Transcripts For KNTV Meet 20240704

Crimes in the january 6th attack on the capitol on his first day in office. Going to work with the people to treat those unbelievable patriots as mike fence says he wont be backing him in 2024. I will not be endorsing donald trump this year. I will talk to bill cassidy of louisiana one of the serve republicans who voted to convict donald trump. Plus, growing frustration. Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer calls for new leadership in israel warning Prime Minister netanyahu is an obstacle to peace. Netanyahu coalition no longer fits the needs of israel after october 7th. This is unprecedented. You should not feel fellow democrats this way at all. Is israels relationship with the u. S. In danger . Ill talk to democratic senator ben carden of maryland the chairman of the House Foreign Relations Committee and feed the world. In our meet the moment conversation jose andres of the world central kitchen to deliver meals to people in crisis. You are never prepared. The more i know the more i know nothing. Joining me for insights and analysis are Jonathan Martin of mrit coal. Symone sand ers townsend, former spokesperson for Vice President Kamala Harris and lahnee chen of the Hoover Institution. Welcome to sunday. Its meet the press. From nbc news in washington, the longest running show in Television History this is meet the press with kristen welker. Good sunday morning and happy st. Patricks day. In a week where donald trump officially became the Presumptive Republican nominee for president , his threats of retribution are mounting, promising one of his first acts as president would be to free those charged and convicted for attacking the capitol on january 6th. Nearly of whom 800 have pled guilty to their crimes, on ukraine in which he supports a loan, he told hungaria leader in private he would cut aid if elected. And some undocumented immigrants arent people. If i had prisons that were teaming with ms13 and all sorts of people that theyve got got to take care of for the next 50 years, young people that are in jail for years, if you call them people, i dont know if you call them people. In some cases theyre not people, in my opinion. And while addressing the Auto Industry, the former president made this ominous comment. We will put a 100 tariff on every single car that comes across the line and youre not going to be able to sell those cars. If i get elected, if i dont get elected its going to be a bloodbath for the whole thats going to be the least of it. It will be a bloodbath for the country. That will be the least of it, but theyre not going to sell those cars. The Trump Campaign tried to clarify saying he was talking about the Auto Industry, but the Biden Campaign seized on the comments saying mr. Trump is doubling down on his threat of political violence. At the same time Donald Trumps delay tactics with the legal system seem to be working. The new york hush money case now delayed for 30 days giving the defense more time to review documents. And in georgia, the election interference case, the lead prosecutor nathan wade resigned friday. Wade was scheduled to appear on this broadcast today, but canceled last minute citing a family emergency. Theres one place trump didnt get a break. His own Vice President mike pence whose life was threatened on january 6th who said this friday. Donald trump is pursuing and articulating an agenda that is at odds with the conservative agenda that we governed on during our four years, and thats why i cannot in good conscience endorse donald trump. Joining me now republican senator bill cassidy of louisiana. One of only seven republicans who voted to convict donald trump in his impeachment for attempting to overturn the 2020 election. Senator cassidy, welcome back to meet the press. Thank you. Thanks so much for being here. I want to start by getting your reaction to Donald Trumps comments about a bloodbath. Do you think that those comments were appropriate . Two things about that. The general tone of the speech is why is why Many Americans continue to wonder should President Trump be president . That kind of rhetoric is on the edge and maybe it doesnt cross, maybe it does, depending on your perspective and i think the Mainstream Media contributes to it. If you talk about a bloodbath which could be a economic bloodbath and not street violence and it gives something that was distorted. He always walk up to the edge on the rhetoric and again, thats why people are concerned, but sometimes the main street media, whether they want to or not cant resist and they go just a little bit too far which distracts from what could be the impact. And just to be very clear, youre saying it walks up to the line. Does that comment, even if in the context the broader backdrop of talking about the Auto Industry, does it cross a line for you . You heard what the Biden Administration said. Its another sign that hes using terms related to political violence. Thats their perspective. Theyve got a candidate who also doesnt seem fit for office, but you can also look at the definition of bloodbath and it could be an economic disaster. So if hes speaking about the Auto Industry in particular in ohio then you can take it a with a little more context and thats why i say you walk up to the line and depending upon the perspective and someone will interpret it, hes running against biden and his defenders want to defend him and theyll say its about economic disaster. Theres always just that little bit of tension there which allows the dispute about the not