Transcripts For MSNBC Meet the Press 20241008

Day, Donald Trumps results loom large. Did he lose the 2020 election . Tim, im focused on the future. As the Special Counsel reveals new evidence in the Election Interference case. They rigged the election. The election was rigged. I didnt rig it. They rigged it. Former republican congressman Liz Cheney hits the Campaign Trail with Vice President Kamala Harris. I have never voted for a democrat, but this year im proudly casting my vote for Vice President Kamala Harris. No matter your political party, there is a place for you with us and in this campaign. Plus, wider war. As the Middle East escalates into a regional war, fears grow the conflict is expanding to a new and more dangerous phase. And return visit, former President Trump returns to the Pennsylvania Rallying Site where was in july. They slandered me, indicted me, tried to throw me off the ballot. And who knows, maybe even tried to kill me. My guests this morning, republican Senator Tom Cotton of arkansas and democratic Congressman Adam Schiff of california. Joining me for Insight And Analysis are nbc News Chief Washington correspondent andrea mitchell, amna navaz, coanchor of pbs newshour. Marc short, former Chief Of Staff to Vice President Mike Pence and former Press Secretary jen psaki. Welcome to sunday. Its Meet The Press. Announcer from Nbc News in washington, the longest running show in television history, this is Meet The Press with kristen welker. Good sunday morning. Election day is now just 30 days away, and there are crises swirling at home and abroad as israel prepares to mark the Oneyear Anniversary of the October 7th terror attacks, the region is on edge for a potential retaliation after a massive Missile Attack by iran. And after Hurricane Helene Hope is 235iding for those still unaccounted for as the Death Toll soars to 230, Vice President harris touching down in North Carolina on saturday, visiting a resource donation center. Its the best of what we can do to bring federal, local, and State Resources together in a way thats coordinated with one purpose and one purpose only, which is bringing relief, support, and help to the people who are most in need and desperate for help. Meanwhile in battleground pennsylvania, former President Trump made a dramatic return to butler, a place where a gunman tried to assassinate him nearly three months ago. He was joined on stage by Billionaire Elon Musk and paid tribute to the supporter killed that day while criticiing the hurricane katrina response. They say this is the Woftd Theyve done to helping people through the ravages of a hurricane. The former president s effort to overturn his Election Loss four years ago is back in focus. On tuesday, mr. Trumps running mate j. D. Vance refused to say during the Vice President debate that he lost the 2020 election. Did he lose the 2020 election . Tim, im focused on the future. Did Kamala Harris Censure Americans from speaking their mind in the wake of the covid thats a damn nonanswer. On wednesday, the judge sought a filing. Special Counsel Jack Smith argues mr. Trump is not immune from prosecution for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election, saying he was acting as a candidate. Mr. Trump criticized the release as a political act. This was a weaponization of government, and thats why it was released 30 days before the election. They rigged the election. I didnt rig the election. They rigged the election. As a reminder, former President Trump and his allies brought more than 60 illegal challenges after the election in an effort to overturn it. Nearly all of the cases were dropped or missed due to a lack of evidence. In a striking display on thursday, former republican congressman Liz Cheney campaigned for Vice President harris. Donald trump was willing to sacrifice our capitol to allow Law Enforcement officers to be beaten and brutalized in his name, and to violate the law and the constitution in order to seize power for himself. I dont care if you are a democrat or a republican or an undependent, there is a depravity, and we must never become numb to it. On friday in a Surprise Visit to the Briefing Room, President Biden shared concernses about election violence. Do you have confidence that it will be a free and fair election and that it will be peaceful . Im confident it will be free and fair. I dont know whether it will be peaceful. The things that trump has said and the things he said last Time Out when he didnt like the outcome of the election were very dangerous. Former President Trump will return to pennsylvania later this week, and former President Obama will kick off a Battleground State Blitz for Vice President harris on thursday. Also in the keystone state. Im joined by National Political correspondent Steve Kornacki with the latest on the state of the race. Steve, break it down for us. Yes, kristen, lets start big picture. Weve been tracking this week to week. The average of all of the major national polls, Kamala Harris continuing with that Threepoint