Meet the Press NOW — June 24

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Welcome to meet the press now. I'm Melanie Zanona in Washington, where we're tracking tremors in the Democratic Party after a progressive political earthquake rocked New York City in last night's primaries. The city's mayor, Zohran Mamdani and Zohran Mamdani, celebrating a clean sweep after all three progressive candidates that he endorsed won their races, ousting two sitting Democratic lawmakers. In the 7th District, Claire Valdez beat the establishment's pick for the seat of retiring Congresswoman Nydia Velasquez by a wide margin. In New York 13, Darya Lisa Avila Chevalier defeated the chairman of the congressional Hispanic caucus, Congressman Adriano Espaillat.

And in the 10th district, city comptroller Brad Lander crushed the sitting congressman Dan Goldman by more than 30 points. Mayor Zohran Mamdani pointing to these races as proof of progressive momentum in the party after his own surprise victory last year. That we are showing there is a new path for politics in our city and in our country.

We are showing that last June, a year ago tomorrow, was not an anomaly. It was not the end. It was the beginning.

Zohran Mamdani spoke at victory parties for both of Villa Chevalier and Brad Lander, where the candidates themselves struck very different tones on the state of the party. Over the past eight months, all of you in this room know how much the Democratic machine has tried to count us out. How at every turn they've underestimated us. Those of you in this room know just how scared. How scared we made A-PAC, crypto, and all of the corporate PACs funding my opponent's campaign. And over the last few weeks, we've seen the lengths they will go to to to protect. their power. When you're insurgents, you spend a lot of time criticizing. That's just the nature

of a primary. But coming out of a primary, our job is to do two things. And they are slightly different from Meg's two things. Our job is to do two things, to take the lessons that the voters taught us and also to build unity within the Democratic Party to win the majority back this fall.

When I launched this raise, I said it wasn't progressives versus moderates. I said it's fighters versus folders. The question for the party now is how far beyond New York City's borders does Mombdauny's progressive power reach? Because it's worth noting competitive primaries in other places last night didn't actually yield the same kind of results. Speaking to reporters on Capitol Hill, minority leader Hakeem Jeffries appeared to downplay the idea that progressives represent a majority of Democrats.

If I'm done making enemies on Congress will help by endorsing against incumbents right now. Listen, the mayor and I agree to strongly disagree about some of his endorsements, and he's got work to do in terms of the conversations that he's going to have with members of Congress moving forward. Do you think Democratic voters want Democrats in Congress to be more progressive? I think you've got to look at the totality of all 215 members. of the House Democratic caucus, and that answer speaks for itself. But today, President Trump making it clear that he and Republicans, at least, see last night's wins as an opportunity to hit Democrats ahead of November's elections.

Every election is important. We're doing very well. They want a lot of communists to come in. I'm saying it a little bit differently, but the people that they're pushing are communists, and this country is not going to have communists. Joining me now at the big board is NBC chief data analyst Steve Kornacki. NBC's Julie Sirken is back on Capitol Hill after covering those New York races for us. And with me on set is NBC national political reporter Ben Kamazar. Thank you all so much for joining us.

A lot to dig into here. But Steve, I want to start with you. Walk us through this progressive sweep in New York City last night. Yeah, a couple of big headlines you're going through them here. Here's what the numbers looked like. The seventh congressional district, Claire Valdez, this is a candidate. it again, aligned with the Democratic Socialists of America endorsed by Zohran Mamdani. This district she was running in of all the congressional districts in New York City.

This had been Zohran Mamdani's best in his mayoral campaign last year in that Democratic primary last year. And it was an easy win. It ends up being a 20-point romp for Valdez over Renoso, Antonio Renoso, the Brooklyn Borough president. He had a lot of sort of conventional political credentials and endorsements that in the past have translated into political success, but not in this environment, not against a candidate who brought those credentials that Valdez did. Landslide for her, a landslide right next door as well in the 10th congressional district. Dan Goldman, two-term incumbent, loses by almost a two-to-one margin to Brad Lander. Look, there'd been some questions about Goldman and his hold on this district that predated this

election. He won a crowded primary back in 2022 to get the seat with only 26% of the vote. A third of the primary vote went against him in 2024 when he had sort of nominal opposition So a much more concerted campaign here from Brad Lander who ran with Zohran Mamdani's backing and ran to the left of Goldman, particularly trying to make Israel an issue in this race. Israel and the Gaza War. Brad Lander's sort of running as far to the left as you could on that. And there was plenty of ground for him there, as you could see in terms of where the voters were. And then also I think this was the one that was the shock of the night here.

Espiat, Adriano Espaillat in the 13th District. This is northern Manhattan, Harlem, East Harlem, moving up to Washington Heights. across the river there into the Bronx a bit, a five-term incumbent losing to, again, DSA aligned, backed by Zohran Mamdani, a challenger here, Darya Liza, Avila Chevalier, ends up being almost a four-point margin right here. I think this was the one folks thought might be a bit of a reach for Zohran Mamdani and his movement last night, but even Espiat wasn't safe. So two Democratic House incumbents losing here, and Zohran Mamdani making three endorsements in these

congressional primaries, three big endorsements and winning them all. Steve, is there any evidence that Progressive's momentum actually extends beyond the city last night? Well, if you looked at the granular level across New York State, they had primaries at the state legislative level and this sort of the left wing DSA movement does have some success in those that extends outside New York City, places like Syracuse Buffalo. But I would say, too, even within New York City, there were limits to this. I'll give you one example of it. take a look at this. You didn't hear much about this race because it ended up being a landslide,

the 15th congressional district here of New York City. Ritchie Torres, a Democrat, a Democrat who has staked out a pro-Israel position. And he's taking a lot of heat from activists in the party, sort of folks online in sort of liberal media, a left-wing media, I should say, have gone after him hard. But look, in this district, this is a very different district, demographically, overwhelmingly democratic, but it's a different district demographically than some of these others. We showed you where the Zohran Mamdani candidates had success. Here, a candidate trying to run the Torres' left and trying to make Israel an issue got absolutely no traction.