prettiation as opposed to the general sort of is this the person that we want to have in office . And what about his comments that undocumented immigrants, not all of them are people. What does it say about the Republican Party that the presumptive gop nominee is using that kind of language, sending that message . Let me say first, he was talking about the possibility of criminals being among the immigrants and those were the people that he was saying may not be people, if you will. On the other hand, clearly, the president s rhetoric has reflected poorly in terms of regarding folks who are coming here illegally, illegally and they shouldnt be, but in a dehumanizing fashion and thats why again many people continue to have reservations and the best thing for him running for president is that hes running against joe biden of which many people have reservations and thats why people are considering third parties. So its a sorry state of affairs. Well, let me ask you about some recent comments he made about january 6th. He said on the first day of the second term he would, quote, free those who have been charged and convicted with january 6th and committing crimes related to january 6th. Do you think thats appropriate . That people who have been convicted in many places have pled guilty should be pardoned . I do not think its appropriate. We are a nation of laws, and those folks were convicted, many times they pled guilty. If you plead guilty i. E. , obviously, you are not a patriot. You are someone who committed a criminal act, so i think that would be a wrong signal if youre the chief executive and you are responsible for enforcing the laws. Senator, its interesting, when you became one of those who voted to convict former President Trump in has second impeachment you said our constitution and country and more important than any one person. Do you believe that former President Trump would follow the constitution in a second term . Now that is a hypothetical which is hard for me to kind of go at and frankly, kristen, thats the kind of question that people ask almost begging an answer. We have checks and balances within our system that if any one person attempts to act in know unconstitutional fashion they can be checked. Joe biden acted in an unconstitutional fashion when he agreed to forgive Student Loans. He found a work around and nonetheless, we have checks and balances. Im not defending the former president , but when you present in the theoretical i have to answer in the which the context works. Can you the Student Loans and the fact that he tried to overturn a free and Fair Election . My question is about what happened on january 6th and i did not hear you say yes that you have confidence that he would defend the constitution. Im not establishing equivalency at all. Period. End of story. There is not, but i cant say in the hypothetical that trump will do one thing or the other, but im not establishing equivalency between january 6th and what biden has done. Let me ask you about former Vice President mike pence. As you know he made a lot of headlines at the end of this week when he said he would not endorse his former boss donald trump. It comes as a number of trump critics from Mitch Mcconnell to chris sununu and brian kemp said he would not endorse donald trump and i know youve gotten this question a lot and i have to ask, will you endorse donald trump, senator . Im smiling because this keeps my streak unbroken on meet the press where im asking this or similar to that. My staff had an over under to how long i would take. And i have to continue the streak and ask you followups to get an answer out of you, senator. Just again, will you endorse are you ruling it out . I didnt say yes, you are going to endorse him. No. The answer im going to goive consistently is i plan to vote republican for the presidency of the United States. You havent endorsed him yet. Ive answered this question so many times before, by the way. Ive answered this question so many times before on every show, but thats my answer. I hear you. This week is a little different because he did just become the presumptive nominee. So you dont have plans to endorse him. You plan to endorse and vote for, as you say, a republican. Will you vote for donald trump or will you write in a name . Really good, kristen, but i plan to vote for a republican for the presidency of the United States. Youre not going to would you rule out voting for donald trump . Let me ask you that. Is it off the table for you . You know, i think youre kind of beating a dead horse right now. Ive been very explicit with what my answer is and ive answered this in greater detail in times past so i will stay where ive said and i plan to vote republican for the presidency of the United States. Let me ask you this, you have not closed the door publicly on a thirdparty run. Weve heard that no labels does, in fact, plan to run a candidate. Have you been approached by no labels and is there any chance you would run on a no labels ticket . I was never seriously considered to be their candidate. It was reported in the press otherwise, but i was never seriously considered so that kind of obviously, the answer is not, so on the other hand, the very fact that no labels did, that was floated, i will say has a certain rationale to it. People with no labels want answers to Serious Problems in our country and right now neither candidate is offering serious solutions. You heard me speak about Social Security before. Neither neither candidate is offering something which has a snowballs chance of