Advantage in the average over Donald Trump, but, of course, Donald Trump lost the Popular Vote in each of the last two times he ran for president and one of those times in 2016, he was still able to win through the Electoral College. Lets take a closer look at the states, the Battleground States. Youre looking at our averages in here. The Headline Continueses to be its very close everywhere. One thing to draw your attention to when you talk about trump being in pennsylvania, obama being in there, from trumps standpoint in terms of an efficient path to 270 electoral votes, it will look something like this. If trump gets georgia where he leads by a point and a half, if he gets to North Carolina where hes literally tied in the polls and where trump won in 2020, the only one of these Battleground States trump carried four years ago, all the votes he would need would be pennsylvania where harris has a small lead in the averages. But trump getting those three would get him to 270. Thats the importance of blocking his path in pennsylvania. One of the key interests, theres a trend here. Youre looking at the trump era, the Party Registration in pennsylvania. Look at this. When Donald Trump first came on the scene in 2016, the democratic advantage in Party Registration in pennsylvania was over 900,000 votes. 2020. Look now in 2024, thats been cut in almost twothirds, 330,000. Theres been a little bit of a boost for Kamala Harris since she took over. But the big trend has been more competitive for republicans in Party Registrations. Where are we looking in pennsylvania . Whats going to decide this state . Believe it or not, in the trump era, there are only ten counties in the entire state where democrats perform now than they did before trump came along. However, some of these counties are very big. Focus on these four counties outside delaware. Delaware, chester, montgomery, bucks. More than a fifth is going to come out of there. Last Pretrump Election in the Collar Counties, democrats won them. Obama won it. Look what happened in 2020. Almost a 20point democratic margin. This is where the democrats have been growing, suburbs, places with lots of concentrations of high college degrees. Can harris to do better in the Collar Counties . Thats critical for her. In rural counties have gotten redder, small rural counties. Some people call this the latino belt. These are counties that have smallersized cities with rapidly growing latinos. We talk about trump improving among hispanic voters. Here you see it. Reading, pennsylvania, 70 . It was relatively blue. But its almost down by 12 points. Hazelton, pennsylvania, nearly 60 hispanic, now a nearly doubledigit trump place. Can trump grow new support in the latino counties . The Emerging Latino Counties where a large population of voters in the Pennsylvania Area . Thats the key to his standpoint. Key question as we continue to keep our eyes on the keystone state. Joining me now is republican Senator Tom Cotton of arkansas. Senator, welcome back to Meet The Press. Thanks for having me on, kristen. Lets start out by talking about hurricane helene. We know President Trump has made claims. Hes saying funds are being withheld and Fema Funds are being redirected to migrants. Both of those claims are being debunked. Theyre false. Heres what the Fema Administraor had to say about it. They wont even come to us. They wont even register. They need to register so they can get what theyre eligible through our programs. Senator, what do you say to that criticism that mr. Trump is confusing people at the very time when they need help the most . I dont think hes confusing anyone. I think the administration did get caught flatfooted here and Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have proved to be overmatched by the events. If you heard from georgia, it was said the Administrations Response has been lackluster. I think theres an obvious difference between what happened in western North Carolina and Northern Georgia and Eastern Tennessee than the normal kind of Hurricane Impact we see. Most of the times hurricanes are hitting off the coast, hitting flatland. They can cause devastating damage. But within some reasonable period of time, water can recrede and linemen can come in and Water Supply trucks. If you look, there are small narrow valleys. Oftentimes these places only have one way in or out. Thats a very different challenge than what you see on coastal areas. From the very beginning they should have been deploying military operations, specifically helicopters to get in there. It took them days to do that. There are hundreds of continues within flying distance. That should have happened from the very beginning. Senator, just a couple of points. The governors themselves say they got the support they needed. We know the government got 27 Million to western North Carolina specifically. There is no doubt there are challenges in this recovery mission, but im asking about the misinformation the former president is spreading. It was said, quote, former president