Meet the Press NOW — November 21

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Listen daily on Spotify. Welcome to The Press Now. I'm Kristen Welker in Washington. We've been listening to President Trump and New York City mayor-elect Zorang Mamdani taking questions from reporters in their first face-to-face meeting, striking a notably and extraordinarily constructive tone with each other.

The President calling it a great meeting and praising Mr. Mamdani's victory and wishing him success. We are standing by right now to see if the mayor-elect will speak to reporters gathered outside the Oval Office. That is the expectation.

It comes after during his campaign, Mayor-elect Zorang Mamdani said he would be the President's quote, worst nightmare. President Trump had called Mamdani a Communist lunatic, and threatened to cut off billions of dollars in federal funds to the city. With the two rivals telling reporters they've found common ground in their meeting on issues of affordability and crime. Take a listen.

Just had a great meeting, a really good, very productive meeting. We have one thing in common. We want this city of ours that we love to do very well. But I just want to congratulate.

I think you're going to have, hopefully, a really great mayor. The better he does, the happier I am, I will say. There's no difference in party. There's no difference in anything.

And we're going to be helping him to make everybody's dream come true, having a strong and very safe New York. And congratulations, Mr. Mayor. Thank you, Mr.

President. Thank you. I appreciate it. I appreciate it.

I appreciated the meeting with the President. And as he said, it was a productive meeting focused on a place of shared admiration and love, which is New York City, and the need to deliver affordability to New Yorkers. Eight and a half million people who call our city their home who are struggling to afford life in the most expensive city in the United States of America. We spoke about rent, we spoke about groceries, we spoke about utilities, we spoke about the different ways in which people are being pushed out.

And I appreciated the time with the President. I appreciated the conversation. I look forward to working together to deliver that affordability for New Yorkers. The warm optics just extraordinary after months of these two men training barbs against each other.

All of that dropped today. With this Oval Office visit, Mr. Mamdani also asked my reporters if he was going to retract his past attacks on the President. He dodged saying both he and the President speak their mind.

The President downplayed the attacks saying he's been called a lot worse. The constructive and friendly tone of this meeting decidedly different than what we heard during the mayoral campaign where the President played an outsized role in setting off a fierce political referee. I am Donald Trump's worst nightmare as a progressive Muslim immigrant who actually fights for the things that I believe in. Our city is under attack by an authoritarian Trump administration.

I call him my little communist. He's my little communist mayor. It's going to be hard for me as the President to give a lot of money to New York. Because if you have a communist running New York, all you're doing is wasting the money you're sending there.

If anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him? It is the city that gave rise to him. So hear me, President Trump, when I say this, to get to any of us, you will have to get through all of us. Just as a little reminder last month that Trump administration froze 18 billion dollars in infrastructure projects for the city during the government shutdown.

And as we heard the President has threatened more cuts, I will be speaking to Mayor-elect Mamdani exclusively. We will bring that to you on Sunday on Meet the Press, fresh off his meeting with President Trump. And as he readies for the realities of governing the country's largest city, what has been described as the hardest job in politics next to the President. And he's seen a new senior White House correspondent, Garret K, joins me now from outside the White House.

Garret Boy, you and I have spent all day, all week trying to think about what is this meeting going to look like between President Trump and Mayor-elect Mamdani. And there it was, a bromance was formed with President Trump saying that he thinks that Mayor-elect Mamdani is going to do a good job. They said that they talked about various issues from affordability to ICE, to crime, to safety. But on each of these notes, Garret, President Trump making it clear he believes they found common ground.

And really what we're seeing is a populist thread between these two men. That's exactly right. I mean, look, we knew there would be fireworks. But these appear to be the celebratory kind here today as a worst nightmare turned into a potential dream partnership here for these two politicians who, Kristen, I think you nailed it, are united by a couple of things.

Number one, a focus at least in this moment on affordability. The President and his White House understands that a big reason why they struggled in the elections earlier this month was the perception that they've not sufficiently addressed the cost of living crisis around this country. That was the Mayor-elect's core campaign theme. They both want to see prices go down, affordability go up there, united by that issue politically.

They're also united by about 10% of their voters, which is a fascinating statistic borne out by our own NBC News exit polls that shows roughly 10% of people who pulled a lever for Donald Trump in November of 2024 turned around and pulled it for Mayor-elect Mondani in this cycle. And the Mayor-elect I think has executed this pretty well, playing up that connection with the President, playing up the idea that there are perhaps more things they agree upon than they disagree upon. Our colleague Ryan Nobles likes to say, he's exactly right, that the political spectrum is a circle not a line. You go far enough in one direction.

