This Sunday, war in Israel. Prime Minister Netanyahu declares Israel is at war after Hamas militants launched a surprise attack from Gaza. Hundreds have been killed and thousands wounded. Israeli soldiers and civilians have been taken as hostages.
The United States stands with Israel. We will not ever fail to have for back. This is not a moment for any party hostile to Israel. To exploit these attacks to seek advantage.
How should the U.S. respond to the crisis? My guest this morning, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Republican Presidential candidate Nikki Haley. Plus, Republican Rebellion.
The Office of Speaker of the House of the United States House of Representatives is hereby declared vacant. The House votes to remove Kevin McCarthy as Speaker, leaving the House without a leader for the first time in history. Nobody trusts Kevin McCarthy. Getting 200 Republicans to trust you isn't enough to be Speaker.
I don't regret standing up for choosing government over grievance. Will Republicans be able to unite to make a new Speaker? I'll talk to Republican Congressman Matt Gades of Florida, who led the move to oust McCarthy. Joining me for insight and analysis are MBC News, Chief Washington correspondent Andrea Mitchell.
MBC News senior Capitol Hill correspondent Garrett Hake, Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan, and Kimberly Atkins, senior opinion writer for the Boston Globe. Welcome to Sunday, it's Meet the Press. From MBC News in Washington, the longest running show in television history. This is Meet the Press, the Kristen Welker.
Good Sunday morning, Israel is at war. After Hamas launched a surprise multi-front attack from Gaza, which Israel says has killed more than 300 and wounded at least 1500. The timing adding to the devastation. It is the largest attack on the state of Israel since the 1973 Arab-Israeli war almost exactly 50 years ago.
The bombardment began with thousands of rockets launched into Israel. Hamas gunmen used explosives to breach the border fence crossing with motorcycles, pickup trucks, paragliders and boats. Israel's military confirms both civilians and soldiers have been abducted, taken as hostages into Gaza. More than 300 people have been killed in Gaza in retaliatory strikes and nearly 2,000 wounded.
This morning, the war threatens to expand as Israel exchange strikes with Hezbollah in the north. The attack comes at a time of deep divisions and political instability in Israel, and as the U.S., Israel and Saudi Arabia have been negotiating what would be a historic diplomatic agreement opposed by Iran. Everyone was caught off guard and a stunning intelligence failure from Israel to Washington, with one senior U.S. military officials saying, we were not tracking this.
On Saturday, a flurry of urgent calls, President Biden speaking with Prime Minister Netanyahu. The United States stands with Israel. We will not ever fail to have their back. We will make sure that they have to help their citizens need, and they can continue to defend themselves.
My colleague, Rob Sanchez, is on the ground and stir out Israel, and Rob, we see the disturbing images behind you. What is the very latest there? Yeah, Kristen, I'm standing in front of all the remains of an Israeli police station that was overrun by Hamas gunmen yesterday. This was the scene of a 20-hour, very intense gun battle, as Israeli forces tried to regain control.
And if my colleague, Dave Copeland, just swings the camera around here, you can see Kristen all over this scene. We are seeing cars like this in ruins. There is a boot from what may be a member of the Israeli Security Forces. And back there in the rubble, Kristen, all morning, we have been watching as they have been pulling bodies out of the debris under our feet or the shell casings assigned of how intense the fighting was.
And overhead, we are hearing Israeli fighter jets carrying out a punishing round of airstrikes inside of Gaza. But more than 24 hours on from this surprise attack, Israeli forces are still not fully in control on the grounds. There are reports of continued fighting with pockets of Palestinian militants. And as we drive the highways of southern Israel, we are seeing all evidence pointing to a large-scale Israeli ground incursion in the works.
We are seeing tanks and artillery being moved into position. Now, Kristen, that would be a complex military operation. But on top of that, it is a hostage rescue operation, unlike anything perhaps the world has ever seen. The Israeli military has now confirmed that there are both Israeli soldiers and civilians being held captive by Hamas, by Palestinian Islamic Jihad inside of Gaza.
Some of the videos we have seen on social media are absolutely harrowing. A young woman who is attending a dance party in the fields near Gaza being carried away on the back of a motorcycle. Videos then showing her inside Gaza. But this morning, her fate is unknown, along with the fates of so many other of these Israeli captives, these Israeli hostages.
And you can guarantee, Kristen, that that is weighing very heavily on the minds of Israeli decision-makers from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on down. As they try to figure out what is the best course of action to get these people back safe and to exact what Prime Minister Netanyahu says will be massive retaliation for this surprise attack. Kristen, those images just devastating. Rob Sanchez, thank you, please do continue to stay safe.
