Meet the Press NOW — April 21

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Welcome to meet the press now. I'm Monica Alba in Washington, where the next steps in U.S. peace talks with Iran are unclear. With Vice President JD Vance his plan trip to Pakistan for in-person talks, now in a holding pattern. And Pakistani mediators warning the ceasefire is set to expire before 8 p.m. tonight, as President Trump signals he's prepared to restart the war if there is no final deal. This hour, the president is set to hold an event at the White House with college

athletes where he could provide an update on the war with Iran. If he does, we'll bring you those remarks. But for now, Vice President JD Vance and the rest of the negotiating team remain in Washington with JD Vance, special envoy Steve Witkoff, and the president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, all attending meetings at the White House today. Iran's foreign ministry saying today that no final decision has been made on whether Iran will participate in those talks, accusing the U.S. of inconsistent behavior and unacceptable actions. Mediators in Pakistan say they're trying to convince the Iranian leadership to come to the table. The standoff comes amid uncertainty as to when exactly the ceasefire formally expires.

With Pakistan saying it lapses tonight, but President Trump telling Bloomberg yesterday that it expires at some point tomorrow. In a post on social media this morning, President Trump accused Iran of violating the ceasefire numerous times. And in an interview with CNBC today, he said he doesn't want to extend the ceasefire, and he's prepared to resume strikes on Iran. To be clear, you're saying that you need a, at least a prospects for a signed deal today and tomorrow, or else you would resume bombing Iran. Well, I expect to be bombing because I think that's a better attitude to go in with, but we're ready to go. I mean, the military is raring to go.

I want to make a good deal. I'm not going to be rushed. I have all the time in the world. I want to make a not a good deal. I want to make a great deal. It comes as the Trump administration is also escalating its enforcement operations at sea. Intercepting vessels, it says, are providing material support to Iran. The Pentagon releasing this video of U.S. forces boarding a same.

tanker, this time in the Pacific. It's the second vessel U.S. troops have boarded in recent days. President Trump told the NBC the vessel had, quote, a gift from China for Iran amid growing uneasiness about Beijing's support for Tehran as the war drags on. Joining me now are NBC News, senior White House correspondent Gabe Gutierrez, NBC News chief international correspondent Kierrez is in Islamabad, and NBC News National Security reporter Gordon Lubal. Thank you all here. for being here on these very fast-moving developments. And Gabe, what do we know about how the vice president has been spending today as we wait to see if this trip is even still on?

Yeah, that's right, Monica. Look, this is a very fluid situation here at the White House. We have from that source familiar with the discussions at Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law, as well as the special envoy Steve Witkoff, or here at the White House meeting with the president, along with Vice President JD Vance, whose trip is now in a holding, as far as we know. As you said, though, we are expecting potentially to hear from the president within the next few minutes when he holds that event with NCAA athletes here at the White House.

But it has been a very uncertain day as we've been hearing from Iranian officials, from the Pakistani mediators, and from President Trump earlier this morning talking about the possibility of these negotiations. But as of now, Monica, this holding pattern, we find ourselves in waiting to hear what the final decision has been in order to find out whether the vice president is even making this trip to Islamabad. Yeah, confusion there gave and confusion on some of these conflicting timelines on when the ceasefire actually expires. Do we have any clarity on when that deal ends? No, we've been asking White House officials really throughout the day to provide some of that clarity. The president has said that the deadline is tomorrow. Pakistani meteors, however, say it is Wednesday morning

in Pakistan. That would mean it's within a few hours here Eastern time. So it is, Totally unclear when this ceasefire deadline would arrive. The president, though, as you said in your introduction, he has been saying that he is ready to resume bombing Iran if a deal is not struck. Again, though, all that remains up in the air at the moment, Monica. And Gabe, the president also said today that the boat that the U.S. had seized yesterday did have this, quote, gift from China on board. How is the administration reacting to that,

especially when the president does have that high-stakes meeting to China? with the Chinese president in the coming weeks. Look, the White House officials have been saying for the last several days at this trip, the summit with President Xi Jinping, highly anticipated meeting is still on. But yes, the president raising some questions this morning in that interview with CNBC when he was describing the so-called gift from China. Now, there are a lot of questions about whether this could be some dual-use equipment, perhaps. At least that's what it would be considered by Washington.

And what knowledge, President Xi Jinping and China? had in any of these any of this equipment whether the u.s. administration considers it weapons coming from china to iran although president she the president president trump has said has denied that he will send any uh weapons to china but all this comes just weeks over the uh before that highly anticipated meeting unclear how this all plays out and again unclear whether we get to these uh peace talks which are scheduled uh expected at least in Islamabad all of this uh we're in a holding pattern here at the White House. Gabe, watching it all from the North One.

Thank you so much. I do now want to go to Keir Starmer, who is there. Kieran, that's the question right now. Do we think these talks are even going to take place where you are?

We have no idea, honestly. We thought that they would be this week. That's the indications that we were getting. And certainly the Pakistanis have been saying today that they have been in constant contact with the Iranians, persuading them, working to try to convince them to come here to Islamabad for these talks. When we're in an extraordinary position where effectively the Trump administration is indicating pretty clearly that it would like to have the talks.