Donald Trump has politicized the situation at every turn, spreading falsehoods and conspiracies that fracture the community instead of bringing it together. Do you think Donald Trump should leave Campaign Politics out of Disaster Relief . Kristen, you have, again, Governor Kemp who said it has been lacking. I understand the democratic governor of North Carolina is going to sing the praises. Theyre still engaged in Rescue Operations because President Biden and Kamala Harris were slow to answer the bell, they somewhere slowfooted and unmatched by the events. You even have the secretary of Homeland Security saying theres not enough money left in the funds. It is the case that the secretary of fema said theres not enough money left in the fund, and they have been spending billions of dollars for the last four years to move migrants from the border to put them up in hotels and give them Room Service and maids. What Secretary Mayorkas says is it has the money it needs for now but not necessarily through the end of the year for future hurricanes. So there is a discussion about more funding, youre right about that. But, look, Henry Mcmaster says federal assistance has been superb. Glenn youngkin says hes Apreesh Ative of the response. My broader question is about this misinformation. Do you think this is a time to put falsehoods aside like the idea of Fema Funds being redirected to migrants, which is just not true . It is true fema and the department of Homeland Security have been spending billions of dollars on migrants. I understand people say theyre separate funds. We just passed a funding. Secondly, i would note this administration seem os to have Problem Finding Money when they want to spend it. When they need hundreds of millions of dollars, they somehow find it. When its trying to get helicopters to deliver Food And Water and cellular service and lifesaving medicine, they cant find the money. Again, 110 Million has been sent to survivors and theyre different funds than Disaster Relief funds. I want to talk about one of the moments of the Vice President debate when Senator Advance refused to say Donald Trump lost the 2020 election. I want to put this question to you, senator, just to put this to rest. Can you say definitively Here And Now Donald Trump did lose the election in 2020 . Kristen, Joe Biden won the election in 2020. It was unfair in many ways. You had states changing their Election Practices or laws sometimes in violation of the constitution. You had networks combining with big tech, which we now know to be a truthful story in the hunter biden laptop. Obviously Joe Biden was elected president. We know that in part did trump lose . Joe biden won, kristen. You have an Electoral College vote, you certify and have the inauguration. Joe biden has been elected President And Everything has gone to hell in a hand basket. As you know, its been one of the most secure elections in history. Why cant you just say if biden is president why cant you simply say trump lost . Joe biden was elected in 2020. Thats why we have inflation and illegals in this country. To go back to the 2020 election, it was very irregular. You had this network and others that suppressed Biden Family corruption. You had democratic states like pennsylvania and philadelphia, changing their elections on the fly. Thats why President Trump is making sure democrats arent doing what theyre trying to do in pennsylvania, counting Absentee Ballots that dont have dates. Theres no proof that that happened. Just to be clear, as i said initially, trump did take his case to court more than 60 times and didnt win those cases. Let me move on and ask about January 6th, the new evidence unsealed this week. Jack smith in his filing sas he has three witnesses who say he went to the Dining Room where he watched coverage of the attacks against the capitol unfold and he was on his phone, on twitter. A year ago i asked Donald Trump about what he was doing during that tomb. Look. Tell me how you watched this all unfold. Were you in the Dining Room watching tv . Im not going to tell you. Ill tell people later at the appropriate time. By the way, Nancy Pelosi did you call military or Law Enforcement . Im not going to tell you anything. Senator, do you think Donald Trump showed leadership in those hours when the capitol was under attack . What i think about what Jack Smith did this week is it was a Temper Tantrum from a deranged fanatic that he keeps losing time and time again over the course of his career. This is unverified, uncrossexamined hearsay from Grand Jury testimony, which usually slkt published for that reason. He went to court, asked for special permission to file a brief, which is four times as long as the normal brief, and had it disclosed 30 days before the election. This is professional misconduct by Jack Smith and should be investigated. Just to be clear, the judge did unseal it. Back to the question, do you think Donald Trump showed leadership in the hours the capitol was under attack . Look, i know trump said to the rallygoers