Hey everyone, I'm Dylan Dryer, co-host of The Third Hour of Today, and Mom to Three Wild Boys. I've learned a lot my years as a parent, mostly that I don't have it all figured out yet, and I'm not the only one. This is my new podcast, The Parent Chat. Each week I sit down with someone new, for honest conversation, and real-world advice about parenting.
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This month, I'm grabbing a matcha latte with comedian Taylor Tonlinson. The drink is always about someone's journey to the top, and Taylor's story is remarkable. She tells us all about her unlikely path, from performing in churches, all the way to headlining her own Netflix specials, like her latest prodigal daughter. And she opens up about her religious upbringing, what drew her to stand up, and how she feels when she gets on that stage.
Hope you'll listen and follow the drink wherever you get your podcasts. If it's Friday, it all comes down to this. The race could not be tighter, as Vice President Harris and former President Trump hit the trail in critical battleground Michigan, with both campaigns unloading on each other. Plus, in the wake of the death of Hamas leader Yaya Sinwar, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says his country's war with Hamas is not over.
Despite renewed pressure from President Biden, then it's time for Israel to move on. And a federal judge unseals more than 1,800 pages of evidence, and special counsel Jack Smith's election interference case against the former president, despite Trump's lawyers urging the court to wait until after the election. Welcome to me, the President now on Kristen Welker in Washington. As Vice President Harris and former President Trump ratchet up attacks on each other, with polls showing a tightening race with just two and a half weeks until election day.
Today, both candidates hitting the trail in battleground Michigan. The Vice President speaking in Grand Rapids last hour. While former President Trump will return to Detroit, a city he criticized while rallying there last week. Our own Peter Alexander spoke to the Vice President just moments ago at that Grand Rapids event.
We will talk to him and we'll hear some of that conversation in just a moment. But today's trip comes as the Vice President Court support from across the political and demographic spectrum, reaching out to disaffected Republicans, black voters, and today launching an ad campaign targeting men on sports and gaming sites. It also comes as she seeks to paint Mr. Trump as dangerous to the country, seizing on his comments, calling those who oppose him the enemy within.
Just imagine Donald Trump with no guardrails, right? He who has reelected, he will be a dictator on day one. Someone who suggests we should terminate the Constitution of the United States should never again stand behind the seal of the President of the United States. Mr.
Trump, meanwhile, tripling down on those comments during a podcast appearance today. I think we have more of an enemy from within than we do from outside. You know, if you have a smart President, they talk about China and Russia and everything else. If you have a smart President, they're not going to be the problem.
We have a bigger problem from within. These are bad people. These are sick people and bad people. And it's true.
But I think it's a narrative that they don't like. The former President has remained laser focused on appealing to his base, personally attacking the Vice President on Fox this morning just two days after Harris's own Fox interview. She's a low IQ person. She's not smart.
Everyone knows that. Didn't even pass her law exam. It was a big thing. She never thought she was going to be able to pass it.
The Vice President has said that she initially did fail the bar exam, but then passed. Despite the two disparate strategies, the race remains deadlocked in our latest NBC News poll, meaning small margins just thousands of votes among slices of the electorate in a few weeks. States could have an outsized impact on the outcome of the election. Luckily for us, our NBC News team has been tacked talking to some of those key voters.
We will hear from them in just a moment, but we do begin with Chief White House correspondent Peter Alexander and Grand Rapids, with the Vice President Garrett Hake, following Donald Trump and has a look at how the former President has struggled with some traditionally conservative voters. Tremaine Leon's in Philadelphia where Democrats have been working to register more black voters. And Yasmin Vesuvian will join us in just a moment. She has been talking to Lebanese American voters in battle ground Michigan.
Peter, I have to start with you. First of all, congratulations. Big, big, yet. You just spoke with the Vice President moments after her Michigan.
After her Michigan event this afternoon, what was your key takeaway, Peter? I think there were several takeaways. It was a short conversation. She was heading off to two other stops here in this critical state of Michigan.
Obviously where she is trying to win one of the Blue Wall State. She has to likely win all three of them Wisconsin. Yesterday she'll head to Pennsylvania soon here. And one of the questions I think that has been outstanding, Chris, has been specifically focused on how she will be different than Joe Biden going for.
She's cast herself in recent interviews, including the one with Fox News, saying she will not be a continuation of Joe Biden as President. She says they have different views of the world among other things that come from different generations. But I press around that specifically to try to pin her down a little bit more clearly about exactly where those differences may lie. Take a listen.
My priority on housing, one because I know what it means before housing the ability to buy a home. Again, my own experience. My mother saved up and not as a teenager, who she was able to do it. But also I know that for so many young people who I speak with around our country, the American dream is just really out of reach.