So even within New York City, there were some limits to this. And across the country, too, I think this one got some attention here. Utah's first congressional district. Remember, they just redrew the maps. A court did in Utah this year. And it created this new district that is expected to elect the Democrat to Congress this November. this was the Democratic primary for it. Ben McAdams, a former member of Congress. He served for one term from 2018 to 2020, trying to come back. Nate Bluin, a state legislator who was endorsed by Bernie Sanders. So Bernie Sanders was trying to have an impact out here. And Bernie Sanders candidate actually got clobbered in this race. So some limits there as well. I would just point ahead. Coming off last night, I think this might be the one to watch here. About a month from now, August 4th, it's going to be the Democratic Senate primary out in Michigan. El Sayed, he's taken the lead in a lot of the polling that we've been seeing.

And a candidate here, I think ideologically in terms of the issues that he's focusing, in terms of the activist base that's behind him, very similar to these candidates, these Zohran Mamdani back candidates who just won in New York City last night. So this is going to be an interesting test because New York City, we know, overwhelmingly democratic. Those are not races that are going to be close in the fall. Michigan's a swing state. Michigan's a state that Trump won twice, two out of three times.

If Abdul El-Sayed is successful in winning this primary, that's going to be a fascinating test this November of whether he could win, not in an overwhelmingly democratic area like some of these other candidates we're talking about, but in a swing state. Certainly a race to watch. Steve Kornacki at the Big Board, thank you. Let's turn now to Julie Sirkin, who's on Capitol Hill right now, but you were in New York last night covering these races for us. So, Julie, what stood out to you from last night's results? Yeah, I'll start where Steve left off in New York 13. because I was talking to a bunch of Democratic strategists. Of course, he came Hakeem Jeffries, really had his finger on the pulse or on the thumb or on the scale, I should say, in that race. And so did Kathy Hochul, the governor of New York.

A lot of leaders really thought that Adriano Espaillat would pull it through. And that's because he built a really strong coalition of Dominican support in that area. He also, as Steve mentioned, is the chair of the Hispanic caucus. He had so much behind him. And yet, Zohran Mamdani's very last-minute endorsement at the end of May, clearly buoyed Adriano Espaillat's opponent. And I just think what's so interesting in this is, is that if you look at who Adriano Espaillat is, if you look at who Goldman is in the New York 10 district, who lost to Brad Lander, these are Democrats that were seen as fighters on issues like fighting against ICE,

standing up for deported immigrants, standing up against the Trump administration in the case of Goldman, especially somebody who led those impeachment trial efforts. And when I interviewed with Goldman yesterday, he told me he was surprised to see how little the Democratic voters seemed to care about all of those issues that define the party over the last decade of President Trump and how much they care about the issue of Israel, at least in those districts in New York. Mel? And I should know that we actually will be interviewing Chivalier in a little bit here on the program. But, Julie, all of these candidates, they're going to win their districts in November.

These are safe Democratic seats. So what does that mean for the influence of progressives on Capitol Hill? What does it really mean for governing? Despite Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic leader is saying he's not too worried about it because these are just three seats and he has 215 that he's thinking about. this will certainly tack the Democratic Party to the left. I'm thinking about what we've been seeing in the last two years of President Trump's second term. The fact that you had a couple of Republicans on the right, Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene when she was here, but certainly several others still being a thorn and Speaker Johnson side, even with the president in the White House.

If you look at Democrats, let's say they take back the majority in November, just a couple of votes could make a huge difference, specifically if Democrats are not entirely confident in their chances of really expanding their mess. in the House, right? They might have a slight majority over Republicans dealing with the same exact thing that Speaker Johnson has been dealing with. So despite Jeffrey's trying to downplay it and not really backing any of those candidates or expressing support for them, similar story that we saw when Zohran Mamdani won his primary around this time last year, I think he does have a lot to worry about as we get closer to November. Julie, Sirk, and thank you. I want to turn to Ben, who I have with me on set. Steve touched on this a little bit. But do we have any sense of how much the

democratic socialist brand can actually extend beyond really liberal places like New York City. Yeah, no, that's a million-dollar question, right? Or if you see these races, millions and millions of dollar questions, right? You think about the places that they've had success. They've had success in super blue areas like Dallas, in Philly. And last night where they had success, you know, Steve brought this up on the map, they had success in these areas that were really fertile ground. They were rapidly gentrifying.

There were places where Zohran Mamdani did really well. There were the places that they were hoping, that looked like they were, you know, everything was coming to a head. those places. And the question is, you know, can they push outward? You know, we haven't seen any indication that they can, you know, win swing districts in the fall yet. But in these deep blue districts, they are a force to, you know, that they're putting Democratic incumbents on notice. And I think Julie brought up a really good point about, you think about Goldman, you think about SBAT and you think about Rayneau. So these were all people that were backed by not just

the establishment, but backed with by powerful people and had records. They had records. They had records on these important issues that really... A Trump impeachment matter. Exactly, right? Like, these were not people who were, you know, easily tarred as, oh, these person, you know, they're not fighters, right? But this was an interesting question of what does it mean to be a progressive in 2026, in with all of this confluence of things happening now?