And the Iranian regime is indicating that, frankly, it may not. And in fact, just before we came on air at Monica, Iranian media said that for now, and that I suppose is a small opening of a door still, the decision by the Iranian regime is final, not to attend the talks on Wednesday. Now, why is that? Well, the Iranians are accusing the US of contravening the ceasefire,

just the same as President Trump today accused Iran of contravening the ceasefire. I think the taking of that Iranian cargo ship, near the strait of Hormuz in the past few days had a real impact, even if President Trump now saying that there were supplies on it from the Chinese for the Iranians, raising questions about that. And frankly, the simple fact is that there's just an enormous gulf in trust. The question now, of course, is, is either side as prepared to go back to war as they are saying they are?

Yeah, and the president had said that the bombs will start falling. ceasefire expires. But the question that we've been trying to discuss and find the answer to is that we don't know when that actually happens. What's your sense from the Pakistani side of things about when the ceasefire does actually end? And why did they choose that time versus the time, it seems, the president has been talking about, which would be tomorrow evening? I don't know. I mean, look, the Pakistanis said in their statement in the past few hours that the ceasefire runs out in the early hours of the morning here, four in the morning here or thereabouts. Why they think that, I think it's to do with when President Trump announced

a ceasefire two weeks ago. Of course, it's President Trump's ceasefire. So in a sense, it's for him to decide when it ends. And he is, of course, the actor in all of this who has said that he doesn't want to extend the ceasefire. It's quite clear to me that a number of governments, including the Pakistanis, have been trying to persuade President Trump to extend that ceasefire. Of course, The trouble is, is what President Trump is trying to do is gain leverage over the Iranians by demonstrating that he is prepared to go back to war, that he is prepared to inflict more punishment on them.

On the other hand, the Iranians believe that they've survived all that and that they can survive again. And I guess in a way, if it comes to that, this will be again a kind of race, a dismal race between whether the Iranian economy or the world economy suffers most. And the president had said it was highly unlikely he could extend this deadline again, but maybe now he will. Keir Starmer Simmons, thank you so much for being there and bringing us that report from Islamabad. Gordon, I do want to turn to you now to talk a little bit more about this vessel that was bordered this time in the Pacific. What more do we know about that incident? Right.

So very little, honestly. You know, the U.S. forces boarded the ship. there, you know, the chairman of Georgia Chiefs of Staff recently, the Pentagon said, you know, this kind of search for any boats that supporting Iran goes global. And this is the first example of that. You know, I point out that the U.S. Marines are still on the other boat that was boarded over the weekend. That's that in the, near the Strait of Hermuz. And so, you know, what they're finding obviously takes some time and kind of figuring out what they will do with these ships.

It sounds like there was a gift from China on this one, but we don't know a lot much more about it. But I think that these boardings, we could see a lot more of them as time unfolds. Let's talk more about that, because we have seen these two in recent days. So does that indicate to you? You do think there will be more maritime interdictions. This is something that the U.S. military is prepared to do, trains to do. But how many of more do you think we can see? This is an easy signal send from the Trump administration to,

to Iran and to ships and ships kind of maybe seeking, you know, safe harbor, as it were, around the world if they're supporting Iran. It's an easy operation. In essence, I shouldn't say it's easy, but it's just to your point, U.S. forces trained exactly this. And I think, you know, there's no problem in them doing more of them. They have the forces. They have the wherewithal to do this. And I think, as I say, it's just an important message right now. saying that the military is ready to go if he does decide he wants to resume dropping bombs. But talk to us a little bit about the specific threats that he's been making in recent days against the power plants and bridges specifically. So if this ceasefire is off,

is the sense that that would be where he goes next, those military targets? I think that there's no question. Of course, this is all in the mind of President Trump. And I think sometimes he even doesn't know exactly what he's going to do the next move. But I think it's clear that if he decides, you know, these talks are over and he wants to resume strikes, that that can happen any time. It could happen tonight. It could happen tomorrow. It could happen. So we don't know.

But certainly from the get-go, U.S. military forces in the region have been ready for any manner of strikes. And I'm sure they're ready to go back at it. And so those sites are these kind of potentially dual-purpose sites. I think there's some legal debate about whether they are valid, but yeah, could go after them quickly. Gordon Lubal, thank you so much for your reporting. I do want to go back to Gabe Gutierrez because I understand that President Trump has just issued a message about exactly what we were discussing. Gabe, what is the latest? What can you tell us?

Well, Monica, just within the past few moments, President Trump posting on social media that he is extending the ceasefire. But he will continue the blockade of Iranian ports. And the president writing at the request of Pakistani officials, we've been asked to hold our attacks on the country of Iran until such a time as their leaders and representatives can come up with a unified proposal. The president also saying that the government of Iran is seriously fractured. So, Monica, this all comes after a day of rapid fire developments where the vice president was expected to leave for Pakistan, staying here in Washington, meeting with the president. There's been a series of meetings with Jared Kushner and with Steve Witkoff throughout the day. And now we're hearing from the President of the United States that he's doing something that he said he did not want to do even earlier today, extending the ceasefire. Again, we are, as we read through this right now, yeah, from go ahead, Monica.

