Meet the Press NOW – November 12

Instagram teen accounts, automatic protections for teens. Instagram teen accounts have built-in content settings and limits for who can contact teens. Plus, teens under 16 can't change these default safety settings without parental approval. So parents can help teens connect safely. Instagram teen accounts, automatic protections for who can contact teens and the content they can see. Learn more at Instagram.com slash teen accounts. Boaters know that bad weather, like storms, lightning, and wind can turn a fun day on the water into a challenge. But what if you had satellite-delivered weather data giving you the full picture of what's around you, even when you're offshore and out-of-cell range? With SiriusXM Marine, get up-to-date weather and fishing info directly on your boat's display. Plus, you can add SiriusXM entertainment. Visit SiriusXM.com slash Marine to learn more. Welcome to Meet the Press Now. I'm Kristen Welker in Washington, where we are following two major stories unfolding right now on Capitol Hill. At the moment, the House will start the process of voting to end the longest shutdown in American history with a final vote expected in the coming hours. That vote is happening after earlier today House Democrats released emails from Jeffrey Epstein's estate that raised new questions about how much President Trump knew about the convicted sex offenders conduct. House Republicans then released 20,000 pages of Epstein-related documents as well today. Right now, Speaker Mike Johnson is about to swear in Congresswoman-elect Adelita Gracalva more than a month after she won a special election in Arizona. Congresswoman Groslva will give Democrats the final signature they need to force a House vote on ordering the Justice Department to release all the Epstein case files. Debate on the bill to reopen the government will begin as soon as the swearing-in is over. Speaker Johnson earlier today expressing confidence it will pass, even as House Democratic leadership remains staunchly opposed to the Senate's bipartisan agreement. All of that's on the Democrats. Just never forget. They voted 15 times between the House and the Senate to close your government. And the Republicans tried every single day of the shutdown to open it. And we voted 15 times to do that. They have a lot to answer for. And I just want to say that we're very optimistic about the vote tally tonight. We think this is going to happen. And we're sorry that it took this long. House Democrats are strongly opposed to this partisan Republican spending bill. that continues to gut the health care of the American people. We've said from the very beginning that we want to find a bipartisan path forward, that of course we want to reopen the government, but that we need to decisively address the Republican health care crisis. And that begins with extending the Affordable Care Act tax credits. Now, this is all playing out hours after Democrats on the House Oversight Committee dropped a bombshell, releasing emails from Jeffrey Epstein that referenced Donald Trump. In one email to journalist Michael Wolfe in January of 2019, Epstein said of Mr. Trump, quote, of course he knew about the girls as he asked Galane to stop. In another email to Ghislaine Maxwell in April of 2011, Epstein wrote, quote, I want you to realize that that dog that hasn't barked is Trump.

Going on to say, quote, a victim whose name was redacted spent hours at my house with him, he has never once been mentioned. NBC News has not independently verified the emails and there is no evidence linking Donald Trump to Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking operation. The president posted on social media this afternoon, quote, the Democrats are trying to bring up the Jeffrey Epstein hoax again because they'll do anything at all to deflect on how badly they've done on the shutdown. And White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt calls it part of a quote distraction campaign. They actually don't care about the victims in these cases. They care about trying to score political points against President Trump. There are no coincidences in Washington, D.C. And it is not a coincidence that the Democrats leaked these emails to the fake news this morning ahead of Republicans reopening the government. This is another distraction campaign by the Democrat in the liberal media. And it's why I'm being asked questions about Epstein instead of the government reopening because of Republicans in President Trump. The Epstein issue now likely to be front and center yet again when the government shutdown ends in the coming hours, as is expected. Joining me now is NBC News, senior Washington correspondent, Halley Jackson. NBC's Melanie Zanona is on Capitol Hill. And NBC News Senior White House correspondent Garrett Hake posted at the White House for us. Guys, thanks so much for starting us off. Halley, let me start with you because you have been covering every twist and turn of this. Talk about the release of these files. What are some of the biggest takeaways from your perspective? So a couple of things here. We should note, too, that Democrats released this handful of emails this morning. And then you saw House Republicans drop like 20,000 pages, right? Did I say House Republican? House Republicans, yeah. You did. And name, by the way, you mentioned that quote about Mr. Trump spending hours, according to Jeffrey Epstein with the victim. Naming that victim is Virginia John Roberts, Chufrey, who, as you know, Kristen, is one of the most prominent Epstein accusers. by suicide earlier this year. So when you look at the takeaways here first, this really is the first time in these potentially explosive emails that we have seen this kind of direct implication of Donald Trump in connection with Epstein and the crimes and everything that went down in the... early part of the 2000s, essentially, and in the 90s. So you heard the White House, clearly call this. They say this is a deflection. The president has repeatedly, and again today calling this a hoax, Democrat led. But remember, there is an appetite among Republican voters to get to the bottom of what happened here. Look at his approval rating on this matter, for example. His own base is frustrated with the president's handling of this. The other piece of this is that, you know, when we can talk about this more, Jufre before her death. did not publicly talk about spending hours with Donald Trump. She did not write about it in her memoir. She, in fact, said she had a friendly interaction with him. She obviously worked at Mar-a-Lago as a locker room attendant for a period of time before Epstein then hired her to be his masseuse. But she also in a deposition suggested, you know, she said Donald Trump and her never had sex, that he never floated with her, that she never saw him do something like that, although obviously she wouldn't know, you know, everything that he did at the time. The thing is the thing that the White House doesn't want to talk about, they are now talking about. They are now being forced to talk about the president.

