Meet the Press NOW – April 22

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I told you was catchy. Welcome to Meet the Press now. I'm Kristen Welker in Washington, where multiple new developments today point to increasing trouble for the Republican Party ahead of the midterms. After a vote in Virginia that could tip the balance of power in Congress toward the Democrats, and more new polling shows the president's approval numbers sinking as the war with Iran drags on.

Multiple polls show two-thirds of Americans disapprove of the job Mr. Trump is doing as president. And nearly two months into the Iran war, his handling of the issue remains underwater. The White House has provided little clarity on when the war could end with peace talks now on hold as the president tries to extend the ceasefire. But Iran attacked multiple ships traveling through the Strait of Ramos today, which could prolong the war's economic impact with the cost of living top of mind for Americans heading into the midterms. And polls show a majority disapproving of the president's handling of the economy. But those numbers seemingly have not affected the president's bullish outlook for November. We're making America great again. And this November, we're going to win the midterms.

We're going to win. And we're going to win like Deborah before. If you want a rich and strong and a country that you're going to be proud of America, you must go out in the midterms and vote Republican. We need that. But from now until November, we're going to fight, and I'm going to personally campaign for every one of you. We're going to go to win in midterms. We've got to get out and win.

Now, whether vulnerable Republicans will want the president campaigning for them in light of those sagging poll numbers is unclear. Up until now, the party has largely stuck by him and his agenda, including on redistricting where Republicans suffered a major loss in Virginia last night. As voters approved a state plan to redraw their congressional maps, it's a movement. that could net Democrats as many as four more seats in November and level out the score in what has become a nationwide redistricting battle kicked off by President Trump last year. And today, both parties not ruling out more changes to come. I think what they did in Virginia, obviously, was gerrymandering, but that's not something that's new. And I think that Democrats are our masters of gerrymandering.

Should Florida redistricting? Well, I mean, I think they're going down that path now, too. and hopefully at least from our political vantage point, that would be a better outcome than Virginia was. Donald Trump and Republicans launched this gerrymandering war, and we've made clear as Democrats, that we're going to finish it on behalf of the American people. Join me now to start us off, NBC News White House correspondent Monica Alba.

joins me from the White House, along with NBC News Senior National Political Reporter Sahel Kapoor, Capitol Hill and NBC News chief data analyst, Steve Kornacki, who is at the big board for us. Monica, let me start with you. Take me inside your conversations inside the West Wing. What are officials they're saying about last night's results in Virginia? Well, President Trump is responding, Kristen, and he is not pleased and he is making claims without any evidence to back them up, that this was somehow a, quote, rigged election.

Now, that's language that we have heard from the president whenever he doesn't like or or appears not to want to be too closely tied to the outcome of any kind of election or result that he doesn't necessarily agree with. We've seen that certainly with his own election results where he has lost. And now he is trying to apply that to this case. He is writing in a post on true social making the argument that he believes that he says Republicans were winning, quote, all day long up until the very end when, of course, there was a massive mail-in ballot drop.

Again, there's no evidence to support that. And then he ends that by saying, let's see if the courts will fix this travesty of, quote, Of course, what's really remarkable about all of this, Kristen, is this larger point about Republicans who have been working to try to have redistricting implemented in several states to see what that can do to the ultimate balance of power. But the president, the White House, didn't do too much when it comes specifically to Virginia. he did participate in a tele-rally and call into a conservative radio talk show to try to urge

Virginians to vote no on the referendum. But today, his reaction is really what is sort of standing out here, given all of the warning signs that we're seeing about what this could mean for Republicans in the midterms, setting up quite a difficult political dynamic for the White House. Yeah, Monica, and all of the context is so important. You're absolutely right, extraordinary that he's trying to claim that yet another election rigged without any evidence or proof of that and no one else making that claim. Let me ask you about the numbers that we do know about these polls that show that the president's

approval rating plummeting. What are White House officials top aides, allies saying about that, Monica? Yeah, and it's interesting because you did have a senior White House official today who was sort of asked about this overall and what it could mean, who said he didn't want to declare defeat yet for Republicans and for President Trump's agenda in the midterms, arguing that many things could shift between now and November and that there are months left to go for them to make their case. And Republicans in the White House, White House officials are really trying to portray that they think they can make this more about an argument,

a choice between Republicans and Democrats and less about an actual reality check on the president's agenda, which is typically what happens to any president of any party in the midterm. So they're trying to push back on that even though they know that history typically, that this will be rough for the party in power and the president currently, Kristen. Monica, what's the strategy? Of course, the president won on a promise to bring down inflation to lower cost to end foreign wars. What's the argument that the president, Republicans, are planning to make for why they should continue to stay in power in the House and Senate? And remember that before the war in Iran started about eight weeks ago or so, the White House