You end up back on the other side. And I think they're also united by kind of this nostalgic love for New York City that President Trump always displays. He's a Florida man now, but make no mistake, the person, the persona that is, Donald Trump, the person who became the President of the United States, is very much a creature of New York City. And to the degree that the Mayor-elect was able to play to that side of him to say, we both want the same thing, we have slightly different visions of what it means, but of greatness for New York City.

That is like a coded message straight to the heart of Donald Trump, and we saw it play out in real time there with the President, even going so far as to deflect questions he perceived to be hostile away from the Mayor-elect so that they wouldn't get bogged down in their budding bromance. Well, Garrett, I know you are there is an incredibly busy day for you and the other correspondents at the White House. You're all gathered there outside of the West Wing, hoping that the Mayor-elect will stop and take a few more questions, so we are going to let you go so you can get back to your other post. Please come back and join us once that gaggle is over.

We really appreciate your reporting, Garrett. I do now want to bring in our fantastic Friday panel, Tia Mitchell, Washington Bureau Chief for the Atlanta Journal Constitution. Megan Hayes, Former Special Assistant to President Biden, and Ashley Davis, a former White House official in the George W. Bush administration and former Homeland Security official.

Thanks to all of you for being here. Tia, I don't know where to start. Look, I knew that this would probably be more conciliatory than we had certainly seen when Mayor-elect Mondani was out on the campaign trail, but I think no one could have anticipated the level of warmth, joviality between these two leaders. President Trump saying some of his ideas are the same ideas that I have.

He said, I want to help him, not hurt him, and you heard Mayor-elect Mondani say part of how I won was talking to President Trump's voters, figuring out what they want. What did it make of what we just witnessed? I mean, I think Donald Trump got some of that Mom Donnie magic that explains how he is now going to become New York City's mayor, which was that a lot of people who maybe assumed the worst about him, assumed that a Democratic Socialist they wouldn't be able to relate to when they started, when they took the time to listen to what Mayor-elect Mondani had to say, they were like, hey, I kind of can find some places where I agree with the guy. And I think that happened with President Trump today.

I also think the mayor-elect smartly went into this wanting to make nice with the president. It's clear that he came in with that attitude, that he worked hard to make it go well today. I think he probably worked hard to get his messaging and his approach figured out ahead of time so that it would go today, and it looks like it paid off. You know, actually, to that point, one of the aspects of this that I was focused on was the policy aspect.

Would Mayor-elect Mondani get any assurances from President Trump when it comes to sending the National Guard into New York when it comes to cutting off funding? Remember, that was one of the very threats. President Trump signaled right now he's not planning to cut off funding to New York. He said, look, we'll see, but it seems like Mayor-elect Mondani actually is going to walk out of this meeting with something significant.

Well, he actually said several times I'm going to help you as well, which in my mind meant money. But, look, we were talking about this a little earlier. President Trump loves a winner, and Mondani, like, defied all odds, just like President Trump did in 2016 and won. But also, I'm just sitting here.

We've all been in the West Wing. We all know how that intense, most powerful spot in America is. And Mondani, at 34 years old, standing by the President of the United States, who we just fought with for the last nine months. It's actually amazing.

I'm going to be an optimist on this. I mean, it was very shocking, but I hope that it continues. Meghan, you're less of an optimist. How are Democrats going to view this display, this warmth, this romance?

How do you think this is going to play with the Democratic Party? Look, I think that he has right that Mondani came in with the right message, and he knew he had this right. But also, this is one of Trump's worst weeks in office. The Epstein files were voted out.

So they have to release the Epstein files. He had Saudi Arabia here where his corruption was on full display. His poll number is already record low for his second term. So this is not just, you know, he was calling press names all week.

So he has not had one good story this week. And I really think that he knows, to speaking to your point that Mondani is a winner, he knows that the affordability message is something he needs to work on in hooking his wagon to Mondani. It's really smart for him to do right now. Talk about that affordability.

Yeah, I was just going to say, I wonder if this meeting took place, obviously, one have before the primary, with all the messages that were given to the president about what voters are caring about, which is affordability, if it would have been like this. Because he really, Mondani's message is exactly what the president should be right now. And he's not doing anything. He is hitting his wagon to a star, and Donald Trump is really actually doing something smart and playing politics correctly here.