And I think that definition is changing a little bit for Democrats. And there were some bright spots for the establishment in Maryland, for example. Sennie Hoyer's pick, his preference, actually won. The issue of Israel, though, played a major role in the... the races last night, no doubt. I do want to play what Brad Lander said about that. Let's take listen. I'm going to be one of the Jewish Democrats in Congress who fights the hardest for Palestinian human rights and freedom. And at the same time, I'm going to fight fiercely to make sure the Jews are welcome and also feel safe and respected and protected here in New York

City and around the country. And in Israel and Palestine as well, that's not two separate jobs. That's one job. Shared dignity, shared safety. That should be Democratic Party politics. It's been broken apart since October 7th. We need a more honest conversation for it. We need accountability for complicity and genocide. But progressives also have to be on the front lines of the fight against anti-Semitism.

And I promise I'll work hard to do both. Our party needs to do both. That is a very interesting response there from Brad Lander. Do other progressives share his view on what the best strategy is to navigate this issue? Some do, and I think some don't, and it's a question of emphasis, right? I mean, Brad Lander is Jewish. Brad Lander, he was an important ally for Zohran Mamdani because he was an appeal to progressive Jews that basically making this point of you can be against the Israeli government's handling

of the war against Hamas without being anti-Israel, where other progressives have sort of, you know, it's an emphasis question, right? you hear this emphasis from Goldman, from Goldwell, excuse me, from Brad Lander when he was able to defeat Goldman. But it wasn't, it's not the emphasis that all of the progressives are focused on. And I think it's something that has gotten a lot of Jewish Democrats concerned. But a lot of progressives who are more aligned with the DSA, who want their, they want their representatives to be more vocal critics of Israel and their handling of this war. And it has them emboldened. Yeah, certainly.

There's been a huge shift in the Democratic Party. I do want to ask about how you think Republicans are going to be responding to this. I'm sure they were salivating over some of these wins. We've already seen the leadership coming out and trying to make Zohran Mamdani a new foil for November. How do you think that's going to play out? I mean, I think, you know, Republicans are always excited when they have another boogeyman, right? Democrats are always excited when they have another boogeyman. At the end of the day, you know, they're helpful fundraising tools for both sides.

I think when you think about these battleground districts and swing voters, are these swing voters going to be, convinced by just sort of the run-of-the-mill boogeyman, I don't know. When you think about the ways that it's been successful, you have to connect it back to what matters to voters, right? When you think about the ways that it worked for Trump to connect sort of the liberal left boogeyman to take down Harris, it was because it wasn't just a,

you're not on our side. It's they're not on our side and I'm fighting for you, right? It's being able to bridge those two things, and how does this affect you as a voter and the issues that matter to you? So a boogeyman is nice for fundraising, but how can you actually turn that into something that will motivate voters to turn out.

And that's the big question for Republicans. Very, very helpful insight. Ben Kamsar, thank you. Joining me now is Darya Lisa Avila Chivalier, who won Democratic primary in New York's 13th congressional district last night. Thank you so much for joining us. Congratulations, your big win from last night. I do want to start there, though.

Some people are calling your win part of a socialist sweep, a leftist title wave. but what message do you hope your win sends to the Democratic establishment? Well, first of all, thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited to be here to talk about this. And, you know, I think what yesterday's win proves is that the wins that we have been building over the last few years, in particular last year's win with the mayoral race, isn't something that happened in a vacuum. It's something that people have been building towards.

It's a working class multiracial coalition that has been building to make sure that we have government that is actually responsive to the needs of people here in New York City. and to make sure that our values are reflected in every single level of government. So I'm so honored to have earned the trust of so many in our district. And I'm so excited to do the work of building with everyone in our district to actually have government that is responsive to their needs. Do you think that democratic leadership should be on notice? I think we have had establishment politics that has really pushed forward a politics of cynicism for far too long. And what yesterday proved is that folks are more interested in a politics of hope.

politics of life, something that will give us a vision for what we're fighting for instead of merely the things that we're against. And so I'm so deeply excited and honored to have built a coalition of folks who have a vision for what we can build towards, a vision that includes using our resources, our tax dollars, towards eradicating childhood poverty, towards investing in our children here at home instead of in bombs abroad, a vision that includes making sure that we are protecting our immigrant communities, abolishing ice, and winning housing for all in a district where the housing crisis has gotten so just untenable. It's deeply important to me that we are fighting to secure accessible and dignified housing for everybody.

Some of the attacks against you during the campaign focused on your past social media posts in which you called former President Joe Biden a rapist used an expletive against Kamala Harris, But just looking forward here in the party that you're trying to build, is there room for Democrats like Joe Biden and Kamala Harris? There is always room to build coalition. And I think as an organizer, one of the things that is deeply important is to be able to meet people where they're at and make sure that we are moving in the direction that we need to move in to actually deliver for our community. I am someone who has been organizing in broad coalitions my entire life as an organizer. and what I do is I bring folks who have very different views on a number of issues and focus on the issue at hand to be able to actually deliver.