had said that they were going to lean into this affordability message a lot, that the president was going to be out on the road almost every week doing an event on this. He has done a handful of them, and he was traveling out west just last week. But certainly that has been overshadowed by everything else that's going on. But something that's in the news today prompts a really interesting question here, which is that the White House may bail out Spirit Airlines. There is consideration of a possible financial package in the range of $500 million, which if it goes through, if this were to take place could result in the federal government owning about 90% of this airline, given that they already were having major issues and bankruptcy issues in particular. But that is an argument that

then the White House will have to defend if they do go through with this. The Trump administration will have to make the case to the American people for why they feel that is a good investment. But we are seeing these rising, of course, oil prices and gas prices and costs shooting up that the White House also needs to combat and continue to discuss in terms of what they feel they can do about it. Absolutely. All of it top of mind. Monica Alba, thanks so much for your great reporting from the White House. We really appreciate it. Sahel, let me turn to you now on Capitol Hill. What's been the reaction from lawmakers there last night to what we witnessed in Virginia, which gives Democrats now a narrow edge when it comes to the math of taking back the House?

Well, Kristen, Republicans are certainly angry about this gerrymander by Democrats in This is a light blue state. It's one that Democrats won in 2024 by just about six points. Some Republicans say they need to retaliate now by getting even more aggressive in red states with gerrymanders and others worry that this is just going to be bad for both parties and that everyone involved might live to regret this escalating war. Let's take a listen to what some of the Republicans we spoke to today said. It's a hyper-partisan gerrymandering boomdog. We bought hard. We raised a two. We did our best, but the Democrats in charge of Virginia hoisted this upon the people.

These moderates up here about to kill us. We need to start playing hardball on this redistricting stuff. It's ridiculous. We're going to lose everything because we don't have any guts to fight it. Was this nine-month exercise worth it? It's not for me to decide that. Wouldn't my decision. Remember, this puts Democrats on the cusp of a 10-to-one split in the Virginia congressional

delegation up from 16. So it's a really remarkable gerrymandered. Now, the Democratic view on all this, Kristen, is that they didn't start this war. Texas Republicans did. That they're not going to sit back, that they're going to respond in kind, and that they've also pushed bills over the last decade to impose a national ban on gerrymandering, and Republicans have rejected them every step of the way. So as Minority Leader, Hakeem Jeffries, says it, it's maximum warfare everywhere all the time now.

That's a direct quote. It's quite a quote, certainly. Big picture. What's the math when it comes to the redistricting? nationwide, Sahel, and obviously our attention turns to Florida next. Yeah, well, this was the 2026 round was certainly started by Texas Republicans. They made a map that they hope will net five seats for the GOP. It remains to be seen whether that's going to happen.

But then you had this tit for tat developing in blue states, other red states got involved. At this point, it looks close to a wash, Kristen. If the electorate looks something like it did in 2024, even a little bit of a shift toward Democrats, I don't see one party benefiting massively. I think it opened questions what happens with Florida. And I also want to note, President Trump's polls look very bad for the GOP right now. His overall approval rating has fallen. And the single biggest reason is that his ratings on the economy have tanked.

He was generally trusted by voters on this issue. This has been his firewall, not maga culture wars. Two recent polls by the Associated Press and Reuters show that only 30% of Americans trust him to handle the economy. that's extraordinary given that he was elected primarily on improving the economy and lowering costs. People don't believe that has happened right now. So this is the five alarm fire facing Republicans right now. Even if this ends up being a wash on the redistricting front, Kristen, the GOP is on track to lose seats to a significant degree in the House of Representatives because of that. Well, it's just fascinating to see it all play out.

Sahel, I have to ask you about some really sad news on the Hill today. Congressman David Scott passed away. What do we know about that? Yeah, he was 80 years old. We don't know a whole lot, Kristen, about the cause of death. We do know that he's not been in great health for quite a while now. His office did announce that he has died at the age of 80. Quite notably, David Scott was running for re-election in his Atlanta area. C. And he is now the fifth member of Congress to die in office in just the last 14 months. Most of them were in their 70s. One of them was 65. David Scott, dead at 80. Kristen. Well, we're sending his family our thoughts, certainly, today. Thank you so much, Sajal, really appreciate it. Steve Kornacki, let me head over to you at the big board, shifting gears a bit here now. Walk us through what happened in Virginia last night. What are you seeing? This was narrow. It was narrow. You see here, the margin here looks like about three

points on the yes side. I think one way of looking at this is, you know, Republicans, we've talked about these congressional special elections where the Democrats have been swamping the Republicans with turnout. The Republicans really put up a fight here. The no side really put up a fight here. And in a lot of corners of Virginia last night, it looked like the no side was kind of getting what it needed. For instance, down here in southwest Virginia, this is a core Republican part of the state, rural area in the governor's race last year in Virginia, the Democrats won as a landslide. This area kind of went to sleep turnout-wise. Total opposite yesterday. Some of the highest turnout rates in the state of Virginia were down here in this area where the no side was winning

big. So, you know, the no side got some big numbers there. There's some, a lot of counties around the state. You know, the no side did a lot better than Trump had done, did a lot better than the Republican candidate for governor had done last year. But the reason why the no side ultimately fell short, really it has to do with Loudoun County, Fairfax County, Prince William County, and then right down here, Chesterfield County, right outside of Richmond. These are four enormous, you know, metro area, suburban counties. They are blue counties. They've been getting blue. there are diverse counties. And in these places, it sort of bucked the trend that I'm describing.