So my policy about $25,000 down payment assistance to help them get their foot in the door. The work that I have been doing and will bring to the presidency around emphasizing small businesses being part of the real backbone of America's economy. Those are the experiences and the ideas that I have that are about moving forward and really being part of the next generation of leadership. So, Kristen, as you heard in that exchange, she was reluctant due to her loyalty as she described it to say anything critical about any of President Biden's policies over the course of these last three and a half years, which does put her in a bit of unique position right now, increasingly as I've spoken to undecided voters, including in places like Michigan and Wisconsin where I was just yesterday.
They have asked specifically what might be different about her than it is about Joe Biden. And it comes against the backdrop of polling that we have found and has been seen across this country. Most Americans think the country is in the wrong, is headed in the wrong direction right now. That's under President Biden's leadership, specifically where those differences would be.
Other takeaway I would just raise for you right now and ask her about the gender gap specifically. She leads among women according to our recent poll, like 14 points down among men by 16 points. I asked her why she thinks that is, why she thinks there is a disconnect. She said in effect that she doesn't think she's doing all that poorly with men.
She says look around her plenty of men here. She says that's not her experience that she's having a challenge among men. But I will tell you at the same time that she is saying that her campaign just today shared information about how for the first time it is targeting men more aggressively on some of the places where they are, including some of those popular platforms, including sports betting sites like draft Kings advertising there for the first time sports news sites fantasy sports sites. They've also been advertising in recent weeks to try to target those male voters and some of the college football games, the NFL games and major league baseball playoff games as well.
Frankly spent time this week mostly with friendly media. What are your sources telling you about what this basically means for his strategy in this home stretch? You might give up big chunks. You might give up the opportunity where he does take questions at a gaggle or that kind of thing, but never puts yourself in a position where you might get really put on your back foot.
It suggests to me that the Trump campaign either one of two things or possibly a combination of both. Either thinks they are winning this race, perhaps quite narrowly, or thinks that the biggest risk to them at this moment is Donald Trump being significantly pushed in front of a large audience to say something he shouldn't. They are trying to sort of avoid both of those possibilities with the strategy that largely has him just talking to big crowds like the one that's starting to gather behind me here in Detroit. Well, Garrett, you're so right about that.
And as you've been speaking, we've been watching him at a campaign event there in Michigan. He heads to Detroit next. Garrett, talk a little bit about the significance of this obviously Detroit deep blue area. And he made some pretty eyebrow raising comments the last time he was in Detroit.
Yeah, and this has been such an interesting thing to watch, Kristen, because Donald Trump actually did better in Detroit proper in 2020 when he lost than he did in 2016 when he won. He has improved his standing in urban areas in part by appealing more to Latino voters. He's making tiny, but somewhat significant given how close all these margins are, games with African American voters. In Detroit, he has been trashing the city sort of conceptually saying it's, you know, if you don't vote for him, every city in America is going to look like Detroit.
I got to tell you, I was talking to some Trump supporters earlier today who said, yeah, we get that. You know, we understand why people think we have this problem here. Harris is using those comments against Trump in other parts of the state. I'm not as convinced it cuts against him as badly as it might otherwise appear here in Detroit.
Yeah, I think that's a good point, Garrett. Let's talk about some of the great reporting you've been doing on the ground talking to Mormon voters who could quite frankly make all the difference in key swing states. What are they telling you about the state of this race? Of course, this is a subgroup of voters I've been fascinated by ever since I covered the Romney campaign, reliably conservative, spallcy in basically every possible way.
But in many cases heavily motivated by the character of a candidate. They seek moderation. They seek consensus. It's a church characteristic.
It's a characteristic that is sort of passed down through their leadership. And they have broken from Trump sometimes in significant ways during the Trump era and from other Trump-associated politicians. We saw some of that divide and that angst about how to balance their faith and their conservatism. It's some interviews I conducted in Arizona last week.
Listen to this. He is a statesman. He's very respectful. What he's doing right now, he's a politician.
He has to appeal to the voters. And so he has a personality. But again, I'm not voting on personality. I'm voting on policy.
So, Terry, I'll pick up with you on that point. I sort of see you reacting at the corner of my eye. I think Trump's a character. But I don't think he has any character.
Would be the way I would describe it. Can you square your conservative principles with a vote for Kamala Harris? So there is one conservative principle that I hold very dearly that is when pushing me towards Harris. That is the rule of law and the peaceful transfer of power.
Trust me, I wish there was another option. I wish Nikki Haley was the ballot. I would be very enthusiastically supporting her. But I have Trump and he's not an option based on my perspective.
President Joe Biden got 18% of the LDS vote in Arizona in 2020. I state that he won by 11,000 votes. You do the math. That's the margin.
So, he's voting black. Although, small nationally. It couldn't matter a great deal. And some of these Western battlegrounds are particular.