Yeah, I want to talk a little bit more about what you just said, which is that this is language he used that was identical to the last time that he extended the ceasefire, which was, Two weeks ago, prior to that he had said it was highly unlikely that he would push this deadline back again than he did. Here we are again today where before this, that's the exact same thing he said. It was highly unlikely he would do it, but not impossible. So talk a little bit more about that. And also that issue of the blockade because that had been a really key sticking point, right, for the Iranian side of negotiations. Well, certainly look, and as you were just speaking about with Kyr, you know, Iranian state media now saying that these negotiations, are off. And part of the reason that they cite is this, what they see as an act of piracy

on the part of the United States, with the U.S. military enforcing that blockade on Iranian ports seizing that vessel on Sunday. But yes, you're right. Monica, I remember you were here at the White House. You asked the president about this several weeks ago, and he said it was highly unlikely he would extend the ceasefire. He is now extending the ceasefire. Also, just announcing it right now after markets close. The markets close at 4 p.m. And we're expecting to hear from the president within the next few minutes, potentially here at this unrelated event at the White House. But again, that breaking news just within the past few minutes, the president announcing that his ceasefire deadline is extended, but that the U.S. will continue to enforce that blockade

on Iranian ports. And, Gabe, tell us a little bit more about what we know took place at the White House today. We haven't seen the president on camera in a couple of days. He certainly did that lengthy interview this morning with CNBC, but it does seem that there was a lot of behind-the-scenes discussion and closed-door meetings to try to figure out some of these next steps. What do we know about how those went and who was in them? That's right. Well, look, White House officials kept very tight lips on what has happened here at the White House throughout the day. We had expected the vice president potentially at some point today to board that plane for Pakistan, but we learned that he was instead coming here to the White House. And then

several hours later, we heard that it was those lead negotiators, Steve Witkoff, as well as Jared Kushner, that were arriving here as well, to jump in on those policy meetings with the vice president and President Trump. Again, we don't know exactly what communication they may have had. It appears they have been speaking with the Pakistanis, according to President Trump's message on social media, that Pakistan has been communicating the Iranian position to the U.S. But there you see it right there. The president, once again, calling it the government Iran seriously fractured and extending the ceasefire until they can come up with a unified proposal. Of course, this comes as the president had ramped up his rhetoric, his threats against the Iran.

Iranian regime over the weekend. And yet late last week, he had been saying that the people he had been speaking with in Iran were much more reasonable than the previous regime. So a lot of conflicting messaging there from the president now extending that ceasefire after a day of a holding pattern here at the White House, Monica. Gabe, thank you so much for bringing us that breaking news. We are going to stay on top of the developments. And we'll bring you the president's expected remarks later this hour, if they happen. Coming up, the fate of the Fed and the fate of President Trump's nominee to lead the central bank, both in the spotlight as Kevin Warsh faces a crucial confirmation test.

We have the takeaways from today's hearing and President Trump's latest comments on the economy. Plus, a Democratic House lawmaker from Florida just resigned from Congress. The third House resignation in just over a week, we're live on Capitol Hill. You're watching Meet the Press now.

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You can hire top-rated pros, see price estimates, and read reviews, on the app, download today. Welcome back. It has been a busy and contentious day on Capitol Hill. With President Trump's pick to lead the Federal Reserve, Kevin Warsh facing difficult questions from his confirmation hearing about his independence and his views on the state

of the economy. Kevin Warsh defended his record just hours after President Trump said publicly he would be disappointed if Kevin Warsh did not lower interest rates as chairman. Kevin Warsh today dodging questions from Democrats about the president while insisting he would not be influenced by political

pressure. 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 Donald Trump on. If I'm confirmed, the federal reserve should stay in its lane. Just one. I do have a disagreement, actually, Senator, with the president. I think even this morning, he said that he thought I was out of central casting. I think central casting, I'd look older, gray, or maybe show up here with a cigar of sorts. Quite adorable. You maintain you'll be independent of President Trump? Yes, Senator, I do. Presidents tend to be for cutting rates. I think the difference is President

Trump expresses it quite publicly without surrogates or subterfuge, but presidents want lower rates. But Fed independence is up to the Fed. A vote on Kevin Warsh's nomination. is currently being blocked by Republican Senator Thom Tillis, who's demanding the Justice Department drop its investigation of Fed Chair Jerome Powell. Thom Tillis today speaking out during the hearing about his decision. The problem that I have here is that we had some U.S. attorney with a dream or assistant U.S. attorney thinking it would be cute to bring Chair Jerome Powell under an investigation just a few months before the position was going to be open.

May the 15th, the term would have expired. We'd be having this hearing. You'd be getting confirmed. Custom also suggests that the sitting chair, even though he has two years left on his term, would have accident. But instead, we have somebody who thinks a building project that went over by about $700 million with a lot of what seemed to be justifications for it are holding up this whole process. President Trump, however, doubling down on his support of the DOJ's investigation, while also baselessly suggesting Jerome Powell may have received kickbacks from the construction. Somehow, we have to find out how this can happen. It's not the first time. How does this happen?

Did the contractor make $3.5 billion? I can't imagine that too late is taking money on construction. I can't. But it's possible. But we have to find out why is a job that should have cost $25,000, million dollars costing billions and billions of dollars. NBC News Capitol Hill correspondent Melanie Zanona joins me now, along with NBC News, business and data correspondent Brian Chung. Thank you both for being here. Mel, Thom Tillis didn't back down from his blockade of Kevin Warsh's nomination. What did he tell reporters after speaking out at the hearing today?

