If it's Wednesday, the Rafa Crossing opens, allowing people trapped inside Gaza, including Americans, to escape the war zone as the Israeli military confirms a second strike against the Jodelier refugee camp again today, targeting Hamas terrorists in that densely populated area. Plus, Donald Trump Jr. testifies in the New York civil trial against civil fraud trial against him and his family, with two more of Mr. Trump's children and the former president himself expected to take the stand within days.
And anti-Semitism in America, one day after the FBI director warned threats against Jews are at historic levels, a Cornell University student is in court on charges that he threatened torture and killed Jewish people, including his classmates. Welcome to Meet the Press now. I'm Peter Alexander reporting here in Washington where we are tracking the latest developments in the Israel Hamas War, where Israel now confirms that it struck targets inside a refugee camp in northern Gaza again today after a separate deadly strike there yesterday. We just got word that the Rafa border crossing, the crossing between Gaza and Egypt, will be open again tomorrow after people trapped inside Gaza, including some Americans were able to depart today for the first time since the war began after weeks of confusion over when or even if the border crossing would open.
This video from our NBC News team on the ground shows the scene at the Rafa crossing today as people waited to finally leave the Gaza Strip. As of this morning, 335 foreign passport holders and more than 70 injured Palestinians have crossed into Egypt. That's according to a Rafa crossing official. And it includes some Americans, that's the best indication we have from U.S.
officials about how many likely less than 10, according to one U.S. official. Speaking of reporters today, State Department spokesperson Matt Miller said that they expect to see more Americans leave in the coming days. The situation remains extremely fluid, but this has been an important breakthrough.
And we will keep working on it to ensure that all of the U.S. citizens who wish to depart safely from Gaza can do so. There are around 400 Americans in Gaza with whom we are in communication, who have expressed desire to leave. They have family members as well, who have expressed desire to leave the total numbers around 1,000 people when you count both Americans and their family members.
We are going to give them specific instructions over the next few days about where to go, when to go, how they can get out. Meanwhile, the Secretary of State Antony Blinken will continue his diplomatic efforts in the region. He will travel back to Israel on Friday as international backlash is mounting over as Israel's bombardment in Gaza, Jordan, Colombia, Chile, they have all recalled their ambassadors from Israel. Bolivia says it has severed all diplomatic ties with Israel, and a senior United Nations official resigned citing Israel's military campaign and Western governments posture toward the war.
It comes as Israel is now saying fighter jets struck a Hamas command and control complex in the Java Lea refugee camp. To be clear, that refugee camp is not traditional in the ways you think of it as a tent city. It is a large, densely populated area that's being the second strike there in the last two days. And this was the scene earlier today, an NBC crew saying that they saw collapsed homes and bodies trapped beneath the rubble.
Israel says yesterday's strike there killed a top Hamas commander and placed the blame for civilian casualties on Hamas accusing them of using civilians to shield their underground terrorist infrastructure. A local hospital says dozens were killed in that strike, and NBC News cannot independently verify those numbers. The airstrikes come as Israel ramps up its ground offensive against Hamas as well after last month's deadly terror assaults and amid continued fears of a wider war in the region. Yesterday, Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen threatened to attack a nuclear research center in Israel after also claiming to have fired ballistic missiles and drones at Israel.
Iran is warning of, quote, grave consequences if Israel's offensive in Gaza continues. We want to get right to our NBC News team on the ground in the region right now. NBC's Megan Fitzgerald has the very latest first on the Rafa evacuations from Cairo. Megan.
Hundreds of foreign nationals made their way from Gaza across the Rafa boarding and into Egypt today. Now, according to border officials, we understand that more than 300 foreign nationals packed six buses making their way out. Now, we know that at least two Americans were on board one of those buses. We have been in contact with the family of a 71-year-old woman who went to Gaza to fit children for prosthetics.
They tell us that she and one of her co-workers are on board the bus making their way out. Now, we know of the Americans that were able to leave Gaza, they're all humanitarian aid workers. And according to the State Department, the border will be open again for more Americans to leave. But look, we know that there's still hundreds of Americans that are still trapped in Gaza right now.
We had an opportunity to speak with one of them today who says he's not heard from the State Department and doesn't know when it will be his turn to leave. So a lot of work that still needs to be done. Meanwhile, we are seeing an increase in the amount of trucks that are making their way into Gaza. 66 trucks crossed in yesterday.
Today, we understand 55-minute across the border in Intigaza, tomorrow, 100 are being prepped. Now, that's the largest number of trucks that we have seen since this war began, but humanitarian aid officials continue to say it's not nearly enough. It's not happening fast enough as this is an enclave that saw more than 450 trucks a day worth of aid before this war began. Back to you.
Make a good share on the ground for us in Egypt. And joining us now is Alison Barber. She is at the border between Israel and Gaza, Al-Yaruzia's with us as well. He's in Tehran, Iran, right now.