It's just fascinating to hear from them, Garrett. And to hear her, the last one you spoke with in particular talk about Nikki Haley. Because you think about what will decide this race. And in many ways, it's those Nikki Haley voters.
So, fantastic interview with them, Garrett. Thank you so much for bringing that to us. You're in my hometown of Philly at a voter registration event aimed at black voters. Talk to me about what voters there are telling you.
Are they feeling energized? And just a little bit of strategy for folks who aren't familiar with the key to winning Pennsylvania. Part of it involves driving up turnout in Philadelphia in the Philadelphia area, right? That's right, Kristen.
Here in our favorite city of Philadelphia, Go Birds. You know, talking to black men in particular. Not just voters, not just Eagles fans. But black men about what they care about most.
What issues they'll be carrying into the polling places with them. And a few things emerged. One was that as men, they want to feel solid and whole opportunities to be able to provide for themselves, provide for their families, and provide for their communities. But also, as we speak to how much attention, politically, has been shown down on black men.
There's also been a lot of brow beating as many of them, a growing number of them, a small but still growing number of them, are still trying to figure out which of these two politicians serve them best, even though for some it seems obvious. But I gather a group of guys here, everyday guys, who talk to me about what their motivations are. Check it out. Do you think one of these two candidates, whether it's down in front of a Kamala Harris, are best positioned to help you in that conversation?
Right now, I'm leaning more towards Kamala Harris and that regard. How about you guys? Which of y'all need me? That's right.
How about you land on Kamala Harris? Did you know all along? Definitely was a process. I mean, hearing certain things that are heard, certain feedback that I heard were trying to get to the community and research to help us.
So, like, it's still over to have a man, it's going to be a little road ahead of us. The message here for, you know, black men, especially in North Philadelphia, a very black section of the city, is that folks should feel comfortable participating in the process. And so if you're on the sidelines for whatever reason, they're not telling you to vote for one or the other. But they're saying, black men, we want to hear your voice, get involved and register to vote.
You know, and it echoes kind of what we heard from former President Barack Obama when he had that stern message to black men. Basically, don't stay at home, don't sit this one out, get out and vote. And that's just a part of the outreach we have seen the Harris campaign make to black voters and black men in particular. How is that being received in Philadelphia, Tremaine?
There are a couple things here. One thing that I've been hearing all across this country this entire election season and in Philadelphia is that black men want to be heard, want to be acknowledged. And perhaps most of all, want to be respected as men, as more than just a pathology, as more than just folks who are incarcerated, as more than just people who are most likely to be victims of gun violence or perpetrators than violence, come as whole thinkers. And so now that folks actually are engaging with intentionality around black men, saying black men, we want to hear your concerns and we want to be beautiful for us.
We don't want you to take a granted. That's been a pretty resonant message here, especially when another thing you'll hear time again is that politicians will come around with time for elections and they'll ask for your vote. But then you never see them again. And the quality of your life and your community doesn't change.
The job prospects don't change. So you want to see your face to face the politician, hear your piece and have the truth. Well, Tremaine, great interviews and great reporting as always. Thanks so much for joining us.
We really appreciate it. Yasmin, let me head over to you. You were in Michigan this week talking to Lebanese American voters. They feel as though their community has been neglected.
What was their message to you, Yasmin? They literally told me they feel like second, third, fourth class citizens. That the only time in which folks actually want to hear from them, right, that they spend time with them, these politicians, these lawmakers, is when they want their vote. When they want to retain power in Washington.
But the interim, in the four years between these presidential elections, they are forgotten. And they feel as if the war on Gaza, the war in Lebanon is reflective of that notion, of that feeling, right? These are people who every day are checking in with their family, for instance, in Beirut. And wondering if they're still alive.
One of the individuals I spoke to talked about how his entire cousin's family died just a couple of days ago. And he found out via Telegram, his grandfather's house had been bombed and no longer standing. They are feeling this in a very visceral way, this war. And they are voting with one issue, Kristen in mind.
Let's take a listen to more of what they had to say, and then we'll talk on the other side. Who is voting for Donald Trump in 24? It's possible. It's possible.
It's definitely not here. That's for sure. Who is voting for Kamala Harris here? Absolutely not.
No. Not possible. There's nothing she can do or stay for us to change our mind. Who is voting third party in 2024?
The chance. So, Jill's time. It's also possible that someone will just abstain from voting altogether. But we do know that that's not the political strategy.
The campaign that the Democrats ran was that Donald Trump hates us. I felt safe. Well, in the country when Trump was in office, I don't feel safe right now with Kamala in office. I was hard pressed, Kristen, to find a Harris supporter that was willing to go on camera in the Lebanese community.
We talked for days with folks, some of which were voting for Kamala Harris in this election. But they compared it to 2016. When many people in the Arab American community didn't feel comfortable talking about the fact that they supported Donald Trump, then candidate Trump. And they feel as if now, if they're voting for Harris, they will be ostracized and targeted in their community.