And I'm excited to do that in the halls of Congress. I'm excited to do that with folks here in New York 13 so we can bring them to the halls of power and have government that not only is reflective of their values, but includes them in that process. Do you think that big coalition, that big tent party should include maybe some more moderate Democrats as well who maybe not are sharing the exact views of you and your progressive colleagues. You know, I think what we've had for too long is a Democratic Party that excludes views like my own and views like those of our movement. And where I see so many have become frustrated and starting to feel that they couldn't identify previously to the Democratic Party is that those values

weren't being fought for in the way that we needed them to fight for them. And so I'm excited about being able to do that. I'm excited about the coalition that we're building across the city and across the country of people who are going to fight for working class people, people who are going to fight to make sure that we win Medicare for all, fight for workers and pass the pro act, making sure that we're winning college for all, taxing the rich. Those are the things that we're working class people of this country need and deserve. And these are things that need to get passed in order to allow them to lead dignified lives.

And so if we had representation that had delivered that, you know, I think we wouldn't be seeing this new wave of folks who are committed to fighting for those things. And I'm so glad that we are, that we are participating in that new wave because it's what is really, really needed right now. I do want to turn to the issue of Israel. As we've been talking about, it played such a big role in a number of races last night. I want you to also take a listen to what Brad Lander said during his victory speech, and we'll talk about it on the other side. You can criticize Israel and not be anti-Semitic. You can be an anti-Zionist and not be anti-Semitic. And anti-Semitism, it rises with fascism and with war. And we're amidst both right now.

Progressives need to be people who are standing against this, not looking away from it. Do you believe progressives need to be careful that criticism of Israel doesn't sort of tip into anti-Semitism? You know, I have always been very clear that criticism of Israel and anti-Zionism is something that needs to also fight back against anti-Semitism. I have organized with so many Jewish community groups over the years to fight for Palestinian liberation because those two things are intertwined. Palestinian liberation and the safety of our Jewish neighbors are one-in-one.

We cannot separate those two things. Anywhere that there is hatred in the world is a threat to everyone in our community. And so we need to make sure that we're uprooting it at every turn. And so I'm so deeply honored to have a coalition of organizations and community members who believe the same, who are fighting for Palestinian liberation, who are also recognizing that the far right,

which has been engaging in increasing levels of anti-Semitism, are folks that we need to fight back against because we're seeing a rise in fascism. And that rise in fascism has also been part of the reason that we are seeing a genocide happening in Palestine. Do you think there's room in the Democratic Party for voters who are pro-Israel, but against the Benjamin Netanyahu government?

Absolutely. I'm someone who is organized with people who have varying opinions on a number of issues. And I think if you are somebody who believes in the dignity of human life, if you are somebody who believes that working class people should be able to benefit from the wealth that they produce in our society and lead dignified lives, then there is space for you in our movement. I welcome everyone into this movement because I think that we really need to fight for human dignity for everybody. And I am someone who will fight tooth and nail for every single person in my youth. district because I believe that they deserve representation that will see their humanity and

fight for them to have a dignified life. Let's talk about the Democratic agenda, especially if Democrats retake the House. What do you think should be their day one priority? Absolutely. We need to, there are a number of pieces of legislation that we need to pass, including block the bombs, including the Social Security Expansion Act, including the Prescription Drug Care Relief Act, the Ultra-Millionaire Tax Act. There is no shortage of things that we need to pass in order to actually deliver for working class people in this country. And I'm so excited to be able to sign on numerous bills on day one to be able to deliver. And if Democrats do take back the House, would you support Leah Hakeem Jeffries for Speaker? So, you know, up until last night, I was very

focused on winning this primary and I'm so excited to have done so. And that's a conversation that I'll be having with my coalition, with my community, to make sure that we are coming to a decision about what is best for the people here of New York 13. Are there certain conditions? conditions or things that you will be looking for? Yeah, I think I will be looking at what makes most sense in terms of the strategy for how to deliver for New Yorkers. And you also said, Brad Lander said he will actually support Jeffreys for leader. I mean, do you think progressives can be effective at governing if they're not unified

amongst themselves? You know, I think this is just an issue of having the time to actually organize and talk, right? And so Browd and I just won our primaries last night. I'm excited to continue talking with him and building coalition and building consensus among our movement. And that's something that takes time. It doesn't happen overnight. My last question to you is there are some Democrats who are on Capitol Hill and said they're worried about whether some of these progressive candidates are going to be team players. Do you anticipate that you will try to be a team player when you come to Capitol Hill?

I'm an organizer. And that is what organizing is. It's about making sure that we are building the coalition. necessary to actually deliver. It's about knowing when you're outnumbered and outresourced and still having an outsized impact and using strategy and relationship building and trust building to actually deliver for folks. And so that's what I'm excited to do. And I'm really excited to work with folks who are committed to that same vision. Daria Lisa Avila Chevalier, thank you so much and congratulations on your end. Thanks for having me.

Coming up, President Trump abruptly cancels the signing of a bipartisan housing bill as he fights with members of his own party over an election bill Republican leadership says has no chance of passing. Plus, war room. We'll get the view from the White House where President Trump is meeting right now with the head of NATO and taking questions from reporters. You're watching. Meet the Press now.

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Welcome back. We've got more breaking news from Capitol. Hill today. As Democrats grapple with the political shakeup following last night's primaries, Republicans are facing serious turmoil of their own. After President Trump abruptly announced today, he would not sign the bipartisan housing bill that passed with overwhelming support. Writing on social media, he was canceling the signing until Congress passes the Save America Act. That bill, which would impose stricter election rules, including voter ID, has been stalled in the Senate. The president catching lawmakers off guard, to say the least, you can see here, statute.