Alison, let me get to you. If I can't on the ground first, Israel as we first reported here confirmed. The second strike on the Jabbalah camp, what more do we know about what they were targeting there and what if any success they had? And I guess what the reaction is to these latest strikes.
I mean, to answer the last bit of that question, the short answer is outrage. We have heard from a number of countries in the Arab world from Kuwait to Qatar in the last couple of days about the first strike in Jabbalah. And now the second one just strongly condemning it saying that this is a crime of war. Let me break down for you the two different strikes that happened here in what Israel is saying.
When it comes to the most recent strike on Jabbalah, the IDF is claiming that this started during battles, fierce battles, they say that took place in the overnight hours. They say there was a point where Hamas militants were inside of a building in Jabbalah, a building that they described as a civilian structure near, they said, schools, hospitals, and government buildings. They say Hamas militants fired from that structure, soldiers on the ground engaged them, and then alerted Israeli fighter jets to carry out what Israel describes as a targeted strike to strike the militants in that building. There is, it appears to be a significant civilian toll associated with the second strike, exactly how large we don't know right now.
For the strike that happened yesterday in Jabbalah, that strike, they say they were specifically targeting a senior Hamas commander and other Hamas militants working in tunnel systems underneath the area of Jabbalah, they claim when the tunnels collapsed, where they were targeting those Hamas militants and that commander, that when those collapsed, then other civilian buildings nearby also collapsed. The director of the Indonesian hospital in northern Gaza, they said in that strike that at least 400 people were injured and dead, there were some reports that in that first strike possibly as many as 50 civilians had been killed, but the information has been fluid and changing a bit. We're still gathering a lot more information trying to get a sense of the toll of this latest strike, but widespread condemnation from the Arab world, as well as humanitarian groups reiterating their calls for a ceasefire saying that this was wholly inappropriate, the number of civilians impacted by this, and this is an area of Peter that is very well known to be incredibly populated, Israel makes the case of saying, hey, we have told people for more than two weeks to evacuate areas in northern Gaza, Hamas is the one that is operating in these areas, you should blame them, but there are a lot of people in the international community looking at Israel and humanitarian groups and saying, you knew civilians were there, how targeted of a strike was this really if we're seeing such a significant impact on civilians in Jabbalah. And I want to ask you about that balance, if there is any here, how concerned is the Israeli military?
We continue in the rest of the Western world, the Arab world as well to just see these awful pictures on the ground, of course no one can know the exact numbers of casualties, rather if any Hamas militants, terrorists were killed, how many civilians have been armed or killed here, what is the Israeli military saying about this, as at the same time they tried to bring home those 240 or so hostages, including some Americans? They seem to stick very much to their argument that any sort of civilian casualty or injuries amongst the civilian population is solely Hamas's fault, they have reiterated today pointing to the current leader of Hamas, Yaqya Sinwar saying he's the one who decided to build infrastructure under civilian organizations, but there have been these consistent questions for the Israeli government and the Israeli military, we have seen airstrikes carried out repeatedly in southern Gaza in the area of Kansunis, near where Israel has designated a humanitarian strip of land, it's the exact place where they have told people to go for safety, but there have still been strikes and when those happen they repeat that same line of saying that that is Hamas to blame, that Hamas is using civilian structures, civilian areas to operate out of and in Israel's view using their citizens, Palestinians as human shields, but at some point there does seem to be more pressure coming from the international world, especially as we've seen more people calling for a ceasefire saying okay we need more than that, what is how targeted are you in these strikes, how are you going about this process, is the images that keep coming out of Gaza, a lot of people in the world are saying it looks like collective punishment, Israel of course denies that. I'll also say with us, Ali, I want to ask you a question if I can for a second from your perch where you are right now in Iran, Houthi rebels, Iranian backed Houthi rebels have threatened to target a nuclear research center in Israel after claiming responsibility for what was an attempted missile attack yesterday, how significant should we see this in terms of their development in what is at risk of becoming a wider war? Hey Peter, so threatening to attack a nuclear research center is a bold statement, but the reality is that if they did carry out such an attack in a worst case scenario, they risk radioactive fallout affecting countries neighboring Israel that they're aligned with and that would probably be counter productive to their aims, but nonetheless their involvement is significant, it underscores the risk of this war widening in an already very unstable neighborhood, their actions have been provocative, the Houthi movement said that they've launched three drone and missile attacks towards Israel since the start of this conflict and vowed that there would be more attacks to come to help the Palestinians to victory, look all the missiles in the drones fired at Israel from the Red Sea area on October 7th, have either been shot down or fallen short and the Houthis are very well equipped with a vast number of drones which as of yet haven't been unleashed, so at this stage it feels like they're testing the red lines but it's also a very dangerous game, the smallest miscalculation could dramatically alter events.