And so they're not being outspoken about it. But the sentiment amongst this community, by the way, 200,000 strong Arab Americans, potential voters in Michigan, really could obviously swing an important state, is that they feel forgotten. And the country is broken. And they want to see nature change.
Yeah, so just 10 seconds. Do you think if there's a ceasefire deal or release of the hostages, could that change their calculations? Some of the folks who were saying we're going to vote third party? No, we're going to sit it out.
No, I've been visiting Michigan for the last year, since the primaries in February. They thought about possibly changing their mind then, considering how things were going to play out two weeks out. There's nothing changing their mind at this point, especially considering what they see as a tremendous amount of loss in their community. And they're going to use overseas.
Well, it's just absolutely fascinating reporting and tremendous interviews. Yasmin Vasubian, thank you so much. Thanks, guys. We appreciate it.
Coming up, former President Trump's inflammatory remarks about Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine reasonably suggesting Ukraine and President Zelensky is to blame. And a closer look at Nevada's critical centiprates. As Republican Sam Brown comes out swinging against Democratic incumbent Senator Jackie Rosen in last night's debate, my panel joins me to break it all down next. You're watching Meet the Press Now.
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Hey guys, Willie Geist here reminding you to check out the Sunday Sit Down podcast. On this week's episode, I get together with Red Hot Stand Up Comedian Nikki Glaser to talk about the long career grind that has brought her to this starring moment, hosting the Golden Globes, killing at the Tom Brady Rose, and now with another hit special on Hulu. You can get our conversation now for free, wherever you download your podcasts. Rose, meanwhile touted her record and trying to make housing more affordable for Nevadans.
What I would work on first and what I have legislation to do is affordable housing. I have a bill called the Home Act is to make sure that those corporate investors that come to Nevada, they continue to buy up our homes and they jack up the prices. We need to make sure they're not able to do that. I have a bill that will hold them accountable, that will find them, that will put money back into affordable housing.
For more, I'm joined by Jasmine Wright, reporter for Notice. Simone Sanders Townsend, former Chief Spokesperson for Vice President Harris, and now a co-host of MSNBC's The Weeknd. Michael Dubke, White House Communications Director during the Trump Administration. Thanks to all of you for being here.
Let me start with your takeaways from that debate, the clips at least, that we saw, and the implications of this is yet another race that we're watching closely. I think what you saw there, at least in those two clips, is a front runner who's trying to just stay calm and deflect everything that the challenger, who is five points down in the polls when you look at the averages, is throwing at her. It's a very typical kind of debate that is going on, but Nevada is one of those states. We can talk about the Senate, we can talk about the presidential race, but there's seven states, and they weirdly have Senate races going on at the same time as presidential races, but there's some of these places where Trump and Harris are not connected, and the Republican is not getting the same type of support as Donald Trump is.
And it's an anomaly in a couple of states, Arizona and Nevada, and that's, we'll see if that lasts on election day, but that to me is the big, strange thing. I mean, Sam Brown has struggled to gain traction in this race, and I think what you, in that debate, what you saw, is him trying to just get it in any way, he's like something. Something is gonna take here. One of the things I felt was not going to debate is Democrats have casted him as someone who's not of the state, and there's a moment in the debate where he says, well, since I've moved here, and I'm like, no, this is making me think.
So, still, this is a race that Democrats are watching very closely, and that they are not taking for granted because they don't want to look up on election day, and they got one less seat than they were going. That's right, the margins are so close, and Democrats are so concerned about losing. They're so close, they're gonna lose West Virginia by all accounts, and so they're watching Ohio, Ohio, the White House. Yeah, I think that the better that Jackie Rosen does in the state, the better that Kamala Harris does in the state, right?
So, it's not just about keeping the Senate for Democrats, although that is a major, major push that we hear people talking about in Washington every day, but it is also about trying to keep the state viable and competitive to kind of make sure that she has her equities in place when it comes to that battleground strategy. I think one thing about Jackie Rosen, she's kind of the last product from the Reed Machine, obviously, in the end, in 2018. And so, not only, I think, kind of the inverse of maybe Sam Brown or people are feeling maybe he doesn't have the type of support from the RNC and for Republicans because that poll or those polls are starting to widen, Jackie Rosen has all the support from Democrats across the country. And so, I think that that, in addition to just how people feel about the race, is maybe a product of those kind of expanding numbers, just because she is such a supportive candidate by the institutional Democrats.
Yeah, all right, let's turn to the presidential race now. There are a lot of new comments by both candidates, including this podcast that former President Trump did and what's notable about the exchange I'm about to play where he doubles down on questioning Kamala Harris's race. It's again this strategy that seems aimed at turning out the Trump face. Take a look.
