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Conditions apply. Offer includes 1% loyalty rate reduction for qualifying customers. Visit hyundaicanda.com or your local deal for details. If It's Thursday, Ukrainian President Zelensky makes his case to a divided Washington with an urgent wartime plea to lawmakers, Pentagon officials and the president for more aid and weapons plus funding fight fiasco.
The House is heading home after a key vote embarrassingly fails on the floor with Speaker McCarthy complaining members of his own party want to quote, burn down the who NBC News exclusive interview on the trail with 2024 candidate and rising GOP star Viraswami as he courts a controversy and tries to build momentum in the polls by out chomping Trump in the race for the White House. Welcome to MEET THE press. Now I'm Chris Welker in New York as divisions and dysfunction dominated Washington, imperiling everything from government funding to the fate of Ukraine and its war against Russia. Moments ago, Ukrainian President Zelensky arrived at the White House for an Oval Office meeting, his second visit to the White House in less than a year.
And at any moment we expect the two leaders to hold a wider, expanded meeting with their advisors. It comes as Mr. Zelensky is barnstorming Washington with an urgent plea for more assistance and a warning that Russia will win if Congress doesn't step up. Zelensky began the day on Capitol Hill with a series of closed door meetings as he tried to convince skeptical lawmakers, especially Republicans, to keep the aid flowing.
Here's some of what he told reporters after huddling with members of Congress. But I think we have very strong personality now. Some Republicans seem swayed by Zelensky's pleas, but some didn't. Here's House Speaker Kevin McCarthy after the meetings with comments suggesting not enough House Republicans are fully on board.
I thought it was direct. I thought it was honest. I thought that they were answering the questions we need. I think Zelensky has been making some changes have been requested.
He has a new defense minister. He got rid of five other individuals in there. What's happening? So I've seen some.
We gotta get our first our fiscal house taken care of here in America. I'm more than willing to look at that. But the more thing I know is the President's only focused on that, oh, he just had 10,000 people come across the border and he wants to ignore that. I think there are priorities, I think at the same time, but he's only going to afford his workplace.
Look what right now, this year we have is not enough. Now, in stark contrast to Speaker McCarthy's hedge, was a bipartisan course of lawmakers today urging Congress to rally around Ukraine. There was a single sentence that summed it all up, and I'm quoting him verbatim. Mr.
Zelensky said, if we don't get the aid, we will lose the war. I thought he did a good job of playing it out. But make no mistake about it, anybody would say this work could be over in 24 hours, or anybody that says we don't need to support them for them to sustain the effort is not paying attention to the details. This would be devastating.
They need it and they're gonna get it. I said, you know, the majority of the majority support this. I know there's some dissension on both sides. I said, war of attrition is not gonna win this.
That's what Putin wants because he wants to break the will of the American people and the Europeans. Now, amid all Zelensky's visit to Washington comes as the clock ticks down on the government shutdown in just nine days, folks, with House Republicans in chaos and canceling votes for the rest of the week as Senator McCarthy is paralyzed by members of his own party. Joining me now to break all of this down is Ali Rafa from the White House where the President and Zelensky are meeting right now. And Julie Circuit is on Capitol Hill.
Julie, let me start with you because obviously we had this urgent plea from President Zelensky on Capitol Hill just a year of course, after addressing a joint session of Congress. Talk us through what happened this time around. What was the reaction to President Zelensky? Well, Chris, I just want to start by sharing some conversation that I had with Senator Cynthia Lemes, who was actually one of the Republican lawmakers who voted against aid for Ukraine in the past.
She came out of this closed door briefing with Zelensky telling me that because of his words in there, specifically his answer to one question that was to him in this form, whether, what do you say our constituents were concerned about this never ending funnel of aid for Ukraine, this never ending war. She told me, Zelensky has most compelling answer in that entire room. He said, because we will lose the war without the aid. You heard that from Schumer as well.
And she told me she is now convinced that we have to stay in Ukraine, that the US has continued aiding Ukraine militarily and financially. And this is certainly a stark contrast from what we heard from her and others in the past. Now, certainly there are some Republicans who were not in that meeting, including Senator J.D. vance.
Vance, who signed on to that letter to the White House to the budget director saying that they will not support additional Ukraine aid. Senator Killis, who you heard from there on the screen, he actually told me that maybe those senators would benefit from hearing from Zelensky directly as to what he is using the aid for and how much he relies on it. And all in all, we have to not forget that this is a very small minority of Republican lawmakers. Of lawmakers who will not support additional aid from Ukraine, 28 were on that letter.
One senator had told me he estimates about 30 total in the House and the Senate. An overwhelming majority of them do support additional aid for Ukraine. And I think that's Alinsky, based on my conversations with lawmakers in the House, in the Senate, didn't affect the job. He was able to be personally persuasive with these lawmakers and to make his case for why he needs this aid and what he's gonna do with it to win this war, hopefully, in his eyes.