who were here on the ellipse, they should protest peacefully and patriotically. He posted videos and other messages on Social Media once some of those rallygoers started assaulting the capitol. I know those things. What Jack Smith is asserting in his filing is unverified, uncrossexamined hearsay. This is perfect example of actual Election Interference. Jack smith defying regulations to get out as much verified socalled unverified information he has because hes angry he lost and he doesnt think democrats will beat him. Very, very quickly, would you support israel launching strikes on their nuclear fa silgt. We should let israel win and back them to the hilt. Is that a yes . They will decide how to attack iran. Iran is our enemy. Would you support israel . Im not going to give Benjamin Netanyahu advice. We should back israel and back them. Good to see you. When we come back, democratic Congressman Adam Schiff of california joins me next. Adam schiff of california joins me next me next. Welcome back. Welcome back. Joining me now is democratic Congressman Adam Schiff of california. Congressman schiff welcome back to Meet The Press. Great to be with you. Well, its great to have you. I want to start off by asking you about that unsealed brief that was filed by Jack Smith. We should note that it was unsealed by the judge. In it, he reveals new details about what happened on January 6th, including he says that when former President Trump was told that his then Vice President Mike Pence had to be rushed out of where he was for safety and that he was in danger, trumps response was, so what . What was your reaction to hearing that, congressman . Well, that was the most shocking part to me. It just affirmed what we know about Donald Trump, and that is he cares about no one except himself, nothing, not the constitution, not our institutions, not the capitol, not his own colleagues and nothing but himself and in that respect that one exchange when the president is informed as the Vice President is essentially being sequestered in a safe place because his life is at risk, people are chanting hang Mike Pence, the president s reaction is so what . That, to me, is so telling and so powerful. I want to ask you about the timing of all of this, congressman, which you know has been in focus. The former federal prosecutor referred to this brief as Jack Smiths, quote, october cheap shot. Donald trump has accused the Justice Department of Election Interference essentially by violating its longstanding practice not to take public steps in politically related cases close to an election. So i wonder if you would weigh in on this. Do you think it was appropriate for this brief to be unsealed this close to the election, congressman . I do think it was appropriate and we have to look at why the delay was occasioned in the first place and so much of the delay had to do with the defendants Stall Tactics in the lower courts and the appellate courts and the supreme court. It had a lot to do with the supreme Courts Decision to wait until the last day of session, to wait until as close to the election as possible because the supreme court now, sadly, the legacy of the Chief Justice Roberts has become yet another partisan institution, decided to issue its decision at the latest moment. And then what you see Special Counsel do, what he should do, which is promptly go back to the Grand Jury, get a Superseding Indictment that meets the new limits placed on evidence and charges in a president ial prosecution, bring that indictment forward, and then file a brief before the District Court to continue the process. So i think the Special Counsel did what he should do, and i think the court was well in its discretion to make that public. And yet, congressman, just to remind you. This is what he said in 2016 when Thenfbi Director James Comey reopened essentially the investigation into Hillary Clintons emails. Take a look. The doj policies against making a statement about a pending or closed case and certainly not doing it in the days leading up to the investigation is a reason. Its very poor judgment and i say that not just as a clinton supporter, but someone who spent six years in the department of justice as an assistant u. S. Attorney. You dont talk about pending cases, and you certainly dont do it right around election time. Again, that was reopened just days before the election. Why shouldnt that same standard apply now, congressman . Because what you have there was the director of the fbi unilaterally making a decision to talk about an open investigation. It wasnt a filing in the court. It wasnt a decision by the judge weighing the policy and weighing the evidence. This was James Comeys unilateral decision in the weeks leading up to the election. Thats very different. Prosecutors, before bringing a case and this was before any case was brought by James Comey or prosecutors speaking to the public about evidence in the case, doing so, indeed, days before the election, not knowing what the evidence was, that is a very different