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And as trust and confidence in the state of US politics reaches new lows. Plus, Attorney General Merrick Garland gets grilled by House Republicans about the Justice Department's prosecutions of Donald Trump and Hunter Biden, telling members that he doesn't take orders from the president or Congress on who or what to criminally investigate. And Trumping the field, the former president and GOP front runner, hits the trail in Iowa, making his case to all-important caucus goers as he dominates his rivals in new polling. Welcome to Meet the Press Now.
I'm Garrett Hake, an unmitigated disaster, a clown show, dysfunctional, a festive airing of grievances. That is how House Republicans are describing their own efforts to fund the government amid a looming deadline and a fractured Republican conference. Around the halls of Capitol Hill, it's becoming less of a question of if the government will shut down next week and more of a question of how long the government will shut down. For days, for weeks, with 11 days ago until the September 30th funding deadline, the Republican led House is paralyzed and arguably further away from a spending agreement than they were at the beginning of this week after five conservative Republicans tanked a procedural vote on a bill to fund the military and GOP leadership was forced to scuttle another vote on a short-term spending bill, one that was negotiated by these members.
Now despite all that, this morning Speaker McCarthy tried to project confidence that funding could and would get done. We are. The members are already in meeting. I think we're making some progress.
We're making some progress last night. Look, it's not September 30th. The game is not over. We continue to work through it.
And I've been at this place many times before. We're going to solve this problem. Look, I don't know if any of your ever played sports. Did you quit before the game was over?
If you went into overtime, did you quit during that time too? I think this is where the most significant change happens. Now granted, there are 11 days to go and in Congress time that could be practically a lifetime. The last deal, the Speaker wrangled on the debt ceiling passed the House, which is days to go until the government default.
But even if the game isn't over, McCarthy's options are severely limited if he wants to keep his job and we all presume that he does. He could try to appeal to his party's hardliners and give them whatever they want to get something passed. The first deal that comes early for the Freedom Caucus option, but the problem is that bill would be dead on arrival with the Senate and with the White House and it would actually do nothing to keep the government itself open, which brings us to option two, bipartisanship. Speaker McCarthy could work across the aisle to try to find votes to get a short-term funding agreement passed, but doing that could cost him his job because the hardliners inside his conference have vowed to hold a vote to oust him as Speaker if that happens.
And that dysfunction creates a very real possibility that nothing can get done and that the government just shuts down. Right now that appears to be the most likely outcome. This afternoon I spoke to a couple of House Republicans on the steps of the Capitol about the mess they're in, including Congressman Chip Roy, a member of the House Freedom Caucus who warns Speaker McCarthy against seeking any help from Democrats to avoid a shutdown. As we get closer to the deadline, do you also get closer to the possibility you're going to have to rely on Democrats and bipartisanship to get this done?
I mean, not me. I mean, look, I'm not going to go cut that deal. Let's not have a seat shut down. Let's go ride the horse and let's go get this done.
We have a job to do. Let's go move it forward. What do you say to people back home who may not follow this closely, but just expect you guys to get this very basic function of your job done and fund the government? We're dysfunctional.
It's just that simple. That simple. We are so dysfunctional. There you have it.
The dysfunction in Congress is the tip of the sphere of an unsettling political depression in America. A new report from Pew highlights the dismal and cynical view of politics that Americans hold about Congress, candidates and government. Get this. Only 5% of Americans, 5% say the political system works very or extremely well.
When nearly three quarters say it doesn't work too well, if at all. And trust in the government, it's his 70-year-low, with just 16% saying they trust the federal government to do the right thing all or most of the time. Keep those numbers in mind the next time there's a debate about saving our democracy, because right now voters don't seem to view our current system as very much worth saving. Joining me now at the latest on Capitol Hills, my NBC news colleague, Ali Vitale, and you've been chasing these folks around all day.
We've seen a failed vote yesterday, a pulled vote today. Where does Speaker McCarthy go from here? Yeah, look, it's fruitless chasing at this point, Garrett, because we're all asking questions, but there are no different answers than this morning when we first heard all of those sports metaphors from the speaker. I'm a sports fan, specifically football, and I think really what he needs here is a Hail Mary, if we're saying with these metaphors, because within his own conference, the disparate number of factions makes any deal on this exceedingly hard.
When I was talking to the speaker just a lot in the last few hours, he made the point, which is true, that he has very slim margins here, and that it makes his job difficult. Yes, of course. It has been that way at every inflection point of his speakership, and he's certainly not the first speaker to have to deal with tough margins, but he is one of the first to deal with members of his own party doing what they did there in conversations with you and others of us, which is willing to call out the kind of circus-like chaos that has rained over this conference right now with them in the majority, and there is no seeming end in sight to it because there is no plan to go forward. And so that's what we're waiting for.
McCarthy saying that they're going to be here working this weekend, at least on Saturday. We asked him what they would be voting on, though, and he said he didn't want to give it away, but really, I don't know what the answer would be, even if he was willing to tell us. Yeah, that's right. I think that's a problem, and they've been playing like your giants, and I hate to do that to you.