Julian, such fascinating reporting, because I think you underscore how compelling it is to have him there in person. And Ali, let me go to you now, the White House, because obviously, as we said at the top, President Zelensky and President Biden did have an initial bilateral meeting, and now they're having an expanded meeting. Talk through what came out of that first meeting. And again, the significance of him being there face to face, making his case, pressing for more aid, more military equipment.
In person. We have some notes from reporters who were in the room when this meeting between President Zelensky and Biden started in the Oval Office. They say that these two ignored shouted questions, but they did give a few brief remarks. The president saying that no nation will be secure if we don't stand up to this invasion.
He reiterated the importance of building this coalition of support among Western allies for Ukraine long term. He told Zelensky, his bravery has inspired the world. He said he's determined to show the world that that support will continue long term. Zelensky, for his part, thanks both the president and Congress for the discussions that they've had today.
And they said that the pair will discuss weapons with attention on those air Defense capabilities. And that's the big focus today. The Ukrainian president trying to go in to this meeting, these meetings today, trying to be able to give a granular level of detail, battlefield perspective straight from Ukraine's commander in chief, to be able to let these officials and specifically the President understand what the country is going through. As you know, it makes progress in its counter offensive, but also as Russia continues to make progress in how much support it's getting from its allies.
We know that Iran has been sending drones to Russia. There are discussions with North Korea over supplying munitions to be able to help them win this war. And so that's the focus that Zelensky is going into this meeting with. The question is how the President continues to keep this support fresh in people's minds.
As we know, support has been slipping not just among that group of House Republicans as he heard Julie lay out there, but also in poll after poll, we see that the American public remains divided on whether to continue supplying aid to Ukraine as its war really has no end in sight. Remember, this has even become a part of the 24 campaign trail. This is a big point of discussion during the Republican first Republican primary debate with even the Republican primary candidates divided over whether to continue doing this. So this is only going to, this is only expected to continue growing as, as far as controversy is concerned.
But Zelinsky hoping to leave today with at least the assurance of that longer term support. We know that the president is committing to new aid today, $325 million worth of those longer range missiles, rather those bigger munitions. That is something that President Zelensky has said that Ukraine cannot win this war without whether the President can match that expectation and match this commitment is something we're watching. Let me go back to on that point because you mapped out the fact that obviously there's this opposition.
Ali points to the fact it is becoming a growing issue on the GOP campaign trail. To what extent are there still persuadable Republicans, those holdouts? He said it's not the majority, but there's still that small group of holdouts. And could that hold up the broader spending package?
I mean, do you expect this to in any way be a part of any continued resolution that passes, keep the government open? I'll work backward there, Kristen, because there are ongoing meetings. In fact, right now just came from a huddle in the top leadership in the House Republicans office as they're trying to figure out if they can actually include Ukraine in any kind of short term government funding bill. That remains a lied ball at the Same time, though.
Listen, I talked to a senator about this who told me if it stands alone, it stands alone, it'll have enough support to pass. So the question in their mind is not when as an if, but when, rather. Now on your first point, there are any Republicans who are persuadable. Senator Josh Hawley actually attended the briefing today.
He said his mind was not changed. Senator Thom Tillis afterwards had told me he doesn't understand why Zelensky would even waste his time trying to change the mind of someone like Josh Hawley. Rather, he should focus his effort, as he has today, on the overwhelming majority of members who do support additional aid for Ukraine. Such an interesting dynamic to watch there.
It'll be interesting to see as well as some of those holdouts do end up coming on board, but at this point, not too likely. All right. Well, great way to start us off. Thank you very much.
Ally and Julie, appreciate it. Now, from the White House, joining me is John Kirby, Strategic communications coordinator for the National Security Council. Admiral Kirby, it is great to see you. Thank you for being with me.
I really appreciate it. You bet. Glad to be here. I want to talk about those holdouts, those Republican holdouts.
As you know, a growing number of them saying, hold on a minute, we can't just be writing a blank check, including Senator J.D. vance, who said this in a letter to OMD, quote, How do you based on the information you're getting, how do you think the counter offensive is going to and are the Ukrainians closer to victory than they were six months ago based on this letter that we're getting from omb? Let me just from JD Vance, I should say, can you just answer some of these questions? Do you think that Ukrainians are any closer to victory than they were six months ago?
Is the counter offensive any more effective than it was when it started? Well, it's a shame that the senator didn't take advantage of the opportunity to listen to President Zelensky himself today, who I am absolutely certain was updating members of Congress about progress on the battlefield. But let me take a shot at it because we obviously monitor as best we can. The truth is that the Ukrainian armed forces, particularly in the south, are making steady progress.