They actually got, you know, in Loudoun County, for instance, it got the yes side did better than the Democrats had done in 2024, did better than Kamala Harris did in 2024. So you saw a lot of movement away from the Democrats toward yes here. You saw a big Republican turnout. But the core Democratic areas, there was no slack, there was no give. They linked up, you know, this issue as sort of a, they saw. is a Democrat versus Republican issue, and they stayed loyal to the Democratic side. And so the numbers that yes got out of those big counties right there, that was the margin,

basically, that the Democrats in the yes side got. Well, and this is so fascinating, Steve, because this has been a fight that we've seen play out in a number of states now, Florida next. What is the nationwide scorecard when it comes to redistricting here? What are you looking at? Well, if we want to take a look here at the national implications of this, one way of kind of looking at it, I don't think my board is going to cooperate with me, the perils of technology, but one way of looking at it would be this. At the very beginning of this

process last summer, when this sort of started in Texas, there were, there you go, you can see it. There were three Republican seats in districts that Donald Trump had lost in 2024. Remember, California, you know, the Democrats there did their gerrymander last fall successfully. That brought the number up to eight. And with what happened in Virginia last night, with this new map going into effect, that eight now becomes 12. There are now 12 Republican held seats that now, largely thanks to the redrawing we've seen in a couple of states here, now under the new lines would have been lost by Donald Trump in 2024. So that's what the Democrats have succeeded in doing largely through Virginia and through California. And remember, they need a net gain. The Democrats

need a net gain of three seats to get the House. All right. It could not be a tighter race. We'll watch and see how this redistricting tit for tat continues to play out. Steve Kranaki, as always, thank you so much. Really appreciate it. Joining me now is our panel, Molly Ball, political reporter and author, Antoine Seright, Democratic Strategist and founder and CEO of Blueprint Strategies, and Matt Gorman, Republican Strategist, former communications director for the National Republican Congressional Committee and an NBC News political contributor.

Thanks to all of you for being here. So let's start, Molly, with... kind of the big picture here. You have the war in Iran. The president's approval rating has been dragged down by that. This nationwide redistricting fight, which now seems to have backfired. What are you hearing about the mood today in the wake of this latest loss? Yeah, you know, the Republicans I talk to are feeling quite fatalistic. In a lot of ways, they almost feel like the midterms are already over. And it was interesting, you know, listening to that reporting and thinking about how far we've come from, you know, the heady days of nine months ago when the bill was being passed.

And Republicans thought that right now they would be holding an event every day about the tax refunds that everybody is getting, right? And that this was supposed to be the time. And so the idea was like, sure, even at that time, right, Trump wasn't popular and wasn't looking good on the economy. But it was, well, this is all going to turn around when things get better. And the problem for Republicans is that instead of getting better, the political climate got worse. And so now as they look forward to November, of course, things could always get better from here. But they are looking down the road at several months where it could just be brutal for them. Well, it's such an important point and call back that Molly's right, Matt, the plan was to be talking about the tax refunds right now.

not a war on Ron, not questioning whether gas prices were going to come down. And hear President Trump again calling the election results last night rigged. What are you hearing from Republicans about how they see what happened last night in Virginia? Is it a big deal or is it adding to the sense of fatalism that I'm talking about? Everybody has a plan to get punched in the face. And look, I think people are ticked off. That's why I'm hearing consistently among Republicans. People are furious.

There's a lot of finger pointing, especially in the, in lieu of the results of Virginia. I think the fact that it was so tight, there's could you have spent more money, could you have mobilized more? There's a lot of couldjus and ifs. I think that's not helpful. I think, again, you know, looking back, you know, could you have done stuff in Indiana? Sure. But focusing the next battle is going to be Florida. And I think that the key here is can they, whether it's Ron DeSantis and the administration in Florida, can they actually have a map that passes the courts muster? Because obviously there's some state constitutional questions there, but also the electoral muster, they don't want to dilute two

districts, Republicans, and make it harder and even more expensive to keep what you already have. Antoine, I want to get your reaction to what we're hearing from Democrats. I'm going to play a little bit from House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and get your reaction on the other side. Take a look. Our message to Florida Republicans is F around and find out. If they go down the road of a dissentish dummymander, the Florida Republicans are going to find themselves in the same situation as Texas Republicans. The Republicans are dummymandering their way.

into the minority before single voters cast because they started this war and we're going to finish it. We are all in in Florida. And it's Republicans who are putting a target on the backs of their own members politically at this moment in time. Antoine, what do you make of that message and is there a risk in overindexing on this tit for tat over redistricting? after all, a lot of these Democrats who supported the Virginia measure have been very outspoken in terms of opposing redistricting. Well, Everron to find out is a good message. And I think he's quoting, a headset, quote what he was talking about in the way of the Venezuela. Republicans started a battle in Texas and it turned into a war.