Yeah, Thom Tillis, really not budging here. And he is retiring, so he's kind of in a yolo mode right now. But what's interesting, Monica, in this situation, is that he actually doesn't have any issues with Kevin Warsh. In fact, he's called him a fine, qualified nominee. He didn't spend any of the time at the hearing today trying to seek commitments from him or grilling him. Instead, he has focused his time and his ire on the fact that there's this, what he views, bogus investigation into the current federal reserve chairman, Jerome Powell. Take a listen to what he told us after the hearing. At the end of the day, there's only one thing that solves this problem.

and it's getting rid of the bogus investigation that started without the president's knowledge and has created this situation. Then we can talk about the efficacy of the project budgets. I'd like to do it. I would love to do it. And if I found impropriety, I would want my name on the investigation referral to DOJ. That's how this place works. And given the makeup on this committee, Kevin Warsh's nomination cannot get through without the support of TILUS.

So unless something big changes here, Kevin Warsh's nomination going to be stuck in limbo for quite some time, Monica. And, Mill, aside from those concerns over Kevin Warsh's independence, which was a focus today, what were some of Democrats' other lines of attack against Trump's pick to lead the Fed? Well, there was also some focus on Kevin Warsh's personal wealth. That is something that Elizabeth Warren really pressed him on because, if confirmed, he would be the wealthiest Fed Reserve chairman to ever hold that position. And there are still a lot of questions about his holdings and exactly what's in his. assets, but repeatedly, he declined to answer questions about exactly what's in those holdings.

He has said he's under a confidentiality agreement that borrows him for disclosing some of that. However, as Elizabeth Warren noted, if he's confirmed, he will have to divest those holdings in order to be in compliance with the law, something that Elizabeth Warren wanted noted for the record. Mel, thank you so much for your reporting from the Hill. I want to turn to Brian now and just get your thoughts on his testimony today. And did Kevin Warsh give you any indication of how he'd operate as Fed Chair if he is confirmed? Yeah, Monica, I think that the elephant in the room during

this hearing was the independence by which Kevin Warsh would operate the Federal Reserve if he is appointed to this role. I think there are a lot of questions understandably because of the noise around what the president has been saying with regards to the current Fed Chair, who is Jerome Powell. He has been very vocal during his last administration in the beginning of this administration in advocating for lower interest rates, dramatically lower interest rates than there are right now. And there was commentary over the last few months over whether or not the pick who ended up being Kevin Warsh would be someone that would have some sort of backdoor agreement with the president to make lower interest rates as the president has wished. In fact, in a recent interview with our own Tom Yamis, essentially the line of questioning with the president was, would Kevin Warsh have gotten the job if he did not assure you that there were going to be lower interest rates? The president's suggesting in that interview that, yeah, he would not have gotten the job if he didn't feel like interest rates should be lower from where they are. Now, if I should point out in the testimony, Worch said repeatedly that the president never asked him to, quote, predetermined, commit, fix, decide on any interest rate decision in any of

our discussions, nor would I ever agree to do so. What do you follow through on that? That is an open question, Monica. Brian, and Democrats did focus during the hearing on the Fed's mandate to address inflation, but what is the effort to ensure maximum employment? What did Kevin Warsh have to say about that specifically? Yeah, and just to zoom out here, the Federal Reserve is really mindful of two different aspects of the economy. It is stable prices, which is monitoring for inflation, which is certainly a worry right now with tariffs and the war with Iran, but then also maximum employment, trying to make sure that as many people in the economy can be employed given where interest rates are, because

that is the Fed's primary lever for steering this economy. Now, Kevin Warsh did seem to suggest that he wasn't happy with the way that the Federal Reserve currently assesses inflation, suggesting that there are other types of measures that they could alternatively look at that he thinks would be better. But I did think, interestingly, it was really about consensus. You have to remember the Fed chair is just one of a number of voices inside the Fed that get to decide on interest rates. Here's what he said about what he said should be a family feud, if you will, approach to deciding on interest rates. Take a listen. My broad view is that interest rates need to be forward-looking, need to be based on better data.

And we should have a big, robust deliberation inside the end. FOMC, I tend to favor messier meetings than some where people don't show up with rehearsed scripts, but we can have a good family fight. If the central bank has that good family fight, I think that they're going to make better decisions. It is a reminder that usually the Fed likes to have consensus around those meetings. The Fed sure is usually the one trying to corral that unanimous vote. But Kevin Warsh saying if he is appointed to this role, that he would embrace that debate and maybe a few dissenting votes every now and then. So certainly, some interesting commentary coming out of the prospective Fed chair, who, again, needs to navigate that Thom Tillis situation in order to get confirmed.