Ray Hall was already all set up in anticipation of the event. And Republicans were even touting the bill's reporters just as the president was announcing its cancellation. Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, though, tried to downplay the situation, signaling he expects the president will eventually sign the bill. We're delaying this, as you know, he has a window of time before he has to sign a bill, and he's going to use a little bit more of that window of time, and we're going to go through this together. So, so your understanding that President Trump is going to sign the housing bill at a later date, And how much later can it go?

Because as you said, affordability is huge for Americans. This is a key bill to do it with. If it doesn't get down. You're talking about days. You know, the window of time before a... It just passed last night. Right. So 10 days is my estimation he'll do it within that 10-day window.

But rank-and-fowl Republicans aren't so optimistic. One House Republican told me in a text message, What a S show? Crazy, crazy, crazy. Well, another House Republican seemed a little less surprised, saying, quote, Trump did something outrageous to keep the spotlight focus on him, shocker. The president did, however, still go to the Capitol to attend a closed-door lunch with Republican senators and afterwards tried to project a united front.

I think we had a really great meeting and we're very proud of the party. We like our leader. We like everybody really in the room. I don't like a few people, but that's okay. I think you know who they are. But we, I'll give you that information someday. But for the most part, we have a really well-unified party. And I said it very strongly.

We have the hottest country anywhere in the world. We're the most powerful. We're the smartest. We're the most respected. Oh, to be a fly on the wall in that lunch meeting. Joining me now is NBC News, senior national politics reporter, John Allen. And back with me is NBC News Capitol Hill correspondent Julie Circon. John, I want to start with you, though, at the White House.

Because the president, he knew that the SAVE Act was still exalted in Congress. This is not breaking news to anyone. So do we have any insight about why he decided to double down on this bill just hours before he was supposed to sign the housing bill? Well, it's certainly something, though, that he believes is popular with his base and maybe even outside of his base. But the White House isn't talking about it. I actually just spoke briefly to White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller. He was crossing behind me on the road here. And I asked him what was going to happen with this housing bill now that the president has decided not to sign it, at least today.

and he just kept on walking. I have also asked the press office here, no response. I think they don't know what the president's going to do here. Certainly, as Speaker Johnson said, he could still sign. He's got time, and he could also let it become law without his signature. He's clearly trying to bring this attention back to the Save America Act, though, and it's anybody's guess as to why right now. Anybody's guess is right.

John, this would have given Republicans a really easy legislative win, that's the housing bill, and something to run on in the midterm. So why do you think the president is willing to throw that away? And do you get any sense that the White House could be concerned that this may have been all very short-sighted? I mean, Republicans on Capitol Hill absolutely want to run on this. There have not been big bipartisan agreements, 85 votes in the Senate, more than 300 in the House, what's normally called a veto-proof majority, although you never know if the president decides to change course,

whether Republicans in Congress will do the same. Look, I think there's reason for anybody in the Republican Party to be concerned about whether this robs Republicans of a talking point, particularly, and by the way, actual policy, on affordability, an issue that has been dogging this White House for a long time, dog the previous White House. Of course, President Trump's not on the ballot. Those members of Congress are, and perhaps he's trying to seek some leverage here. But, you know, one of your sources described it as an S show, and I'm not sure that the view here is any different. Mel, I would love to know if you could explain a little bit more what that means an S show. I don't think I'm allowed to say that, actually, on TV. John, Alan, thank you so much.

I want to get now to Julie, picking up on what John was just talking about, the reaction on Capitol Hill from Republicans to the president not signing the housing bill. What has it been? Well, exactly what you heard from those House Republicans, for the most part, Mel, because most of these Republicans, especially in the Senate, who are either running in tough races in November or who are retiring and just do not understand why the president keeps shooting himself in the foot when it comes to maintaining that majority so critical in November.

They don't understand why he wouldn't just take a win, this major bipartisan win. For months, we've been reporting, as you know, that the president seemed like he was interested in this housing push. At least his aides know that it will at least chip off a little bit on some of the affordability issues that so many Americans are dealing with. He referenced it himself at the state of the union. And then we know that he told Speaker Johnson a couple of months ago that he doesn't really view it as a priority. We know he told other lawmakers in an Oval Office meeting the same thing.

And during lunch today, we know that he told Senate Republicans behind closed doors that he cares more about passing the Save America Act than he does about signing that housing bill into law. So a lot of frustration up here and just no understanding among most Republicans why he wouldn't just take the win when he hasn't. And Julie, even though he didn't sign the bill, he did stay for that closed door lunch, as we mentioned. what do we know about what happened in that meeting? Well, he had lunch for a little bit more than an hour with Republicans. When he came out of that meeting, he had his leadership team by his side, as you all saw in that sound bite we played of the president, but he wouldn't answer any of our questions when it comes to the housing mill, when he's going to sign it, whether he thinks that issue is more important than the Save Act, whether he thinks that he's going to risk losing his majority in November because he keeps taking away from the central message that the party wants to be focused on, which is the issue that clearly most Americans care about. about. They saw it in 2025 with Zohran Mamdani's election, some Democratic races as well in other states. And they saw it in 2024. Americans want the issue of affordability addressed. The president during that closed-door lunch, though, spending most of the time, Mel, we're told, admonishing those Republican senators, a handful of whom joined Democrats to curb his future military actions