Prop 15 California Democrats were successful. We tamed them in Ohio. We tamed them in Nebraska. We tamed them in Kansas. We tamed them in New Hampshire. We picked up a seat in Utah. and when the voters had the chance to express their will in both California and Virginia, Democrats won. And so I think what's clear is that Democrats are going to fight, the American people are expressing themselves.

And I think Republicans did not expect this type of fight, this fire with water, a water with fire fight from Democrats. And I think that's most important. But where we all should agree, Democrats and Republicans, no leader of the free world, particularly the United States, should be talking about overthrowing the will of the people. We saw that with January 6th when Trump lost. We should not be having this conversation today. Matt, let me give you a chance to respond to that and to the argument that Republicans weren't expecting the fight that they got. A couple of things.

There is actually a court case irresponsive even before what Trump said. There was a court case that I think Republicans feel far more bullish about because, again, especially he's focusing on Virginia. For Virginia. For Virginia. See, the Supreme Court there in Virginia, it was already stopped in a passing injunction in the Tazewell County. But then also, too, I think one of the other things we are not talking about as well is the Supreme Court could very well unlock more seats, especially in the South with the Voter Rights Act.

So you could see Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina, other seats unlock as well. So this is a battle, but it's far from over regardless between now and election. But Trump words were important in his tweet or in his post because he talked about a mail-in voting in which he already issued an illegal executive order trying to ban mail-in voting. And so, again, Democrats and Republicans should agree upon these things because they're foundational and they will be around after Donald Trump is no longer in office. Molly, let's talk about the war in Iran that is the other backdrop to the midterm elections. It's a big one. As you say, it's completely shifted the conversation away from what Republicans had hoped to be talking about right now. Talks are on hold. President Trump has basically issued a ceasefire, not clear if they're.

there's going to be a timeline for that. How do you see this playing out politically in the coming weeks? Well, so far, it seems to be a disaster for Trump and the Republicans politically. I mean, not to put too fine a point on it. This was a war that was unpopular when it was undertaken and that the American people still have not seen the virtue in. And that I think, especially now that it's been two months, there is a strong sense creeping in that it has not gone in the way that the administration would have liked, that despite all the bluster, you know, coming out, out of the White House, that the president really expected that he would have much more leverage in this situation and that the Iranians would be much more willing to come to the table.

I think it's safe to say that they have not been nearly as willing as the president would have liked. And that raises the possibility that this drags on and on. And that since the public started from a perspective of skepticism, you're not even going to have, you know, the rally around the flag effect to come down from. And so it could now, of course, it is also possible that this winds up tomorrow and looks like a glorious success. And in six months, we're not talking about it at all. Well, Matt, it's true. I mean, this could change on the dime. And yet, was the administration caught off guard by the fact that Iran seems to have taken back the leverage? I think they were certainly caught off guard by the fact that they couldn't open up or close

the straight of her moves at will. I think that was a very clear thing. And I think also, So you even talk about the relief, I think, we all felt, what I want to say last week, when there seemed to be open again, things seemed to be moving very quickly, and then all of a sudden, again, over the weekend it seemed to go back and forth. That could change in a dime again. JD Vance is heading over there. But I think that's one of the things that they just can't extricate as quickly or as easily as they thought they could.

The one thing they can't run away from is the furtherance of the affordability crisis that they were already facing and what this war of choice has brought to that part of the conversation gas prices, fertilizer, you name it. That has, I think, added or amplified the affordability crisis that's sponsored and brought to you by your neighborhood Republican Party. The other thing, Donald Trump has yet to make a case to the American people or why we're in this situation. It seems as if we're trying to get back to the very place where we were before he started this war of choice. It will be interesting to see if he delivers yet another address to the nation at some point in the coming weeks. Thank you so much for a great conversation.

Molly, Antoine, and Matt really appreciate it. Coming up, we will dive deeper into the battle for control of Congress and the messaging battle inside both parties with a top Senate Republican and Senate Democrat. But first, it's the war. Iran says it attacked multiple ships in the Strait of Ramos. Hours after President Trump said he was extending the U.S. ceasefire with Tehran. We're covering all the fallout and uncertain path to peace. You're watching Meet the Press now.