Now, is it as far or as fast as they want to go coming out of Zaporizhzhia towards the coast of the Sea of Azov? No. And maybe the first to tell you that I'm sure President Zelensky share that perspective. The Russians had months to dig entrenchments called Defense and Depth.
They have Literally put up tens of thousands of mines and minefields all across that southern expanse to try to slow the Ukrainians down. And it has certainly had an effect on them. But they are making progress. And one of the reasons they're making progress, first of all, is obviously because of their skill and bravery and the fact that they're allocating resources to this advance, but is because of the tools, the training and the technology that the United States and our allies and partners have lent them, have given them and provided them to be able to make that progress.
So, look, we always knew this was gonna be a tough slog. Kristin's hard to be perfectly predictive. It has proven to be violent and it has proven to be tough going. But the Ukrainians are making progress and they should be commended for that.
Well, one of the points that JD Vance raises is that it's not clear what the exit strategy is. So can you speak to that point, to that concern? What's the strategy? What's the exit plan here for the U.S.
well, again, I'm not exactly clear what the senators referring to. Normally, we saw the exit strategy. You're talking about getting American troops out of a war zone, that kind of thing. It's important to remember that we don't have American troops in Ukraine.
Ukrainians are on their soil and they're fighting for every inch of it. So I don't think they're military aid. We are military aid. Obviously, financially, they are planning on going anywhere.
And the United States is committed to supporting Ukraine for as long as it takes to succeed on the battlefield. So if by exit strategy, he's talking about the end of the war, I offer this. Mr. Putin can end it today.
He just pulled his troops out of Ukraine where they don't belong. That probably isn't going to happen. Ukrainians want this to end immediately, and we all want to see this war end. But it's got to end on terms that President Zelensky and Ukrainian people can accept.
Their country has been invaded. Imagine how Americans would react if it was, if it was on our soil. They want that. They want Russian forces out of their soil.
We want to help them succeed on the battlefield so that if and when President Zelensky and only President Zelensky can determine when it's time to sit down with President Putin, he can sit down and have a diplomatic dialogue with the wind at his back and with some strength. Are you satisfied? Is the administration satisfied, Admiral, with the level of accountability that you have seen from Ukraine, effectively, how the weapons are being used? We are constantly working with the Ukrainians on the issue of oversight.
And we have staffed up the embassy in Kyiv with additional folks from the Department of Defense to help the Ukrainians with improving oversight and accountability. So we all recognize that there's a desire for that. We've shared that desire from the very beginning because we know this is, this is expensive material and we want to make sure that it's being used appropriately Once it gets into Ukraine, it is going into a war zone. It belongs to the Ukrainians.
That point number one and number two, it's being used in a war and war is unpredictable. And so the idea that every single bullet can be perfectly accounted for I think is an extreme concern here. But we obviously do share the concerns of members of Congress about accountability and we are working very hard with Ukraine to that end. Admiral, what's the strategy to deal with waning support not just here in the US but globally?
Obviously, the President just left the G20 summit which couldn't agree on language condemning Russia. How do you continue to keep people engaged in this fight? We got to keep getting exposed to President Zelensky and letting him, he's the best messenger, letting him have an opportunity like he had today on Capitol Hill to explain what they're doing and why it matters to them. But also the president's not missing any opportunities to talk about Ukraine in a full throated way and defending what we're trying to do and why it matters.
And you heard that on Tuesday to speech at the UN General Assembly, a very, very comprehensive discussion why this war matters. And the president said it's not just, although first and foremost it is about Ukrainians and Ukrainian sovereignty, it is about the message it sends that Putin and would be aggressors if we just walk away, if we just let him have Ukraine, Kristen, which is what he still wants. He doesn't believe they ought to exist as a nation state. If we just let him have it, where does it stop?
He'll be right up on the eastern flank of NATO. And if you think that the cost of supporting Ukraine is high right now, imagine how much higher that cost is going to be in blood and treasure to the United States. If in fact Mr. Putin's embolden and wants to go after a NATO country or some other would be aggressors to start another war somewhere.
Let me move on to yesterday's bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Biden. Obviously they discussed this potential deal which would normalize relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia. Now, Mr. Netanyahu is saying the countries could forge what's called a.
He's calling historic peace. How close are all sides to a deal? Because it's my understanding there are some key sticking points in any major set of negotiations. There's going to be sticking points, and you're gonna have to work through them.
And our diplomats, they're working on this very hard. We think that a more integrated Israel to the region is good for the reason for Israeli people. It's good for our national security interests. We want to see normalization proceed.
We also recognize that the two big parties here are the parties in question, Saudi Arabia and Israel. And they have to make these sovereign decisions for themselves. We understand that, but we are talking to all parties to see if there's some negotiation that can be had. I can tell you we're working at it very, very aggressively, but I'm not able to give you, like, a timeline or sort of where that sits on the calendar.