passing congress and yet Social Security will become insolvent in about eight years. So, wait, its gone insolvent for eight years and neither candidate is offering a solution which has a snowballs chance haties. This might be someone we could consider because this person is talking about serious answers to Serious Problems. I would point out that if Social Security goes insolvent there will be a 24 cut in benefits for everybody receiving it and thats why its so serious. Were getting to Social Security right now, but just to be clear you are not running on a no labels ticket. I just want to be clear about that. Im not. Okay. Lets get to Social Security. You say neither candidate has a plan. Biden has put forward a plan and part of that would be raising taxes on businesses and large corporations and on monday, donald trump said he would be open to cutting Social Security. He walked those comments back, but do you think that trump can be trusted on the issue of Social Security to protect Social Security . Well, define protect Social Security. Neither candidate has put up a plan that would prevent the mandatory 24 cut in benefits when the trust fund goes bankrupt and by the way, bidens plan, hes already proposed 4. 2 trillion on wealthier americanss and now hes going to tax them again for this. At some point you confiscate the wealth of wealthier americans and you wouldnt achieve everything that hes saying that hes going to do. This is kind of like his goto. Im going to tax wealthier americans to fill in the blank. Its just not practical the way hes proposing it, but it gives him the talking point. People want to move beyond talking points and want actual answers and were not getting them. Part of your plan involves an Investment Fund and the challenge and criticism is that would that not pose serious risks to investors essentially leaving Social Security to the chance of the market, the stock market . No. In our proposal we actually created a trust fund separate from an Investment Fund, separate from the Social Security trust fund. So no risk is born by the beneficiary. She is going to be able she will repeal that law that says she gets a 24 cut and will use the money here to offset whatever borrowing is required to pay our benefits until its fully fully accounted for, and so we actually know exposure, and if you look at the stock market return since 1929, its averaged 8. 5 return and yeah, there might be some time in the future where it dips down, but history shows when it increases back up and this is where every pinch of fund almost in the world does except for Social Security. We need to follow best practices. Senator, before i let you go, i have to ask you about the housebacked bill on tiktok which effectively requires the chineseowned company bytedance to sell it or face a total ban of tiktok in this country which has been deemed a National Security threat. Will you vote for this in the senate if it comes to the floor for a vote . Id like to see the final language, but im certainly predisposed to vote for it. Anyone who doesnt think that the Chinese Communist party would like to influence how we think in our country just doesnt understand what they do. They have members of the board of directors, Chinese Communist party has members on the board of directors of bytedance, the Parent Company of this and in previous times the federal government has required the sale of a Chinese Social Media Company over these sorts of National Security concerns, and so i think this is consistent with what weve done in the past and by and large i support it. All right. Senator cassidy, thank you so much for joining me this morning. I really appreciate it. When we come back, democratic when we come back, democratic senator ben cardin of dude, whatre you doing . Im protecting my car. Thats too much work. Weathertech is so much easier. Lasermeasured floorliners up here, seat protector and cargoliner back there. Nice out here, side window deflectors. And mud flaps. And the bumpstep, to keep the bumper dentfree. Cool its the best protection for your vehicle, new or preowned. Great. But where do i . Order. Weathertech. Com. Sfx bubblewrap bubble popped sound. Fisher Investments at Fisher Investments we may look like other money managers, but were different. other money manager you cant be that different. Fisher Investments we are. We have a team of specialists not only in investing, but also also in financial and Estate Planning and more. other money manager your clients rely on you for all that . Fisher Investments yes. 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This week Senate Majority leader Chuck Schumer, the highest ranking jewish leader in the country and a strong supporter of israel took to the floor and called for new elections in israel as the humanitarian crisis in gaza worsens by the day. As a lifelong supporter of israel it has become clear to me that the Netanyahu Coalition no longer fits the needs of israel after october 7th. The world has changed radically since then and the israeli people are being stifled right now by a governing vision that is stuck in the past. The backlash from israel was swift. Israeli ambassador to the u. S. Michael herzog calling the speech unhelpful and counterproductive. Republican lawmakers also lined up to criticize the senate leader. It is grotesque and hypocritical for americans who hyperventilate about foreign interference in our own democracy to call for the removal of a democratically elected leader of israel. This is not only highly inappropriate. Its just plain wrong