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Welcome back. As we mentioned, President Trump says he's extending the ceasefire with Iran indefinitely. But Iran is pushing back saying it's the U.S. that's violating the deal by maintaining its naval blockade of Iranian-imps. ports. This morning, Iran attacking three ships in the strait of Ramos and seizing two of them, further inflaming tensions in the region and sending benchmark oil prices above $100 a barrel again. Remember, just last week, President Trump said he was optimistic a deal with Iran was still in reach. Take a listen. We're close to a deal. We're getting along very well with the new Iranian leaders. It really is a regime

change. These are people that are a lot different than we were dealing with at the beginning. As you know, they're no longer around. They're no longer with us. But we have a very good relationship, and I think there's a very good chance that we're going to make a deal. Yesterday's last-minute announcement by the President marks the fifth time

he's extended his deadline to strike Iran's infrastructure as the war continues to drag on and vital shipping traffic at the strait of our moose is again at a standstill. Joining me now is NBC News. Chief International correspondent, Keir Simmons-Keir Starmer, thank you so much for joining us. I know it is very late there.

the president says he's extended the ceasefire, but the U.S. naval blockade will remain in place. Iran says the blockade is a violation of the ceasefire. We know that Vice President JD Vance was intending to go for negotiations in Islamabad, but those are on hold. Where do negotiations stand here? Well, President Trump says that the Iranian regime is divided and that he is trying to give them the chance to come up with a unified position. And in fact, Karoline Leavitt said something similar just in the past few hours with a gaggle outside the White House saying that the president is trying to be flexible. And I mean, the Iranian regime, Christian, is divided. However, their messaging right now is pretty

united. You just have to look at a recent post by the lead negotiator, Mohammed Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, but then the president, then the foreign minister, all of them saying that we will only come back and negotiate, will only come back to the negotiation table, I assume, here in Islamabad, if President Trump lifts his blockade. That puts the president in a really difficult position because he sees that blockade as leverage as a thing that is putting economic pressure on Iran in order to get them to compromise. Because remember, that this is just a debate about when the talks will happen, if the talks will happen. It's not a debate about what kinds of compromises and agreements will happen later. We've heard various reports of what might be on the table.

So it's a challenge. The president is in a difficult place. Now, it might be that the Iranians shift because it is hurting them how much money they're losing because of the blockade, but they're certainly trying to signal that they are not going to do that. Part of their leverage are these attacks that they have been engaging in the Strait of Ramos. Do you anticipate Iran could continue or even escalate those attacks here? I think it's possible. I think it's noteworthy that those attacks will be being carried out by the Iranian military, the IRGC, and that is the hardline part of the regime.

And there is this talk to the point that President Trump raised about whether the regime is divided. There is this talk that the hardliners are really calling the shots. So sometimes with the Iranians, what they do is as much a message as what they say. what they're doing when it comes to the military, are those hardliners asserting themselves? So I suppose very likely the answer is yes. I think that they will be wanting to try and put as much pressure on President Trump as they can. Ultimately, though, again, the issue really here is that a divided and incredibly not trusting of the U.S. Iranian regime clearly is not in a position as we speak could change in the days to come to come to the U.S.

and really negotiate in a way that's going to satisfy President Trump. All right. Well, I know that you and we will continue to watch it very closely. Kiersim, and thank you so much for staying up with us for your phenomenal reporting, as always. We really appreciate it. Coming up next, President Trump and the Defense Secretary have repeatedly described the state of Iran's military is totally obliterated at the bottom of the sea and wiped out. but a new Pentagon intelligence assessment directly contradicts those claims, saying Iran retains significant attack capabilities.

We have all the latest reporting. That's next. I'll meet the press now.

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As for comment, the Pentagon's chief spokesperson said Operation Epic Fury, the military campaign against Iran, was an overwhelming success and said U.S. forces achieved every objective set by the president. Joining me now is NBC News Senior National Security correspondent Courtney Kubi. Court, thanks so much for being here on set. Great to see you. So take us inside this intelligence assessment. What does it say about Iran's capabilities? I think the reason that this is so notable is it's really at odds with some of the public statements. that we've heard the one you just read from Sean Parnell, what we've heard from President

Trump as recently as yesterday from the Secretary of Defense, they have claimed that they have decimated Iran's military. And what's true here is, yes, they have taken a huge toll with the military strikes on Iran's military. But we now know that there's been the ceasefire for two weeks or so, and the U.S. has been able to really assess what they have and have not destroyed throughout the course of the 40 days or so of striking. In fact, according to the Defense Intelligence Agency, Iran still maintains thousands of missiles and thousands of drones. Now, those alone can really hold at risk the immediate area around Iran, the U.S. and allies in the region, but then even beyond that. And not just that, we also now are told that, in fact, Iran's Navy and Air Force, which again, the Pentagon, Secretary Pete Hegseth, have talked about as being at the bottom of the sea or completely decimated.