I apologize. So we'll be doing everything you can to project confidence here, but it doesn't seem like the hardliners are moving. What are you hearing from that faction as we get closer to the fourth quarter, let's say? You know what, though?
It is striking, and I will say they better hope to play like the Giants did last week. Maybe not against the Cowboys, but certainly last week. 20 plus unanswered points. That's the only way forward here, and we'll stop with the sports metaphors when you talk about the Freedom Caucus, because I think what's striking to me is when you talk with Chip Roy and you talk with other members here, Roy and stop parry the head of the Freedom Caucus, they were all part of brokering the deal that the conference is working off of right now.
That's sort of the floor in terms of where these negotiations are taking off from. If the head of the Freedom Caucus and key members of the Freedom Caucus can't even sell the disparate members who are still not on board on that plan, that's where you start to realize that this is not a problem that is solved in terms of blocks of voters, in terms of, okay, if we get the problem solvers on board, if we get Main Street on board, it's not a matter of solving for the factions here. Right now, it's a matter of solving at the individual member level, and that's why I spent a good chunk of yesterday, and I got to imagine we're going to spend more days like this watching members funnel in and out of with Emmer's office, other offices here in the Capitol, just having one on one conversation, trying to put this together piece by piece to get each of these members on board. I do think though, at the end of the day, when you talk to people like Congressman Burchette, Congressman Norman and others, some of the things that they say they need, or rather, some of them have never even voted for CRs before, but some of the things that they need are just things that they can't get, and that really does leave you at an impasse of your speaker, McCarthy, and you can't look to Democrats, but it's hard to look within too.
Yeah, and now we also have something unusual for this week today, some news from the other side of the hill, talking about what we saw with Senator Schumer moving these military promotions tonight. Yeah, this was really a day of procedural one-upsmanship over in the Senate. We've seen Senator Tommy Tupperville holding these nominations, holding these promotions for the military until he wants to see the Pentagon do away with its policy that would help fund travel and logistics related to getting abortion care for veterans. Certainly, that's not a policy that has changed, but Tupperville was willing to change his stance.
Sometime in the last 24 hours, our team reporting that he was willing to start moving forward on a case-by-case basis, Schumer though, upon hearing of this strategy, basically be into the punch, saying that he wants to move forward on cloture, being able to vote on three key nominees, including the head of the joint chiefs. That's not one of the promotions that Tupperville was going to put up, and it's not one that we think he's even supportive of, but nevertheless, it does allow them to move forward, at least on these top key nominations, these top-top key promotions, but make no bones about it, Garrett. We know that Republicans are even unhappy with Tupperville for doing this. We know that Democrats are certainly unhappy with the idea that Schumer would have to do this, because you and I both know military promotions like this can take up a lot of time that the Senate doesn't have to really waste on doing them, especially because the way that they typically do them is by unanimous consent wholesale altogether, not just piece by piece.
All right, Ali Vitale, thank you for all that reporting across both chambers. All right, fine. And joining me now at the big board with some more members from that pupil on the lack of faith in politics and government is M.C.s. Steve Cornacki.
And Steve, those two numbers we mentioned up at the top of the show seem to suggest that basically Americans are getting the Congress that they thought they'd get. There's a total lack of surprise at the dysfunction that we're seeing on Capitol Hill right now. What else did we learn from these numbers? Yeah, just a real sour attitude across the board, basically impossible to look at this report from Pew, and it's comprehensive.
It's more than 100 pages long, and to find any positivity when it comes to how Americans do anything to do with politics and government these days. Take you through some of the numbers here. It's a baseline question. You're asking folks, what do you feel when you think about politics?
Ask, do you feel exhausted? Look at this. Two thirds, 65% say they always or often feel exhausted when politics comes up. And sometimes 25% say that the vast majority are saying that at least some of the time they just feel exhausted by politics.
Or how about this? Angry. When politics comes up, do you get angry? More than half say they get angry.
34% say that sometimes happens. How about the opposite? How about a positive emotion? Do you get hopeful when politics comes up?
Only one in 10 Americans, 10% say that they always are often are hopeful. The vast majority do not feel hopeful when the subject of politics comes up. There's also this the view of the political parties is one viewed favor. It's one viewed more favorably than the other.
Not really. Take it through here. Do you have a favorable view of both political parties? That number is 6%.
Do you have a favorable view of the Republicans and an unfavorable view of the Democrats? 31% clock in there. How about the opposite? Favourable view of the Democrats?
Unfavorable view of the Republicans? Pretty much the same. 32% and then the rest. 28% say they don't like either party.
They got an unfavorable view of both parties. And what's interesting, I'm going to throw a lot of numbers up on the screen here. But if you break these answers down by age, there are a couple interesting things here. First of all, you'll get the youngest group of voters, 18 to 29.
And you look at the difference there. The Democrats have their biggest advantage over Republicans. But that's also the group that has the largest number who say they got an unfavorable view of both parties. And then you go to the other end of the age spectrum, 65 plus and 43, 35.
That's where Republicans have their biggest edge over Democrats. That's where the smallest share have an unfavorable view of both sides. But again, overall, highly negative towards both parties. Here's something interesting.