Kamala, who is apparently black, she's up 41. What do you mean by apparently? I mean, that's what they're telling us. I mean, it's much better that, no, see, I would never say anything like that, but just don't explain to what you mean.
I don't want to put you in trouble. It's very comfortable explaining it because overnight, you know, she's doing a show. She's supposed to be Indian. And then all of a sudden now it's black.
They have a woman who is black. Although you would say she's Indian, but she is black, but she really, a lot of people didn't know, which is true. But I learned about it just a couple months ago. I mean, you know, the fact that she's black, the fact that she thought I thought she was Indian until a couple months ago.
Yeah, no. Jasmine. I mean, do they not understand the concept of mixed race people? I don't understand what the issue is here.
And also, I mean, I'm not giving the vice president's team any ideas, but I would definitely put apparently black on a bumper chair. I wish. I mean, I think that's just another round of Trump being divisive, throwing red meat to his base. This is a base turnout election.
Even though the vice president is focused on Nikki Haley voters, even though the former president is focused on Latino and black male voters, right? This is a base election. And so he is doing everything in his power to kick up the divisiveness because that is what gets a lot of his followers to come out on election day. And that is what he needs.
He needs people to come out for him just in case the vice president is successful in getting folks to defect from the Republican Party, which may not be a huge amount, but of course, this is going to be a racist concept to the Marxists. Are you making shirts, Simone? I'm just... If somebody on the internet makes an apparently black shirt, I promise you I might put that in my litty card.
Let me just say two things. One, I think this, what he did in this clip particularly is a depression tactic in terms of there is an undercurrent out there underbelly of conversation that doesn't always make it up to cable news about the vice president not actually being black. And so what that is, is that it's a dog whistle to the people who are disproportionately black who say that again in this underbelly, this small subset to say, you can see we're questioning if she's really black, don't vote for this non-black actually black person. What, the depression tactic?
I actually think the bigger issue here, the more macro bet is that each of these campaigns are going in two very different directions and making very big bets on two different tactics. I think the Trump campaign has decided we are going to turn out not just the base, but we're going to find those voters that generally don't vote in elections, but maybe the 40% of Americans that don't turn out on election day, but we think we can identify and bring out. And the Harris vote, the Harris campaign is making the other bet, which is we're not just going to depend on the base that Biden did. We're going to try to grow that base and grab some disaffected voters.
Big bets on both sides and we'll find out in November 5th or a week later as you said. I'm just saying this isn't glaring disparity though, I think it doubles standard because Donald Trump gets out of here, doesn't talk policy, he's in these interviews from the House, not dinner, whether in what he's talking about on Fox News. Not talking policy, he's saying a little jumbled on what he's talking about, canceling interviews and I just think the level of scrutiny about what he is doing and not doing and what he's saying is not being adequately applied to the people who are going to vote. He's not being adequately applied across the board.
Mike, your response to that is part of that because he has been at the top of the ticket for longer, he's been in 2016. If we really want to get into the metrics of this, of how many interviews Harris Wolls have done versus Trump Vance, I mean, the numbers are diametrically opposed. He has been doing these hard interviews. She did just two points.
Now she's got the ability to say I went into the Lions Den and I thought. And she just talked to our own Peter Alexander. I'll do respect to Peter. He ain't the Lions Den in the same way that Fox says.
He did press her. He did press her. He did. Well, I think just at my own point, it's different from the volume of interviews.
I think we could all look at the numbers and say, yes, Trump has done more volume. Maybe they've been more friendly, but he's sat for more interviews, right? Versus the type of scrutiny that comes out of those two. When Harris has a gaff, right, it makes the front page news.
When Trump says something like, apparently she's back or, yes, it's true. Most people didn't know that she's black. It kind of goes past the way. It would be very fast about this.
Here's the big difference. The world, America knows Donald Trump. We do not know Vice President Harris. That is not an excuse to not, I think that everyone is not an excuse to not undergo the same type of scrutiny.
And I think that we, after the election, one of the analysis is going to be about how he hasn't gone to the press. Let me ask you very quickly about Peter's interview. Very, very quickly because I think we're running out of time soon. Peter asked her to give one example of where you differ from President Biden.
And I thought it was notable because we're hearing a new line from her basically saying she's loyal to the president. And that's how the relationship between the president and Vice President, that's what it should look like. It was the first time we've heard her say that. Source said that to me earlier today.
So I thought it was notable that here she is saying that. Yeah, I think you've hit it on the nail. This has been a conversation or a point that folks on the campaign, that folks closer her, have been telling us privately for weeks when the conversation would continue to happen. Why doesn't she have something directly to say that she would do differently than Biden?
Because we know and I know in my reporting that she can always agree with Biden. That she wanted to push Biden. So as we know on marijuana, student loans, I'm sure Simone can tell us a host of other issues from being in the office. That she wanted to push Biden.