And joining me now is Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Mr. Secretary, welcome back to Meet the Press. Morning, Kristen.
So the big question on everyone's mind, Mr. Secretary, how did Israel, how did the United States miss what Hamas was planning? Well, first, put this in perspective and you've heard this from your correspondence as well. This is the worst attack on Israel since the Young People War in 1973, almost exactly 50 years ago.
But there's also a big difference. That was a state on state conflict, army against army with clear front lines. This is a massive terrorist attack targeting Israeli civilians, gunning people down in the streets of their towns, gunning them down in their homes, dragging Israelis, men, women and children, across the border with Gaza. A Holocaust survivor and a wheelchair, women and children, all being taken hostage.
So you can imagine the impact this is having in Israel and it should be revolting to people around the world. There will be plenty of time to figure out whether the intelligence should have done something different to see this coming. Right now, the entire focus is on supporting Israel, making sure that it has what it needs as President Biden pledged to Prime Minister Netanyahu when they spoke yesterday. Has what it needs to deal with this attack from Hamas to make sure that it has control over its own territory and that it takes the necessary steps so that there's accountability and to try to ensure to the best visibility that this doesn't happen again.
We've been on the phones constantly since yesterday, early yesterday morning, the President, myself, everyone throughout our government working around the world, both to build up that support and to get countries to use the influence they may have with Hamas to get it to cease and desist. But Mr. Secretary, do you acknowledge that both Israeli intelligence officials and U.S. intelligence officials were caught off guard here?
This is an attack that I don't think anyone saw coming in the immediate. So was it an intelligence failure, Mr. Secretary? Do you acknowledge it?
Was it an intelligence failure? We will have plenty of time, the Israelis will have plenty of time to look into that. All of us will have time to look into that. The focus now has to be on making sure that Israel has what it needs to deal with this attack and to make sure that its citizens are safe and secure.
That's the entire focus. Now, more broadly, we have been intensely concerned about the possibility of violence in the region. We have been working intensely with Israelis and Palestinians in other countries to try to make sure that that was avoided. The challenge is this.
We brought Israelis and Palestinians together in Aqaba, Sharmal Sheikh, to make sure that neither took steps that could lead to conflict, and that was an ongoing effort. But Hamas was not involved because Hamas is a terrorist organization, and the difference maker here is you have a terrorist group that's undertaken these actions. Mr. Secretary, does the administration know at this point if U.S.
citizens were among the dead or those taken hostage? So, we have reports that several Americans may be among the dead. We are very actively working to verify those reports. Similarly, we've seen reports about hostages, and there again, we're very actively trying to verify them and nail that down.
Meaning that there could be some U.S. citizens who have been taken hostage as well, Mr. Secretary? That's correct.
And does the United States have a role, given that, and we're broadly speaking, in securing the release of the hostages that have been taken, both Israeli hostages and U.S. hostages, and any other nationalities? Well, Kristin, first, I'm not going to get ahead of the facts. We need to establish the facts.
Second, any American anywhere who's being detained or held hostage, that is going to be a priority for this government, for this administration. And for me, but I don't want to get ahead where we are. We have reports. We need to verify them.
Did Iran play a role in this attack? Mr. Secretary, what has the administration assessed in that regard? So, Kristin, Iran and Hamas have a long relationship.
Hamas wouldn't be Hamas without the support it's had for many years from Iran. In this moment, we don't have anything that shows us that Iran is directly involved in this attack and in planning it or carrying out, but that's something we're looking at very carefully. And we've got to see where the facts lead. But we do know that Iran's had a long relationship with Hamas, long support.
It's one of the reasons that we have been aggressively working to counter Iran, including sanctioning more than 400 Iranians, more than 400 companies, precisely for things like the supporters provided to Hamas. And we are learning just this morning that two Israeli tourists in their Egyptian guide were killed in Egypt. This comes as major cities around our country, our enhancing security at synagogues and other religious institutions. How concerned should Americans be about a potential attack here, Mr.
Secretary? Well, we haven't seen indications of that. But of course, we're on guard around the world, we're on guard wherever American citizens may be, and could be in danger. And of course, we're always on guard in the United States.
But when it comes to the region as a whole, look, I was on the phone yesterday with my counterparts from Egypt, from Saudi Arabia, from Jordan, from the United Arab Emirates, from Turkey, from European countries. And a big part of that was trying to make sure that everyone was doing everything they can to ensure security, ensure safety, and to use whatever influence they have to get Hamas to back down. And also, to make sure that others don't try to take advantage of the situation. You were the president speaking to this very clearly.