for an american leader to play such a divisive role in israeli politics while our closest ally in the region is in existential battle for its very survival. Schumer found support in the white house with President Biden weighing in friday. He made a good speech, and i think he expressed a serious concern shared by not only him, but by Many Americans. Joining me now is democratic senator and chair of the senate Foreign Relations Committee Ben cardin. Senator cardin, welcome back to meet the press. Kristen, good to see you. So great to have you in person. I want to ask you about schumers comments on the senate floor. He called netanyahu an obstacle to peace. Do you think Prime Minister netanyahu is an obstacle to peace . I think people should listen to his entire speech. Senator schumers speech came from his heart, what he believes is necessary for peace. He was very clear about hamas needs to be eliminated, that there can be no peace in the middle east for either the palestinians or the israelis with hamas, the responsibility for what is happening there of hamas and israel has the total right to defend itself and then he talks about how do we move on after the war and get peace in the region. You need security and an authority for the palestinians that will provide security for the palestinians and israelis, but you also have to have a path way to two states living together in peace, and i think he was very clear that its the israelis, their system, need to give clear direction as to who they want to be their leaders. Would you go so far, senator, i hear you saying he gave context in his speech, but would you go so far as to call netanyahu an obstacle to peace given his opposition to a twostate solution. I think its up to the israelis to determine their own leaders. I recognize that. Weve had challenges with the Netanyahu Coalition prior to october 7th, real concerns that caused Major Division within israel before october 7th. Theres unity now because of the war and lets see what happens now. You made a good point, according to the intelligence report, netanyahus viability as a leader may be in jeopardy. There have been protests in israel because of how hes handling the war route now. Do you think netanyahu is the right leader for this moment . Well, i think the israelis will recognize they have to get past hamas at this particular moment. Once there is security in gaza and there is security for the palestinians and israelis, the israelis need to focus on who they want their leader to be. We dont want to see a repeat of october 7th. Nobody wants to see that, but it means you have to have a pathway toward piece and you need security, and two states living together side by side in peace. Who is the right leader . Its up to the israelis. President biden said that if Prime Minister netanyahu goes into rafah that that would be a red line for him. I wonder what you think should happen if netanyahu goes into rafah, if theres no clear plan presented to the United States for protecting u. S. For protecting civilians, i should say, in the region. Should the u. S. Consider withholding aid and weapons to israel . With a trusted friend, a long, mature relationship you dont look for a transactional leverage in order to deal with our conversations. You have frank and honest discussions and you try to find a common path forward. Theres clear that going into rafah at this particular moment where so many people, so many palestinians you have to make arrangements to make sure that the people that are there are not going to be at undue risk. And the israelis have acknowledged that. So were going to deal with our Foreign Policy based upon our values. At times we may disagree with israel, but it will be a relationship of friends. You are saying we dont use leverage, but isnt this the right time to use leverage when you have this growing humanitarian crisis and schumer and President Biden saying israels not doing enough to protect civilian lives in gaza. Why not use all of the leverage that is at the United States disposal. The u. S. Has tremendous conversations with israel and we use that leverage. We dont have to do it through conditionality. Why, i should say, do you think you have not gone as far as leader schumer and President Biden in being critical of how israel is conducting this war . And again, the growing humanitarian crisis that were witnessing in gaza . I would say im deeply concerned about what is happening in gaza today about the humanitarian crisis. We all have a responsibility including israel to do more to help in regard to humanitarian assistance and we need to do more to get the hostages release, so no, im not satisfied with whats happening on the ground and we need to be aggressive with whats happening in this crisis and innocent people are dying and we cant let that happen. Lets turn to ukraine now. Theres been a big debate over whether more aid will be sent to ukraine and what the form of that will be. Former President Donald Trump has said he would support it only if its in the form of a loan. Is that something that you would support, senator . No. I think ukraine needs to have we have to get help to ukraine. If it starts as a loan, if we cant do anything other than that, we might have to consider that, but this is in our National Security interest. All theyre asking for us is resources, not our troops. Ukraine is not the end of russias aggression. If they win in ukraine theyll go further. I met with the president of poland this past week. The Prime Minister of estonia. I had a chance to talk to her last