Now you're exactly right and I think that's the biggest fear as I speak to officials at the White House as well, is that any miscalculation on the part of any of these Iranian-backed groups, Hamas, the Houthis, Hezbollah or others really has the potential to risk escalating this further, what is the calculation from where you are in Iran right now by the Iranian regime in terms of whether they want to further engage on this? It appears despite some of their fierce rhetoric that they are to this point satisfied with this being done by proxies elsewhere. Look Peter, sometimes it's hard to see through all the bluster and the threats that come out of Iran but my sense is that they're walking a line here, if this conflict was the why then and to include Iran then they would be under real pressure, if they face the US and Israel military it would be a disaster for them, they would be outgunned by a massive ratio and they wouldn't stand a chance and they know that. One of Iran's reasons for its foreign minister shuttling around the globe making threats but also calling for a ceasefire is that if there was a ceasefire, Iran and Hamas could claim this as a victory and I think what's going to be key is how far the ground incursion escalates and what will Hezbollah's response be, the leader of Hezbollah is due to give a speech on Friday.
It'll be his first speech since the war began. I think that will set the tone and indicate Iran and Hezbollah's next move. So these next few days and Hassan Nasrallah's speech I think is going to be a clear indication of what direction Iran wants to do. Yeah and that's where all the speech on Friday is something we'll have to watch closely with the potential that could escalate the situation there as well.
Alison Barber, Aliyaruzi, I appreciate both of you being with us and we hope both of you will continue to be safe. Thank you so much. Come up here wartime funding fight lawmakers in both chambers clash over the future of USAID to Israel and Ukraine as both wars drag on. We are live on Capitol Hill with the latest on that next.
Also we want to show you some live pictures of the president, President Biden, Minnesota, the home state of his new primary challenger. He is looking to shore up his support among rural Americans. It's a critical voting bloc especially for Democrats in 2024. You're watching Meet the Press Now.
Welcome back to Meet the Press Now. Newly elected House Speaker Mike Johnson met with Senate Republicans today, the first time that he has met with the group since becoming the House Speaker. This does come of course at a critical juncture. His Republicans in the House and Senate remain divided on how to proceed with the Biden administration's supplemental funding request.
Speaker Johnson is pushing for a standalone Israel aid bill offset. He suggests by rescinding money from the president's signature achievement, the inflation reduction act. But according to a new report from the nonpartisan congressional budget office, the House GOP proposal would in fact add more than $26 billion to the U.S. deficit.
NBC News Capitol Hill correspondent Ali Vitale has the latest on this fight around funding to Israel. Ali helped make sense of all this to us right now. Speaker Johnson, we know this was a crucial meeting. In a lot of ways and chance to meet for the first time some of these Republican senators, Susan Collins among them saying that she had to Google him.
When she found out he would be the next House Speaker. Earlier today, Chuck Schumer, the top Democrat in the Senate said that the House GOP bill on Israel to stand alone bill is dead in the water in the Senate. So what are the obstacles to getting this passed? And where does Mitch McConnell on all this?
Look, there's so many pieces to this puzzle that you just put out there, Peter. I think the first is that Johnson made his first real overture to the other side of the building, the fellow members of the Republican Party. And many of the members that I've spoken to since that lunch say that they were impressed with the Speaker. They came to that meeting I think with a little bit of skepticism, especially given the fact that there's such a lack of leadership experience there.
Johnson has less leadership experience than most of his predecessors have in recent modern history. But at the same time, his plan was clear on Ukraine funding, on Israel funding, the idea that he's trying to go forward with this in a fashion that adheres to more of his House Republican conference than to the way that Senate Republicans are thinking about this, which is different on Ukraine specifically. This is where Johnson may come to loggerheads with someone like the top Republican in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, who has been clear about needing to be consistent in support for Ukraine. The fact that Johnson is breaking up this Israel aid decoupling it from Ukraine aid is a different strategy, one that I think most Senate Republicans that I've spoken to are nervous about.
And it's certainly one that Senator Chuck Schumer is going to continue to fight, especially because of the way that Speaker Johnson put in the so-called pay fors for this bill, which actually according to the Congressional Budget Office, aren't really pay fors at all. So Ali, help us better understand what the strategy is from the Speaker's position, right? He's basically trying to get Democrats, force Democrats to vote against aid to Israel, even though they support Israel. They just wanted to come in the form of a larger package.
In the form of a larger package and without these so-called pay fors, because what the Speaker decided to do was not just move forward on the $14 billion in aid for Israel, separate from what the administration was trying to do, which is package it all together with other aid for Taiwan, for Ukraine, and then, of course, adding some border provisions. He's, of course, sectioning it off from that, but then also by including these clawbacks in money that were put there by the Inflation Reduction Act two years ago, he's now triggering Democrats to say that that's a poison pill. All of that is swirling in the pot for why Democrats are likely not to vote for this on the House side, and for why Schumer has said this is not a serious proposal from the newly minted Speaker. So this is a test, obviously, for the newly minted Speaker, as you say.
He's facing another test with what's at November 1st. I mean, 17 days to play with here, which is avoiding a government shutdown. Ali, that's a serious challenge that is on his plate on top of this one. Is there any progress to report?