circumstance than the Court Filing made under seal as it was here. This Week President biden, as you know, said that he doesnt know if the election will be peaceful though he does think it will be free and fair. Do you think this election will be peaceful and free and fair, congressman . I think what the president said was all too accurate. Shockingly, breathtakingly, tragically accurate, and that is yes, i think the election will be free and fair, but will it be free of violence at the end of the day . If it is close and if Donald Trump loses again, as i expect that he will, he will contest it. He has more reason to contest it than he did before not because of any flaw in the election, but because Donald Trump believes and perhaps with reason that if he doesnt succeed at the ballot box, he may be going to jail. So hes going to challenge the results. And we saw tragically what happened when he did that four years earlier, and whats more, we see him laying the same foundation to fraudulently challenge the results once again, putting up the same big lies that he put out four years earlier. So, sadly, to hear an american president say that he cannot fully expect that this may be a peaceful transition of power, it breaks your heart because this is the legacy of Donald Trump which is we now cannot go into an election with full confidence that the results will be peaceful. Let me shift now to the ongoing developments and escalations in the Middle East. I want to ask you to respond broadly to what you just heard from Senator Tom Cotton who makes the case that we quite frankly hear from President Trump that part of why you have this unrest, this escalation in the Middle East is because as cotton just said he argues the biden administration has been weak in its foreign policy, in its policies toward the Middle East. What say you . How do you respond to that congratulations that Congratulations Allegation that we have heard, quite frankly, not just from cotton but from a number of republicans on the Campaign Trail . I think its the kind of nonsense you hear on the Campaign Trail. Look, we are where we are tragically one year after October 7th because hamas massacred, raped, tortured 1200 people a year ago, and they still retain dozens and dozens of hostages including americans. Hezbollah, the day after hamas began that war expressed its solidarity with hamas by also lobbing projectiles into israel. Thats why we are where we are. My heartbreaks for the families of those hostages that have gone through a year of hell, but i think that we ought to try to put ourselves in the position of a state of attack the Way Israel was. We would never accept the continued governance of a terrorist like hamas, we would never accept where people are held hostage and tens of thousands of citizens couldnt return to their homes because a different terrorist Group Hezbollah was continuing to attack them. Thats why we are where we are, and israel will retaliate. If i were advising the Prime Minister of israel, i would say go after those ballistic missile factories, storage areas, and that would be proportionate in my view, but it would help to grade irans capacity. Would be my followup question, so i appreciate it. Let me turn to the state of the race. Obviously, incredibly close, nationally and key Battleground States and you told me the last time we were together on this program in july that Vice President harris, who wasnt at the top of the ticket at the time, you believed she could win overwhelmingly. Given how close this race is, congressman, do you believe that Kamala Harris can win this race overwhelmingly . I do. You know, by the standards of today, i think she can win overwhelmingly given how divided the country is, overwhelming may be winning by 100,000 votes or 80,000 votes in the key Battleground States and i think that is within her capacity to do, and i made that point because i was, at the time, urging that the torch be passed to her and it was, and i think the effect has been dramatic. Young people who were disengaged are now engaged, interested, active, volunteering. So i think we are well poised to win this thing, but it is still scary close, and i cant remember a time in history when we had such a clear and dramatic choice about the direction the country would take, whether wed move forward to an economy that works for everyone with a democracy that is intact or whether we move back to this terrible, you know, trump american carnage, and i think faced with that prospect and that choice, Kamala Harris will win this race, and im very optimistic about the outcome. Scary close. A little different than overwhelmingly, but we heard you make your case. Congressman, thank you very much. Well, if i can just say, the reason the reason why the margin is so important is because they will challenge the results when they lose. Running up that margin as much as possible and turning people out has to be our priority. Congressman adam schiff, thank you very much for joining us today. We really appreciate it. When