He issued a pretty stark warning that no one anywhere should try to take advantage of what's happening in Israel. And speaking of Saudi Arabia, of course, this comes against the backdrop of the United States, Saudi Arabia, Israel having discussions about a potential deal to normalize relations, which would have further isolated Iran. What if any role do you think those talks may have played in these attacks? And this is effectively mean that those talks are now dead.
It's no surprise that those who are opposed to the talks, those who are opposed to Israel normalizing its relations with its neighbors and with countries beyond the region are Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran. And so it's entirely possible that one of the motivations for this attack was to try to derail these efforts to advance normalization, something that is very hard. There are a lot of really challenging issues to work through in the process of trying to do that. But the result would be, if we were able to get there, a much different path for the region and for the future, a path of greater stability, a greater integration of people working together to better their lives.
That's in stark contrast to the path that's offered by Hamas, a path of violence, killing, horror, terror, a path that offers absolutely nothing to the Palestinian people, in fact what it offers, is more suffering, not less. So it's a pretty stark choice. And the fact that Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran are lined up against that vision, I think, speaks volumes. At the same time, as we're pursuing normalization, it's imperative that it not be a substitute for Israelis and Palestinians resolving the differences between them.
On the contrary, it needs to be something that actually advances that prospect and supports it. But right now, in the immediate, the focus is on helping Israel deal with this attack from Hamas. And Mr. Secretary, as you know, Republican candidates have been criticizing the administration for the deal that you just struck with Iran to release five American detainees in exchange for some Iranian detainees, as well as releasing six Americans.
Your officials have already said Iran has not yet seen a cent of that money, but how do you respond to Republican critics who say that that deal funded the attacks on Israel? Well, it's very unfortunate that some are playing politics at a time when so many lives have been lost, and Israel remains under attack. Here are the facts. The facts are that these were not U.S.
taxpayer dollars. These were Iranian resources that had accumulated from the sale of its oil. That were stuck in a bank in South Korea from day one, under our law, under our sanctions. Going back many years, it's always had the right to use those funds for humanitarian purposes for food, for medicine, for medical equipment.
The funds were moved from one bank to another, where it could more easily do that, but under the close supervision of the U.S. Treasury Department. Mr. Secretary, Mr.
Secretary, I don't... No, it's important to get these facts right, because here's what's going on. Again, not a single cent has been spent from that account. When any money is spent from that account, it can only be used for medical supplies for food, for medicine.
And those who are saying otherwise are either misinformed or misinforming, and it's wrong either way. What do you say about the argument that money is fungible? So, Iran may have known this money is coming and used other funds to help fund this attack. Iran has unfortunately always used and focused its funds on supporting terrorism, on supporting groups like Hamas, and it's done that when they're done sanctions, it's done that when they're having been sanctions, and it's always prioritized that.
And again, I come back to the proposition that these funds have always been under the law available to Iran to use for humanitarian purposes. The Trump administration set up a very similar mechanism to enable Iran to use these kinds of assets for humanitarian purposes. We've done the same thing. Mr.
Secretary, very quickly, before we go, as you know, there's currently no speaker of the House, Congress is in a state of paralysis. Is Congress able to respond? Should Israel ask for more aid from the United States? What's your message there?
So, Christian, there's a tremendous amount of aid and assistance already in the pipeline back under President Obama. We signed a so-called memorandum of understanding with Israel that provides it with $3.8 billion a year in defense assistance. And much of that is ongoing. The contracts are moving forward.
We do a lot of co-production with them. A lot is in the pipeline. At the same time, Israel has come to us and asked for some specific additional assistance. I'm sure you'll hear more about that probably later today, and we're responding to that, and we have the ability to do that.
Now, as a general proposition, it would be very important to make sure that we have both houses of Congress on a bipartisan basis, in a place where they can clearly show and express their support for Israel, especially in this hour of need. And so, that's something we want to see, and we hope that that happens quickly. Okay. Secretary Lincoln, thank you so much for joining us.
We will look for that announcement about more aid later today. We really appreciate it. And when we come back, Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley joins me. The former Trump UN ambassador weighs in as the GOP has seen growing divisions in the party when it comes to foreign intervention and conflicts around the globe.
Welcome back, Republican candidates for president were quick to condemn the attack on Israel and to blame President Biden. The Israeli attack was made because we are perceived as being weak and ineffective and with a really weak leader. The Iranians are funding Hamas and Hezbollah and all these groups, and they're funding it in part with money that they've gotten because of the Biden administration's weak policies. This is what happens.