Has there been any movement on that? So many Americans, as we know well, can be impacted by something like this. You know, I think you and I look at a calendar and we say, oh, God, November 1st, you got 16 days, and some of those are weekends. Certainly, that's not enough time.
Congress looks at the calendar and deadlines a little bit differently. As you and I know, Peter, they like to get a lot closer to those deadlines before they actually start pulling the sirens and saying that there's a big problem here. I do think, though, that the likelihood of a continuing resolution or a stopgap funding measure that allows the government to remain open, but also allows them to continue haggling over some of these spending limits that they're currently trying to do through the appropriations process. That's the most likely outcome here.
It's unclear whether or not that continuing resolution goes until January, maybe till April, both of those days are or month limit points are things that Speaker Johnson has floated to his conference, but we're not just not quite sure how long that CR will go. But certainly, that's one of the key proposals to avoiding a government shutdown and also giving them time to just figure out what the budget looks like. A series of high stakes challenges for the new limited house speaker. I know you'll be watching it, Ali Vitale, at the Hill for us, Ali.
As always, thank you. We do want to turn back now to the situation overseas, the war zone. And as we mentioned, anger, frustration is growing after Israel's military, says it conducted multiple military operations in Jabbalah that's inside Gaza. The IDF says both of it strikes their killed Hamas terrorists, but there were civilian casualties as well.
The spokesperson for the White House National Security Council said, quote, we mourn every innocent life taken in this conflict and added that the US continues to urge Israel to minimize any harm to civilians. And joining us now is a spokesperson for the Israeli Defense Forces, Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricas. Colonel Conricas, I appreciate your making time to speak to us. I want to ask you first about the situation in Jabbalah there.
The IDF tells NBC News today that earlier Israeli fighter jets on this day struck a Hamas command and control complex in Jabbalah, telling us we can confirm that Hamas terrorists were eliminated in the strike. How do you make that assertion? Can Israel provide proof that Hamas terrorists were, as the IDF says, eliminated? Yes.
Hello. Thank you for having me. We will issue, I think, both names and numbers. And hopefully we'll have pictures in the future as well.
It's important to understand that this is a live combat zone. Jabbalah is a Hamas stronghold. If you remember the days of the war in Iraq, think about Ramadi, think about the Anbar Province, think about really hotbeds of terrorist activity, where terrorists have had a long time to embed themselves within the area and under the civilians. That is Jabbalah.
Okay. That's the best equivalent that I could give as an example. Our troops are both on the ground. And of course, we continue to operate from the air as well.
The aim is very clear and very simple. To get the civilians out and to strike Hamas, its commanders and its military infrastructure. And I want to emphasize, we have been calling on civilians in that specific area to evacuate for two weeks. Nobody can claim that they didn't know this was coming.
Nobody can claim innocence. Understood. So, Colonel Conricas, let me ask you about that specifically. I understand we saw the leaflets in Northern Gaza while saying that the Palestinians should flee south.
Many of them did. They say they were struck, that there's no safe place. But I want to ask you because the death toll does keep rising throughout Gaza, including Palestinian civilians in Jabbalah. I understand that Israel and the US's argument is that Hamas is using Palestinians as human shields.
But where does Israel draw the line? How many civilian casualties is Israel comfortable with to justify the targeting of Hamas terrorists? So, we will always try to apply proportionality and think about necessity, right? What is necessary to strike?
What can be achieved by doing a certain action? And then what is the price that is paid by non-combatants? Okay. So, what is that?
What is that perspective then? Just so I understand when you say proportionality? Yes. Obviously, there is no cookie cutter formula.
X equals 2Y. There isn't such a thing and no military ever says such a thing because it doesn't exist. Everything is on a case-to-case basis where we make an assessment of what the target, what the value of the military activity is. And then we try to balance that with what we assess the collateral damage or the adverse effects on civilians will be in order to create a better situation.
In order not to have civilians influenced, we have called ahead, we have told them to evacuate and it's been two weeks. So, I think any claims towards Israel regarding striking non-combatants should first and foremost talk with the fact that we have asked them not to be there. But because we know a full way that the Arab world sees this and even part of the Western world sees it as well, there has been tougher language from some even at the White House that I cover on a day-to-day basis. And while they stand with Israel's right to defend itself right now, they are concerned about the growing number of civilian casualties there.
So, recognizing the need to root out Hamas militants, I think the question remains open about where that line is. Does Israel see anything that has occurred in the course of the last 24 hours and have some concern that too many civilians have died there? Do you concede that dozens, if not hundreds, of Palestinian civilians have died there? No, I do not.
And I would urge anybody reporting on the matter to be very careful and professional, not to rely on data disseminated by Hamas. They have been caught lying twice in this war already. But I'm upset to this point, I apologize for that. So, it has to be clear.
We aren't fighting against the civilians. We have made that clear from the beginning. Hamas is using them as human shields. They have embedded their military infrastructure underneath where the civilians are.