So why can't she just bring out one of those? So I think this is kind of them giving her the reality or giving her something to say that is truth, which is that she doesn't want to be dis-lawy to Biden, but also maybe giving her some small little things to try to create. I think this was driven by her. I really do.
I think that there were maybe aides that wanted to say something different. Absolutely. And she was like, I am willing to do that, but I will do this. And from a practical standpoint, the last time she disagreed with him, he went into the White House Briefing Room and held a press conference on top of an event she used to have.
So there's some real, politic part of this as well. Well, it's a fine line. She is walking. It is a fantastic Friday conversation.
Thank you so much to Jasmine Simone and Mike really appreciated. Coming up after the break, we will talk about the fallout from Yaya Sinwar's Death Stay With Us. You're watching the press now. Welcome back.
We continue to learn more about Israel's military operation that killed Hamas leader Yaya Sinwar on Wednesday. The drone video released by Israel appears to show Sinwar just moments before his death. Though NBC News has not been able to independently confirm that. The IDF says Sinwar had fled alone into a building, masked and wounded from gunfire, as he threw a plank towards the US.
The US is the first to show the release of the film, which is the first to show Sinwar's death. The US is the first to show the release of the film, which is the first to show the film. As he threw a plank towards the drone, in a televised eulogy, Sinwar's longtime deputy said nothing has changed in Hamas's war against Israel. And Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu told Israelis that the war is not over.
However, during a joint press conference while traveling abroad in Germany, President Biden said Sinwar's death now presents an opportunity for a ceasefire. The death of leader Hamas represents the moment of justice. He had the blood of Americans, Israelis, Palestinians and Germans and so many others on his hands. I told the Prime Minister of Israel yesterday, let's also make this moment an opportunity to seek a path to peace, a better future in Gaza without Hamas.
Joining now is Hallekurani from Tel Aviv. Hallek, thank you so much for joining us, really appreciate it. What more are you learning today about Sinwar's death and the implications of it? We're learning Christmas of new details about what led to the killing of Yahya Sinwar.
I spoke to the former head of the National Security Council here in Israel, who was briefed as part of a regular briefing by commanders intimately involved in this operation. And what he told me is that although the fact that these soldiers encountered Sinwar sort of by chance during a routine operation, that in fact the Israeli military had suspected for weeks that Yahya Sinwar was in Tel Sultan in Rafa near the Egyptian border, because according to Major General Elan, they had found something interesting in the tunnel where six of the Israeli hostages were killed at the end of August. Listen. About six weeks ago, the bodies of six years, our family in the tunnel in the area of Tel Sultan, who's clear that the DNA of Sinwar was there.
So the conclusion was that number one, it was there with them and they actually probably served him as a human shield. Number two, that he did not have a chance to escape from this neighborhood, so the assumption was that he was there. So that's why, according to the Major General there, more Israeli troops were sent to Tel Sultan, that particular area, because he told me that the tunnels that would have allowed for Sinwar to escape to another part of Gaza had been destroyed, which could be part of the reason that he was ultimately found above ground. And he also told me that another drone was sent the day after his killing to provide some sort of identification before his body was then retrieved from the rubble, Kristen.
Well, it's just fascinating to hear from the Major General indeed. Let me ask you about the big question. Of course, Secretary Blinken traveling to the region. What is the level of optimism that this could in fact lead to a ceasefire and the release of the remaining hostages?
Well, the level of optimism is low, to be frank. We're hearing from what is left of the Hamas leadership that they intend on fighting, that the death of Sinwar doesn't mean that they are abandoning their cause or their struggle as they describe it. We also heard from the Israeli Prime Minister who said that this war will continue with full force. It's really only the president who seems to express any kind of optimism that this could lead to a ceasefire, even though he did walk back some of that optimism today, saying that there was a chance maybe for Lebanon, but that it would be a lot harder to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza, Kristen.
All right. Well, thank you for that. So, for assessment, Hologerone, thank you so much. We really appreciate it.
And now I want to bring in Congressman Jim Hines, Democrat from Connecticut, and the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, Congressman Hines. Thank you so much for joining me. Thanks for having me. So let me pick up right there where my conversation left off with Hologerone.
She said that there is not much optimism that the death of Yaya Sinwar will ultimately lead to a ceasefire and a release of the hostages. What is your perspective on the significance of the death and whether a ceasefire is possible? Well, it's obviously significant. It's significant from the standpoint of justice being delivered to a truly awful monstrous terrorist, who really did lead the horrendous events of a year ago against Israel in which 1200 people were murdered.