When you have a president like Joe Biden, I also believe this is what happens when you have leaders in the Republican party. They're signaling the treaty on the world's side. Joining me now is Mr. Trump's former United Nations ambassador, Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley.
Ambassador Haley, welcome back to Meet the Press. Thanks so much, President. Well, I want to start off, Ambassador, by getting your reaction to the horrific events that unfolded in Israel yesterday. To what extent do you see this as a major intelligence failure?
Well, I think that there will be a time and place to deal with whether it was an intelligence failure. I think right now what I want the American people to know is just imagine the Israeli people woke up to seeing their own citizens dragged in the streets, the elderly children, women taking as hostages, whole families murdered. And so now today, the Israeli people and the country are having to face the fact that their loved ones are being deployed, that they are having to go to the front lines to defend their country, that businesses are having to be shuttered because their workers are leaving to go defend the country, and because they've had a massive terrorist attack. And so I think that one prayers for determination and strength for the Israeli people.
But what I want the American people to know is what happened when they were dragging those people in the streets, what happened when they were murdering innocent Israelis. The Hamas and the backers who support them, the Iranian regime, were chanting death to Israel, death to America. That's what we have to remember. We are united with Israel because we are united because both Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and the Iranian backers, they hate us.
And we have to remember that what happened to Israel could happen here in America. And I hope that we all unite and stand with Israel because they really need us right now. Quick follow up there Ambassador, does that mean that you are concerned about potential attacks on the home front in the wake of what we saw in Israel? I have been concerned.
I have been terribly worried about the fact that Iran has said the easiest way to get into America is through the southern border. We have an open border. People are coming through. They're not being vetted.
We don't need to wait for another 9-11. You also look at the fact that Kristen, America is incredibly distracted and incredibly divided. And when America has distracted, the world is less safe. And look at what happened to Israel.
They waited for them to be distracted. And that's when your enemies move in. America needs to wake up. We need to put this negativity and division behind us.
And we need to focus on national security for ourselves and for our friends. And start thinking about what it's going to take to get America strong again. I want to drill down with you on some of those divisions. Yesterday, almost all of your Republican rivals blamed the Biden administration for this attack.
As I just discussed with the Secretary citing the deal they made with Iran, you just saw the Secretary of State effectively say there is no link between that deal. And the horrific attacks that unfolded yesterday. Do you think it was irresponsible of your rivals to level that allegation without any evidence or proof? I actually think it was irresponsible for Secretary Blinken to say that the $6 billion doesn't weigh in here.
I mean, let's be honest with the American people and understand that Hamas knows and Iran knows they're moving money around as we speak because they know 6 billion is going to be released. That's the reality. And when I was at the United Nations, you saw that when those planes full of cash sent by Obama to Iran, I went to the International Atomic Energy Agency. I met with them.
What happened was those funds were sent to Hezbollah and Lebanon. They were sent to Hamas and Gaza. They were sent to the Houthis and Yemen. They go and spread terrorism every time they get a dollar.
It doesn't go to the Iranian people. It does go to terrorist attacks. And Secretary Blinken is just wrong to imply that this money is not being moved around as we speak. And yet, Ambassador, there's just no proof of that yet.
This is just the hours after that immediate attack. Is it irresponsible to level that charge when you really don't have any evidence of that at this point in time? The evidence is look at what the Iranian people have done to freedom-loving people around the world. Look at what the Iranian people, the Iranian regime has done to threaten Israel over the years.
To think that they're not moving money around is irresponsible to say that to the American people. They are moving money around to threaten those they hate. They hate Israel. They hate America.
They are going to continue to use this. It was wrong to release the $6 billion, but let me tell you what else was wrong. It was wrong to go and have that debacle in Afghanistan. It was wrong to wave sanctions on Iran that gave them even more money.
Money has been flowing to Iran. And that is the problem. Because when Iran gets money, they use it for hate. Ambassador Haley, just to be clear again, the Secretary of State said categorically, they have not seen a link.
Let me move on, though, to your record on Israel. Under the Trump administration, the U.S. embassy moved to Jerusalem, as you know, that enraged many Palestinians. Settlements expanded in violation of international law.
And there was no progress made toward a two-state solution. You were UN ambassador at the time. Could you and should you have done more to address the interests of the Palestinian people? Well, I actually went to the West Bank.