In fact, more than 50% of their assets remain and very critical when it comes to the Navy. They've taken out many of the surface ships and even their submarines, but they still maintain hundreds, if not thousands of those small, fast attack boats, which are causing trouble in the Strait of Hormuz even today. Well, given that, and it's extraordinary to hear you lay out just how much remains, does that suggest that Iran may try to prolong this war? I think that the Strait of Hormuz and the tremendous amount of leverage that the Iranian regime has knew that they had, but really has shown the leverage and how this can really put the

whole world at risk right now with what they're able to accomplish with shutting down the straight and stopping ships from coming and going through there. That has proven to be their real leverage here, even more so than their military equipment. But what it does show is that if, in fact, the United States were to start bombing again, offensive operations, Iran still has the ability to strike out, to lash out at allies in the region, even though, again, much of their facilities, much of their production facilities really were badly damaged throughout this. But even though they can't necessarily produce at the same level, they still have the arsenal. Well, and, Gordon, the simplest terms, the fact that we're seeing these attacks in the Strait of Hormuz, doesn't that undercut the argument? Absolutely.

Absolutely. Coming up after the break, my one-on-one interview with a Republican senator as his party faces intensifying headwinds from the economy, the war, and the president's political standing heading into the midterms. Stay with us. This is Meet the Press now.

Welcome back. As we've been saying throughout the hour, the president's party appears to be facing major headwinds as we get closer to the November midterms. Joining me now is Republican Senator Kevin Kramer of North Dakota. Senator Kramer, thanks so much for joining us. We really appreciate it. My pleasure. Thank you. Well, I want to start big picture. We're in the midterm election season. President Trump's job approval continues to slide as we've seen recent polls showing at least 60 percent disapprove of his job performance. Gas prices are up. Americans also disapprove of the president's handling of the war. are you concerned that Republicans have a problem heading into the midterms?

Well, I'm not thinking so much about the midterms as I am about the security of the United States and the future of our great country. Midterms will take care of themselves at the appropriate time. Obviously, we have important priorities, and to the degree that those priorities match up with the priorities of the country, I expect that that would create a coming together closer to Election Day. Well, as I ask you, when we talk to Republicans, some of them privately say they're very concerned about Republicans' chances of holding on to the House. And frankly, the Senate as well, are you confident that Republicans will hold on to the Senate?

I'll ask you about your chamber. Yeah. Well, I am confident of that, Kristen. Obviously, though, the margins are very narrow. We all know that. We know that we have purplish. states where we have sitting senators, we have open seats in a place or two, Democrats have the same. When it's this close, obviously, you always have to protect your right flank and your left flank.

But having said that, the first priority is running the country, and we have some pretty big priorities. But I also think if we get to some of our other priorities, like permitting reform, which is a bipartisan effort right now, you know, passing some sort of highway bill or surface transportation bill, very high priority. As people are receiving their tax refunds now and they're seeing that, wow, it's looking better for me at home, I expect that all of that will level off and that at the end of the day, it'll be up to the two parties to make their pitch. And I like ours. All right. Let me ask you about one of the big headlines on the Hill this week, Kevin Warsh, President Trump's pick, to lead the Federal Reserve, appear before the Senate Banking Committee.

As you know, you serve on. I want to play in it. exchange that Mr. Kevin Warsh had with one of your colleagues, Senator Elizabeth Warren, let's take a look at this exchange. Did Donald Trump lose the 2020 election? We try to keep politics, if I'm confirmed, out of the federal reserve. I'm just asking you a factual question. Name one aspect of President Trump's economic agenda with which you disagree. Well, Senator, the Federal Reserve in recent years has wandered outside of its remit, wandered into other areas. I'm asking for something you disagree with. You have said you're a hard yes on confirming Kevin Warsh.

When you hear those exchanges, though, which you witnessed, what gives you confidence that he is going to be independent from President Trump? Well, first of all, he's been crystal clear as not only about his own commitment to independence, but the fact that the president has never asked him to pre-commit any sort of a position, particularly on interest rates. I would say this, though, about independence of the Fed and other federal agencies under the administration of any party is that the idea that somehow they're independent of the people that appoint them and the people that confirm them and the people that we work for is sort of a violation of self-governance in many respects, Kirsten. Now, that said, like I said, when it comes to the most important part of the Fed's job, and that is interest rates as it relates to, you know, as it relates to inflation. for example. I think he was crystal clear, and I believe him, and I have no reason not to.

Your colleague, Senator Thom Tillis, doubling down on his decision to block Worc's confirmation until the DOJ drops its criminal probe into the current Fed Chair, Jerome Powell, Thom Tillis says that your committee should be investigating, not the DOJ. Do you agree with Thom Tillis? Should the DOJ drop its criminal investigation, if only to win a over Thom Tillis' vote? Well, it's a great question because maybe that's reason enough for them to drop it. I happen to think that the whole probe is a little bit unnecessary because it originally was all about his testimony before the committee where he seemed to dodge the questions about

the overruns. I thought it was clumsy at best, but I also didn't think it was criminal. I think that they should drop the probe, but I'm not, you know, I'm not. I'm not in law enforcement. I'm not even an attorney. That said, I do think that, as I've said, maybe even to you, there shouldn't be more than about a second between the end of Jerome Powell's term and the beginning of Kevin Warsh's, and getting this criminal investigation behind us was certainly clear the path for that to happen,

and it would happen. I don't think there's any question about that. But I do think that the issue of the overruns does need to continue to be investigated, and that's why I think Chairman Scott and Thom Tillis's idea of a commitment. or a subcommittee from the banking committee to look into that and continue to investigate it is appropriate. I just think that misleading Congress is hardly a federal crime because if it were, we'd have to build a lot more federal penitentiaries. All right. Let's turn to the war in Iran. And I want to start with the impact on gas prices.