All of the attention, certainly in the wake of January 6th, the 2020 election, still certainly front and center on the politics political agenda. Now, asked voters in the Republican party and asked voters in the Democratic party, do you think that you're the description that respecting the country's democratic institutions and traditions? Does it apply to your party? The vast majority of Republicans say it applies to them.
The vast majority of Democrats say it applies to their party. And very small numbers say it applies to the other parties. So each side sees itself as the defender of democracy, the defender of this country's institutions and traditions. Are you satisfied with the candidates running for president 24 by almost a two to one margin?
Voters are not satisfied? A little interesting here on the Republican side, you find almost a 50-50 split in terms of being satisfied. On the Democratic side, where the nominee is all but settled here, only 23 percent say they are satisfied. Interesting number there for Joe Biden facing reelection.
By the way, they asked, excuse me, have a recent election campaign to bid Dole are interesting. We know from covering them, they have certainly been contentious, but the country considers them on the whole to bid Dole more than interesting. And then finally, we asked, excuse me, the Pew asked this question. I wish we asked this question.
The Pew asked this question. And I think this is an interesting bottom line personalized view of it. They asked folks, when you're talking about politics you disagree with, do you find it stressful or do you find it interesting? And look at that 61-36 stressful versus interesting just a few years ago back in 2016, there was a small majority, but it was a majority said it was more interesting than stressful.
From five points in that direction to 25 in that direction, they feel exhausted, they feel stressed out talking about talking about people they disagree with, and they don't like either party. Not much there for either party to grasp on to. Those last numbers, if you put any political content on Twitter in the last couple of years, that probably tracks not exactly the most enlightening conversation there. Steve Cornacchi, thank you for bringing all that to us.
And I want to bring in our panel now, folks who know about putting political content on Twitter in other places, Olivia Bivers, congressional reporter for Politico, former Democratic Congressman from Florida, Stephanie Murphy, and former Republican Congressman from Florida at NBC News political analyst Carlos Cribello. I'm glad we have all of you today given our top story. And I'll start with you, you were out there on the House steps with me. House Republicans are meeting behind closed doors right now.
What's going on in that meeting and how hot are tempers within the conference right now? Well, there's a chance that their Saturdays get canceled. So naturally, people are already starting to get pretty feisty. I know I was just trying to text with the source right before we started talking.
Ken McCarthy was out there, they're trying to hash out the top lines. They've been meeting all day. And Byron Donald is now at the open mic trying to pitch these Republicans saying, here's what's happening. There's a sense from- I'm sorry, trying to pitch them on the CR that they've already pulled or on something else.
Well, their argument is you need to come to the negotiating table because you have not put forward a plan. We did. There is some sense, at least we've heard from some Republicans, that the threat from moderates, moderate Republicans working with Democrats is starting to permeate among these working serve members. So they feel like they're seeing some of these previous hard-nosed, starting to become a little bit more willing to talk.
So that's where they are. There's some optimism, but I mean, we should probably play a drinking game. The amount of times I hear we've made progress. Oh, man, it's streaming.
We can do that. We can absolutely do that. Congressman, so what should the role of Democrats be here? You've played a very strict hand so far saying we want to clean CR come to us when you're ready to talk.
Do those conversations behind the scenes about doing more or something differently? Do they help? Do Democrats be doing this right now? I think Democrats are going to hold.
Right now it is allowing the Republicans to look like the mess of a conference that they are and this is to the benefit of the Democrats. So I would imagine while they're having these conversations, it's not going to get real. They really want to let Republicans do this themselves. Let them fail, basically.
But they have to strip out a lot of the policy writers in order for this yard to be palatable to Democrats at all. And this is sort of an exercise in futility because it's not going anywhere in the Senate, even if the House is able to bounce this. So, Congressman, let me ask you, you've been in these closed-room meetings too on the Republican side. What does the frustration like?
I'm going to be earlier in the week about sort of the weight of the 210 would hopefully ultimately move the other 10 or so who are dug in. What's it like in that room? What is the frustration level like among the 210 who just want to get something done here to show for their labors and can't get anywhere because of that small but powerful minority? Yeah, people get extremely angry and frustrated.
And a lot of times these debates get personal. Now, your last point, I think, is very important. There cannot only be one armed faction in the House Republican Conference. As long as there is, we'll know what the result is going to be.
Now that the Central Republicans are starting to talk to Democrats, they have a shell bill for a discharge petition to try to force a clean CR onto the floor. Now, that's getting the attention of some of these hardliners because they know they're going to lose. They know they don't have the votes. But as long as they're armed and they're the only ones that are armed, they can impose their will.
That's starting to change. And this is something that House Republicans have to learn. If they don't want to get stuck in this dead end, they have to take up arms. And these centrist members want to get reelected.
I mean, they have nothing to lose. You want to jump in there? Yeah, so I've watched it during the leadership. I've covered the House for Incogas and sort of the members who are adjacent to it.
Pressure from their colleagues does not work. They're not really that bad. In some way, it feels like they build on it. They like sitting in their corner, Republicans will come up, leaders will come up, and they hang tight.
There's a purity test. There's a purity test. What does work is hearing from the base. The base likes to see them fight.