I actually met with the Palestinians multiple times. I actually went and saw what the situation was at hand. But let me tell you what else I saw. I saw tunnels underneath Israel, underneath schools.
What they would do in those tunnels is they would store arms. They would store ammunition. They would store things so that they could go and take that ammunition to hurt people across the border. They put these tunnels underneath schools because they knew that Israelis valued life.
They knew that Israelis would not go and hurt innocent people. That's what we're dealing with. So I've been in those tunnels. I've seen what has happened.
I've seen the graffiti all over those buildings that have tried to say that they want to kill as many Israelis as they can. I saw the hate out blows. Did you bear the hate out blows? Did you bear the possibility to do war to try to move toward a two-state solution while you had the chance to do so?
I called out the truth. I called out the truth that what was happening was that you had the entire world condemning a freedom-loving country that is a bright spot in a tough neighborhood. spot in a tough neighborhood. And the other truth I'll tell you, Kristen, is Americans need to remember.
It's not that Israel needs America. America needs Israel. Israel is the front line of defense for the Iranian regime and terrorists that want to hurt us and want to hurt our friends. And we need to be honest with the American people of that.
Ambassador Haley, I want to turn to former President Trump's comments recently suggesting that outgoing joint chiefs, Chairman General Mark Millie, should be executed for treason. Do you believe those comments in and of themselves mark a threat to the United States national security? Are they disqualifying? Well, I just think it's irresponsible.
I mean, you don't need to say things like that. I think that any man or woman that has served our country deserves the highest respect. My husband is a combat veteran. He is deployed right now.
They sacrifice a lot. Their families sacrifice a lot. And we should honor them every chance that we get. Finally, your message to Republicans in Congress who right now do not have a speaker in the House who are in a state of paralysis.
Do you worry that makes the US look weak on the world stage? I would remind Republicans, you know, don't chase Democrat chaos with Republican chaos. We need to come together. We need to focus on national security.
We need to focus on the fact that, you know, 60% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck, that crime is at unprecedented levels, that our children are lacking in reading and math, that we have an open border, and that China's preparing for war with us. We need to get united. We need to focus on the issues that are facing us. And we need to do that now.
There's no time to waste. All right, Ambassador Nikki Haley, thank you so much for joining us this morning. We really appreciate it. Thank you.
Go to Nikki Haley.com and join our fight. All right, and when we come back, Republican Congressman Matt Gate joins me. He led the ousting of Speaker Kevin McCarthy this week, leaving the House without a leader for the first time in US history. Welcome back.
After just nine months, Kevin McCarthy became the first House Speaker in history to be voted out of the job. Here's how members of Congress are describing the chaos on Capitol Hill. Quote, one has to wonder whether the House is a governable at all. Another called a vote for chaos.
Others called themselves ashamed and embarrassed. A handful of House members just want to blow up the institution and themselves in the process. Sad. And that's what Republicans are saying.
With the government shut down 41 days away and looking more likely members of Congress have left Washington, a Speaker election is planned for Wednesday, but the fight for the job could drag on for weeks. I'm joined now by Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz of Florida Congressman Gaetz. Welcome to meet the press. Oh, thanks so much for having me, Kristen.
I want to start off with recent comments by the now ousted Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy who said just yesterday, the fact that the House of Representatives is leaderless at this important moment. He says, quote, why would you ever remove a speaker during a term and, quote, raise a doubt around the world? Did your actions this week to remove the speaker undermine US national security and safety? Well, I don't think that other countries think about Kevin McCarthy's speakership quite as much as Kevin McCarthy does.
We'll have a new speaker next week and we'll be prepared to do our work. Kevin McCarthy was removed because he made multiple contradictory promises to people that ultimately could not be reconciled. The Democrats didn't trust him, House Republicans on the conservative side of our caucus didn't trust him. And that ultimately led to us making a decision to move forward with someone new.
Fortunately, we've got two great men running for speaker, Jim Jordan and Steve Scalise. I reject the premise that this is going to drag on for weeks. My colleague Kevin Hearn was contemplating a run, but I received a message from him recently that he won't be mounting that campaign precisely because in a two-man race, it's going to be pretty clear who gets the most votes. I do want to say based on what's going on in Israel right now, it is horrifying.
We stand with the people of Israel. Israel has a right to defend itself. I get the sense that Israel is going to be larger, not smaller at the end of this conflict. And we have to take note that every place, whether it's Gaza or Judeon Samaria, where Israel has given back territory, life has gotten worse for the people who live in those places.