All I can tell you is that we believe this is in everybody's best interest to move forward to normalization a little bit. Are you optimistic there will be a deal ultimately? I am optimistic that everybody sees the benefits, and I mean all parties, not just us, that all parties see the benefit in some potential move towards normalization. But again, I don't.
Nothing's done until it's all done, and I don't want to get ahead where we are in the process very quickly. It would arguably isolate Iran, but it doesn't deal directly with their nuclear program, which has been advancing in recent years after the Iran nuclear deal was ripped up. So how do you address that part of that crisis in the region? Normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia would send a powerful signal to the mullahs in Iran about how much further isolated they are and could potentially lead to increased pressure on Iran.
Nobody's turning a blind eye to their destabilizing behavior, including their nuclear emissions. And as President Biden said, we are not going to allow Iran to achieve a nuclear weapon capability. We prefer to do that through diplomacy. But that policy right now is more blind Christian because they have not.
The Iranians have not negotiated in good faith. They started larding up the talks with all kinds of things that didn't matter to the nuclear program. So it's a morbid process right now. We got to make sure, and we have, that the president has additional options available to him to make sure we can't allow Iran to ever receive a nuclear weapon.
All right, John Kirby, thank you so much for your time. Really appreciate it. You Bet first failure on the floor. We are live on Capitol Hill where House lawmakers are now headed home for the week after the GOP failed to advance a key bill to fund the military as Congress counts down to a potential government shutdown.
We'll delve into all of that from the Hill. You're watching me. The press now drop off in a new Hyundai Launcher today with $0 down during the Hyundai Advantage sales event. Take advantage of the $1,000 spring drive bonus and lease the 2026 laundry essential for just $73 weekly at 4.99% for 60 months and you' launches best in class five year new car warranty.
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Another day, another embarrassing setback for House Republicans as they continue to try and fail to get their members on the same page with just nine days until the government shutdown. Earlier today, a vote to advance a non controversial bill of fund the military failed a second straight time on the House floor with a handful of Republicans defying leadership yet again. Secret Kevin McCarthy spoke to reporters after the fiasco, suggesting he'd been blindsided by some of the defections, leaving his speakership essentially paralyzed by members of his own party. Listen, it's frustrating in the sense that I don't understand why anybody votes against bringing the idea and having the bank and then we got all the amendments if you don't like the bank.
This is a whole new concept of individuals that just burn the whole place down. That doesn't work. I know it's an option, but I find it as a challenge. We're going to solve it now.
This all comes after housekeeper McCarthy claimed his conference had made, quote, tremendous progress at a meeting last night. It leaves McCarthy in an increasingly dire position as the House is done for the week with no clear plan to pass anything with Republican votes. And it's making some of the rank and file angry. Here's New York's Mike Lawler.
For my colleagues, they have to come to a realization that if they're unable or unwilling to govern, others will. There needs to be a realization that you're not going to get everything you want and just throwing a temper tantrum and stopping your feet. Frankly, not only is it wrong, it's pathetic. MTC's Ryan Nobles has the very latest from Capitol Hill.
Ryan, some real fireworks there. And we don't usually hear Speaker McCarthy get that fired up, quite frankly. You could hear the Frustration in his voice after these two votes failed. What happened here that we are at a place where the House is now going home, which makes the shutdown look increasingly likely?
What happened? Well, first of all, Kristen, you know, we are talking to some members that are suggesting that perhaps they're gonna find a way to stay here this weekend because of the situation that we find ourselves in, although there are other members of Congress who already seem to be on their way out of town. So, you know, we're in this position basically because there is a group of roughly five to 10 conservative Republicans who just will not pass a continuing resolution. And as a result, they are then holding hostage every other piece of legislation that the Congress is trying to get over the finish line, including this defense appropriation bill, the spending bill that the fund, the Department of Defense, which is loaded with conservative, almost culture war issues that really have no pass in the Senate.
It's a very conservative bill. But because they're concerned about the other spending bills, these House conservatives, I basically paralyzed all the work in the House of Representatives. Here's what a smattering of them said today about the reason that they're holding everything up. As I said, we are completely dysfunctional and folks are going to have to start realizing that in our conference and they're going to take this stuff seriously because they're obviously not.
And there's been promises made and promises until they're able to meet my reliance, not going to have my vote. So and as far as cr, we had an over two hour meeting and what I heard in the meeting is there were seven or eight people that were no on it. And so I to me, it's in the water unless they change something. So to put this in plain English, Kristen, in order to move the continuing resolution which will keep the government pass September 30, but only for a short period of time, Ken McCarthy needs to come up with a bill that 218 Republicans will vote for because he's not going to get any Democratic bill for the type of bill Republicans would support at this point.
