of itself. And I just think Democrats, they have the power. They should do something about it. What that something is.
I'll be waiting with baby breath. Simone Sanders, Town Signs, Stephen Hayes and Julia Manchester. Thank you all so much for joining me here on the panel. And thank you all at home.
We're back Monday with more MEET THE press. Now, I'm Dave Gutierrez. The news continues with Aaron Gilchrist in for how can you Jackson? Right.
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