in Iran to try and restrain him in that area. President Trump came out of the meeting saying most of us are a line, praising John Thune somewhat, but then said he's unhappy with some members in that room, including Senator Bill Cassidy, who went toe to toe with him, Trump calling Bill Cassidy out for losing that election. President Trump playing a major hand in that, as you know, and later Bill Cassidy telling us all about it, saying that it was a little bit ugly and a little bit heated, but it just speaks to the dynamics that we're seeing right now within Republicans in the Senate and President Trump. Yeah, no doubt. Julie, just looking forward here, though, how to John Thune and Speaker Johnson move forward, especially knowing the president could derail their legislative priorities

at any moment. And meanwhile, the House is completely shut down now also because of this issue. Yeah, that is the number one question I have to Speaker Johnson, who may or may not walk behind me as he opens the floor this afternoon. Because currently, Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna, she essentially said that nothing in the House is going to move until they pass that state act. It has no chance in the Senate, as we know. And Luna is trying to will that into fruition, trying to pressure those Republicans in the Senate to pass it. They told President Trump in that lunch today flat out, that they do not have the votes for the Save Act. They do not have the votes or the desire to change that 60-vote filibuster threshold that he's been pressuring them to do.

Speaker Johnson has been trying his best, knowing full well that his job goes hand in hand with the support that the president gives him. John Thune, slightly different situation. He hasn't always agreed with President Trump. He also didn't really need President Trump to get the leadership gavel, if you will, on the Senate side. So slightly different dynamics. John Thune has a lot of support within his conference. It's different in terms of the threshold, how many members are needed to throw the speaker out versus the leader. But President Trump today affirming that he's happy with his leadership team. But I don't know if he has another choice, at least in the Senate.

Mel. John, meanwhile, the president is hosting NATO Secretary General at the White House right now. What will you be watching for coming out of that meeting? Well, one thing, Melanie, it appears that Mark Rutte has gotten through this, at least the opening of this, with President Trump without calling him daddy this time. So that's a little different. But the Secretary General has been praising the president, praising the president's efforts to get NATO to put more money into its self-defense, making, I guess, justifications and excuses for European countries not being more participatory in the war with Iran and in helping the United States with that war with Iran. But of course, those are issues that have been long brewing between the United States and NATO.

John Allen and Julie Sirken covering all the things for us today. Thank you for that. Joining me now is Democratic Congressman. Greg Meeks of New York, Congressman. Thank you so much for joining us. There's just so much to discuss. But I do want to start with the results last night and what we saw in New York because a trio of very progressive candidates did win their races. They were all backed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

What message do you think that sends to the Democratic establishment? Is this a warning sign? No, no, I think it's, I'm worried. I'm worried about the city of New York, quite frankly, particularly when you look at the case of Congressman Adriano Espaillat. You know, he is a significant member on a very important committee called the Appropriations Committee, of which I would hope that the mayor will work with those on the Appropriation Committee and, of course, Leader Hakeem Jeffries, because that's how we get resources back to New York. By losing him on that committee, which we probably would not get to replace anybody on that.

committee. It overall hurts the city of New York as we try to fight to make sure that we get more affordable housing, as we try to fight to make sure people have health care, as we fight for the funding to make sure that we're bringing and making groceries more affordable. So all of those things are devastating when you look at the bigger prize of what's taking place for the city of New York. And I would hope that we will have folks that are coming in that are trying to bring people together because in order to deliver for the people of the city of New York in Washington, D.C., you need to have 218 votes. And if you can't get 218 people to support your bill, then you cannot get anything done

and we're not able to serve the people that we're elected to serve. So I'm looking at the bigger scope of things and what we need to do here in Washington, D.C., and how do we get them done? And I know it's not a one-on-one. It's not the legislative branch is an oversight of the executive branch, but also creates legislation that takes compromise, actually, to pass bells to get the 218, to make something law, to have an effect on the everyday lives, the cost of living, housing, food, all of those things.

So that's what I'm focused on. You said you're worried. Are you worried that these candidates that are coming in are not going to be able to step up to the plate? Are you worried that they're not going to be team players when they do come to Congress? What are your fears here? Well, the only thing that I can go by is what they have said in the past and what they've said immediately. So that's all I can go by as of now.

I don't know what they will say or what they do once they get here. So I am concerned about the words that have been utilized in the past and some of the words that was utilized in the campaign. I'm concerned about dividing the Democratic Party and dividing Americans. I want to be and think that we, once we get in this house, have to be in the business of bringing people together. So from the words of which they have articulated in the past and previously, I am concerned about that if that's what they intend to bring to the House of Representatives. That won't get services and won't deliver what's needed for the people of the districts that they represent and of the city and the state of New York and of the people. the United States of America. And how worried do you think establishment Democrats should be about being primaryed from

the left in the future? Is this a trend that you think will continue? No, I think that what you're looking at actually is yes. In some deep blue states, it might be individuals are looking at that because those are deep blue states. But those are not the states that we need to win the majority so that we have the power to push forward those values and those items that are important for our people. We've got to be in the majority.

And those districts are districts where we've got to change, where there may be a Republican in the area now, we've got to change that from a red state, red district to a blue district, or those members who are currently in Congress who are Democrats but are in districts that could easily turn red. We've got to be able to count the 218 to be in the majority, because if you don't do that, then we will not have any power. We can talk, we can complain, we can yell, but we won't be able to pass anything, and we won't be able to stop some of the egregious bills that hit the floor. You know, some of the votes that we've had to take was because we're not in power.