He does not have those votes and as a result, nothing is happening. Right. Just again, put this into, as you say, plain English for our viewers. He has tried to offer them a number of carrots, border security.
He's tried to lower the top line number. I mean, is there anything, is there anything left that he has in his toolkit to try to take out at this point to get members on the same page? If there were a person, I think he would have employed it by now. And I think that is why you are starting to see this new level of frustration, public frustration from these moderates like Mike Lawler, who you play sounds from earlier, who have for the most part have allowed McCarthy to basically play footsie with these House conservatives, just basically to get the ball moved down the field until they can get to a place where they can have substantive conversations with Democrats.
Well, it seems as though every time he gives them what they want, they ask for more. The goal posts keep changing, but as many sports metaphors as I can into this conversation. And that has got to be a situation where just doesn't know what else to do. But the one thing we haven't talked about, Kristen, which is the reason perhaps why all this is happening, is that cloud of the potential motion to vacate that move that any one member of Congress can put out the floor that would put his speakership in danger.
That is why he has to capitulate to these House conservatives. And that's probably the reason we're in the situation we are in right now. Ryan Noble's fantastic reporting as always as a government shutdown looks increasingly likely with each passing day. We appreciate great reporting.
Coming up next, we're on the trail with Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy as he tries to capitalize on a bump in the primary polls amid some highly controversial remarks about undocumented immigrants. We're live in battleground Ohio with that exclusive interview next. You're WATCHING THE PRESS now. Welcome back.
2024 Republican primary candidate Vivek Ramaswamy is trying to seize on some post debate political momentum rising to second place behind former President Trump in a new poll out of New Hampshire today. We'll break down those numbers in just a moment. Sasha Burns traveled Toronto Swami's Ohio campaign headquarters for an exclusive interview with a controversial candidate. He's a political newcomer rising in the polls.
You have no foreign policy. You know what? It's ahead of politicians with longer, stronger resumes. I'll be very frank about this.
I am not surprised by a rise of people in our Republican primary base. We're hungry for national unity. Actually, I think it's a different philosophy of how to get there. His style and his politics are drawn comparisons to another one time political newcomer.
President Trump I believe was the best president of the 21st century, pumping out content that like Trump is often baseless and creates controversy. Recently calling Congress Bonano Pressley a quote, modern grand wizard of the modern KKK, saying the government lied about 911 and suggesting federal agents were involved in the January 6, attack on the Capitol. You know, when you say stuff like that. So I think it is health for our country to have open, radically honest and candid conversations.
You said at one point in one of your gaggles, I do sometimes I say things off the cuff. I'm just honestly answering off the cuff. How much do you literally mean what you say? Because sometimes I feel like you just kind of like say things.
None of this can happen always, right? You can't be radically candid and also filter what you say. When I. If I'm giving a serious speech about shutting down the administrative state, as we did recently, we intended to follow that through in other cases.
I also believe in moments of levity that are honest, that open up candid dialogue. I'm not saying things I don't mean, but that doesn't mean that it's a bedrock part of my policy agenda to drive forward either. Many of Raswami's policy ideas are polarizing. He has proposed deporting the American born children of undocumented immigrants along with their parents, children who are American citizens under the 14th amendment.
So I want to give you my full perspective on this issue because I will acknowledge this is a difficult question. And what makes this a difficult question is that many people who are in this country illegally are still good people who came here for a better life for their family. And I think the only way we're going to be able to stand as a nation really committed to the rule of law is to behave in a manner that actually means it. But is it?
I think we will provide a path back through legal, meritocratic immigration for those who have demonstrated themselves to be law abiding, contributing citizens. But to be clear, you're talking about people who only speak English, who have lived in the United States their entire lives, are now going back to Guatemala, Venezuela, to countries that they know nothing about. You are picking the exception rather than the norm in the hard case, to be frank. But there are thousands of these people in the United States.
So I think the right answer is we have to stand for rule of law. Whose parents are legal immigrants? Himself gain citizenship by birthright. Did your father also take a citizenship test?
And is your father a citizen? He did not. And that's a choice that he has made for familial reasons. But my mother did.
So your father's not a citizen of the United States. He's not. Okay. And your mother, when did your mom take the citizenship test?
Was it before or after you were born? After I was born. His wife apurva is also an immigrant and the throat search at Ohio State University. The couple has two young boys.
And not unlike some of his opponents, Apoorva initially questioned her husband's readiness. This is the right time for our family. And then on a larger scale, are you the best version of yourself to be filling this, you know, extremely important office? We didn't see anyone.
And that's when we realized that at some point you have to step up and do it yourself. But poll after poll shows former President Trump with a commanding lead in the Republican primary events. Say they like you. They're voting for Trump.