we come back, Election Day is now just 30 days away. The panel joins me next. T. I still love to surf, snowboard, and, of course, skate. So, i take Qunol Magnesium to support my Muscle And Bone health. Qunols extra strength, high Absorption Magnesium helps me get the full benefits of magnesium. Qunol, the brand i trust. Welcome back. The panel is here. Nbc News Chief Washington correspondent and chief foreign Affairs Correspondent andrea mitchell. Amna Nawaz Coanchor of pbs newshour. Former White House Press Secretary jen psaki, host of inside with jen psaki, and marc short, former Chief Of Staff to Vice President Mike Pence. Thank you all for being here. I have to start out by saying we did not plan our outfits. Not today. Marcs the outlier. I think in a lot of ways. Im going to start with you, marc, because you obviously have the most unique perspective on this filing that we all saw this week by Jack Smith that was released by the judge, and in it we did learn that Donald Trump said, so what . When he heard that Mike Pence when you all were being ushered to safety. What did you make of that . What was your Gut Reaction when you heard that . I confess there have been so many different reports that i didnt find it new. You have to recall that at the time we were evacuated and sequestered that Donald Trump tweeted out against the former Vice President and encouraging more of the activity that was happening at the capitol. So i didnt find that as revelationary. I do think, though, that the broader Picture Concern is as republicans i think often are now condoning or sort of giving excuses away for January 6th, i think its a bigger concern when you cross that bridge and say im not going to we as a party that believe in the rule of law, im going to put that aside and not make it a big issue, then its easier to say, if well abandon our position of life, i can walk away on that, too, or ban the traditional marriage or say were no longer a party that believes in trade or not stand up for allies, and now were the savers of Government Run Health care. You cross that bridge of January 6th it makes it successive on the issue that made our party strong as conservatives. Its just a fascinating point. Jen, let me kick it to you because in addition to everything that marc is saying, you heard Senator Tom Cotton here again not say that trump lost the election, echoing what we heard from Jd Vance on the debate stage. For folks who say why is this a topic of conversation, trump is making it a topic of conversation. He talks about it at almost every rally. Exactly. The big reason its at the top of the conversation. Its not a them problem. Were not looking in the Rearview Mirror and analyzing what we should do to prevent it. Its a now problem. Donald trump is running on the same Election Subversion Playbook that he tried to make happen back in 2020. That is what hes doing now. He wants fake electors. Hes going to challenge it. He is actively doing many of the same things he did leading up to the 2020 election. That is why its central, and that is why people should care about it. Andrea, what about that extraordinary moment as President Biden walked into the Briefing Room . As a White House correspondent, you know thats never happened. For the first time. What about the extraordinary moment as President Biden walked into the Briefing Room as a White House correspondent. He said he doesnt know if this election and the transfer of power will be peaceful. I think its exactly because of what jen was just saying because of what Donald Trump is saying and Jd Vance even more so that the election was not won by Joe Biden, and everyone can see that, and even when he said in butler Last Night to the rally. What he said in 2020, i think its also hes the president of the united states. Hes still the president. He sees the threat matrix. He gets the daily brief, and i think that the Threat Level is higher than its ever been and that his Law Enforcement, his national security people are really concerned about the domestic side of it. What about the rally Last Night, trump without any proof said maybe the Assassination Attempt was being carried out by essentially his political rivals. Ive been talking to his allies who say stop with the Conspiracy Theories and focus on the economy. Thats your strong point. Talk about immigration. What are you hearing when you talk to his allies . The thing of it is, none of his advisors and none of the republican strategists or donors i talk to want him talking about any of this. They want him talking about the economy, immigration, issues where republicans have voters and where they have a strong message and that americans actually care about right now too. I mean, i can remember talking seven, eight months ago to the republican leadership on The Hill and John Thune who said, now is the time for trump to be reaching out to Nikki Haley voters and expanding his base and reaching out to suburban women. He has done none of that. Trumps problem is maxed out on the number of people who believe