What do you make of that, the political backdrop to all of this that Meghan talks about? The fact that it has been a tough week politically for President Trump and a lot of these oval office appearances this week, for example, when he was sitting next to MBS answering questions that were incredibly difficult from the Trump family's business entanglements with Saudi Arabia, to obviously the killing of the Washington Post journalist, Jamal Khashoggi. This was a very different tone. Clearly, he was enjoying this, but did it allow him to turn the page on what was it difficult?

I mean, I agree. This is what I think a lot of people have been telling Donald Trump to do it. As you've talked about, just New York City has a special place, being able to go into it with a positive attitude. But I will also say, I think there are a lot of voters at home who are like, this is what we expect from the president and our elected officials, that they are able to put the campaigning aside and sit down and talk about how they can work together for the good of voters.

Like, it should be so surprising and fresh. What happened today, it should be normal doing business, but unfortunately in this political climate, this seems to, you know, we are surprised that things went so well today. Actually, what about that? And could this, Megan's making the point, there might be some of the Democratic base who don't love these optics.

Could there be some in the Republican base who are saying he's actually gotten too chummy? I'm not sure. I mean, listen, I think that how President Trump won was because of all the different groups he brought together. This is, and that's exactly who a lot of the Montgomery voters are.

Obviously, we said that there were 10%. But what I really watch is, if you look at like AOC who's going to probably run for president or Senate, she as a Republican makes me the most nervous to run against because she can form that same coalition. No one else, I'm like one of the few that are saying this, but she can energize people like he did, like when Donnie did, like Trump did, that no other candidate can. So I actually think this is America, American people who just feel left behind by our federal government or corporate America that just want somebody to make change.

And sort of on your point with Republicans, I actually do think a lot of Republicans sitting at home are very upset because they have spent months trying to make them dummy, the boogeyman and socialism, the boogeyman here, and to run on that every Democrat now socialist. They are all now very disappointed that Donald Trump, that's right. That's going to help him not hurt him. This is such a great point.

I mean, actually, President Trump had his foil. He called him a communist. I didn't hear him say that today in the Oval Office. And he was prepared to wrap mom Donnie around the entire Democratic Party to make him the face of the Democratic Party were running against.

We heard that from his press secretary, Caroline Levitt, who said it's just remarkable that Democrats have elected a communist. She's now coming to the White House. Does today make that argument more difficult and thereby having that foil heading into the midterms? Yeah, and by the way, like by next Friday, this could be all going up.

I'm not like, you know, I'm realistic as well. But I also think that he had to do this in regards to the affordability as we already said. But I also think that if he is going to turn the page for the midterms, he has to be able to talk differently. And this is not what he's been doing.

Tia, what do you think in terms of this kumbaya moment, how long does it last? And, you know, because now Mayor like mom Donnie's got to get to work. Yeah. And that's when the rubber meets the road in when President Trump can point to, I disagree with X, Y, and Z and vice versa.

That's when it gets difficult. Yeah, I think it's going to get difficult. But I think, you know, for mom Donnie, he just wanted a positive start. I think if Democrats or voters who supported mom Donnie are going to be discouraged, it won't be making nice with President Trump in the Oval Office.

I think everybody understands why he needs to do that, especially if he wants to make sure that Trump using the federal government doesn't do things to make it harder for mom Donnie to carry out his agenda. I think what voters are going to be looking at is is mom Donnie willing to make good on what he promised. Now, if it looks like cozying up to Trump causes him to come back from some of the things he promised on the campaign trail. I think that's when voters are going to get upset.

And that's where it's going to be hard for him to, you know, walk that fine line of what can he do, how far can he go with the things he promised. Because before, if any of those things do cause President Trump to say, no, I don't want you doing that, and then what does he do then? Probably who's most upset today on this press press conference at least, if I can. Well, and she was invoked.

Yeah, I mean, I'm just thinking, you know, she goes back and stays with us. Like, that's what she's going to run on. But one thing that I did want to say is no one answered the question of how they're, they agreed on the policies today. However, no one agreed on how they're going to pay for them.