That's something that they pride themselves on. So there's a self-fulfilling sort of process here, plus it helps with fundraising. So when you actually have donors calling them and saying, hey, it's time to move on, that's a different story than their colleagues saying, why won't you just work with us? I want to play something from Mike Garcia, the congressman from California, said the other day on the steps that I think is an underappreciated element to this fight.
Let's listen. What we just witnessed was a conservative Republican party, frankly looking behaved like the minority instead of the majority. What we just saw were five individuals vote against a role to bring to the floor, per vote, the most conservative DOD bill in modern history. You were in both the majority and the minority, I believe, during the majority.
Just the majority. I believe you're still qualified. Do you believe that this rebel group doesn't know how to be in the majority now, right? These are mostly newer folks, a lot of folks who haven't been in the majority before, and don't understand the difference between the kind of show votes you can take when you're in the minority and the kind of tougher votes you have to take when you're expected to govern?
I would say it's beyond that. I would say they don't care whether they're in the majority or the minority. Their goal is to get attention. Their goal is to do online fundraising.
Their goal is to be popular. Some of these people want to run for statewide office, and they think this is how they can best position themselves in a Republican primary. So they're in it for themselves. That's why, as you said, there's no reasoning with them because they're not interested in that.
The only way to try to compel them to act is to show them they're going to lose. And if Republicans join Democrats to keep the government open, this side's going to get exposed for having maybe 25, 30 votes versus 400. Congressman, we all watched Steve Krenakky's presentation. It was bleak.
I think you can agree. But this is presented a moment like this, present an opportunity for one party. Let's say the Democrats, because it's not them lighting themselves on fire at the moment, to suggest to the American people that there is a better way of governing. Can you set an example here?
And how do you do it when you're in the minority? You don't have real functional power at this moment? I don't think so. I think those polling numbers- That's very wonderful.
Because it was very partisan. Yeah. And people were pretty dug into their parties. I think those polling numbers, the biggest takeaway is I wouldn't want to be an incumbent in this election.
With that kind of dissatisfaction, that means it's a change election. And that's changed whether you're a D or an R. And I also think that for the incumbent president, those numbers are also very, should be worrisome. The fact that his base isn't enthusiastic about him running again.
I know Democrats always come home at the end of the day when it comes to voting, but those are pretty bleak numbers. It means enthusiasm is low and that will affect turnout. All right. We're going to talk much more about 2024 a little bit later in this broadcast.
You guys will all be back. So we'll have more of this analysis coming up. But first, what are we doing next? And Merrick Garland, that's right.
Fires back at critics and conspiracy theorists, his House Republicans echo a barrage of Donald Trump's attacks on the Justice Department and his criminal case against Hunter Biden. You're watching me depressed now. Yeah. The best of NBC news with a subscription.
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It's more context and clarity from the reporters you trust. Download the NBC News app now and subscribe for more. 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 Roast and now with another hit special on Hulu.
You can get our conversation now for free or every download your podcasts. Welcome back as House Republicans fight amongst themselves over how to keep the government open. Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee focused their anger at a familiar target today. Attorney General Merrick Garland.
Garland faced a barrage of questions and anger from conservative lawmakers as he was grilled during more than five hours of testimony. Perhaps anticipating the attacks on him and on the Justice Department, Garland began the hearing with a defiant message to lawmakers that he would not bow to political pressure. Our job is to uphold the rule of law. That means we apply the same laws to everyone.
Our job is to pursue justice without fear or favor. Our job is not to do what is politically convenient. Our job is not to take orders from the president, from Congress, or from anyone else about who or what to criminally investigate. As the president himself has said and I reaffirm today, I am not the president's lawyer.
I will add I am not Congress's prosecutor. Justice Department works for the American people. Our job is to follow the facts and the law and that is what we do. We will not be intimidated.
We will do our jobs free from outside influence and we will not back down from defending our democracy. Republicans pressed Garland on a number of issues including the prosecution of Donald Trump, the prosecution of January 6th, and the ongoing prosecution of Hunter Biden, which has been the subject of intense public scrutiny following whistleblower complaints and that plea deal that fell apart. Has anyone from the White House provided direction at any time to you personally or to any senior officials at the DOJ regarding how the Hunter Biden investigation was be carried out? No.
When did the Justice Department permit statutes of limitations to expire on some of the prospective charges against Hunter Biden for tax violation? I don't know anything about the statute of limitations here. The investigation was in the hands of Mr. Weiss to make the determinations that he thought were appropriate.
I understand that you said that. That's part of the problem. The question is are you aware the statute of limitations have been allowed to expire while the matter was under investigation? I'm going to say again.
I'm going to say again and again if necessary. I did not interfere with, did not investigate, did not... Those were... Those were...
Those were statements in response to other questions. Everybody in the country now knows who's paying attention to this that the Justice Department permitted statutes and limitations to expire. Doesn't it look weird that he's making... He's become this immediate success in the art world.
Is this the status of the United States? Isn't that odd? I'm not going to comment about any specific... Not going to comment.