And I think Israel's actions right now are justified, so we certainly hope that the carnage and the death comes to an end as soon as possible. Congressman, you say that you stand with Israel. You're ready to defend Israel, and yet you're completely incapable of helping Israel because you've brought Congress to a standstill, a state of paralysis. Have you not?
Well, you just heard the Secretary of State reject that premise. We have a 10-year ongoing memorandum of understanding that sends Israel to Israel. He didn't reject it, Congressman. He called Congress to get back to work.
Hold on, hold on, hold on. Let me get a word in here, Kristen. Yeah, but what he said was there was no need in Israel that we're not going to be able to meet based on the funding that we've already approved for Israel. And the reason we have this multibillion-dollar commitment each and every year to Israel is because we want Israel to have a qualitative military edge over everyone in the reason.
They have that edge. Israel has air superiority now. We are seeing their armored vehicles in the north. I'm very concerned about what Hezbollah might do, what Lebanon might do there to try to create more instability.
But there is no ask from Israel that we are unable to meet because it's going to take us a few days to pick a new speaker. I was very critical of the Pro Tem's decision to send us home for a week. I thought, upon McCarthy's ouster, we should have stayed on the job, stayed in Washington. And if McHenry had not made that decision, we would have a speaker right now.
He made one that was regrettable. But I think we're going to be back on track quite soon. Well, that takes me to my next question, Congressman, because you led this effort to out speaker McCarthy without a clear replacement in place. Was that irresponsible on your part?
Well, not only do we have a clear replacement, we have two. We have two men who have a choice. It's not clear either of them have enough votes. Well, I think that in a two-man race, it's a lot easier to get someone to 50% plus one than in a race where you have three, four, five, seven people.
So the fact that it's been a constraint rate, you are watching the plan play out. And by the way, if we have a speaker, Jim Jordan, or a speaker, Steve Scalise, at the end of the coming week, there won't be a single Republican, Sans, maybe Kevin McCarthy, who doesn't believe that we have upgraded the position. This is about ensuring long-term stability financially for our country, from a leadership standpoint, and with either Steve Scalise or Jim Jordan, we will undeniably have an upgrade, and I'm looking forward to it. Congressman Gates, back in 2008, when then speaker Paul Ryan announced he wouldn't seek re-election to Congress.
Here's what you said about moving to replace him early. If we take Paul Ryan off the field right now, instead of being able to finish strong in the 115 Congress, we will shatter into a bunch of factions fighting against each other for power. We got enough of that in Washington already. So Congressman, where was that concerned for party unity on Tuesday?
Unfortunately, we're in a very different position today than we were back then. Also, I don't know that that was 2008, I think it was 2018, you may have missed a decade. In 2008, I was in state. It was 2018, absolutely.
If I misspoke 2018. Okay, no problem, we've caught up. But now that we have the circumstances we're faced with, we had a leader who had made multiple contradictory promises that nobody could trust. So there was no way to move forward.
Paul Ryan was in a quite different position in 2018, and you're not seeing factions divide. Matter of fact, you saw Brian Fitzpatrick just the other day, someone who doesn't hold my view on a lot of things, a moderate Republican, endorsed Jim Jordan, my hero and mentor, and judiciary chairman. So I think we're actually gonna come together quite soon. I think we've got two great choices, and I think that you're gonna really see an invigorated Republican party.
We were in the doldrums with Kevin McCarthy. We had no budget. I mean, we have not had a budget in this country for decades. So I think that it's about time we follow the law.
We have single subject spending bills, and then we work with the Senate and the President and the divided governments and we are priorities. There's no guarantee that either of the two candidates who are running for speaker will be able to get a new budget given that you are dealing with a divided Congress and given that you don't have the numbers, quite frankly, Congressman. Well, I disagree with that. We had the numbers to pass appropriations bills to fund over 70% of the government, and for all of the criticism that I'm an agent of chaos, I voted for all of those appropriations bills for our military, for our veterans, for our Department of Agriculture and our food security, and for our Department of Homeland Security and our border.
The question isn't whether or not we believe in a budget. The question is what is the responsible budgeting process? Now, the McCarthy strategy was to utilize omnibus bills, continuing resolutions, and have one up or down vote on the funding of the entire government at all at once. I believe that the manner of budgeting is best served in divided government or not, with single subject spending bills that are individually negotiated, so they're trying to have a programmatic review on how the federal government spends money.
We haven't done that, even though it is the law since 1996. And by the way, we can do it in divided government. The last time it happened was divided government. Okay, Congressman, I've been speaking to some of your Republican colleagues, and you know that there are discussions about potentially kicking you out of Congress.