And that's where the rubber, that's where we're going to have the vibe. And finally to you, Megan, how long do you think these vibes last between President Trump and Mayor left on Donnie? I mean, I don't think they last very long, but we have a while until he's inaugurated and actually is the mayor and actually has to govern. So I mean, as soon as he, as you said, as soon as he does something that Trump doesn't like, it's going to flip this, the switch will flip.

I mean, Trump is not known for being able to keep himself in check, so this is, it might not be the last 24 hours to host. Well, stand by for me. I want to go out to Garrett, hey, back at the White House. So, Garrett, it turns out despite his campaign saying, so he may not talk to reporters after all, is that maybe because the Oval Office Q&A went so long.

What do you hear? Maybe that, and it may also be that he is still going to talk to reporters, but not here on campus. We're hearing that he may be talking in the park across the street. I mean, Chris, it is a little bit of a run-and-gun news environment here at the White House now, but whether or not there's a gaggle or not, probably not the mystery out of this meeting today.

Although I think there are a lot of follow-up questions for how the mayor-elect might feel about the president now that the president's not sitting at his left hand. Whether we get those answers today or Sunday morning on Meet the Press remains an open question. Well, I appreciate that tease very much, Garrett. Thank you.

From your perspective, as someone who's followed the Trump administration for quite some time, talk a little bit about how you see this relationship evolving, because obviously we're all very focused on the optics. And what was said today, the fact that President Trump says he wants to help, not hurt him. He seemed to pull back on his threat to withhold federal funds to New York City. But how do you see this evolving once Mayor-elect Momdani is sworn into office and then starts implementing some of his plans?

Well, look, there's some sort of political and practical implications on this. On the practical side of it, I think what the president said is, at least in some major measure, major measure true. They both want to see New York City be successful. And I think that means the same thing to both of them in certain categories.

A more affordable New York City? A lower crime New York City? Check. Although New York City is historically one of the lowest crime rates for major cities in this country.

So that might be a victory that can be declared kind of sooner rather than later. But politically speaking, I think there is probably a model here. To me, Kristen, and I think it's the Gavin Newsom model. This is the president who respects winners.

He respects people who he thinks are at the top of their game. He likes having a foil, someone that he can spar with, who he feels like is on his level. Newsom has held a similar role where they trash talk each other, they run against each other, but it's clear that the president has a grudging respect for him. And they have a relationship that exists when the cameras are not there, where they kind of work together for the state of California.

I could imagine a similar dynamic here developing with the mayor, where, you know, almost like I go back to this all the time, Donald Trump is the only president to also be a member of the pro wrestling Hall of Fame. That is a true statement, where when they're in the ring, they're smashing each other with the steel chairs, when they're backstage, they're having a beer and talking about what a good show they put on. There's a certain element here where both of these men can use each other politically. And then at the end of the day, shake hands and say, that was a pretty good fight.

Did we get anything done? I could foresee a relationship like that developing. But as we've all heard over the last 10 years about making predictions about Donald Trump is a very dangerous game and I won't go any farther than that. It sure is.

Well, you laid the groundwork very well. Garin Hake, thank you so much for being with us. I know a lot of moving parts at the White House really appreciated. Tia Meghan and Ashley, please stay with me.

We've got a lot more to discuss. And we're going to dive into the inflammatory comments President Trump made yesterday about Democrats and the reaction that's coming in from both sides. Plus the White House ratchets up pressure on Ukraine urging it to agree to a peace deal framework that US envoys crafted alongside Russia. We're following the fast-moving developments in that story you're watching at the press now.

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And the evolution of that irresistible foot stomping sound. You can get our conversation for free, wherever you download your podcasts. Welcome back. We want to turn out to an update on another developing story we have been following.

Backlash and security concerns are growing. Following President Trump's inflammatory comments about Democrats after a video from six Democratic lawmakers, all military veterans or former members of the intelligence community, calling the military to ignore unlawful orders. President Trump calling those lawmakers' traitors and their comments, seditious behavior punishable by death. The president also reposting a call to quote, hang them.

Today, claiming he was not threatening them even as he doubled down on calling the video seditious behavior. Look. Yeah, but you're not saying you're not threatening them. A lot of people were interpreting as a threat in their security.

I'm not threatening them, but I think they're in serious trouble. I would say they're in serious trouble. I'm not threatening death, but I think they're in serious trouble. In the old days, it was death.

Do you worry, Mr. President? It's just behavior. Some of the lawmakers he targeted saying they faced threats to their safety as a result.