Not going to investigate. Let me see who's Justice Intelligence correspondent, Ken Delaney, and watch that entire hearing and joins me now. So Ken, aside from the tone, which I think we got a pretty good sampling of there, did we actually learn anything new about any of these investigations today? Not much.
I think you got a flavor of it from that exchange. Okay. So we did learn that Merrick Garland says that President Biden did not order that Donald Trump smoker. That was about the only specific question that Merrick Garland answered definitively with a yes or no.
Everything else he punted, he said rightfully so that Justice Department policy does not allow him to comment on these pending investigations. And moreover, he's not involved in the details. That's why he appointed Special Counsel. So it was both a convenient answer for him and a frustrating answer for Republicans.
Were you surprised we didn't hear more questions about the Trump investigations, Jack Smith, and that probe a lot of those House Republicans talk a pretty big game about shutting down that investigation? They had the guy in the room in front of them today and didn't really go. I thought that was very telling. There were a few forays in that arena and they weren't very fruitful.
I feel like Republicans felt like that was not a good road to go down. The facts are not with them. They did. There were a lot of Hunter Biden questions.
So because there are legitimate questions about those claims made by those IRS whistleblowers and you heard in that exchange about the statute of limitations. That's actually an important question. There was some alleged crimes that Hunter Biden may have been involved in were the statute. So they can't be prosecuted now because the prosecutors didn't act in time and these investigators are saying that was either intentional or negligent.
And Merrick Garland didn't answer those questions. When I put my Hill reporter glasses on, I see a hearing that is well-timed for House Republicans to try to set up their impeachment inquiry hearing next week. What do you think we saw today that might be a preview of that, perhaps even including how difficult it's going to be for them to get the substance of answers they want about an active criminal investigation? We saw a little of it.
I mean, Garland is not a good fact witness because he just bats those questions away. But there were some allusions to, obviously, Hunter Biden's work for Parisma, the foreign money, the tax evasion, and then the question of whether Joe Biden was aware of or tolerated. And Matt Gates actually was pretty pithy about that when he said, has anyone told Hunter Biden to knock it off? And about the art sales and about the sort of allegations that he's traded on his family name?
And that is a question for Joe Biden. Did he ever tell us on to knock it off? It doesn't talk about those issues. Garland did get emotional at times in this hearing, but not where people might expect.
I want to play some questioning he went through with Jeff Van Drew, a Republican from New Jersey. Turning general through the chair, I ask you, do you agree that traditional Catholics are violent extremists? I have no idea what the traditional means here. I just want to go to church.
Let me just ask you a question. Yes, I know. The idea that someone with my family back wrong would discriminate against any religion is so outrageous, so absurd. Is there a turning general?
Would you or FBI that? As someone who covers Garland closely, were you surprised they reacted in that way? No, he's actually known as a preemotional guy who cries not infrequently. He got emotional as he was talking about his family background at the beginning of the hearing and his ancestors were Holocaust survivors, so no, that didn't surprise.
I'm going to ask you, there's some other breaking news about the Hunter Biden case and his hearing I believe next week, just as you were walking into the room, what can you tell us? Well, the judge has ruled that Hunter Biden in fact does have to go in person to his first parents. He tried to get permission to do it over video link. The judge said, no, we're going to treat you like any other defendant and pre-COVID video appearances really weren't allowed.
You have to show up so that they can explain the charges and explain your rights. Federal case that we won't see any of that. We'll see him walking into the courthouse and that's it. That's right.
We're in the courtroom, but the viewers won't see. Sure enough. All right, Kendall, thank you for that reporting. And up next, trailing behind, we are live in Iowa where the former president is hitting the campaign trail as his Republican rivals fall further and further behind him in the polls.
You're watching The Press Now. Welcome back. You are about to be looking at live pictures of former president and current Republican front runner Donald Trump in Dubuque, Iowa where he's given the policy speech on immigration and border security. But take a look at this.
This is the line of voters who waited for hours to hear him at his event, his second event of the day and at all important caucus state. Trump is campaigning in the Hawkeye state as he takes heat from conservatives over what he told me to press about his stance on abortion, including calling Governor Ron DeSantis, signing of a six week abortion ban, a quote, terrible thing. I would Governor Kim Reynolds, who was opted not to endorse anyone in the primary, posted on social media, quote, it's never a terrible thing to protect innocent life. Von Hilliard is on the trail for us in Dubuque following the Trump campaign.
So, Von, what are we hearing from the former president today? Hey, there, Gary. Yeah, just about five minutes ago, he took a stage here in Dubuque. His first stop today was in the Co-Cote of Iowa about 30 minutes south of where we are.
This is the first of what is going to be five trips by the end of October on told by Donald Trump that a very sparse campaign scheduled over the summer here. But with the poor indictments and the arrest out of his way, he intends to be here essentially every week over the course of the next month plus. And so for this campaign, it's important to know when we're talking about Iowa here, there have been the campaign of the people. So fill out these commit to caucus cards.