And in order for us to be able to perform our mission, which is to rid Gaza of Hamas and to ensure the safety of our communities, we have to get that where the command where the combatants are. There's no magic way of getting to the enemy, which is hiding underground without going through what is above ground. If anybody in the world has an enlightened way of doing that, please do tell. We would be grateful to do this in a swifter and a better way.
It doesn't exist because that is how Hamas has populated the area and that is how Hamas is using them as human shields. We will try. Yeah, we want targets civilians. We never do.
And they should be out of that area, out of concern of their own safety. But I guess I understand they don't target civilians. But even if you're targeting Hamas leaders, Hamas fighters, Hamas terrorists, if you know that civilians are there, they were giving weeks warning if they're still there, I think that's part of the dilemma that the world is watching right now. Let me ask you about a small number of Palestinians and foreign nationals who we learned today were able finally to leave Gaza.
Thousands of others, of course, remain stuck. Where are they safe to go within Gaza without fear of Israeli strikes? Gaza is a war zone. It's a war zone because Hamas attacked Israel on October 7.
Let's keep that in mind in every, each and every reporting of the object, because I don't hear that assault was awful and beyond compare. Where should they go though for those civilians? Where do we think innocent civilians go? Indeed.
In order to care for those people, which, as you say, are not related to fighting, there is a humanitarian zone, northwest of Hanyunis, which is in southern Gaza. It's called El Muasi, which is along the coast. That is a humanitarian zone that we have established, an area which is the safest place to be in Gaza, wherever Hamas is, wherever their commanders are, whatever infrastructure they're using, we will strike those locations because those are the combat capabilities of the enemy. We have said that there's a humanitarian zone and we hope that that won't be contaminated by Hamas as well.
So can you guarantee that there will be no strikes in that humanitarian zone? What I can guarantee is that we only target Hamas and if Hamas won't contaminate that area too, then of course we will not strike it. That is the purpose of having a humanitarian zone. That is why we, why we established it out of a concern for the safety of civilians.
Colonel Kerry, let me ask you if I can very quickly about some video on social media that shows Palestinians being beaten by IDF soldiers in the West Bank. We're choosing not to show it right now because it's graphic. It appears to show what looks like soldiers in uniform dragging at least one person whose legs are tied, his face is covered. The IDF itself has called that footage deplorable, that it does not comply with the Army's order.
What can you tell us about the latest on that investigation and if there are any other investigations now open by the IDF into its own forces? As you said, deplorable and not according to our values investigated, the people responsible will be held accountable as they are always and there will be corrections made. We have issued clarification statements. Commanders have said it in their own voice, two soldiers behave according to the law of conflict, behave as soldiers, professional soldiers should behave, be professional, stern, yet be humane.
And that does not represent nor our values nor our other troops. It is a freak incident which is being investigated and steps will be taken against those responsible for it. Are there any other investigations? Last question.
Any other investigations open right now? Is that it? No, we are. We have other investigations looking into reports of unprofessional conduct by troops.
There is zero tolerance for it. We understand very well that this is exactly what Israel haters anti-Semites and Hamas supporters around the world will be looking for in order to amplify. We have no tolerance for it and it will not continue. Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Cornelius with the Israeli Defense Forces.
We appreciate you making time to speak with us. Thank you very much. Thank you for having me. Next right here, Donald Trump's other son takes the stand in that New York civil fraud trial as the former president himself and two more of his children prepared to testify in the coming days.
We're going to have the very latest legal developments. You're watching to meet the president. Welcome back. We're following some significant breaking news in Donald Trump's civil fraud trial where Mr.
Trump Jr. Donald Trump Jr. took the stand facing questions about financial statements that New York attorney general, the teacher James says were inflated. Court just wrapped up for the day.
He is the first of three of the former president's children expected to testify there. Eric Trump, he is next up, expected to testify later this week. Ivanka Trump said to testify next week. The attorney general says that all three were involved in a scheme to falsely inflate the value of Trump organization assets.
NBC News senior legal correspondent, Laura Jarrett, my colleague on Saturday today on NBC joins me. Now, Laura, this was a big day, actually, and it's the first of several in this civil fraud trial. What has been the biggest takeaway from what we just heard from Donald Trump Jr.'s testimony? Hey, Peter, this is significant because obviously the former president's eldest son is a defendant.
In this case, somebody who's tied to it, mostly because his names are on the documents. He's the one signing the representations that there was no fraud, that there was nothing wrong with the financial statements, which in the attorney general's view was wrong, that they were fraudulent. It is obviously a bench trial, not in front of a jury, but the judge heard testimony today as he's going to be the one certainly deciding the credibility of Donald Trump Jr. as well.
As you mentioned, Eric and Ivanka were also set to testify over the next week. As you mentioned, court just wrapped up and I'm looking at some notes here, it looks like at the end of the day, Donald Trump Jr. essentially punted saying it was others' responsibilities to prepare these financial statements correctly. And so essentially, he's deferring any responsibility for that, even though his name does appear on these documents.