Many of those bills would never see the light of day if we're in power. And so should not be looking at us that are here, and those who have been doing this for a little while and blame us, is when you decide, for example, that we better off with a Donald Trump as opposed to dealing with Kamala Harris, you know, because I know some folks, by their past words, had a big problem with Kamala Harris. So if you didn't have Kamala Harris, you get Donald Trump. And Donald Trump is the individual that is cut all funds and resources, basically, to HUD, which will help us with affordable housing, that raised the cost of gas by his war of choice that he's done in Iran, that is causing inflation to continue to rise. So it's not Democrats that's doing that. It's

is Donald Trump and the Maga Republicans. And if you want to beat them, you have to have states that are not real blue and work with some of those individuals to make sure that we can deliver better for the American people. Congressman, while I have here, I do want to turn to the topic of Iran. The Senate passed your war powers resolution this week. It's viewed largely as symbolic. But you also say that this means the president now must seize all hostilities against Iran and that you're exploring potential legal avenues to talk.

try to enforce it. So what are your options here? Yeah, we are looking at the legal issues. I'm talking now to the members of the Senate because there is an option based upon the World Power's resolution that has been put forward to where you don't have to get a signature by the president because, again, the legislative branch of government has an oversight of the executive. And so you know the executive may try to do, as this president has done, to bypass Congress in every which way that he wants. And it also says, and lets the president know where the American people stand in a bipartisan way, and that if he chooses to try to go back to war, a war that never should have been in place

or taken by him in the first place, that he must come back to Congress. Because Congress never authorized this. Congress never had what the plan was, what the results should be. At least the president said something about results, but clearly what he had indicated in the beginning is not what he's talking about now. So we need to know that. And there has been very little involvement at all of the United States House of Representatives and the Senate for that matter. And so the vote on this war power of resolution, both in the House and the Senate, the very same bill, means that both of us are saying to the president and the American people, because this was a bipartisan vote, are saying to the president that we are against his war of choice

and the manner in which he's decided to execute it. Real quickly, Congressman sticking on the topic of Iran, the Pentagon says it's going to need $80 billion to cover the cost of the war. Is that something you'll support? No, not unless I got to know what the $80 billion is for. No, I mean, here again, you know, the president needs to come back to Congress. You know, when back in, we dealt with, for example, after 9-11, Congress did have a vote on what's called an authorization for the use of military force to pay for something. has to come. So automatically because the president comes and says he wants $80 billion, there's no transparency, not talking about how it's going to be utilized, what it's for,

and why? No, I will not support that. The president must come and make his case to the United States Congress if he wants anything to continue this war. Congressman Meeks, thank you so much for your time on an incredibly busy day on Capitol Hill. Thank you for having me. After the break, it's been a pivotal week for U.S. politics, and it's only Wednesday. We'll be back with the panel. You're watching. Meet the Press now.

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Welcome back. Joining me now is the panel. Shelby Telcott, White House correspondent for Semaphore, Antoine C. Wright, Democratic strategist and CEO of Blueprint Strategies, and former Republican Congressman from Pennsylvania, Charlie Dent. Thank you all so much for joining us on another chaotic newsday. A lot to talk about, but I do want to start with what we're talking about at the top of the show, which is the results in New York City last night. So, Shelby, I want to start with you. Zohran Mamdani, obviously, big winner last night. What message do you think this sends to the Democratic establishment? Well, I think it sends, A, a message that Democratic voters

are not content with the status quo of the Democratic Party. And you've seen that ever since the 2024 election, where they're trying to figure out exactly what the Democratic Party stands for and how the Democratic Party helps them. And so there's really been an avenue, as Zohran Mamdani, you know, predicted for some of these progressives to get into office. And the big question, I think is going to be, how does this impact the Democratic Party as a whole? It certainly shifts it leftward, but are we going to continue to see that leftward shift more broadly outside of New York? Yeah, Antoine, picking up on that, obviously the progressive momentum last night in New York City, undeniable, but do you think that will extend in other places around the country?

So a couple of takeaways. So no doubt, we're experiencing growing pains as a party. We've seen that on both sides of the doubt. And I think progressives winning in a very progressive state in a blue district should not be some national defining narrative. So that's like number one. Number two, the larger narrative last night from the primaries was that we nominated a patriot in New York 17 and a patriot in South Carolina one and a moderate candidate in Utah who are going to be bulldozers clearing the pathway for 218 because that's what this is all about. Number three, we've seen the surge, continued surge in democratic turnout in all these primaries.

And I think that's a sign of momentum that we are gaining traction amongst the American people and new voters are coming in. And then lastly, we've prided ourselves on being a party that provides a big menu of options for the American people when it comes to elections. And just because you see a few changes on the menu does not mean the entire menu has changed. We still are the party that offers a lot for people to choose from in terms of eating at the ballot box. And I think that will continue to be the same. Okay.

But if you're Hakeem Jeffries or Chuck Schumer, should you be? worried about what they saw last night in terms of whether they're going to get a primary challenge? Absolutely not, because, again, the pathway to 218 does not come through majority, progressive or safe Democratic seat. It comes when swing seats. And that's why I'm so proud of the candidate quality we have, like in New York 17, South Carolina, Warren, Utah, and some of these other places. But even a few progressive lawmakers in Congress could pose a lot of trouble to the Democratic Party like we've seen with Republicans, right? There's only sort of a few Republicans who have caused a ton of problems for the Republican Party over the past few years.