And our apologies there. There was no audio. That was obviously Senator Alyssa Slatkin talking about the fact that she's had to have enhanced security in the wake of this incident. Pennsylvania Congresswoman Chrissi Koolahan also in the video telling NBC News quote, he called us treasonous.

Those are not words that are easily walked back. Some top Republicans are walking a fine line between distancing themselves. Some of the president's more inflammatory rhetoric while also defending his underlying message. The words that the president chose are not the ones that I would use.

Okay. Obviously, I don't think that this is some of these are crimes punchable like death or any of that. Okay. But what the point that we need to emphasize here is that numerous of Congressans sitting out should not be telling troops to disobey force is dangerous.

As far as the military and national security. And I can't even believe that this is a controversy. I think, um, but I certainly don't agree with the president's inclusion on Alabama. Joining me now is Chief Capitol Hill correspondent Ryan Nobles.

Thank you so much for joining us on this developing story. Let's talk about what Senator Slotkin said in the clip that we played. She was receiving 24 seven security in the wake of all of this. Is that something all of the Democrats who made that video now have?

It's not exactly clear that all of them are getting that same level of security. I was with a couple of them this afternoon. It was an obvious that they had a full Capitol police detail like I saw with Senator Slotkin last night. But what is clear is that they are all very concerned about their safety in the wake of this veiled threat.

President Trump doesn't describe it as a threat. But Donald Trump's accusations about their conduct as it relates to this video and that all of them have seen an increased level of vitriol pointed in their direction. I spoke with Congressman Jason Crow, who is a member, one of the members who was part of that video. Listen to what he told me about his experience in the wake of the attacks from President Trump.

The president is trying to silence dissent and opposition to fear and intimidation. And I don't do that. I'm not somebody that will allow myself to be intimidated and to back away from my constitutional duty. Congressman, are you getting more threats now as a result of this?

Yeah, absolutely. We're getting more threats. When the president of the United States tweets out death threats and says the things that he says that stirs things up a lot. And keep in mind, Kristen, this comes against the backdrop of an environment where many of these members were already receiving all kinds of threats and that the rhetoric around politics right now is that a fever pitch.

They say this is in addition to all of that. And they claim that what they're doing here is just reminding these military officials, these rank and file military members of their constitutional responsibility and that they're just reading out what the law says and that President Trump has taken it too far. Hey, Ryan, you know, the challenge for Republicans is they're having to answer for what we heard from President Trump, Speaker Johnson, Leader Thune, really trying to walk a fine line there. You could see them wrestling with how exactly to deal with this.

Yeah, and I talked to quite a few Republicans who basically said the same thing, that they feel as though President Trump's rhetoric isn't helpful. But one thing is very clear, Kristen, that you can't find a single Republican who believes that what the Democrats did was okay. They believe as though they've left many of these military service members in a state of confusion, that they're hinting of some sort of specific order or possible order that could come down the pike from the administration that is vague. When you ask these Democrats, are you worried about a specific order that could come down?

They don't have an answer for you. They basically just say, this is the military code of conduct. We're just reminding them what the military code of conduct is. But what Republicans were separately not happy with the way President Trump has handled this, what they say about their Democratic colleagues is, if you are an 18-year-old private in the Army who are getting your first orders, you're being thrown with a ton of information all at once, and then you see this video, do you start to question everything that you're told to do, it just doesn't put them in too good of a position.

So there's definitely strong opinions on this on all sides as a result of this video. All right, Ryan, I will thank you so much for breaking down that really complicated complex story for us. We appreciate it. Back with me to continue the discussion is our panel.

Tia, Megan and Ashley, thank you all for sticking around doing double duty. Tia, let me start with you. What do you think the implications of this moment are, is this going to be a dust-up, the page will get turned next week, or do you think this is going to become a broader issue? Because Democrats have been saying for several weeks now, service members should reject or ignore orders if they think they are illegal, but here you have them all together on tape saying it, and so it clearly has a different way.

Yeah, I was surprised when Ryan said, you know, he's been asking members of Congress and they won't say what caused them to record the video, which I think is stepping on their message. If you're concerned, and we know Democrats are concerned, they believe that Donald Trump is asking the federal government and the military to do things that have been problematic and they wonder where will it stop? And they wonder if he will come election time, weaponize the military or the national guard to possibly interfere. Those are the concerns.