How concerned are you about that? You may lose your job over this. Well, the voters of Florida's First Congressional District sent you here with about 70% of the votes, so I think that anyone trying to kick me out of Congress because they didn't like me would have a vote to pick with them. But think about what we're saying.
I'm the guy saying we need a budget, that we need to follow the Budget Control Act of 1974. And because, merely, I wanted to hold Kevin McCarthy to his own word, that he would follow the law. If you lose your job, is it worth it? If you lose your job, will it be worth it?
Absolutely. Look, I am here to fight for my constituents, and I'm here to ensure that America is not on a path to financial ruin. Your average American family right now is spending $700 more each and every month for the same household goods and searches. We are about to refinance $8 trillion in debt from low interest rates to high interest rates.
That's gonna mean that the APR on every American credit card is about to go up. People are going to be crushed, and debt and inflation are driven by government spending. They cannot continue. We're spending $7 trillion a year, and only taking in five.
So to me, people who are willing to drive $2 trillion annual deficits are the agents of chaos. The people who want budgets are actually agents of regular order. Congressman, respectfully, you voted for those tax cuts under the Trump administration, which helped create that $8 trillion deficit that you're talking about right there. Did you not?
Is this not, as some of your critics would say, hypocritical, given that? No, I voted against 10 continuing resolutions for the Trump era. And I actually voted, I actually voted against the budget that created the platform for the reconciliation of those tax cuts because it didn't balance. I agreed with Senator Rand Paul at the time that we should do the tax cuts with offsets and balanced budgets.
There is a key distinction though, in the Trump years, the economy was growing, wages were growing. Capital was coming back to our country. GDP was growing in a far faster rate than it is now. So it's different when the economy is growing and people are doing better.
Now there's more debt, more inflation, there's no plan people are doing worse and that's why I think we need a better track. Congressman, just to put a fine point on it, Jordan or Scalise, who's gonna get your vote this week? I wanna hear both of their specific plans on spending and on single subject appropriations bills. Whoever has the most support?
Yes. If either of those may get the most support in the conference, I'm eager to vote for them on the floor. Thank you. Congressman Mac Gates, thank you, appreciate it.
And when we come back, voters in a key battleground state tell me they are deeply unsatisfied with their choices in 2024. Welcome back. On Wednesday, I traveled to Bucks County, Pennsylvania, a swing county and a battleground state to hear from voters about the issues that matter to them, the developing presidential race and the dysfunction we saw on Capitol Hill this week. There's just so much going on that it's not very unstable.
Well, I'll give you the one word of my emotion. The oppression watching it go down in real time was widely entertaining. But also, it was depressing. And I don't see a way that they're gonna strike a compromise on key items like budget continuing resolution.
Do you feel like there's a leadership vacuum right now? Absolutely. I do. Across the board.
If we look at the current polling right now, it seems like it is very possible there will be a rematch between President Biden and former President Trump. How many of you, just raise your hands, are excited by a rematch between President Biden and former President Trump? No hands. No one's excited by that rematch.
Depressed is a better word. Depressed, why? I think Biden is approaching senility, if not already in the middle of senility and running the greatest country in the world, in my humble opinion, is not a job for an old senile person. And Trump is, forgive my French and a ****.
And we don't need that kind of person running our country. How many of you undecided in this moment? How many of you, you're undecided in the moment? Why are you undecided?
I just, while, you know, I did vote Republican, I didn't love, it was a lot of chaos. I, you know, I'm someone who preaches kindness, and, you know, maybe it was hypocritical for me to vote Trump in the last election, to have both of them going back up against each other. I don't know if my moral compass could choose one of them. Do you know who you would vote for if there were a rematch between President Biden and former President Trump?
I am confident that I know. You would vote for President Biden. Yeah, and it would sort of, like I'll mention, it would not be a happier, proud vote. It would be the lesser of the two evils.
You'd be invited versus Trump, yes, I would vote for Biden. And would you do so with enthusiasm? No, I, like, Alex, your concerns about age. It's just a fact.
I think he is still capable. He seems to have the vitality to continue to do the job well, but at 88 years old, just the inherent risk. I just feel that Trump has disqualified himself from office because of his behavior from the election through January 6 onward and would never vote for him. Is there any chance that any of you sit home on election day?
There is a chance. Yeah, honestly, I feel if it's Biden versus Trump, I don't know if there's anything that could make me come out and vote that day, which I know is, like, really upsetting because it's something that, you know, is a privilege for me to have. Al, is there any chance you would stay at home on election day? No, I love American democracy too much, but Biden and Trump, if it's a Biden and Trump race, then I would vote for Biden, even if he was dead.