that the 2020 election was stolen and it will not expand his base or bring him more votes. Jen, talking about strategy, you think about the Harris Campaign Strategy has gotten criticism as well for not being basically mixing it up enough, enough events that are unscripted. Former President Obama will be out on the Campaign Trail and Liz Cheney was out with her on the Campaign Trail. Are you anticipating a strategy shift. Weve already seen them announce this, which i think is a great thing. Vice president harris has done a number of interviews while Tim Walz who i think is a huge asset who hasnt been tapped into in the last month is going to be out there a great deal and youre right. The thing is at this point when everything matters you have to take risks and people may make mistakes. Its worth it. Put them out there and have them doing a bunch of Stuff And Weve seen them do exactly that. Marc, does Liz Cheney out on the Campaign Trail doesnt make a difference . Not at all. The Issue Set is behind our barks as republicans and were not prevailing because trump is stuck in the 45 to 47 and not budging. This is a Landslide Year for republicans, but were not focused on the issues and by diverting on other topics, it is for the Harris Campaign because it reverts things back to January 6th as opposed to where the republicans should be talking. They have to double down on serious interviews because what im hearing from democratic and Republicans Business people and shes got such a big problem with men. Theres an undercount of the trump vote. I think Theres Misogynation in all of this, Black And White men and also in the Business World they dont think she is serious. They dont think shes a heavy weight and a lot of this is gender, but shes got to be more specific about her economic plans. You know, amna, to andreas point, the Gender Divide is just so significant. You see the extent to which harris is winning with women and that trump is winning with men. Its huge. Its a in modern history and its getting bigger in time. Look, for people who know who theyre going to bake for, 80 of registered voters are kind of baked in. The latest Pbs News Poll 20 of folks say theyre swayable. I think i know who im voting for and 5 and i dont know who im voting for, but the things im looking for at this stage of the game, theres no one big event, right, thats going to change peoples minds one way or the other. It comes down to the economy, which is the number one issue, which means different things, depending on who you talk to. Since there is no second debate scheduled. We will be back with more. Former president Jimmy Carter celebrated his 100th birthday this week. What he once told us about how important it is for a president to have a sense of humor. Our meet the Press Minute is next. Stay with us. Now with Vitamin D for the dark days of winter. Welcome back. Welcome back. The longest Living President in u. S. History, former president Jimmy Carter celebrated his 100th birthday this week in his hometown of plains, georgia, 19 months after he entered hospice care. Four of the five other Living President s sent messages celebrating the milestone. Mr. President, on behalf of the entire Biden Family and the american people, happy 100th birthday. Happy birthday, and have a wonderful evening. To my fellow president Jimmy Carter, happy 100th birthday. Have a happy birthday, friend. Carter joined Meet The Press for a joint interview with Gerald Ford in 2000. He reflected on his infamous Campaign Interview with Playboy Magazine and how he managed the fallout from his candid remarks. I think its very important to have a sense of humor, but within yourself youve got to be resilient, and youve got to be able to take the hardships and the good days, as well. I was interested a while ago about president Fords Comment about hurting him. I dont think it hurt him as much as my comment to Playboy Magazine. [ laughter ] there you go again. Yeah. So you have so you have those things come up, so you by the way, my wife didnt think that was funny at all, and i dropped about 12 percentage points overnight. By the way, its still the bestselling issue. When we come back, more with the panel next. Welcome back. Welcome back. The panel is still here. Andrea, let me turn to you as we continue to follow these ongoing developments in the Middle East. Of course, now there is fighting on multiple fronts in gaza, lebanon, and israel with new strikes overnight. You have new reporting about the thinking inside israel about what might come next. I think prime Minister Netanyahu and on this, he is aligned with his Defense Minister unlike gaza. Theyre all in. Theyre all in because netanyahu believes and the israeli officials, senior officials have said so right after the strike that got nasrallah, the hezbollah leader, a senior official saying to some of us that the Supreme Leader in iran has a plan to eradicate israel from the face of the earth by 2040. There is a time clock in his quarters, and they are counting down to it, so they see this