And I'll just say to that no matter the disagreements we may appear to have amongst each other, they do not compare to the disagreements we have with Donald Trump and the MAG extremists who have taken over the Republican Party. And that is our anchor point. Well, Congressman Dent, I want to get your take on that because you had a front receipt to the Freedom Caucus when they were just getting started. Do you think that some of these new candidates coming in are going to cause trouble for the Democratic leadership? Absolutely, they will. You just pointed out the Freedom Caucus.

It started out as a relatively small group, but it's grown. The more of these types of members you get, the more difficult it becomes for the leadership to govern because those more fringed members, they try to pull the whole conference or the caucus to the extreme. And that puts a lot of pressure then on the more moderate members. You're right, Antoine, that some of the moderate members are more mainstream members won in the Mike Lawler seat and the May seat in South Carolina. But this pressure, and Republicans will use a chevalier.

as a, they're going to go after her, just like they did Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. I don't think it'll be successful, but they're going to try to brand the Democrats with these extreme members. I would just say how you campaign and how you govern are two different things. We've seen them try to demonize Mayor Zohran Mamdani as this so-called socialist ultra-progressive, and yet people are falling in love with the idea of how he's governing. Because you know what? You don't govern alone when you have to get to 218 to do anything.

I think Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and others learned that during their time in Congress. And I also think you heard that in the interview you had earlier with a candidate who prevailed in some of these primaries. I think that talk is one thing, but how you govern is two different things. And then the other point I add, and you understand this because you've been there, you cannot govern if you do not win. Losers do not legislate. They cannot become liabilities in the pathway to 218. Yeah, that's a great point. There's one difference, though, between the Freedom Caucus, the Republican hard right, and the Democratic card left.

The Republican hard right doesn't always have a sense of governance. You know, they want everything. If they don't get everything, they're going to walk away. They'll take their marbles. They'll shoot the hostage. You know, the, figuratively speaking. On the left, on the left, of course, I noticed even though they'll take hard positions, they will take half a loaf because they have greater sense of governance.

I've picked up on that, too, on Capitol Hill. We have to turn to the other big storyline today, which is the chaos on Capitol Hill with Trump to sign and cancel this housing bill signing moments before he was going to say. sign it. This is really overshadowing everything Republicans want to be talking about right now. They don't want to be talking about the Save Act. Shelby, what is your view from the White House? Do they have any concern that this is going to be short-sighted or distraction? Well, I thought it was really interesting. Some of the president's top aides and advocates and advisors were touting this housing bill this morning as if it were about to be law.

And so clearly there was some sort of a disconnect between a lot of people inside and around the White House believed that this was going to be law until Trump posted it on his true social. And so I think it came as a surprise to a lot of folks. And so you're now seeing, as we often do inside the White House, his aides try to figure out how do we make this work. This is what the president has decided. And now we have to shift gears and figure out how to make it work. But is it maybe the ideal situation for a lot of people who are Trump allies right now? No, because they saw this housing bill as a clear way to have an easy win for the Republican Party. Congressman Dent, how frustrating is this for Republican? There's more evidence that the White House staff have no control over the president.

But, you know, poor French Hill, chairman of the Financial Services Committee, worked hard on this bill, gets the agreement and gets his legs taken out from Munro. It's a shame. But it just seems that the president continues to do things. It's like he's deliberately trying to undermine Republicans in this midterm election with the statements on you didn't care about the economic condition of Americans, you know, obsessing over the ballroom and the reflecting pool. And I could go on and on, all these things he's obsessed, starting a war without proper consideration. This is just killing Republicans.

And they all know it. And today, just another example where here they had a win and he, you know, he snatched the defeat from the jaws of victory. Why do you think he was so obsessed with the SAVE Act? What is it about that? He's still obsessed about the 2020 election. He thinks he got ripped off. And everybody knows that SAVE Act will never pass.

Even if it did pass, they couldn't implement it. They couldn't change state rules on state laws on mail-in voting. And by the way, you would have to show a passport essentially to prove citizenship at the polls, and that's not practical. So he's just obsessed with this, and he just can't get off it. Antoine, is this going to be a disincentive for Democrats to work across the aisle, given this was a very hard-fought bipartisan victory? No, I think it gives us a layer of accountability to lay out in front of the American people.

Democrats have been very clear. We want to work across the aisle to get things done that Republicans promise that they were going to do when it comes to lowering costs, making things accessible and affordable for all Americans, yet the Republican majority, and the president have failed the American people. And so the blame lays at their feet. And I think we have to hold them accountable at the ballot box in November because you do decide the future of this country at the ballot box. We set our disagreements at the ballot box.

Congressman Dent, do you think there's time between now in November for Republicans to get on the same page and get united. No. Antoine has a very different view on that. Well, that's the short answer, but it's probably accurate. I think it's very hard to change a narrative in a midterm cycle like this. You know, the die is kind of cast. It's really hard to change the circumstances.

And maybe there could be an event that could have a dramatic effect. But, you know, the die is cast. It's going to be a rough year for Republicans. The question is how bad is it going to be? They have failed the American people on every single major issue you can think of, including an affordability. So my friends who are listening, whether you're progressive, moderate,

or anything in between affordability is the through line. We're going to have to leave it there. Thank you all so much for joining us. We're back tomorrow with more Meet the Press now, and there's more ahead on NBC News Now.

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