I'm not saying they're founded in reality, but those are the concerns. But let's have a conversation about that. And I do think, quite frankly, the Republicans have a point when they're saying doing it this way. You know, John Thune saying it wasn't quite the way to do it, seem to cause more problems.

I think their method is being questioned, and I think that does have some validity, even if the conversation is not going anywhere. It's not, especially as the courts continue to say that things that Donald Trump or the White House have asked agencies, federal workers, or the military, law enforcement, the ICE raids, I mean, we can go on and on. We can go about the strikes and Venezuela. We can go on and on.

So, Ashley, the president's rhetoric and part of the criticism from Democrats, as you heard there, is it's a threat to our security. It's coming at a time when there's this uptick. In political violence, and not to mention the fact that what Republicans want to be focused on is what we've been talking about throughout the show, affordability, health care. Well, absolutely.

Well, I don't know if we want to be concentrating on that right now, because I have an environmental care point. I do have to say, I don't like the rhetoric on either side. I don't think it was a smart idea on the Democrats. I don't think, obviously, the rhetoric of what the president said was smart at all.

He should know better than anybody. He had two assassination attempts. Charlie Kirk just was shot how many months ago. It's not something, but he's doing this for one reason.

He's talking to our military, and that's why he's, it's just too out there for me. Obviously, the Democrats enraged by the president's response, but was it the right move for these Democrats to record this video with that message to U.S. servicemembers? I think the Democrats are in a really tough spot.

There's been over 150 legal orders when widely reported that military leaders are seeking help and outside counsel. You had a spouse calm step down, the commander, and so you just, and one of our major allies in the U.K. will not share intel with us in Venezuela because what we're doing is illegal. So I think that the Democrats feel in a tough spot.

If no one is listening in the Trump presidency and the Department of War is not coming to the Hill to brief them, then they have no either place but to take it publicly. And the president just took their message and said, hold my beer and came on top of them, something more egregious and more outrageous. And I just, this is a problem that's taking place publicly, and these are conversations that we should be having, these members of Congress, and Trump should be having behind closed doors. Not, this is not a conversation to be having out in the public.

What we do in terms of our national security should, following orders should not be a conversation in public. All right, guys, we are out of time, but what a fantastic conversation. Thank you all for sticking around to cover multiple different stories today. Really appreciate it.

Tia Meghan and Ashley, great stuff. We do have much more news ahead. Stay with us right here on the press now. It's here.

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On the front page, the Zeitgeist. Here's The Scoop from NBC News. Listen daily on Amazon Music. Welcome back, President Trump is putting Ukraine on notice, giving President Zelensky until Thursday to sign off on a 28-point peace proposal crafted by the US and Russia.

As a part of that framework, Ukraine would see major swaths of territory, including regions in eastern Ukraine that Russia does not have full control over. Ukraine would also have to cap the size of its military and agree to never join NATO. In return, Ukraine would receive security guarantees from the United States, which is something that Ukraine has been demanding. In a video address to his country, President Zelensky said this was, quote, quote, one of the most difficult moments in Ukraine's history, adding that Ukraine is now facing the choice of losing its dignity or risk losing a key partner.

While speaking to reporters in the Oval Office this afternoon, President Trump ratcheted up the pressure on President Zelensky. Take a look. He'll have to like it. And if he doesn't like it, then, you know, they should just keep fighting against it.

Well, at some point he's going to have to accept something. You know, he hasn't accepted. You remember right in the Oval Office not so long ago. I said, you don't have the cards.

Don't forget, I inherited this war. I would have never. This war never would have happened. I inherited this war.

And I thought he should have made a deal a year ago, two years ago. Joining me now is NBC News chief foreign affairs correspondent and chief Washington correspondent Andrea Mitchell. Andrea, thank you so much for being here. You and I have been talking about these developments throughout the week.

Here's President Trump quoting from that explosive Oval Office meeting with President Zelensky where he said, you don't have the cards repeating that today. I thought that was so notable. How much pressure is the White House putting on Ukraine to accept this deal? Maximum pressure.

Absolutely. This was crafted by Russia and the U.S. And a moment when Zelensky is weaker than he's ever been because of a domestic corruption scandal, a really bad scandal that had erupted last week. Clearly, Russia sees that moment and went to see Wyckov, the special envoy, because the White House is looking for any kind of victory right now.

Look, the Alaska Summit with Vladimir Putin was acknowledged internally and externally as a diplomatic disaster. It produced nothing. It was a big embarrassment. And they're looking to try to build on the success so far at least of the Gaza peace accord.