night. We should have done it well before now. We shouldnt be hesitating in providing this aid. Do you think thats the only realistic path this loan being discussed and it sounds luke youre open to it if you reach that conclusion . I want to see the supplemental passed as is. Thats the way we get aid in as quickly as possible and passed by an overwhelming majority in the United States senate. It provides the aid that ukraine desperately needs and it provides humanitarian assistance that we need. It helps israel and our allies in the indopacific. We need to get that done. It also helps our military resupply what they need and its all done through aid here in the United States that provide the resources. We need to get that done. Thats the way you get things done quickly. If we try a different path its going to take a long time. Ukraine needs the help today. They dont have the ammunition they need. Theyre fighting russia that recognizes there is a weakness here because of the lack of equipment. No. We shouldnt be looking at alternatives. We should be passing the supplemental. I have to ask you what i was just talking to senator cassidy about, tiktok, this bill which just passed the house again. The house bill would effectively require bytedance, the Parent Company, to sell tiktok or face a total ban in the u. S. Is that something you would support if it did come up for a vote in the senate . We are concerned about what tiktok does with this information. Whether they could use it against americans and privacy and compromise our National Security. Our concern is the ownership of tiktok and its not on those using it and its not on freedom of speech and content. Its solely on ownership and we have concerns on all of the social media platforms with our children. There are broader issues and tiktoks concern is whether the chinese will be using it for our National Security interest. But if this bill in its current form came before you would you vote yes on it . Im certainly sympathetic to it. Lets see how it goes through the senate process, but yes, i think we need to put guardrails in regards to the ownership of tuck tok. You are open to it, it sounds like, but havent made a final decision. No, well see how the senate takes this up and there are concerns for safety for our children and there are other issues that may get combined with this. So ill be working with my colleagues, but i would like us to get to the finish line and provide the guardrails necessary. Let me switch gears, you became chairman when bob menendez was indicted on bribery charges. We now are hearing that he is considering running for reelection as an independent. We asked and he didnt rule it out. What do you make of him running for reelection if that happens . Those are very serious charges. His trial is coming up shortly. My responsibility in taking over the chairmanship of the senate Foreign Relations committee is to make sure that committee can function and deal with the challenges that we have globally. So im going to focus on my responsibilities as chair and senate Foreign Relations committee and well see how these matters come out. I have to ask you one more before i let you go. You are retiring at the age of 80. Obviously, age has been in the spotlight against the backdrop of this election cycle. Do you think there should be an age limit for elected office . No, i dont think there should be an age limit for elected office. If i am not retiring, im not running for reelection. An important distinction. Each person has to make an important distinction. I have a sixyear term and i think its the right decision. Okay. All right. Senator cardin, thank you so much for being here. Thank you. Great to have you in person. 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If youre over 50, talk to your doctor or pharmacist about shingles prevention. From pep in their step to shine in their coats, when people switch their dogs food to the farmers dog, the effects can seem like magic. But theres no magic involved. dog bark its just smarter, healthier pet food. Its amazing what real food can do. Welcome back. The panel is here. Jonathan martin of politico. Lahnee chen, a fellow at the Hoover Institution and symone sanderstownsend former chief spokesperson for Vice President Kamala Harris. Thanks to all of you for being here. I want to start on trumps legal battles and specifically the drama that is playing out in georgia this week, a judge effectively ruled that the top prosecutor or the district attorney, one of the two, had to come off of the case after allegations there was a conflict of interest because they had a romantic relationship. Nathan wade decideded to step down. He was supposed to be here this morning. He decided not to be citing family emergency, but jonathan, what do you make of this politically . How did the politics of this play out . The whole trump strategy is to muddy the waters on these cases and blur them as one great persecution against him and bet that the American Voter cant keep pace with all of the details and by the way, oh, if theres some hiccups along the way here in some of these individual cases all of the better for me and ill try to buy time by delaying and pushing these things back to after the election and bet that i can win the election and then try to pardon myself at least in the federal cases. That is obviously what hes up to and we are here on st. Patricks day. So far he appears to have had a pretty good string of luck in that strategy. Symone, what do you make of that . And do you expect any of these cases