No, I don't. And I'm Republican. Powerful comments there. You can see more of my conversation with swing voters at meetthepress.com.
And when we come back with Israel at war, the lack of a House Speaker could have an impact on US national security. The panel is next. Welcome back. I'm going to start with you, I'm going to start with you to sort of set the table here and take us behind the scenes of how these horrific attacks unfolded.
I mean, there is a backdrop to all of this that you have been reporting on for quite some time. Absolutely, but first of all, the news that the Secretary of State made with you just this morning, which is that they are looking into reports that Americans could be among the hostages and among the dead killed in this horrific attack, the surprise attack and the surprise factor, the intelligence failure, clear in Israel, potentially because of its domestic problems, the big divisions for a year, those protests, which affected the intelligence community and the military as well. It's a big distraction, the possible distraction here, our own divisions here in the U.S., not focused on that. And the fact that they were really focused a lot on trying to reshape the Middle East, reshape the map, a very big potential deal with Saudi Arabia, which would isolate Iran further, Saudi Arabia, potentially recognizing Israel, change the map of going back to 1948, but not really focused enough, the president did, but the other players did not, not focused enough on the Palestinians, their grievances, which had been exacerbated under the Netanyahu's right wing coalition, so there was violence on both sides escalating in the last year.
And as I was discussing with Ambassador Niki Haley, the fact that settlement houses have expanded thousands under former president. Exponential, yes, absolutely. Garrett, Andrea talks about the instability, those protests in Israel over the proposed judicial reforms by Prime Minister Netanyahu. We are seeing instability right now.
I was just talking, obviously, to Congressman Matt Gates about it and asking him, what can Congress do if Israel asks for more aid? Talk a little bit about your reporting. Is Congress in a position to deal with this crisis, both in terms of intelligence briefings and in terms of providing any more aid if asked? Not immediately.
I mean, they'll get the briefings that they need, and that could happen fairly quickly. Members have already started getting some unclassified briefings. Even the Speaker Pro-10, we understand, could get the same information that would normally be available to the Speaker if the administration wants to make that happen. It is the White House's intelligence.
They can make it available to whom they see fit. But in terms of acting quickly, whether to pass a supplemental appropriations bill to get more money to Israel, that's not going to happen, at least until you have a Speaker. We don't even have a Senate confirmed ambassador to Israel right now, Jack Lewis, but nominated. But the Senate hasn't even held a hearing on that yet.
So there's plenty of work for Congress if they wanted to jump into this space more aggressively. Really, as over time, Congress has ceded so much of its national security, authority to White House's past and present anyway. But there is room for them here if they can get their act together this week. Peggy, such an important point.
There's not even an ambassador confirmed in these tensions go back decades years. Oh, God, yes. And it all takes place within the context, what's happening now of what we are discussing, real a sense of civic instability in Israel, the the controversialness of Prime Minister Netanyahu, his decisions, the whole sense that that country is going at itself. It was vulnerable.
They went at it and in return in the United States, there's a sense you look to the US, what are we thinking? And there was, unfortunately, this week that awful chaos on the House where one of our great parties, we have only two look like it was being taken over by flakes and eccentrics. And it didn't look too stable either. So a difficult time, which adds to this difficult moment.
And not to not was standing whether it said that the most of the national security and inter foreign relations of all has been ceded to the White House. It has not gone unnoticed in the world, what the instability in the House is doing. This is supposed to be the leader, we're supposed to be the leader of the world. And we have a party that cannot even seem to govern itself.
It's out barely be able to pass a budget that certainly has led to the instability abroad in the lack and the concern among our allies that it may be giving our adversaries an advantage. We have less than a minute for all of you. Final thought, you heard the frustration among those voters there that I interviewed Andrew, we are discussing this in a moment of deep frustration here at home. Deep frustration, this is not good for President Biden, for the administration in any context, because it's an unexpected event.
Jake Sullivan only a week ago was saying that the release is quieter. He said, unless something else happens, well, there's something else to do. It's been a ton of pressure on Republicans this week to get their act together and elect a speaker prove they can do it. Matt Gates saying that he would support either Jim Jordan or Steve Silly's makes me a little more optimistic they make.
With that focus group, third party thinking, I think the biggest thing third party has to do is prove that in the stasis they could actually do something and make it better. Yes or no speaker this week? I don't know. Okay, that's all for today.
Thank you for watching because if it's Sunday, it's Meet the Press.