Now, they did the exact same thing eight years ago when Donald Trump was taking on Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, but it's a whole new staff this time around compared to his 2016 campaign. And the sources on the campaign tell me, look, eight years ago, they missed the opportunity to ultimately galvanize and get folks out to caucus, or at least enough to pull off a victory loss by Ted Cruz about three percentage points. This time around, they say that they are committed to not only getting the information of these voters here around the state of Iowa, but then ultimately making sure they have an understanding of how the caucus works come January 15th and make sure that they come out. Yesterday, Von, we talked about the fact that Trump's going to Detroit is kind of a general election play, a contrast of Biden.
Here he is in Iowa, which is really no longer a competitive general election state. How do you see the tension between him trying to kind of sew up the nomination here versus looking ahead to a potential fall matchup with the current president? Right. You're absolutely right.
Much like his decision to not engage on a debate stage with other Republican rivals. Largely, he is ignoring, even the likes of Ron DeSantis or Nikki Haley at his stop just about two hours ago. He quickly mentioned Ron DeSantis by name, suggesting he was 30 or 40% of the time. Frankly, when you look at the polling, nationally, Donald Trump is dominating an averaging lead so that he works from 40 to 45 points.
And when you look at the likes of South Carolina, he'll strongly lead there. A new poll out from CNN here just in the last few minutes and New Hampshire shows Ron DeSantis now in fifth place with Donald Trump holding about a 25-point lead. And then when you look here in Iowa, it's arguably the state that he's not doing as well in, but still by consideration, he's still got 25-point lead right on the state of Iowa. It was back in 1988, it was the last time that Bob Dole, he saw in a Republican race, somebody win by more than 10% points.
So by all accounts for him, I will talk to us. Donald Trump is feeling good, and that is why he's training his thoughts on Joe Biden, and as you said here today, talking about immigration policy on a larger level, very much of the general election. And, let's not mistake it, he did not talk much about abortion at the first event. That's obviously going to be a huge issue in the primary and in the general election.
We heard what Trump told Kristin Welker about his position or positions on abortion. How are voters there that you've spoken to reacting to what Donald Trump has said about this most recently? Right, I'll let you actually hear from a couple of them because it's notable that Kim Reynolds, the governor of Iowa who has not endorsed in this race, much to the sugar in a Donald Trump, put out on a tweet last night that is not a quote-terrible thing, as Donald Trump suggested. Over the weekend, I went over the interview with Kristin Welker on the press that a six-week abortion ban signed by Ron Santos in Florida was a terrible thing, though the words were the words of Donald Trump this weekend.
Of course, just two months ago, Kim Reynolds signed that exact very legislation, but I've talked to a great number of voters, Garrett, who have told me the only reason that any of these states have been able to be signed is because Donald Trump was president and appointed three conservative Supreme Court justices that overturned Roe v. Wade. I went on to let you hear from a couple of the voters just a few moments ago. There are things I disagree with like that.
I think six weeks is really fair. So, as much of a guy there are some things I disagree with. I am pro-life, but I'm also a realist and I realize that's probably not going to go away. I feel like as long as it's within the first trimester, this late-term stuff is, I mean, to me, is just bonkers.
I would hope he won't have aned it as six weeks, which from the talk, so it doesn't seem like he would. It would definitely upset me if he did that six weeks, but yeah, it would definitely affect how I would plan to vote for him. I feel like if he did that, good. Now, the question, Garrett, is none of the indictment, Siffer Donald Trump in his polling.
And you haven't even seen his Republican rivals go after him on any of these arrests. The question here is on the abortion issue, on an actual policy issue. Could there be an opening candidate's attempt to try to use it, but the question is does it affect the voters? That's what we'll be asking along the way, Garrett.
We've got plenty of time to chew on it, Von. Thank you. And back with me now is our panel, Olivia Beavers, former Congresswoman Stephanie Murphy and former Congressman Carlos Garbello. Olivia, I'll start with you.
I mean, those numbers just keep getting worse and worse for the rest of the field. Is it a question of time to make up the difference or some kind of super-seaving event to help them close the gap? Because they're only going the wrong direction. It's probably both.
The argument that I've heard from some people talking to the DeSantis camp is they're hoping that they can really get some momentum in Iowa. They're hoping they've had people on the ground. The numbers don't really seem like they're there, but that's where they hope that they can say, okay, we do well here. Let's do the next day.
But Donald Trump is doing quite well in the polls. It's really hard to make up that much ground. Congressman, so many Republicans would say privately, if not publicly, that they were kind of hopeful that all of these indictments, the legal troubles would maybe be the thing that brought Donald Trump back down to Earth. It has only been the opposite.
Is there anything at this point that takes him off these highs or is it just a matter of whether somebody else can consolidate enough of everybody else vote to make this thing competitive? I think it is going to have to take an extraordinary event, perhaps something that comes up at one of Trump's trials if they start early enough to impact the primary calendar. And then there's another variable out there. Joe Biden is almost certainly going to be the Democratic nominee, but what if he isn't?
I mean, there is a symbiotic relationship between Donald Trump and Joe Biden. They kind of need each other. They're the justification for each other to run. So if for any reason the president doesn't run or decides not to run, I think Republicans will then start looking at other candidates because Donald Trump would probably be very vulnerable against a more popular Democrat.