to go to trial because as jonathans pointing out, i mean, look, all of these cases have been delayed now. That hush money case was supposed to start at the end of the month and now thats not going to happen. Literally, delay, delay, delay. In georgia this delay came about because we were distracted. This was an entire distraction of salacious gossip that because there was a formal inquiry the judge had to hear it and then we have these evidentiary hearings and instead were talking about nathan wade and d. A. Fani willis said relationship and not donald trump and his allies in georgia tried to steal the election and that is why there is a case in georgia in the first place. I think in new york well see that case go. I dont know about any of the other. Lahnee, what do you make of all of this . I think there are two things that come out of this for most voters. Number one, this is a hot mess. This whole thing has become a hot mess and that leads to number two, which is, if you think at recent survey research out of georgia, what you find is voters say this is a politically motivated prosecution and that, by the way, is the message that the Trump Campaign and the trump team has been emphasizing all along, and so i really think fundamentally to jonathans point, this strategy is working for the former president. What he is doing is working in terms of saying look, there is a lot of stuff out there and fundamentally what this is about is a witch hunt for me. Democrats cant count on the legal system to take care of trump. Hes got to be beaten in the political court, right . Biden had to beat him at the polls. Absolutely. All of these cases donald trump brought upon himself. Hes the one that kept the documents in florida after the archives begged him to give them back. He is the person that got on the phone that asked for 11,780 votes and steal the election and he tried to cover the relationship with Stormy Daniels and he did say it would be wild and encourage people to march on the capitol a block away from us. It plays different in the election than the primary, doesnt it . It does. For independent voters or potentially soft republican voters, i do think some of it has become background noise unless and until there a disposition. That is the difference. If you look at the polling, that is the difference. If there is a dispositioning in these cases then it does change the dynamic and that is why you see the legal strategy now becoming a political strategy and thats yet question of timing and so important. Its a really great point. The other thing we all saw this week, special counsel robert hur testified about his report about the classified documents and of course, he decided not to charge him. Symone basically infuriating democrats with his testimony of a bipartisan moment, if you will, it comes as we are getting this new reporting about the Biden Campaign and about President Biden himself and how he is taking especially all of these polls which show him in some cases losing to former President Trump, basically are reporting that biden has grown angry and anxious about his reelection efforts. Symone, is that what youre hearing in your conversations with democrats . Yeah. Look, if i were running for election against a person like donald trump who has as many issues as he has and has committed as many alleged acts of criminality as he has, and you saw polls that said i was losing to him, even i would be, like, what is going on here in america . So i have heard the frustration from democrats, but also that they do believe there is time and opportunity to get their message out now that it is a oneonone, trump and biden and make that contrast so folks understand their choice come november. He has to drive the message, though. Biden has to make the case every day against trump almost as hes more of a challenger than the incumbent, right . Hes got to sort of do that, prosecute the case against trump. How do you do that from the oval office . Thats his challenge. I think you need to have an army of surrogates helping you every day and you also have to get out there and do it yourself more aggressively. There are so many examples. Take the tiktok case where trump changes his mind on banning tiktok clearly in part because of the billionaire with a stake in tiktok. If youre a democrat how do you not scream that from the rooftops . This is brasz know corruption. It remains to be seen if biden cant prosecute this. I dont think its working. I dont think its working. They would argue it has in the past. Well, 2020 is not 2024. Abortion rights thats their point. And abortion is part of the democracy argument. The biggest intervening factor between 2020 and 2024 is inflation and that has come into effect and people really feel the impact of that, so unless the biden team goes directly on the economy and talks about how a second term of President Biden would be potentially better economically than a second term of President Trump. Thatsyve got to go to. Its a tough argument to make that trumps better on. They were so dependent upon his opponent to win reelection. This is not a normal election. Of course, its want. This is not a normal time. Look at trump yesterday. Exactly, talking about the january 6th criminals as hostages and promising a bloodbath and demonizing immigrants saying theyre not human. Thats the best bet for biden, by the way. The democracy is what you will do for the vote sers what will speak to them, i believe. Great conversation. You guys didnt need me at all. Its your table. Were happy to be here. When we come