And it's a similar framework, but it gives Ukraine really very, very little. It makes them make maximum concessions. And as you point out, the rhetoric that the President used today was reverting back to that February in Moscow for Zelensky, at least, in the Oval Office. He has never once acknowledged that Vladimir Putin is the invader.

He has been at times annoyed with Putin and most recently said that they would sanction him and they did proceed at least to start putting the mechanism of sanctions. But this is going all the way back to the beginning where Zelensky is considered the bad guy when he's defending his country from a Russian invasion. It's astonishing. It's astonishing.

And you could hear the President's frustration in his voice there, as you say, seemingly directed at Ukraine, which was invaded. The one significant concession, if you want to call it that, part of this deal that Ukraine is welcoming these article 5th type guarantees. What are they saying? It is a mirage.

Article 5 is a legal commitment by NATO countries to come to the defense of a NATO member, Poland, Lithuania, any of Finland, Sweden. Without a legal military commitment, it's meaningless. So who's going to enforce it? Russia takes more of Ukraine at some point.

Who's going to stop them? They'll start debating it where? Not even in the United Nations. It's not even a resolution.

We know how feckless that is. Do you anticipate, Andrea, that Ukraine is going to feel so much pressure? It will have to, except this does President Zelensky have a way out. Europe.

Already went to the French. The European Union is very upset about this. I talked to the European Union representative just a week ago before this happened. And they are stalwarts and Germany.

And this was not something that Europe had ever imagined. And they're not going to go along with this. And they're the ones that are funding a reconstruction. So this is one of the great coups against diplomacy.

And that Marco Rubio a week ago, nine days ago, when we were with him on the G7, you know, trip back from Canada, on camera said that Vladimir Putin is the one who is not ready to make peace. So the professional diplomats at the UN yesterday, Mike Walz, the UN ambassador, and Marco Rubio have taken very different positions, so has Besant on sanctions. So this is being done by the special envoys and by the president. They are really looking for a win by Thanksgiving.

And of course, President Trump saying and signaling that this is what he would prefer, one Ukrainian official saying, even if there's a deal, there's no guarantee Russia will adhere to the times of it. And thank you so much for tracking that twist in turn. We really appreciate it. We do want to turn now to more economic fallout from the government shutdown.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics announcing it is canceling its October inflation report and delaying the release of its November report. The announcement coming is the White House appears to be responding to growing frustration among consumers and voters on the issue of inflation and the cost of food. The president announcing yesterday that he's rolling back tariffs on additional imports from Brazil, including fruit, coffee, cocoa, and beef. NBC News, your business correspondent, Christine Romans, joining me now, Christine.

Thanks so much for being here. So hi there. It's great to see you as always on this Friday. So help this into perspective.

Christine, is the Trump administration rolling back tariffs or exempting some products from tariffs altogether? How should we think about this? Now, remember these tariffs that President put on really in retaliation for what he saw his unjust treatment of the former president of Brazil, political ally of his, who was trying to overthrow an election there. So this wasn't about trying to get domestic production back to the United States.

This was a political tariff. And now they're taking that off. Remember, we don't grow coffee in the United States. So when you put a tariff on coffee, suddenly, you know, that's not going to promote a bunch of coffee in the United States.

It might just raise costs. And look at how prices have risen over the past year for coffee, for steak, for ground beef, for bananas. These are just some of the food prices they've been rising. So the White House is saying it's doing Kristin, is taking off that 40% extra tariff they slapped on because of the treatment of Bolsonaro the former president there.

And prices on many of these items are quite frankly, up significantly from a year ago, Christine. When can people expect to see the prices either level off or start to come down? Yeah, it might just be that this helps them level off or maybe it helps them come down. We just don't know really for sure.

I think the first place you might see this is coffee. Coffee has been sitting in what they're called bonded warehouses, ready to go, right? But they didn't quite get to the step where the tariff had to be paid because they thought, eventually these tariffs were going to have to be rolled back. The president would have to back off these very steep tariffs, exactly for these reasons, that it's a trouble for consumers at a time when prices are already rising.

Well, let me ask you because the Bureau of Labor Statistics, as I was just saying, announced today, it's canceling its October inflation report because of the shutdown. The November inflation report will be delayed about a week, will be released until December 18. The LS has already canceled the October jobs report and delayed the release of the November jobs report. How difficult is it to assess the health of the economy right now, Christine, given all of these delays?