They remain over $4 a gallon as we have this conversation. Oil prices today closed around $93 a barrel. Now, look, the president says he believes prices will come down as soon as the, the war is over. Do you expect, Senator, that gas prices will be back around $3 a gallon by the end of the summer? I actually do believe that. My observation of oil and gas prices, which I've been doing for a long time, I was an energy regulator in North Dakota before I became a member of Congress 14, 15 years ago. So I've been watching this juxtaposition for a long time. And energy markets are a lot like other markets. While oil is a commodity, it's also an investment and it's oftentimes emotional. And you see that just in the swings in the last several days. So yeah, I do think

that once more oil is flowing through the Strait of Hermuz. I think in the meantime, we had to, you know, we ought to be drilling for more oil in North Dakota and Texas and New Mexico and other places in the United States. And more importantly, building new refineries that can actually use our light, sweet crude. so we never have to worry about being a price taker, but rather the global price maker. Ms. Senator, I'm curious about where your confidence and optimism comes from today. Iran fired on vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, traffic through that waterway. Now at a near standstill, yet again, what gives you optimism that gas prices will, in fact, come down? Well, a couple of things.

First of all, I don't think that Donald Trump is going to allow a ceasefire to remain for very long if there's going to be firing on ships. I mean, he has extended, I think, rightfully, the ceasefire until such a time as he feels it's necessary to lift that ceasefire. But I also think that he is taking full advantage, I believe, of the vulnerability that he sees in the fractured of the Iranian leadership. You have a, you know, you have some of the leaders that are on the opposite side of the IRGC, the IRGC have the guns.

I think he's prepared to exploit that and wants to give it every opportunity to exploit that division. And if that doesn't happen, the United States has taken full advantage over the last several days to make sure we identify targets or certain of those targets and have the munitions and weapons systems ready to take those targets out and end this thing once and for all the hard way. As you know, there's a big question about whether there's going to be another round of diplomatic talks. It took nearly two years to broker the Iran nuclear deal under former President Obama, whether you agreed with that deal or not. That's the length of time it took because of the complexity of the issues.

Are you confident that President Trump will be able to get a deal with the Iranians and end this war? Well, whether it's a deal that's as complicated as a JCPOA was and it takes two years, I'm quite certain that won't happen. But I do think that the president has demonstrated. demonstrated leverage that that the Barack Obama wasn't willing to exercise and to leverage so yeah do I think you can get I think you get a deal that ends this war certainly I think he can get a deal that secures the Middle East for a long time and more importantly and I think this is the issue that we sometimes forget is that we have a

whole bunch of Arab states that are supportive of what we've done and if they weren't convinced before they certainly are since Iran started shooting at them whether it's the UAE or Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and others. And you're starting to see a more normalization of that relationship, of peaceful Arab nations with Israel and with the West. And I think that that's the type of negotiation that I think makes a big difference and it can help accelerate the peace process. All right. Senator Kevin Kramer, thank you so much for your time and perspective this afternoon.

We really appreciate it. My pleasure. And still to come, we'll turn to the other side of the political. aisle for a battle crown Democrats view on where the redistricting debate goes from here, the future of the party, and much more. Nevada Senator Catherine Cortez Mastow is standing by. Keep it right here on Meet the Press now. Welcome back. As we mentioned, Democrats are celebrating their redistricting win in Virginia with House leader Hakeem Jeffries vowing, quote, maximum warfare on the issue heading into the midterms. Joining me now is Democratic Senator Catherine Cortez

Mastow of Nevada. Thank you so much for joining us. We really appreciate it. Thanks for the invitation. I always enjoy talking with you. Well, we enjoy having you here a lot of ground to cover. So let's dive right in. Let's start with the results in Virginia last night. The yes vote on redistricting won by a margin of three points. That's far less than Governor Abigail Spanberger's 15 point win last year. Even Kamala Harris is nearly six point win over President Trump. I wonder, Do you see warning signs in that very narrow wind, Senator? No, not at all.

I see just the opposite, particularly what we've seen across the country. There's a lot of energy out there right now. There's so many people coming out and voicing their concerns through their elections, through their votes against the bad policies of this administration. It really is true. I see it in Nevada all the time, and I'm from a swing state. The affordability issue is real. High gas prices, groceries, housing.