I do think that I will be able to convince the American first base that I'm part of that. I'm best positioned to actually lead this nation forward. NBC News correspondent Dasha Burns joins in now. Fascinating conversation.
Dasha, congratulations on a really great interview. Take us behind the scenes of the Ramaswamy campaign because I think he really hit the nail on the head there, which is he is surging in the polls and yet former President Trump still has this commanding lead. What are they saying about that? And realistically, do they think he has a shot?
Well, it's interesting to look at those Trump comparisons because you even see and feel that at their campaign headquarters. You Remember back in 2015 and 2016, Trump was such a non traditional candidate. He really shook the media landscape and he found his own way to talk to voters directly and constantly through Twitter. Well, but they're doing his own version of that.
He go to have campaign headquarters, which is a former barn, by the way. And where there used to be horse stables, now there's a podcast studio, there's a TV production studio where he's producing a seemingly endless stream of content where he does spouse some of those controversial comments that we talked about there. But that is his way of directly talking to those voters and really making his case. And that's how he's really starting to stand out.
Unless other candidates that have media void the media in some ways, he's saying the more the merrier. Let's talk to everybody and let's do it kind of constantly. Kristen, it's really fascinating conversation. Josh, I want to pivot a little bit because I know you've also been covering the abortion fight in Ohio.
The state Supreme Court there recently handed a partial victory to Republicans on ballot language this week. Break down what the key takeaways are there. Yeah. In a bit of blow to abortion rights advocates, the state Supreme Court said that the words unborn child can be used on the ballot in November.
This is something that Ohioans for reproductive freedoms were arguing against. They wanted to use the word fetus, which they believe is the right language because it is the language actually used in the full text of the amendment. But the Supreme Court said it's fine. The words unborn child will be on the amendment.
Abortion rights advocates say this is potentially going to mislead voters. So a blow for, for those abortion advocates. But scientists that I talked to said that this may or may not have a huge impact because this is an issue where people are pretty entrenched. And you saw that pretty overwhelming victory in that special election in August.
It's a bit of a bellwether for what we might see in November. So not necessarily a huge setback, but certainly not what those abortion rights advocates were looking for here. By the way, we did talk to Ramaswamy about his position on abortion. You can see the full interview and that exchange as well on NBC news dot com.
Yeah, obviously continues to be front and center in the GOP primary race and we know both sides will be pouring a lot of money into that ballot measure fight in Ohio. Dasha Burns, thank you for covering all the angles for us. Appreciate it. Great to see you.
After the break. Desantis descending and me trust Trump's something of the field without a new batch of battleground and early state polls with less than one week to go until the second debate. You're watching Meet THE Press now while the Backstage on the 2024 campaign trail, we have some new poll numbers from the two most important primary contests for Republicans. In Iowa, Donald Trump continues to lead the primary field by more than 30 points, according to a new Fox Business poll.
The biggest movement in that poll since July is Nikki Haley making it to double digits and into third place. And in New Hampshire, Donald Trump is up 26 points on a pack of four Republicans hovering in the low double digits in the new CNN UNH poll. But the biggest headline comes from Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who's plummeting from a strong second to fifth, fifth place at the back of the pack. Nasan has lost somewhere across the board, but a big reason for this drop is his standing among moderates dropping 20 points since July.
Joining me to break this all down on set is Maritarikumar, president and CEO, Voter Latino and an NBC News contributor. And Noah Rothman, senior writer at National Review. Thank you so much for being here. I appreciate it.
So, Noah, let me start with you. Let's start with these new poll numbers. Let's put them up Again and just get a sense of where the field is because it really is stunning to see this drop by DeSantis plummeting in the polls. 46% for Donald Trump, 15% for Ron DeSantis.
And you have Chris Chrissy. This is the Iowa poll. But in New Hampshire, Chris Chrissy is searching. Yeah.
So there's a couple of dynamics at work here. The first is the mechanics of the campaign. The Desensitis campaign has invested heavily in Iowa, not in New Hampshire. And the opposite is true of Nikki Haley.
She's invested heavily in New Hampshire, not so much in Iowa and all of campaigns and tell you we want to win everywhere. That is not true. I think it's kind of a foolish strategy to prioritize some stakes over others, especially moving to South Africa. I know we're going to have multi car pile up.
Candidates that are presently in the race are still in the race. The second is messaging. Ron DeSantis has made it rather known that he believes his pathway to nomination is through Trump voters, not anti Trump voters. He wants to peel off the parts of the Trump coalition that are a little tenuous and then work backwards to try to assemble an anti Trump coalition from that part of the party.
That may prove to have been a failure of a strategy. You could, if you had assembled a more durable, viable coalition of anti Trump voters first and then presented that bulwark, a smaller but nevertheless impressive on paper coalition, it might have presented more of the trouble to Donald Trump keeping that over. But it's held here to that point. To Noah's point, you have the Santa is trying to get Trump voters and people are saying, wait a minute, those are the getable voters.