Driving in a fog. And it was the Fed chief recently who said, when you're driving in a fog, you slow down, which is one reason why some people think the Fed might not cut interest rates in December. It's very difficult. These are numbers that markets and economists and industries and governments rely on, that reliability and predictability of the American sort of workforce, the American backbone of the government worker.

Well, we sent those people home because Congress couldn't get us back together. That means we are kind of flying blind here and every bit of data will be that much more scrutinized. All right, Christine Romans, as always. Thank you so much.

We have a great weekend. Great to see you. Coming up after the break, reality check, the Trump administration strikes targeting boats in the Caribbean, allegedly carrying drugs to American shores. These strikes facing new scrutiny.

That reporting is next. Keep it right here. I'm at the press now. Welcome back.

Experts are casting doubt on the Trump administration's claims behind a series of deadly military strikes targeting alleged drug boats in the Caribbean. The White House says the boats have been carrying fentanyl bound for American shores, but have released little evidence publicly to back up those claims. Law enforcement and military officials, as well as narcotics experts, tell NBC News that drug cartels operating boats in the Caribbean mainly move cocaine, not fentanyl, and the ships typically go to Europe, not to the U.S. Those experts also say nearly all fentanyl is smuggled over land for Mexico, not by sea.

It all undermines the Trump administration's justification for the military strikes on those boats. We have almost no drugs coming into our country by the sea, by, you know, the waterways. And you know why? Okay.

It's pretty obvious. We move that on the land cars. Look, every boat we knock out, we save 25,000 American lives, not to mention the destruction of families. Every one of those boats that gets knocked out is saving 25,000 American lives, not to mention the torn up families all over the country.

We have a lot of drugs coming in from Venezuela. And a lot of the Venezuelan drugs coming through the sea, so you get to see that. But we're going to stop them by land. NBC News International Security Corusconic Court.

The QB joins me now, Court. Thanks so much for being here. I know you've got a lot of developments on this, but the big question I think on people's minds has the Pentagon actually provided any evidence that these are drug boats yet? Just seeing what you just saw on screen there, the sort of grainy, black and white heavily edited videos that they're providing showing the boats being struck, that is the only evidence that we, the public and the media have gotten.

Now, some members of Congress have allegedly gotten a little bit more information, but they're not sharing that widely, most likely because the Pentagon has told them that it's all classified. But what's really critical here are those sound bites that we just heard from President Trump there that have been repeated by other senior officials. And it's this argument that tens of thousands, 25,000 people are being saved Americans every time they strike one of those boats. That's what we set out to try to figure out.

The reality is, Kristen, we cannot find any evidence that proves anything like that. The majority of those boats are taking cocaine to Europe. They are not bringing fentanyl here. No fentanyl is coming from these boats.

And that is what is really causing most of the deaths from overdose this year in the U.S. What are European allies saying about this? And if these boats are going to Europe, does that just flatly make these strikes illegal? That's the big question.

So does if the drugs are going to Europe and they're not coming to the United States, for the most part, is there an actual threat from these boats? That is what the administration has been saying, that they're in an active armed conflict with the cartels. This is how they're carrying it out. The reality is, if in fact the drugs are coming to the U.S., what is the actual threat to the United States and to Americans here?

And I have to say, Kristen, we've been reporting on something this afternoon. We just got a little bit more detail on it. There is this new mission, this military mission, just recently named Operation Southern Sphere. Well, they've just carried out what the military is calling an Obama attack demo or demonstration.

They carried it out yesterday off the coast of Venezuela. Why this is so important right now. They used B-52 bombers flown all the way from F-18s off of the aircraft carrier. They used refuelers.

This was a show of presence, a show of strength. They flew all the way to the waters off of Venezuela, staying in a national air space and waterway, of course. But they flew that far. The U.S.

has an enormous presence in that region. They're a military presence. The reality is, if they wanted to do something more to go after some of these cartels, they have everything they need in place to do it. All right, Courtney, thank you so much for bringing us all of that reporting.

We really appreciate it. We will be back Monday with more Meet the Press now. And if it's Sunday, it's Meet the Press on your local NBC news station. I will have interviews again with Mayor-elect Zoramandani exclusively, Treasury Secretary Scott Besson and Senator Amy Klobuchar.

There's more ahead on NBC News Now. Thank you very much.