as first taking out hezbollah, the Insurance Policy that iran always had at its back, and decimating the leadership and taking out what they said to us are the missiles and rockets buried underground in Southern Lebanon that was going to be an attack similar to the Hamas Attack on October 7th. So here we are on the anniversary and they see a window, an electoral window, one saying that President Biden is in a straitjacket politically, that he cant go up against israel on something as fundamental as iran, and iran will escalate or take on sites in a bigger Way And Move on to oil fields rather than export facilities, but eventually as this Tit For Tat continues and escalates, worst case, go after the nuclear and get what they can get. Not the deepest underground sites that would require u. S. Help, but they can do a lot of damage. Amna . I was going to jump in because i think it is important for people to understand, one of the strait jackets is that netanyahu is disincentivized to change anything about his behavior because remember over a year ago before the horrific events on October 7th, there were people marching in the streets and he is extremely unpopular, and now hes far more popular, and hes a wartime leader in order to stay in power. Hes not listening to the White House on that. The u. S. , despite tireless efforts by the white House And State department officials ive talked to, the u. S. His largely been relegated to Observer Status on this. Theyve not been able to prevent netanyahu from using heavy bombs in overly populated areas and targeting medical facilities and shelters and to bring the hostages home, and netanyahu is prosecuting the war with one eye on israel and also one eye on the u. S. Election, and i will say the inability of the u. S. To be able to exert any influence does have consequences because for all the horrors of October 7th, the desperate fight by families to bring hostages home, 40,000 palestinians dead, mostly women and children and for millions both here and in the u. S. And around the world they are unwilling to fight for palestinians and lebanese and iranians for their right to live and exist, and that has shifted shg that cant be shifted back easily. Marc . It was a year ago that 1200 israelis were killed, raped, murdered, beheaded. I dont think netanyahu should be incentivized to do anything different. I think the reality is that during this administration youve seen iran embolden from the early days of the 2020 campaign, Joe Biden saw them as pariah. They took the houthis off the terror watch list. Iran has funded the houthis, hezbollah and hamas and israel is surrounded by enemies who want them eradicated and we should be standing behind him. This is a scary position to have. And this is why it becomes a political issue. Look, was there a period of time this is a huge Morality Issue and a humanitarian issue let me say that first because of the death of the palestinians. Kamala harris has brought the overwhelming majority of democrats back including in michigan where she has support of 94 , 95 of democrats. If this becomes a contrast between trump and harris, it leads to a more expansive War And Leadership is about reducing the likelihood of war and coming to a peaceful conclusion. They are our strongest allies in the Middle East. Marc, one of the things that has been lost in all of this terrible thing is the hostages and their families and weve become so close to and feeling the rage and the frustration and the agony that they feel every day. Whats also lost is that there was a different horizon a year ago. I was in New York at the u. N. Talking to the saudis, the israelis, the americans. They were closing in on an agreement, and then hamas seeing that jumpstarted, according to all evidence, jumpstarted what was the Hezbollah Plan to eventually go after israel. It upset the timetable. Iran did not know, hezbollah did not know, and i looked at the films of rapes, of murders, and theres idf film thats not been seen publicly and many of us have seen it. Journalists have seen it, and its too graphic to put on television, but the fact is that that changed all of that, but netanyahu had an opening, and ive been on these missions with Secretary Blinken from january on, working on the Saudis Israel didnt break the ceasefire. It was hamas that attacked Israel And Iran was funding them. The Bottom Line is weve lost the opportunity for an arab force to try to ten seconds left. This is an existential fight for israel. Absolutely. I think netanyahus biggest critics is we can see both of humanity of israelis who have the rights to exist and the palestinians caught in the crossfire. Such a critical issue we continue to cover, thank you for the conversation. Before we go, if you want to help those who have been impacted by hurricane helene, please consider giving to organizations like these. That is all for today. Thank you all so much for watching. We will be back next week because if its sunday, its Meet The Press. Today marks one year since the deadly attacks