So let me get a better understanding of this. Of the three children, Donald Trump Jr., Eric, Ivanka, is any one of them expected to be most revealing in this, Donald Trump Jr. obviously his name is on the documents or the others on the documents too? No, not to the same extent, but in some respects, Eric Trump's testimony could also be pretty revealing as he's the one who actually after his father becomes president and goes to the White House, he and Donald Trump Jr.
sort of take over sort of the day-to-day operations along with their longtime chief financial officer. And Eric is the one who's actually doing a lot of the day-to-day real estate deals and actually the one who's involved in sort of the valuation of the company. So I think he's one to watch as well. Obviously, his brother is an important witness here and as you mentioned, an adverse witness.
Obviously, this is the state who is doing the questioning. The state is the one that has brought this case. Obviously, his own attorneys will get a chance to do their own questioning of their client, which would obviously be much more favorable than what we heard today from the state. Quick-class question, this is a civil trial, not a criminal one.
How does that change the sort of rights as it were for these who were testifying, for these kids? They basically can't say no. Yeah, I think for so often we're talking about criminal cases, in which case, certainly you don't often see a defendant get on the stand and if you do, they could certainly invoke their Fifth Amendment rights. In a case like this, they too could invoke their Fifth Amendment rights.
They're certainly able to do that, especially if they think what they say could be sort of implicating themselves into crime. But if they do that, in that case the judge could make a negative inference about the fact that they declined to testify. It's something we actually saw the former president do a number of times when he was deposed in this case, wait to see whether he actually does it when he's expected to be on the stand next week here. Laura Chair, thanks so much.
We'll see you Saturday morning on Today. Appreciate you and coming up after the break right here. President Biden's on the road in Minnesota today as he faces mounting political pressure at home and abroad. Our panel is next.
We're watching Heat the Press now. Welcome back to Heat the Press now. President Biden is in Minnesota as we speak, touting his economic plan, announcing $5 billion in investments aimed at benefiting rural Americans during a visit to a family farm there. This visit is focused mainly on the president's domestic agenda after President Biden has spent the last several weeks dealing with the foreign policy crisis of the war between Israel and Hamas, also juggling the situation in Ukraine.
Notably, President Biden is not scheduled to meet with any Muslim and Arab American leaders in the state during his trip there. There is a large population of Arabs and Muslims in that community, even after warnings from the Arab and Muslim American communities that he is in danger of losing their support over his position supporting Israel in this war. Minnesota also happens to be the home state of his newly announced primary challenger. That is the congressman, former congressman Dean Phillips.
And we're joined now by our panel congressional reporter for the Washington Post, Mary Anna Sotomayor, former Democratic Congresswoman for Maryland Donna Edwards and Republican strategist and NBC News contributor Sarah Fagan. Mary Anna, first of all, I'll get to you in a little bit of the reporting behind this right now. The president faces some headwinds on a lot of things, not the least of which is two foreign crises, the wars in Ukraine and the war between Israel and Hamas, where he does not control the outcome of these wars right now. He's trying to focus on domestic policy today.
How challenging is this moment for President Biden? It's a pretty challenging one, simply because, like you said, he doesn't control the foreign policy aspect of what's happening abroad, but he also doesn't control what Congress can do. And that is a big debate that we're going to see throughout the week. Right now, House Republicans trying to see if they can even send any aid to Israel, tying it to domestic cuts that Biden is out there saying, look, I'm trying to champion the economy.
I'm trying to inject more money into the economy, Republican saying, here's where we need to cut back certain things. That's gonna be part of the debate. And also, not to mention, for example, a path forward on Ukraine funding. That is a big split, not just between the House and the Senate, but also among Republicans.
But you're right, he faces a lot of challenges on these in spite of a lot of the credit he's gotten for holding the sort of NATO union together as relates to Russia and Ukraine. But now another war in the Mid-East, and some Americans not satisfied with the state of the economy. This is a tough moment for him. I want to ask you, if I can, I'll send this to you, Donna, I guess, as the Democrat at our panel here, the president is in a key Midwestern state right now.
And to stay with a large Arab and Muslim population, our colleague Gabe Gutierrez was on the ground there yesterday and is hearing from many in that community as we have been from those in communities like it, that they're frustrated with the White House, with this president and his handling of this war in Israel with a Muslim. I am honestly not voting Democrat again. I'm not going to vote for Biden. My vote is up for grab.
I don't know about you guys, but I could even go to the Republican. The Republican has to understand that if they want the Muslim community, the House of Community in America to be with them, we need to make sure that they are talking over and over again, that they humanize us as people. Donna, how concerning a moment is this? How concerning should the White House be about the situation right now?
These are base elections. We know full well, you can't afford to let any portion of your base sit on the sidelines or even consider voting for someone on the Republican side. Well, I think that's certainly in the mind of the president right now and his campaign team. There's a lot of time between now and next November when people really have to make a decision.