A good old family fight. Okay, Brian Chung, thank you so much for that. Mel, before I let you go, there is more news on Capitol Hill, this time on the House side of things. And another House member, Sheila, Shurfer Phyllis McCormick, who resigned. Was that a surprise to you? And what does that mean for Speaker Johnson's majority margin right now? Well, Monica, it wasn't exactly surprising, even though it is still shocking. I talked to a number of scenes. your congressional black caucus members who said they had privately encouraged her to resign and said they were really trying to walk her through the dynamics she was facing. And those dynamics were that the House Ethics Committee already found her guilty of 25 ethics violations related to allegations that she stole FEMA money and other federal funds and funneled part of that

money into her congressional campaign allegations that she denies. And in fact, the House Ethics Committee was going to meet this afternoon to determine whether or not they were going to recommend expulsion or some other form of disciplinary action. So she announced that resignation just moments before that hearing. But it is still just remarkable what we have seen on Capitol Hill over the last just eight days alone. This is now the third member to resign after Eric Swalwell and Tony Gonzalez both resigned over sexual misconduct. And so it has been really whiplash for the margins here on Capitol Hill. There's also been some members who have been sworn in. But where it stands right now, Republicans can only afford to lose two Republicans.

on any party line votes. So as always, the historically small margins very tight right now. Mel Zanona, never dole where you are. Thank you so much for bringing us all of that. We appreciate it. And we are still waiting on those remarks from the president at the White House will be his first public event since announcing a ceasefire extension with Iran just moments ago. We will bring you his remarks if he does start speaking about the war. But up next, battle lines on the ballot. It's Election Day in Virginia, and we're on the ground talking to voters as they decide the fate of a redistricting plan that could win Democrats four more seats in Congress. Stay with us. This is Meet the Press now.

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and potentially gain them four more seats. But as they head to the polls, Virginians would be forgiven for any confusion about which vote would lead to which outcome. Take a listen to how both sides of the debate have leveraged President Obama's words on redistricting. Because of things like political gerrymandering, our parties have moved further and further apart, and it's harder and hard to find common ground. That's why two-thirds of Virginians voted to end partisan gerrymandering. But Richmond politicians want to shred our bipartisan process and draw maps for themselves again.

Virginia, we are counting on you. Republicans want to steal enough seats in Congress to raid the next election and wield unchecked power for two more years. But you can stop them by voting yes by April 21st. All of it reflects a larger messaging challenge for Democrats who've sought to reframe this gerrymandering as a temporary but necessary counterweight to President Trump. In Virginia, no politician is entitled to power. We can stop Trump by voting yes for fair elections. A temporary fix to level the playing field and put power back in the hands of the people where it belongs.

Vote yes to stop the mega power grab. The yes on fair elections amendment is critical. It's a temporary emergency fix that restores fairness in our elections, preserves independent redistricting, and returns power to the people. Joining me now is Julie Carey, the Northern Virginia Bureau Chief at our NBC Washington Station, WRC, and NBC chief data analyst Steve Kornacki is breaking things down at the big board as he does. Julie, I will start with you. You're on the ground there talking to voters. What are they telling you about this referendum?

Well, what we'll say is voters are very clear about this decision they're making today. And I think what is really remarkable is how engaged voters are with this ballot question. I mean, it is not typical for voters really anywhere to be coming to the polls in the spring in April, casting ballots in a statewide election. But take a look at those early voting numbers. Nearly 1.4 million Virginia is casting early ballots. That's nearly as much as in the statewide election in November when Virginia selected a new governor. But when voters are telling me today, the people who are voting, yes, they tell me almost universally, they don't like casting this guest ballot.

They don't like the idea of gerrymandering, especially this map that cuts Virginia up into a 10-1 map, 10 Democrats to one Republican. But they also say they feel like it's something they have to do. You mentioned it. They feel like they have to counter Donald Trump and what he has asked of other red states to do, adding GOP votes there. And they're very well aware that Virginia is in the national spotlight and what happens here today could determine who wins control of the House in November. And the yes voters, they want that to be Democrats. They say they want to restore a sense of balance in this country. Now, those voting know, most of them tell me they are Republicans.

What they're mostly troubled by is the fact that it dilutes Republicans so much in the Commonwealth. Only one seat in the entire Commonwealth set out and drawn to favor Republicans. and so they're troubled by that. You know, they also point out, though, that Virginia right now has what's viewed as a very bipartisan fair map that was approved by voters some years ago, so they don't like the idea of seeing that blown up. Take a listen now to what some of the voters had to tell me today about their decision. Share with me yes or no and why. Yes.

And why? Because we need to, as posters say, level the playing field. I would normally probably vote no, that they shouldn't be changing. But the only thing that bothered me was the fact that the current president is trying to change it in other states. It's your hope about what impact this will have in the fall. That we pick up more seats. Yeah, absolutely. That's it.

Plain and simple. Yeah, plain and simple. I don't believe in changing these maps. I don't believe it's the way to go. And I know this is just going to continue from one state to another state in different directions. But I think we should stop it. The only way to stop is just by voting no. I don't care what Texas or California or all of them.

do. This was an independent. It's unbiased. It's six to five favoring Democrats, but that seems to be fair to me. Came back for a minute. So I think you were talking, going to, as you can see today, this is a very blue area. We're a steady stream here in Fairfax County. But again, voters very interested, very engaged in casting their ballots today. Julie, thank you so much. for being there and bringing us those voter voices. Steve, I do want to turn to you. What are you watching for tonight as the vote comes in? Yeah, I mean, a couple things, I think, first of all,

obviously keep in mind, Virginia is to start with. It's a blue state now. There are bluer states than Virginia, but this is still a state that Kamala Harris won by almost six points in 2024. It was double digits for Joe Biden in 2020. And in the governor's race, just last November, Abigail Spanberger, the Democrat, won this by almost 16 points. So generally Democrats are winning in Virginia.