Congressman, how do you view the way the rest of the field is handling this moment? It seems to me like when you're this far behind, that's when you start taking real shots, but they're running, I think by and large, the rest of the field very cautious campaigns. You know, it's really interesting because they have yet to figure out how to cleave off Trump's base without making them angry by coming after the former president. And I think that's been a hard line for the other candidates to walk.
You know, how can they pull folks away from him without also making them upset because they've attacked the guy that his base is loyal to him no matter what? And you know, the convictions, all of these things, none of that really matters to them. What did you make of those voters that we heard from on the issue of abortion, right? In theory, this is an emotional issue.
It's an issue that really, you know, is a divisive issue in politics. There are people who say, oh yeah, I disagree with them, but I'm still going to vote for them anyway. I mean, how big of a problem is that? I didn't really hear any of those voters say that they were going to not vote for him.
They were a little concerned, but it was really soft. So I don't think that that's going to make a huge difference. His base has been able to sort of forgive him for whatever doesn't align with what they're thinking. You know, Congress is not going to say it's important to underline how confident Donald Trump is in this Republican primary.
Here's a Republican attacking other Republicans for being too conservative on abortion in the middle of a primary. That's unheard of. He's probably the only Republican who's done that in the last one of years. Well, it doesn't make the singular issue that's going to dominate in so many of these other races.
There's an ad I want to play from the Kentucky gubernatorial race. This is a steepish year ad out today on the issue of abortion. Let's watch. Anyone who believes there should be no exceptions for rape and incest could never understand what it's like to stay in my shoes.
This is to you, Daniel Cameron, to tell a 12 year old girl if she must have the baby of her stepfather who raped her is unthinkable. I mean, this is powerful stuff. I mean, you talk to more of these Republicans running for election probably than anybody else at this table. How do Republicans counteract that kind of messaging or can they?
Well, usually they try to stay away from talking about abortion is, you know, not the, not the far right. But it's an ad that's why I'm talking to Kentucky. This is a red state ad. Yes.
And what they find is when they start getting into, as you saw with sort of the Trump voters that you talked to, when you start getting into talks about six weeks, whatever weeks, whatever time that starts complicating it across the party. So I remember what Lindsey Graham put forward a bill talking about six weeks. And there was a member of Congress who made a joke about wanting to strangle him with their hands because they were so pressured about how that complicated the dialogue moving forward. And so it's going to be a huge part in that crisis.
Congress, when you tell your friends and colleagues who are seeking election or reelection in this environment about how to approach an issue like that. Well, the best you can do if you're in a swing state or a swing district is avoid the issue because the polling is all there and the results are there. I mean, conservative states have voted to affirm abortion rights. So whatever you think about abortion, the politics and numbers, we know what they are.
And these candidates are going to have to run away from the issue. By the way, Donald Trump knows this. That's why he is running to the left on abortion. And he can afford to do so because he's going to say at the end of the day, I'm the guy who overturned Roe B.
Wade. So go ahead and attack me on abortion. But he knows that Republicans are losing on this issue. And he doesn't want to become one of them.
Yeah, I said it's sort of tongue in cheek. He doesn't have a position. He has positions plural on this issue. I mean, what do you think?
And on any given day, right? Right. To the audience. Right.
And I think for him, just as Carlos said, he is positioning himself for a general, he knows that they vote to affirm abortion rights. And so he is definitely running a general race and running it safe. Very interesting stuff. All right, guys.
We'll leave it there. Thank you for doing double duty for us. Stephanie Murphy, Carlos, and Olivia Beavers in political. I will read you always, especially on a week like this.
Thank you. And after the break, the latest in the fight against inflation, what today's key interest rate decision means for the economy and the Fed's delicate dance to bring down costs without disrupting the economy. You're watching me at the press now. The down close down slightly today as markets reacted to the Federal Reserve announcement that it would not raise interest rates this month despite inflation ticking up last month.
The Fed decided to hold rates steady as the overall rate of inflation has declined from the peak high of about 9% last year, rose in an annual rate of less than 4% in August. But Fed's your Jerome Powell warned that today's decision does not mean the economy's path is secure and caution that rates may remain at high levels for a long term as the Fed tries to get inflation down to its target rate of just 2%. It's going to be senior economics reporter Steve Leeson joins me now. So Steve, no decision to raise rates today.
How surprising was that? And what does it tell us generally speaking about the state of the economy? Well, they delivered exactly what they said they were going to deliver, which was no rate hike, but they did keep and play another possible rate hike this year. So I would suggest that next year rates could be a little higher and the reason is kind of interesting is because the economy is doing better than they thought.
They actually had to double their forecast for economic growth this year up to 2.1% from 1% and they reduced their outlook for the unemployment rate while keeping the inflation rate the same. The story here is that the economy is doing better than they thought and that creates more inflationary concern and caution on their part. So that means you're probably going to keep rates a little bit higher a little bit longer than they previously told them. So for folks who are waiting it out to get a home loan or a car loan and you're waiting just longer and longer?
Yeah, I mean, I think relief is coming. I think there can be some tenuation or reduction in rates next year, but just not as much as you thought, watch those inflation numbers. If they come down a little faster and stay down, the Fed will have more leeway to bring down rates. But if they remain high and growth remains high, the unemployment rate remains low.