And I think ultimately it's going to be how this plays out over the long term. And I just think we're too early in this to know politically how it's going to play out, but the president is going to have a lot of work to do to earn that support. And Sarah, what are the smart things that Republicans should be doing right now? Is this calculation by the new House speaker?
Speaker Johnson, is this the right move right now? Trying to do Israel with the IRS cuts on the side to sort of pay for it? What do you think? Well, I think certainly for him, it's very smart politics with his conference.
Republicans across the Senate and the House, especially in the House, have been starting to beat a drum bigger and bigger about runaway spending. At some point, we have to rein in government spending. Now, I would argue the war in Israel, and in my view, the war in Ukraine, that's not the place to do it. However, it's his first big action.
It's his first big negotiation. He can't come out. It's put him head to head with Mitch McConnell on this thing. It hasn't, but he's got to think through the long term goals that he has, which is going to, I assume, get to a debt ceiling negotiation, ultimately fund what is needed.
And you don't want to roll out as the new speaker and immediately roll, so to speak, over to the Senate in the White House. So he's got to put up a bit of a fight, even if ultimately that gets walked back. All right, Mary and I should apologize to the Congressman from the Senate Dean Phillips. I said he was a former Congressman.
It's because he's a current candidate. Now, for president, he is still, of course, serving here, but it's not to be missed that this is Dean Phillips home state where the president, President Biden, is today. They've been very careful, publicly, not even mentioning his name, the day of his announcement here, but there is a concern among Democrats right now, sources with whom I speak to who are in the White House and close to president. Biden that all this does is further amplify the concerns that he faces right now, specifically about his age, which is, generationally speaking, that's what Phillips's point of difference is.
They share all the same positions. Exactly. And Phillips has said, you know, this has nothing to do with Biden. I like Biden, but he is constantly, physically, a reminder about age.
And that is something that Democrats continue to talk about. And obviously, voters, Republicans, Democrats, independents, they have that question about can an 80-year-old president actually be able to serve a second term. But I'm hearing from a lot of Democrats on Capitol Hill who are very, very frustrated with Dean Phillips because they feel like they've got the edge on Republicans right now. They've got, especially with this new speaker coming in.
And they're concerned that Dean Phillips run is actually going to get in the way of them getting the House back, keeping the Senate and, of course, keeping the White House. This was a terrible move. I mean, I don't know. I assume this was a coincidence.
Like, why would you go to a relatively unknown member of Congress that says this was on the dockets as well before it goes down? Yes. And so let's assume that's correct, because the timing of it is terrible. The last thing you want to do is amplify it.
We just spent five minutes talking about somebody that most of the country hasn't heard about. And so I think the timing of that was just terrible for the White House. Let me ask the Republicans if I can right now. They have another debate that's airing on NBC next week.
The host of this show, Kristen Welker, will be among the moderators. When that takes place right there, Donald Trump, who, you know, his son is in court again today is facing all sorts of different charges, 91, if I'm keeping track accurately right now. We've seen Jenna Ellis, who is one of his top lawyers, people with like real insights into his experience now testifying, potentially testifying against him, acknowledging their own faults in this process and what they had done was a wrong or criminal. So what do you make of this moment for President Trump right now?
It does appear like President Biden is vulnerable, but Donald Trump doesn't seem like he's the best candidate who could beat him. I don't think he's the best candidate to beat him, but you know, he does appear to be on a path that he's certainly the lead candidate right now. And the question is, can Governor DeSantis or Farmer Governor Haley take him out? Look, I think there's sort of two camps on all of this news.
There's a camp inside of Washington and New York where we look at this and say, how is it possible that he's as strong as he is? And then there's the rest of America. And the rest of America, you know, if you're a Democrat, you're against him and you weren't ever considering him to begin with. If you're a partisan Democrat, Republicans and independents, they just think this is all part of a big partisan charade.
It really means nothing. It's in it. They're just attacks. If Haley or DeSantis loses an Iowa, should one of them, the one that loses between the two of them get out of the race and make it a one-on-one race?
So I think it really depends on the facts. I think the thing about the arc of the presidential campaign is that it's really an expectations game. And so people are, people look at Trump's numbers and say he's at 45%, he's at 50%, there's no way he can lose. Well, that's not true yet.
You know, if Nikki Haley exceeds expectations by 10 points and Trump, you know, is down 10, it's a whole new, it's a whole new ball game for the conversation around it. So I think it depends on the facts. Last question is on your advice to Democrats right now who are worried about all sorts of things as Democrats often do? We can't help ourselves.
But the fact is, I think what Democrats need to do is I think they've adequately, you know, tried to illustrate Speaker Johnson and where he stands on various issues. And I think this offers them an opportunity to define the Speaker, define him as a Republican Party and run at least where House Democrats. Look, I think on a presidential level, Democrats have to line up behind Joe Biden and like it or not. He's our guy and they've got to run with it.
But all of this, you know, sort of head-scratching around Joe Biden is really not helpful right now. Donna, nice to see you. And always, Marianne, it's always my pleasure to have you with us today as well. We appreciate all of you still to come right here at Cornell University Student Arrested and Charge with making disturbing online threats targeting as Jewish classmates appears in court.