There was a Republican governor, Glenn Youngkin, who won in 2021, by two points there. So Republicans can win, but when they win, it tends to be very close. And generally, there's an advantage to Democrats. So with that in mind, where we're looking tonight, one of the places is it looked southwest Virginia. There's not a ton of votes that come out of here, but this is a very Republican part of the state. One thing we saw in that governor's race last fall when Republicans got blown out was turnout was lower here in a quarter. rural Republican area relative to other parts of the state, especially Democratic suburbs closer to

Washington, D.C. and Virginia. So is turnout up here? Is it more level? That's something that the Republican side, that the no side and this needs to see happen here. That's one of the ingredients. Then what about swing areas? There are 16 counties or cities, independent cities in Virginia, that did vote for Abigail Spanberger last year and that voted for Glenn Youngkin, the Republican who won the governorship in 2021. The biggest of them would be Virginia Beach right here. Virginia Beach with about 450,000 people here. This is one tonight that the no side needs to win, probably needs to win, you know, by five points or more if it's going to have a shot statewide. Right next door, another swing area. Again, this was Abigail Spanberger and Yon, Chesapeake, the city of Chesapeake,

a quarter of a million people there. And there's also this, just south of Richmond, big, gigantic suburbia here, Chesterfield County. Again, Abigail Spanberger. won this going away last year. Glenn Youngkin was able to eke out a win here in 2021. So I think this is a really kind of a bellwether county, Chesterfield County, when that comes in, and as it goes, you might be seeing how the state goes. One other to keep in mind, just because I think we will get it earlier

right outside of Washington, D.C. Loudon County. And this is a very big county. Now, this is a blue county. I would expect the yes side is going to carry Loudoun County. I only flag it because we tend to get results earlier here, full results earlier here than elsewhere. So I think one thing to keep in mind, if you're looking at Loudon, set the line at 12. If the yes side is winning by more than 12, I think it's a very good sign for them to carry this. If it's less than 12, that's an encouraging sign for the no side of

this. We might have got to read out in Loudon earlier. In terms of more sort of broadly, the national stakes of this year, again, a lot of different numbers here. You're looking at the house playing field comparing 2026 to 2018. Remember, 2018 was Trump's first midterm. And in 2018, the Democrats managed to win 40 seats, House seats in that midterm. Now, the thing to keep in mind is almost all of those Democratic gains in 2018 came in two types of districts. You see them right here. In 2018, Democrats made the lion's share of their gains in districts that were held by Republicans, but that Trump had lost in the presidential election. There were 25 districts like that in 2018, and almost all of them flipped in 2018. Right now on this map, there are only eight districts.

like that. But if this Democratic plan goes forward in Virginia, that eight will become 12. There are four more districts that will be drawn here that would be Republican held, but that Trump would have lost under these new lines. This next category was with the other place where Democrats made their huge gains in 2018. They were Republican seats, but Trump won them by fewer than seven and a half points. Again, there were 23 of those in 2018. There are 15 now. If this passes tonight, that comes down to 13 because a few move over. this way. But those are the stakes here. Democrats get much more low-hanging fruit if they can win in Virginia tonight. Steve Kornacki on a fascinating dynamic right in our backyard. We'll be watching

that very closely. Steve, thank you. And we will see you tonight for another edition of the Kornacki cam tracking the results in Virginia as they come in. It all kicks off at 645 Eastern on NBCNews.com. Let's turn now to another shakeup in President Trump's cabinet with Lori Chavez-DeRemer Dereemar resigning as labor secretary. Lori Chavez-DeRemer announcing her decision late yesterday in the midst of an inspector general probe into possible misconduct. She's now the third cabinet secretary to leave the administration less than seven weeks after President Trump ousted both his homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem,

and his attorney general Pam Bondi. Joining me now is our panel, Idris Kaloon, staff writer at the Atlantic, Rishi Siddiqui, Democratic strategist, and former senior aide to former Nancy Pelosi, and Republican strategist, Annalise Keller. Thank you all for being here on a breaking news day. I do want to start, Idris, with you on that news about the Labor Secretary being out. When we do talk about these other women that the president has now taken out of their respective posts, does three make a pattern?

What does it tell you about this cabinet shakeup? It's interesting. I mean, there was, you know, Mike Waltz at the very start. of this administration, if you remember him, he was the national security advisor. He got demoted or promoted, depending on who's telling the story to ambassador of the UN over Signalgate. So I think the pattern here is, you know, I think all of these cabinet secretaries lost their jobs for different reasons. In the Labor Secretary's case, you know, if you read the New York Times, there's been a lot of kind of scandal, not a lot of policy coming out of there. On the

DHS side, there was, that's something that was much more important to the president. But again, there was a lot of personal scandal. And in particular, the killing of the two American citizens, I think, was what caused the president lose confidence there. And then with Pam Bondi, it's that she wasn't Trumpy enough, right? She wasn't willing to go far enough for the president. So maybe it's a pattern, but also, I think you could also look at it and say that there are three very disparate causes here. And there had been so little turnover in the first 12 or 13 months compared to what we've just seen in recent weeks, but they are all very different cases. And Elise, do you think that? that the next shoot-a-drop here could be the FBI director, Kash Patel, in the wake of that reporting from the Atlantic, which detailed his conduct as, quote, erratic, a management failure, and a national security vulnerability, according to the interviews that they included in that report, that included everybody from former FBI officials to intel agency staff, members of Congress, and former advisors. Could he be on the chopping block? He could be. I mean, obviously, he's out vehemently defending himself saying he's going to sue, that this is not accurate.