So it's significant from the standpoint of justice being delivered. And it's also significant from the standpoint of illustrating what we've seen over and over again, which is Israeli military and technological capability, whether it was the pagers exploding in Lebanon or the attack that killed Nazrala, now the attack on Sinwar. What makes me very cautious about this, I don't really want to use the word pessimistic because so much is at stake, but what makes me really cautious is that Hamas is populated by people like Sinwar. These are dead enders.
These are nihilists, right, who in some cases would rather just create chaos and anger and rage and go down as martyrs in a sea of blood than they would sit across from the Israelis or the Americans or anybody else in a negotiating table. So one of the key ingredients here is going to be what the Palestinian people themselves, who certainly in Gaza have not had an opportunity to express their will. But if the Palestinian people of Gaza say this is a dead end and we will no longer be led by dead enders, maybe just maybe there's a crack in the door for a solution here. And based on what we heard from Prime Minister Netanyahu that this war is not over, do you think that if that war to happen, if that crack were to open up, do you think he would be willing to try to get a ceasefire at this juncture?
Does he see this as the same type of turning point? I would hope that he does. He has done some important things, controversially of course, because of the loss of life in Gaza and the loss of innocent life in Lebanon. But he's done some important things, which is to demonstrate to his enemies, that there really is no place that they can hide.
At a moment in time, remember, on October 8th, people said what just happened in Israel, we thought they were the best of the best, and yet they lost 1200 people. So he has demonstrated that. What I think he needs to do now, because the leadership decimated as it may be of Hamas, when they say we're not done, that is true. I think what the Prime Minister needs to do now, and this is really essential to winning the hearts and minds of Palestinians, is to outline a vision.
To outline a vision for the future of the Palestinian people that he would be willing to risk political capital for to achieve. Hamas is, you know, they're more than just a military. They have a dark, evil vision, but as long as that's the only vision available to young men in Gaza, they will get recruits. So I would hope that the Prime Minister would seize this moment to say, here's what the future could be, if we all stretch, and if we all expend some political capital right now.
How concerned are you about a leadership vacuum, Congressman? Well, a leadership vacuum, are you soon talking about Hamas? Yes, with Hamas, yes. Yeah, yeah.
So, I mean, that's a scenario that is not much discussed, but, you know, if you have two or three errors apparent to Sinwar, there's always the possibility for infighting. Now, that might be good from the standpoint of weakening Hamas, but of course it would, you know, as so much of this has been, it would be in all likelihood brutal for the Palestinian civilian population of Hamas. So we're going to need to watch this. And of course, you know, the moment somebody is identified as the next leader, they now have the most dangerous job on the planet because if the Israelis have demonstrated, they will find these people and they will end them.
So again, I don't put a lot of stock in Hamas's ability to say, this is the moment where all of a sudden we become negotiators and moderate and, you know, are willing to sort of compromise. But I would hope that the Palestinian people would say, this is an opportunity that the Prime Minister of Israel would say, this is an opportunity and stretch towards each other in the service of ending this war. Are you anticipating that Iran will respond? Well, that's an interesting question, right?
If we think about what has happened to Iran in this last year, they had the head of Hamas assassinated in a heavily guarded Iranian compound. They stood by, as N'Zrala was killed, as these various Israeli operations have happened. They stood by as two, not one, but two missile attacks on Israel were largely neutered. So I would think the Iranian regime right now would say, you know what this game is doing?
This game is showing how weak we are to the world. And so maybe there's a different path. Now, again, describing moderate sentiments to the Iranian regime is probably a losing bet, but man, they can't look at this and say that our standing in the eyes of our people or in the eyes of the world has risen in the last year. Congressman, if I could, I want to turn to the presidential election.
I want to ask you broadly in terms of where we are right now. You look at the polls. This is a very close, very competitive race in all of the battleground states. Vice President Kamala Harris told Fox News this week that her presidency would not be a continuation of President Biden's presidency.
And she just spoke with my colleague Peter Alexander and told him, look, she is not going to criticize President Biden. That she's loyal, and that's not how she sees the relationship between a president and vice president. What do you make of this messaging? And do you think it is enough and that it will give voters a clarity they need as they make their decision?
Call me crazy, but I guess I would hope that undecided voters today wouldn't be mulling over the precise degree of loyalty that a vice president should be showing to the president. And while acting as vice president, how much could space you could be to it? That's an unbelievably esoteric question compared to, do we really want to elect somebody who is determined to identify the enemy within? By which he means his political opponents as the real enemy and to use the military and the Department of Justice against that so-called enemy within?
And I could go on on the statements that Donald Trump has made over and over and over again. I could go on on the fact that Donald Trump has no real ideology, right? He devastated the reproductive freedoms of America's woman. And now that he's realized that it makes him a little bit unpopular, he's running in exactly the other direction.
So boy, I would really hope that undecided people in this country would not use the degree of loyalty. You have a vice president to a president as the factor in making their decision when the contrast between decency and indecency and forward-looking and backward-looking and egotism and a commitment to the country, the facts there are just so clear. All right. Congressman Jim Hines, thank you so much for joining us.