Moderate Republicans, particularly in a state like New Hampshire, are the getable voters. And a six week abortion ban doesn't necessarily play very well for them. Well, if you're basically someone saying, well I am not Trump, I'm like Trump, all the voters are going to say, well why? Why would I go with the option if I go for the original?
And you're absolutely right. The moderate voter was his base. It was just DeSantis basically saying, I'm not going to do all the crazy things or say all the crazy things that Trump says out loud, but I'm making you uncomfortable enough to vote for me. And instead he went right of Trump.
You know how hard that is to do. Whether we're talking, whether we're talking about abortion or immigration, you go down the list. I mean, he's more anti business than the business president. In a place like Florida and people are paying attention.
And I think that he goes very far. Yes, yes. A political campaign right now is the beginning and we have a long, you know, long Runway. But I think he's basically failed.
And what I'm looking for among the Republicans that remain is are they gonna start doing backroom deals to say we are in it not just for the presidency, but for democracy to consolidate themselves? Because otherwise that's the only way Trump wins is through credit field. Do you ever see that happening? No.
And the fact that Trump is still so far out ahead, can he be stopped at this point, there's a lot of game left to play. I don't think we can predict into the future precisely how Donald Trump will campaign because he's not campaigning. He's running a pro campaign for the most part. He's not articulating policy preferences.
There would be no coalescing ever around the terms that you say that you established around democracy. Republicans don't think that they don't agree with frame. That's how the Republican Republicans did not get the red way, because modern independent Republicans actually did believe in democracy. And one of those people basically talked about, I think there would have been that red way that everybody was counting on.
I mean going back to 2022, insofar as we had a variety of candidates, particularly at the statewide level, that underperformed. They all of them shared one particular disadvantage, which was their fealty to the notion that 2020 was a flawed election. That stuff just does not register with voters. They don't believe it.
They don't understand what the, what the argument is and they sort of reject the paranoia around it. Trump voter Democrats are being ripping. The Trump voters are basically convincing themselves it's 2020 satisfying, it's abortion that really hurts the post dogs environment that really hurts us. All these pro lifers, they're what's dragging us down.
Tell us like why tell us Governor Campen in Georgia to let the run of Santas. It's a complicated narrative. What's your take on that, Marie Teresa and the overall issue of abortion which is looming so large over this primary and gender. One of the things I remember right after the dolphin session was a Fox poll saying that dads were the ones that were most disturbed about this idea that the rights for their daughter would be taken away.
And I do think that that came out at the end of the day for the, for the Mitchell elections. But when you also have a conversation with these dads, when you talk to independent and moderate Republicans, they were also Concerned with what they saw very visibly on January 6th hearings that someone had done wrong with democracy. And that didn't make them feel comfortable not to drive them out the boat. No, I think it did allow them to take a step back and start paying attention to the election.
Well, we know that democracy is obviously going to be one of President Biden's key focuses. What struck me, I sat down obviously with former President Trump. I asked him about this issue of abortion and the White House responded immediately. I mean, concerns that he's trying to moderate his message.
He's the person who appointed the Supreme Court justice, assuming it possible to overturn Roe v. Wade. I mean, no, he's looking squarely at the general election at this point. Even though what you say, there's still a lot of Runway left, which is justifiable and, you know, to be a little bit perhaps paranoid, conspiratorial about it.
I saw the president's message in the White House that Donald Trump's responsible for getting in a row. He would go further directly contradicting what the former president said to you. The president, Joe Biden is essentially reassuring, perhaps a little squeamish. Pro life voter.
No, no, this guy's on your side. This guy's one of you. But he's saying he's not. That certainly advances Donald Trump's prospects, which from the perspective of the Democratic White House might be a good thing.
Retreated response and I'm going to move on to one of the things is that if we've ever seen anything from Donald Trump is that he knows how to play to the moment. And anything he says cannot hear cannot really be held accountable. He doesn't hold himself accountable. And so he recognizes right now after the midterm elections that it was not abortion, was not a winning prospect for independent.
But it doesn't mean that's not what he's going to perform because at the end of the day, he's still going to need the evangelicals to continue if he, if he were to win for the next midterm. So I actually, I would hold my breath saying that he's going to hold fast on his position. Let me pivot quickly. The Biden administration just gave Venezuela Migran's temporary protected status.
The impact of that. Maria Teresa, I will say the Democrats right now have such a complicated relationship with immigration and it is an issue where it's wonderful that the Republican protective status for these Venezuelans, but that is not our policy when it comes to immigration. The moment that someone gets here, that is because becomes sticky. We actually have an international crisis.