You know, the rumor mill, I think, will continue to churn, and I think he will go, you know, have some increased scrutiny. There was initial scrutiny for him around some of his, the way that he was operating with travel and things like that. So I wonder if maybe that will sort of come back up and there might be some additional investigations around him on that. But I do think it's interesting that there really have not been any shifts in the cabinet up until this point. Sometimes people look at, you know, we're coming up on midterms. we want to go ahead and, you know, move on from some of these people that might be creating some negative press stories. So I do think that this is kind of the time. You don't want to get too close to the midterms with some of the dysfunction. So there is kind of a window that I think we

should watch for. Yeah, usually there's sort of a memo to the cabinet of like, if you're going to leave, this is your moment, make your decision, and then everybody hunker down. But we had reported NBC News that the president was frustrated specifically with Kash Patel over some of the antics on display when he was at the Winter Olympics back in February. So could this also kind of present a solution to the president for a problem that he's already been debating? Yeah, I mean, I'm not sure. I don't know how serious some of his frustrations with cash have been. But certainly if there is, you know, if he wants to put his foot on the gas and get rid of someone and kind of tighten the screws, he's able to do that. And I don't know what would really stop him at this

point. I think it's just a matter of, you know, his sort of priorities right now. Everything's in the foreign policy space in Iran. And I think that's kind of where his focus is right now. And on that point, Archie, what we saw with DHS in particular and the replacement there, at least with former Markwayne Mullin, now the Secretary of Homeland Security, it almost seems like there's an effort to soften the image of DHS. You've seen a couple of shifts on immigration enforcement and beyond that. So is that maybe the route that the White House could consider here for the DOJ, too? Do you think that's something that's working for the DOJ? If anything, we'll see that the president is going to go very aggressively. We've already seen that foreshadowed in terms of

these talk about voter and voter intimidation. And that's where all of this started. So I would say if you look at Pam Bondi, she actually, we don't see in this cabinet the difference between Trump 1.0 and 2.0 is the policy alignment is pretty significant. And I think she couldn't have gotten more aggressive. It just, I think her bed style manner maybe was, was not playing well. Whereas I think our, now we see somebody coming into the role who's a little bit on, at least on DHS, that's a little bit more kind of politically, you know, he's able to navigate politically in a way that's a little bit softer around the edges, but just as aggressive on the policy side. And he also has some democratic relationship. So he does have that open line of communication.

Yeah. And it was really interesting just in the last few. days where we did see someone like Tucker Carlson, Idris, right? A long time Trump ally now expressing what you could call buyer's remorse over his role, he said, in getting the president elected. Here's what he said on his podcast this week, speaking with his brother who once served as Trump's speechwriter. Let's listen to that. You and me and millions of people like us for the reason this is happening right now. Yes. So I do think it's like a moment to wrestle with our own consciences, you know, we'll be tormented by it for a long time. I will be. And I want to say, I'm sorry for misleading people. It was not intentional. That's all I'll say. Tormented by it.

Wow. Idris, I mean, how significant of a break is this for the president? I think it's big, you know, that Tucker Carlson has been a devoted fan of his, devoted and a very important, you know, popularizer of his message. The fact that we've seen not just him, but Marjorie Taylor Greene, break with the president so prominently, I think, is a sign of the MAGA coalition fraying as people look towards the midterm elections, at which point the Republican contest to be the next president will happen. And certainly based on the president's actions, it doesn't seem like he's making a popularity play to run for a third term or anything like that. So I see that. But, you know, in that podcast, he made a few points.

The break is over Israel, Iran, the war that the president promised that he wouldn't get America into, that he's now into. But it's also about vaccines. I mean, that's something that they spent like 20 minutes talking about as well. Yeah. And another prominent podcaster, Annalise, Joe Rogan, was at the White House seemingly made up with the president this weekend. What do you make of his appearance with him? Because there had been some backlash. And he had put some distance there specifically with the war in Iran. Yeah. I mean, I think he's skeptical of what's going on in Iran, but certainly going to take the when and be behind the president for some of his own. priorities. But I guess just from a Republican perspective, I see the Tucker Carlson thing a little bit

differently. You know, Tucker Carlson has totally cratered with Republicans. I think looking at some polls, he's got about 7% of approval with GOP and GOP independent leaning folks, whereas President Trump still like 83, 81% approval with among Republicans. So depending on the polls that you look at, I think if people are going to have to pick between those two, like they're going to stick with President Trump. Arshing, the final moments that we have is that welcome for Democrats seeing some of this fraying in the MAGA base? I think the fraying is significant because it reinforces this narrative that we are seeing playing out across the board, that whether the president has veered away from his campaign

promises, whether Forever Wars, whether the Epstein files, whether it's economic policies, and it's making life more difficult for Americans rather than better. So I think that's why that's very significant. I have to leave it there. Arshi and Elise Idris, thank you so much for your time today. and still to come, left in the lurch. We will get the view from a humanitarian aid worker who's on the ground in Beirut

as more than one million displaced civilians, including hundreds of thousands of children in Lebanon, face the devastating impact of war. Keep it here. I'll meet the press now.