back, age is seen as a potential liability in seen as a potential liability in the 2024 campaign,ut it wa hold up. If asthma isnt treating you right. You might be treating it wrong. And i know, youve been going through it. But what if you get to it. A key source of your asthma inflammation. Enter nucala. It isnt your rescue treatment and its not a steroid. Its an autoinjector you can do at home. Just once a month. Nucala targets and reduces eosinophils and helps your symptoms. Think less asthma attacks. Less need for oral steroids. Less asthmarelated hospital visits. Nucala is a oncemonthly addon injection for severe eosinophilic asthma. Nucala is not for sudden breathing problems. Allergic reactions can occur. Get help right away for swelling of face, mouth, tongue, or trouble breathing. Infections that can cause shingles have occurred. Dont stop steroids unless told by your doctor. Tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection. May cause headache, injection site reactions, back pain, and fatigue. Its not you its your symptoms. So, help get ahead of your asthma. Get to the source, measured with simple blood testing. Ask your specialist about nucala. Welcome back. Concerns over President Biden and former President Trumps age are not the first time a president s health has come under intense scrutiny. The 34th president Dwight Eisenhower suffered a heart attack and was hospitalized in his first term raising questions about whether he was physically fit for office as he sought reelection in 1956. As former first Lady Eleanor Roosevelt argued on this broadcast, the issue of the president s health brought an intense focus on his Vice President richard nixon. Even before the campaign started, the democrats indicated that they were going to lay great stress on the slogan that a vote for eisenhower is a vote for nixon. Do you think that thats a real issue or a good issue . I think its an issue youll have to face because at no time do any of us know what may happen to us. Therefore, when we elect a president and a Vice President we must be prepared to face the fact that the Vice President may become president. That may happen to anybody at any time, and i think all of us should face that issue and know whether we are prepared to elect on that basis. When we come back, celebrity when we come back, celebrity chef jose hey asthmas got you going through it . Grab nucala for fewer asthma attacks. Nucala is a oncemonthly addon injection for severe eosinophilic asthma. Not for sudden breathing problems. Allergic reactions can occur. Get help right away for swelling of face, mouth, tongue, or trouble breathing. Infections that can cause shingles have occurred. Dont stop steroids unless told by your doctor. Tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection. May cause headache, injection site reactions, back pain, and fatigue. Ask an asthma specialist if nucala is right for you. [dog whimpers] [thinking] why always the couch . Does he need to go to puppy school . Get his little puppy diploma . How much have i been spending on this little guy . When your questions about life turn into questions about money. Theres erica. The virtual financial assistant to help you spend, save, and plan smarter. Only from bank of america. limu emu and doug. hello, ghostbusters. Its doug. Of doug and limu. We help people customize and save hundreds on Car Insurance with liberty mutual. Anyway, we got a bit of a situation here. Uhhuh. Uhhuh. Mmhmm. Sure, i can hold. Only pay for what you need. liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. ghostbusters frozen empire. In theaters march 22. Morikawa on 18. He is really boxed in here. Not a good spot. Off the comcast business van. Into the vending area. Oh, not the fries wheres the ball . Anybody see it . Oh wait, there it is back into play and. Aw no, its in the water. Wait a minute. Are you kidding me . You got to be kidding me. Rolling towards the cup, and its in the hole what an impossible shot brought to you by comcast business. Welcome back. Chef jose andres says he doesnt know if he even describes himself as a chef anymore. To the world hes one of the most significant humanitarians of the 21st century, world central kitchen, the Aid Organization he founded is the first group on the front lines of crises around the world from the earthquake in haiti to the war in ukraine. Its mission, feeding the people impacted by disaster and hardship. Recently andres has been on the ground in gaza working to bring more food and aid into the territory with officials warning famine is imminent. This week i sat down with jose andres as the first shipment of humanitarian of aid by sea departed cyprus thanks to a new maritime corridor that world central kitchen organized. What we cannot do is fail the people of gaza. That is the true failure is not trying. So were trying and i hope that in a few days we can say we had little success and from that success everybody being comfortable that this is possible we can build a bigger system to bring huge quantities of food daily into the shores of gaza. That aid has been offloaded in gaza and a second ship with more food and supplies is being prepared now. In our meet the moment conversation, i asked chef andres about the crisis in gaza and whether israel should be doing more to help. Should israel be doing more . Totally. Ceasefire should be happening immediately. The hostages should be released totally. Where it is a little bit difficult to understand is how you are doing a mission to try to liberate your fellow citizens, but you are