I mean, you name it. People are really struggling. And in my state, a lot of the revenue that we generate comes from tourism and tribal. That's down 7.6% because of the bad policies administration from the tariffs and everything else and the Iran War, everything that we're seeing. So people are feeling it and they are exercising their rights to vote. That's why this administration, quite honestly, the Republicans are trying to restrict them from turning out to vote because they know they're going to lose. Their policies are not good for the country. Let me ask you because you probably saw President Trump's post.

He called the results ringed. He said that Republicans had been winning throughout the day. There's, of course, absolutely no evidence of that. Do you worry, though, Senator, that that kind of language could erode confidence in elections, in Congress, given that here we are in a midterm election cycle? Yeah. Well, let me say a couple of things. One, of course, he's using that language to do just that, to prevent people from coming out. But here's the truth. Let me just say this. In Nevada, when he realized he beat Hillary Clinton,

he was first saying it was rigged, but when he won, he stopped his litigation. Right. But then just recently, when he won the second time, he actually won Nevada, and he didn't call it rigged at that time. So, you know, it's convenient when he wins, it's rigged. It's not rigged, but when he loses, it's rigged. What he is doing, though, is trying to scare people that somehow our elections are not safe. And they are. I know as a former Attorney General of Nevada, who has fought on an election fraud in my state, that our votes are safe, effective. Our election process is safe. And by the way, people that try to gain the system and vote twice, it's very few.

And if they do, they get caught and prosecuted. I did as Attorney General prosecuted them. So this is not an issue in this country, but for Donald Trump. trying to make it an issue for his own benefit. And that is the problem we have. And I am concerned that he is going to continue down this path of trying to prevent our voters from getting out to vote in a safe and secure manner that works for them to exercise their right and their vote against him because they are so upset about his bad policies, the high costs of everything. And the fact that we're in a war in Iran that we shouldn't be. Instead of spending the trillions of dollars in that war, they should be here in the United States lowering costs.

and having people helping them with access to health care. So I see him doing it. And I'm going to add one other thing here. Not only his executive orders that he has pushed out there to limit mail-in ballots, which, by the way, people forget, not only is he trying to limit mail-and-bouts, but that's how he voted in Florida is through mail-in-ballot. But he's trying to do that. And there's no doubt in my mind he's going to send ICE agents into polling sites just for that chilling effect

and try to scare people. This is Donald Trump. This is who he is. He's done it time and time again. And we have proven over through the courts and in my state and the government across the country that elections are safe. And people should be able to vote in a manner that works for them. Let me turn to the Democrat strategy more broadly. You're the honorary leader of what you call the Mod Squad supporting moderate candidates. As you know right now, a number of progressive candidates are leading.

They're going neck and neck in the primary races and contested states. Are you concerned about that that there could be a slate of progressive candidates in general elections? No, here's what I do know. And I am my focus on a swing state like Nevada. If you want to come and win statewide in a swing state, which means your voters are Democrats, they're independents, and they are Republicans, you have to talk to everyone. You don't just get to go and vote and have your base vote for you and you're going to be successful. You have to appeal and talk to everybody and show up and engage.

And usually, and time has proven, and data has really proven this, that in those swing states, it's the moderate candidate that is more successful statewide because they appeal more to people, because they're out there talking at the issues that matter to them and finding those solutions and willing to work across the aisle. And that for me and many of my moderate colleagues are from these swing states. We understand that. and we've been much more successful in winning these statewide elections. And so that's really for me. If we want to flip the Senate, I'm just going to speak for the Senate, the only way we're going to flip it is through these swing states. We have to pick up Democrats in these swing states.

And those are usually the more successful candidates are the moderate candidates. All right. We're almost out of time. But I do want to ask you about Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.. He was on Capitol Hill this week. As you know, he came before the Senate Finance Committee, which you sit on. He's come under intense scrutiny on vaccines, but he did say today his department backs the measles vaccine and President Trump's new pick for CDC director, Dr. Erica Schwartz,

a vaccine proponent would have the right to make decisions independently. Does that give you any more confidence in the secretary? How did you hear that answer? Yeah, no, it gives me more confidence in some of the people that are pushing out this information, but not in the secretary. Listen, if you, if you, just look at the budget that he is promoting and this administration is promoting, it has got health care in this country. It has gut behavioral health, mental health and substance abuse in this country. I know that because they got and cut Medicaid by $980 billion, one of my hospitals in Boulder City is actually laying off 71 people in a rural community. And they're changing their designation and they're not going to be able to provide the level of health care that they have wanted to.

It is the results of this administration, and it is a direct result of the Secretary of Health and Human Services. He has no business being there. He claims he wants to make people healthier. It's just the opposite. All right. Senator Catherine Cortez-Masto, we are out of time. But thank you so much for being here. We really appreciate it.

Thank you. All right. And we will be back tomorrow with more Meet the Press now. There's more ahead on NBC News Now.

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