The Fed is going to be much more cautious bringing those rates down because it will be afraid of the inflation where we can't go. Steve, I know the markets were watching Washington very closely during the debt ceiling fight as we're now approaching a possibility of a shutdown. To what degree does the possibility of DC screw in this effect, the broader picture on the economy and perhaps even the Fed's decision making? Yeah, so it's pretty interesting.
I mean, generally, Powell talked about this today. He said that shutdowns don't create big declines in GDP growth or economic growth, mostly because they're resolved quickly. So that depends on if they're resolved. Sure.
But there's a little catch to this. And the catch is this. If the government shuts down, it means that it also shuts down the data. So the Fed, which has a lot of problems right now in terms of trying to figure out what the heck's going on with the economy, is going to be flying blind looking backwards, right?
So it has no data at all of which to make these decisions. So it's going to make their job a lot tougher. That's fascinating. All right, Steve, Lisa, thank you for that reporting.
And still to come on the UN sidelines, new reporting on President Biden's meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and what it means amid rising tensions between Washington and Jerusalem. The latest next, you're watching the press now. Welcome back. President Biden will be returning to Washington later today as he wraps up this year's UN General Assembly after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu on the sidelines of the annual gathering.
This is the first time Biden and Bibi have met since the Israeli leader became Prime Minister again last year and comes amid tensions between the two leaders. Netanyahu has long sought an official meeting at the White House, but Biden has been highly critical of Netanyahu's judicial overhaul, calling the current Israeli government quote, the most extreme he's ever seen. Joining me now is Mike Benley in New York City. So Mike Biden finally had his meeting with the Prime Minister, Adhika.
Well, Gary, we talk about President Biden who so often leans on his experience and the relationships he has with other world leaders and there's probably no world leader he knows best and knows for the longest period of time. Then the Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and yet this has been a relationship that has been complicated at best since Netanyahu returned to power. The fact that this is happening in New York only just now is something of a snub. But when we saw these two leaders side by side, you can see that relationship coming to bear.
They were very friendly with one another, talking about their history with one another, their Irish optimism, the President talking about Irish whiskey. Netanyahu. So there's clearly a relationship here and now they need to build on it. One of the biggest priorities in terms of foreign policy for this administration, one that's been below the service for quite a bit, has been this effort to try to normalize relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
This is a deal that does seem to be getting closer just how close as a matter of some discussion. And so that carrot is sort of getting ahead of now the stick, which has been the complication of this relationship. The judicial reforms that Netanyahu's government has been pursuing. And of course, on the Israeli side, there are continued concerns about Biden administration efforts to get closer to what was the JCPOA that Iran nuclear deal again.
And Mike, as the President has been focused on foreign policy this week, there's been a little bit of a blast from the past with some headlines from Rahm Emanuel, his ambassador in Tokyo, who's been taunting the government in Beijing basically on Twitter. How is the White House handling this? Yeah. I mean, you are seeing an effort on the part of the White House to try to get President Xi to the table, especially ahead of the Apex Summit in San Francisco later this year.
And you've heard the President's conciliatory tone in his address to the UN yesterday contrast that with the tweets that Rahm Emanuel has been sending from his perch in Tokyo as the ambassador, really playing on some of the internal intrigue, the palace intrigue in Beijing at the moment. So he got a bit of a reprimand from the White House. They're telling him to dial it back because these negotiations, these talks are so fragile about getting Xi and Biden together. The White House is downplaying this publicly, as Kurt Campbell, a top advisor says, when you put Rahm on the field, you get the full Rahm.
We know. I didn't think we'd be talking about mean tweets in this administration, but here we are. And it's a little bit of a headache for the White House. I mean, at least he didn't send anybody a dead fish this time.
It was the kinder, gentler, Rahm. Like obviously the President's been dealing with foreign policy issues primarily while at the UN, but domestic politics are always hanging over him always there. The UAW strike continues to be an issue. There's been a host back and forth about whether the White House was sending anybody to Detroit, whether they were not.
Are we hearing anything new from the President on this matter today? Yeah. Well, the President had a little symbolism. He wore a tie with the colors of the UAW, trying to show some solidarity with the Union, but this is also a complicated relationship.
It was also worth noting that topic of one of the President's world leader meetings today. He was sitting with the President of Brazil, Lula, and focused on a labor pact of the President's world, and all of all things, talking about the importance of improving working conditions for workers around the world. So this is clearly something front and center. But at the moment, the White House still continues to seem something of a sideline player.
He's been talking about Gene Spirling and the Labor Secretary, Sue, getting out to Detroit and maybe playing a role in these negotiations. They still haven't gotten to Michigan yet. It doesn't seem like either the auto workers or the big three are necessarily ready to bring them to the table at this point. And interesting that Donald Trump will be there early next week.
I'm just a simple country lawyer, but you think the White House would want to have some presence on the ground there ahead of his arrival. Mike Memley for us in New York City following all this. Mike, thank you for your reporting. And thank you for being with us this hour.
Kristen will be back tomorrow with more Meet the Press Now. NBC News Now coverage continues with Aaron Gilchrist, who's in for Holly Jackson right now.