We're going to speak to the Anti-Defamation League's expert on extremism. That's next. You're watching Meet the Press Now. Welcome back.
I'm in an upsetting uptick of anti-Semitic incidents on college campuses. Cornell University Student is now facing federal charges of threatening to attack Jewish students. Patrick Dye, a junior at Cornell, is charged in federal court now with posting threats to kill or injure another using interstate communications. Prosecutors say Dye seen they're admitted to posting online that he'd quote, shoot up a campus building and in graphic detail threatened to kill Jewish men, women, and even babies.
It comes as the Anti-Defamation League reports a nearly 400% increase in anti-Semitic incidents since the Israel-Hamasu War began compared to the same period just a year ago. The FBI Director, we heard from him just yesterday, Christopher Ray telling senators that anti-Semitism in this country has reached, quote, historic levels. And joining us right now, if we can, is Oran Segal. He's the Vice President of the ADL Center on Extremism.
We were hoping to have Oran. Oh, there he is. I see him right now. Oran, sorry.
We were making sure we had your shot. Nice to have you with us. I want to ask you about this moment that we're witnessing across the country. I dare go on X, formerly Twitter, online, because you see these awful moments of anti-Semitism that are being called out so that people can identify some of the people behind them there.
But how much of this Oran, do you and does the ADL believe, is a function of what we're witnessing happening overseas with Israel? How much of this has just already existed and was just lying dormant just beneath the surface? Yeah, the spike in anti-Semitic incidents that we have been documenting, about 60% of those are clearly related to the conflict that we're seeing in the Middle East. This is harassment, vandalism, assault, and much of this is animated by disinformation designed to inflame angers online.
But I have to say, I don't think anybody wakes up and sees what happened on October 7th in Israel and then decides that they're going to legitimize it and glorify it, the way that we have seen it so many rallies around the country. Those are not spontaneous actions, if you will. That's something that has learned over time and suggests, as we have documented, that anti-Semitism has been part of our public discussion, but also has affected our communities well before October 7th. Or let me play for you what we heard from the FBI Director talking about this historic and his words historic levels of anti-Semitism in this country right now.
Take a listen to the FBI Director Christopher Wray. The reality is that the Jewish community is uniquely targeted by pretty much every terrorist organization across the spectrum. And when you look at a group that makes up 2.4% roughly of the American population, it should be jarring to everyone that that same population accounts for something like 60% of all religious-based hate crimes. And so they need our help.
Or what is the message to members of the Jewish community and those who are not members of the Jewish community right now who hear statistics like that and worry about their own safety in this climate? Yeah, we're hearing from students, from parents, from people and communities around the country that they are scared. I mean, many people are still shaken to their core about what they saw on October 7th, the brutal massacre of children and the elderly simply because they were Jewish or Israeli. So the message is we are tracking this information and these threats.
We are working with law enforcement. We are holding accountable leaders, whether they're administrators at universities, public figures or influencers, and telling them not to glorify violence, not to continue to spread hatred, but to use their platforms to make people who feel vulnerable more secure. I will tell you, allyship is more important today than ever before because we know that the threats and the violence that are targeting the Jewish community mean that every community is unsafe. If I want to ask you about the scenes that we've been seeing on college campuses right now, and these have been dramatic, obviously, situations of anti-Semitism, where you've seen Jewish students wearing their yamaka.
So they are publicly Jewish who have been holed up in classrooms or different campus building, spearing for their own safety right now. And there has been from so many of these familiar universities and colleges, a sort of lack of moral clarity by the university leadership. What do you say to the universities that many Jewish students, at least in many others, feel have failed in this moment to call out hate, to call Hamas, it's a sulfur, what it was? Yeah, with so many students expressing concern and images of students at Cooper Union at the library, you know, being barricaded in there with people yelling at them free Palestine because they were Jewish or threats at Cornell University or the violence that we've seen in and around other events on and off campus.
You know, it's not a question of free speech. It's a question of administrators at campuses using their free speech to reject hatred. It's not that hard to do. It's not about silencing somebody.
It's saying it's okay to promote whatever point of view that you want, but that you will be rejected when you glorify violence or promote hateful anti-Semitic or other narratives. It does seem like a real contrast. You've seen some of these pro-Israel Jewish rallies where they have been singing a Jewish Hebrew song, Osay Shalom, it's a prayer for peace, and you've seen some of these pro-Palestinian pro-Hamas, I dare say, rallies on some occasion where they've been singing death to America, death to the Jews, death to Israel. On one side of prayer for peace, on the other side, the sort of chance of death.
It seems to be so striking. You know, you can care deeply about the lives of Palestinians. You can care deeply about their right to self-determination without promoting hatred and violence. Those two things can exist at the same time.
Or in Seagull, we appreciate your expertise and your perspective. Thank you so much. That will do it for us on this hour. I'll meet the press now.
We'll have more tomorrow.