Welcome back. The Israeli military. is accusing Hezbollah of firing rockets at its troops in southern Lebanon, with the IDF then firing its own strikes in return to spite a 10-day ceasefire. According to officials, the U.S. is expected to host a second round of talks between Israel and Lebanon this Thursday in hopes of extending the current ceasefire. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of people who were forced from their homes by Israel's bombing campaign are now returning to southern Lebanon amid the fragile pause, with many finding their homes reduced to rubble. According to UNICEF, more than 1 million people have been displaced by the conflict, including nearly 400,000 children. Joining me now is UNICEF representative, James Elder, who is in Beirut. James, thank you so much for being here to talk about this really important issue.

And I want to just start with the situation on the ground right now in Lebanon. What are the main humanitarian needs right now for families? And how is UNICEF helping them? It's bleak, I have to say, Monica, obviously it's better because the level of the bombardments have, you know, almost, almost stopped. That's a very big plus. But, you know, you've got 400,000 children have been displaced. 400,000, we talk of displaced, but I don't think people quite understand. I think people feel it quite a neutral term.

It's not. It's repetitive. It's violent. So children lose their home and then all the anxiety of their parents who have, you know, like in most places, spent decades trying to build. that home, many homes, as you and I speak, are still being demolished in the south. Israel continues to do that. So hundreds of thousands of children in schools, but sleeping in schools. So UNICEF is doing everything, goodness me, from biscuits to blankets, you know, trucking in water to places, a lot of stuff, Monica with children who have been wounded, psychological support,

but also medical support, mobile health teams. So it's a huge amount of work in very difficult circumstances. I mean, I've got colleagues who have also lost family members here. So everyone is rallying round, but Lebanese have suffered hugely time. And again, and particularly for children, and they really haven't recovered psychologically, many of them physically, from the attacks of September 2024. An incredibly difficult situation, no doubt. And on top of that, compounding that is the fact that government funding cuts to global aid like UNICEF means that you are facing a budget shortfall this year. So how is that impacting your work in Lebanon right now? Yeah, it's a great question. It's kind of two sides of the same moral retreat. We're seeing international humanitarian law

abandoned. And remembering, that's the bare minimum the world agreed to in war. It's not the ceiling, it's the floor. And at the same time, whilst that's occurring, hurting children more than ever, because we see a range of indiscriminate attacks and impunity, attacks on health workers, attacks on all the services children rely upon, we're seeing those funding cuts you talk of, unprecedented funding cuts, Monica. You know, if we think of the global financial crisis 2008-9, the banks were bailed out.

No one is bailing out the children. And people just don't understand that. So where I am now in Lebanon, or whether I'm in Haiti or I'm in DRC or Sudan, and you have these incredible colleagues and incredible health workers and partners going to enormous lengths, and then suddenly they don't have the nutrition supply.

they suddenly don't have the vaccines. And they just don't understand why at this moment of need, they've had the rug pulled out from under them. I don't think anyone truly understands at this moment, given that, you know, we're talking about a few dollars per person here in terms of actual costs from those countries that can fund. So in Lebanon, we're less than one quarter funded.

So I talk about that work we're doing of water, of sanitation, of education, of psychological support, of shelter, and three quarters unfunded. that has day-to-day impacts in terms of the services, the support, we can get to children and mothers. And as you alluded to, so many people are returning to Lebanon South to find their homes just completely destroyed. So kind of long-term impacts, do you see this creating in Lebanon for children? Yeah, it's particularly grave. I mean, the country's already still reeling from those attacks on 8th of April, almost two weeks ago,

when there were around 150 airstrikes in 10 minutes, when dozens of children were killed in almost an instant. And then you have families hoping to go home, hoping their home will be home, being told that they can't. There is an entire area now that Israel has cordoned off, and demolitions continue. And then you have the trauma people are going through. I mean, Monica, just today, earlier today,

I was with a colleague getting that sense that no one is safe, no one feels safe anywhere. It's a UNICEF colleague, and he was walking across the rubble of what was his sister's home. He was returning to it for the first time since an airstrike hit there. It's his younger sister. She was a preschool teacher.

She was killed in the strike. Her son was killed in the strike. A little three-year-old boy, he's walking around and he's holding up school books and her textbooks, her teaching material as a preschool teacher. And he's just saying, this was the target. This was the target.

Now, this is not no longer rare. This has been routine. Lebanon and Gaza and so on. And so it's going to take a lot of long, long time, if the ceasefire holds, Monica, if the ceasefire holds for families, for children, for grandparents to recover from this. And in our last moments here, James, what are you hearing from people there about their hopes for the ceasefire being extended possibly? It's a great question, Monica. Look, they have to hope. They know that. Lebanese are very,

very savvy to the political realities. The last thing they want is war. And so they will hope for this ceasefire. As someone said to me today, maybe hope is our blind spot. It's a nice blind spot to have. But the last ceasefire, there were thousands of breaches officially recorded from Israel during that. So they are holding on to hope, but they know that they need something more than that, if it really, if their children and their families really are to be safe in the coming days and weeks. James Elder of UNICEF, thank you so much for your time and your efforts on all of this. We appreciate it. We're back tomorrow with more Meet the Press now, and there is much more ahead on NBC News Now.

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