bombing building after building that you may have those hostages rise in those buildings. So if the true intention of that is releasing the hostages, i will not say this is the most clever way to try to take them out alive. The very least if they dont stop the military advance to make sure that nobodys hingry and that nobodys without food and water. This is something that should be happening overnight, but for political reasons, i guess, its not happening there. Lets talk about the history of world central kitchen, the first major conflict zone war that you went into was in ukraine. What was that like and how did it prepare you for the work that youre doing now in gaza . Well, i think you are never prepared. The more i know, the more i know nothing with boots on the ground when life shows you experience, many of the things was in the kitchen that weve ever done its not like we have a manual. You learn as you go. We were in the first we saw the atrocities that the Russian Military did to those men and women with people on the ground that were shot in the head with a piece of bread next to their hand for going out and trying to bring better bread to feed their children, people were being shot. We lost six people in three different bombings in the places they were sleeping that they were in a bunker when the missile they dropped and sometimes theres nothing you can do. So this gave me an understanding, and a feeling i never had before. Are you worried that the world is starting to forget what is happening in ukraine and what is still happening in ukraine as there is so much focus, rightfully so, on the war in the middle east right now . Obviously, ukraine has been forgotten and this conflict has made that even worse. Ukraine is a country that is defending themselves. Im not a man of war. I am a man of peace, but they are defending their land. If they dont defend their land, they dont have no land left. So it is very different when you attack than when you defend yourself. United states should be doing far more. Europe should be doing far more. These people have shown that they know how to defend themselves are alone and forgotten. I do believe that if we dont stand to leaders that want to bring mayhem and chaos to the world the world is not a better place. Are you afraid . I dont think you are always afraid, but you are next to people that support each other and even if were all afraid, what are you going to do . By being conscious it almost disappears. Your new cookbook named after this restaurant zitinya focuses on Mediterranean Food and focus on the significance of that and what people will take from this new cookbook you have . You know, especially after whats happening in the middle east now, everybody has a huge love for food especially now in ramadan, the families are coming together to break fast and it being a very important moment, but the time i spent in israel, the time ive been spending in gaza seems Everybody Loves falafel and Everybody Loves hummus with the same intentity. I always wonder how people that love the same foods can be at odds with each other. Right here in this restaurant i have longer tables. When you bring people together around a table with the foods they love, thats a beautiful, powerful moment. I wish my words were not used romantic words as everybody would agree with that food could be an amazing, powerful medium used to bring people together, but it is true. Satinia celebrates hundreds, if not thousands of years of traditions and dishes with different cultures that everybody has added their touch, that makes the mediterranean cooking in the east fascinating. And just finally, given that you are immersed in all of this difficult work and all of these places that are experiencing so much pain and violence right now, what gives you hope and optimism . The hope and optimism is in the first day of the brutal attack against different israeli communities, it began right there. With the help of locals, not only israeli, but other nationalities, not only jewish, but other people from other religions, theyre all coming together to bring food and relief to those people that were decimated on that brutal attack. At the same time, so there i saw people helping people. The best humanity and the worst moments of humanity. Nobody should be wishing bad to others. Breaking bread with people in gaza and breaking bread with people in israel, thats the feeling you get that they dont wish the others anything wrong, that everybody wants peace and prosperity because i do believe its what the best majority that people want. We need to give those people the place at the table and their voices must be heard because theres more people of good than people of mayhem. Lets give the table to the people of goodness. Powerful message there. And you can watch my full interview with jose andres at meetthepress. Com. His new cookbook satinia is out march 19th and andres will be on the today show on tuesday so be sure to tune in. Before we go, wed like to give a final mention to betty cole duker, former executive producer of meet the press who passed away saturday at the age of 96. She was a producer with the show for 41 years starting as an assistant to lawrence bivak in 1956. She was a cherished member of the meet the press family and she will be sorely missed. That is all for today. Thank you so much for watching. Well be back next week because if its sunday, its meet the press. Two authors writing about silicon valley. One, the longexperienced kawasaki and the another, a new up and comer kylea chou with her