And I think that the Democrats need to start addressing it because at the end of the day, the people who are will be the voters are the people that have loved ones that have been here for 30 years where essential workers are saying it's great that you're providing these people with temporary visas. What about my parents who have been here as essential workers and are still in the most, especially after what the president said. Trump said today, basically saying that he was going to deport anyone that may be a gang member who's over 14 years old. That should scare everybody, potential for backlash.
Thank you both so much for a great conversation. No, I appreciate it. And still come. The former ambassador to Ukraine joins me next to discuss President Zelensky's wartime trip to Washington.
Don't go anywhere. You're watching me, the press now, Mr. President, the brave people Ukraine. That's not hyperbole.
The people of Ukraine have shown enormous bravery. Enormous bravery has inspired the world, really inspired the world with a determination to defend these principles. And together with our partners and allies, American people are determined to see to it that all we can to ensure the world stands with you. And that is our overwhelming.
Welcome back. That was President Biden just moments ago reiterating his support for Ukraine during a meeting with President Zelensky in the Oval Office. For more, I'm joined by Bill Taylor, who served as U.S. ambassador to Ukraine during the George W.
Bush administration. He's now vice president of Russia and Europe at the US Institute of Peace. Ambassador Taylor, thank you so much for joining me. I really appreciate it.
Kristen, thanks for having me. Talk to me about how concerned you are about the fact that support for Ukraine seems to be waning, particularly among Republicans on Capitol Hill. Well, Kristen, the purpose of President Zelensky's visit here today and to New York yesterday, to the UN Was to address exactly that. He's convinced that the United States is key to his victory.
He's still convinced that he can achieve that victory over the Russians. But he does need the United States. The United States leads the alliance and the coalition, the broad coalition. So this is a very important stuff for him.
And he reads the polls, he reads the press. He knows that there are voices in some parts of the United States, in the Congress that are opposed to supplying assistance, additional assistance to Ukraine. However, he also knows that so far, so far, and indeed he's seen today in his meetings with both the House and Senate so far is bipartisan support for Ukraine and strong support for the assistance that he's providing strong opposition to what the Russians are doing. The Russians are invading this country.
So he knows that he's got the moral high ground and the support of the American people. So I think that's what he's here. So far he's made that point. Those who are holdouts for more aid to Ukraine say that one of their big concerns is that there's not enough transparency around how this aid is being used.
Do you think that there should be a better accounting for how US Aid and military aid is actually being deployed? There is no doubt that the transparency, the ability to account for all the assistance going there is very important. And no one who is better than Ukrainians, they understand that with that kind of accountability, with that kind of transparency, with that zero tolerance for corruption, that's what they need to maintain the trust of the United States and to keep the assistance coming. So far they've been able to do that.
He's demonstrated, at least he's demonstrated that he doesn't have tolerance for any corruption and he's gotten rid of people in his administration who have not met that step. When you look at Europe and the support there, the fact that Poland says it's now ending its military support for Ukraine, what are the broader implications of that and what's the message to the rest of the region? I mean, are you concerned that the rest of the region might start to pull back as well? So I was just in Brussels before that, I was in Kyivos last week.
And the support for Ukraine and Europe is strong. It's very strong. The Polish situation is complicated. They've got an election coming up and they've got farmers who are not pleased that the Ukrainian grain is coming into Poland.
So the election situation there is making this thing now when they say they stop the flow of weapons. The polls have provided an incredible amount of weapons. Indeed, all the weapons that they have been able to provide have gone in. So there's a temporary pause in that flow from Poland into Ukraine.
But no, I'm not worried about the support for Ukraine coming from the Europeans. Europeans maintain the support. And let me go now to Estonia, where the Estonian Defense Ministry official said this to the economist, quote, this is exactly what war patrician is about. Convince the west that we can out suffer you, we can out fight you, we can outlast you.
They know the weak points of democracies. Do you agree with that? I agree that the Russians only strategy is to wait us out. The Russians only strategy is try to wait for us to blink, to get tired for Ukraine's to blink, to get tired.
Ukrainians are not getting tired. The Ukrainians are tired. Let me be clear. But they're not giving up.
They will not give up. We should not give up either. Ambassador BILL Taylor, it is always good to have you on. Thank you for your perspective.
We really appreciate it. Thanks for having me. Good to see you. You too.
And I'm back tomorrow with more MEET THE PRESS now, ABC News NOW coverage continues with Hallie Jackson right now. Now I'm Craig Melton. Cheers. Cheers.
Cheers. I've always been a glass half full kind of guy, and now I'm talking to some people who look at the world that way, too. It's really fascinating. Folks who share their defining moments, their triumphs, their challenges, their stories are fun and quite candid.
So I hope you'll join me each week. Who knows, you might just come away with your own glass apple. Search Glass Apple with Craig Melton From Today on YouTube and wherever you get your podcast.