Really appreciate it. Thank you. Much more after this, you're watching The Press Now. Welcome back with Election Day Now, just 18 days away.
We received another reminder today of the legal challenges facing Donald Trump with the unsealing of more than 1800 pages of documents from the former president's federal election interference case. Judge Tanya Chutkin, who's presiding over the case, defended a request for Mr. Trump's lawyers to keep those documents sealed until after the election. It's worth noting that many of the files in the case remain redacted.
Judge Chutkin is reviewing what evidence can be used against the former president in light of the summer Supreme Court immunity court ruling that narrowed the scope of special counsel Jackson's case. NBC News Justice and Intelligence correspondent Ken Delaney and joins me now. Ken, thanks so much for being here. So talk about this appendix.
What were the key takeaways of what was released today? Hey, Chris, and well, this was a massive document. Nearly 1900 pages, but most of those pages were blank. They were redacted.
So it's really not clear to me why the Trump team fought so hard to keep this secret because what was made public today was largely almost exclusive. The information that had already been in the public domain doesn't really add to our understanding of the case. The FBI interviews, the grand jury testimony, that all remains sealed. This is evidence that supported Jack Smith's brief that he filed a few weeks ago, arguing that the bulk of this case can stand under the Supreme Court's immunity decision.
Perhaps the most interesting thing about this publication was the judge's justification for it. Tanya Chutkin really pushed back on the idea that she was engaging in election interference here. She said that by withholding this information, which should be released in a natural course of litigation, that could also be seen as election interference. After all, she said she's hewing to the schedule set by the Supreme Court when they handed down their ruling.
So the next big milestones in this case will happen after the election. And what that really means, Chris, in his next big day in this case is election day because if Donald Trump wins, he can eventually make this case go away. Alright, Kenton, as always, on top of the developing news for us, really appreciate it. Coming up next, a revolution in women's sports.
We'll have a preview of my Meet the Moment interview with two women's sports icons, as women's teams are gaining more and more viewers and more grounds. You're watching Meet the Press Now. Welcome back. Once an afterthought, it's now a cultural phenomenon.
Women's professional sports in America are booming. The women's NCAA basketball tournament had more viewers than the men's this year. Ticket prices and TV ratings are soaring in the WNBA finals right now, and women brought home the lion's share of Team USA's medals in the Paris Olympics. In an exclusive Meet the Moment interview for this Sunday's Meet the Press, I sat down with a part pair of female sports icons who helped pave the way.
Olympic gold medalist and two-time FIFA World Cup champion Megan Rapinoe and five-time Olympic champion and four-time WNBA champions to bird for their perspective on the state of women's sports. Here's some of that conversation. Now you're seeing the investment match the quality and the ability of the players. You're seeing the investment match the appetite that the fans have and the demand from the fans.
The demand from the fans has been there the whole time. There's just things haven't been available, whether that's on streaming or whether that's on TV or whatever it may be. And I think this moment is like, I feel like we just came to the end of all the excuses of why nobody likes women's sports and it turns out everybody watches women's sports. Everybody likes it.
Everybody's into it. Turns out, oh, we're really good at sports. We're really entertaining. We're actually really amazing off the court.
We care about our teammates. We care about our community. We care about politics. We care about making the world a better place.
And it's an incredibly desirable product for people to watch, for players to play, and for sponsors to sponsor, for people to put on TV. So it's like, we always just feel like we've been knowing this is ready and I feel like everyone else is now ready for that. A lot of times we're not looked at based on our potential, right? Whether it's a young athlete, somebody who has already accomplished a lot, it's never like, oh, let me invest in this and see what happens in five to ten years because I see something.
It's always, okay, what have you done? And do I deserve to be paid now based on what you did do? But never looking to the future. I would challenge corporate sponsorships, so companies, businesses, TV networks, and so forth.
And this is TV networks to start looking at us based on our potential, what they think is going to happen. Well, let's wait and see in a couple of years to see if this is real. Like none of that. Really great conversation.
Thank you for being with us this hour. We will have more Meet the Press now on Monday. And if it's Sunday, it's Meet the Press on your local NBC News station. I'll be joined by Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and Senator Lindsey Graham as we get down to the wire in the 2024 campaign.
NBC News now coverage continues with Yasmin Visoufian right now. Maw, this one's for you. Hi, I'm Adriana Brock, shop today executive editor, and we're celebrating the beautiful, messy, joyful chaos of motherhood at every stage. From the newborn days to the teen years and everything in between, join us for an event in downtown LA with inspiring panels led by experts and special guests, hands-on experiences with some of our most loved brands, and a seriously great gift bag filled with products you'll actually use in love that's worth more than $700.
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