a topic that is immensely frustrating for him clearly. And I'll also say there's this other piece of this as it relates to Ghislaine Maxwell as well, because she is acknowledging, at least one of these exchanges, Epstein's sort of, as you put up on the screen there, Epstein's musings about Donald Trump in the email about the dog that didn't bark as he put it. And yet, in her interview with the deputy attorney general, Todd Blanche, just this summer, Maxwell said she never heard Epstein raise any concerns about the president. So there's a lot here, Chris. You raise that, Halley, we have that sound. I want to play it. And let's just flesh that out a little bit more on the other side. Take a look. I actually never saw the president in any type of massage setting. I never witnessed the president in any inappropriate setting in any way. The president was never inappropriate with anybody. In the times that I was with him, he was a gentleman in all respects. Hallie, what are the implications of that from Ghislaine Maxwell, someone who's looking for a commutation as we have? reported. She's obviously in her deposition with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche. What do you take away from that? Who just days after that, of course, was moved to that lower security prison camp, Christian. So we're obviously out to her attorneys for comment on this, but there are questions around what she told Todd Blanche versus what is being, you know, revealed in some of these emails here. We should also know that some of these emails involved, controversial author, I think is fair to say Michael Wolfe, who had been writing, wrote a series of books at the time was writing a book about then President Trump had been. Talking with Epstein is by his own acknowledgement for many, many, many hours. This is somebody whose credibility has been questioned. And so there's that layer of that as well when it comes to the exchange of some of these emails. But what's remarkable is the way that Michael Wolf seemed to be, in some ways, game planning, basically, some strategy related to Donald Trump with Jeffrey Epstein, Kristen. So again, this is a huge trove of documents. There are some really notable revelations here. And I think a lot of questions to come up with Capitol Hill and the White House. Quickly, before I let you go, you have several times interviewed Virginia Dufre's family. What have they said about this, Hallie? Because you've asked directly about, was there any potential link with Trump? That's right. What have they said to you? I asked a panel of survivors, essentially, that question. And while they didn't mention Donald Trump, they didn't bring them up, they didn't say that they saw anything there, I will say there was immense frustration. I'm going to talk specifically about the family of Virginia John Roberts, Joufrey. I think it's fair to say they're livid. They are livid that more hasn't been done to release the Epstein files. And her brother told me, I think it was not even a month ago, just weeks ago, that he thinks his sister, you know, she would have, before the election, supported then candidate Trump, because she believed that he would work to release these files. And both of her siblings have said that she would be. furious with the way that this has been handled, that the spotlight has not been, in their view, the spotlight has not been on the survivors, have not been on the victims, and that this needs to be more of a victim-centered, a survivor-centered conversation. Hallie, thank you so much for bringing us your reporting, and we will continue with your coverage as you pick up in an hour from now. Really appreciate it. Mel, let me go out to you. Take us to Capitol Hill. What has the reaction been there on the Hill, particularly amongst Republicans? Well, House Republicans have by and large dismissed these revelations. They've said the emails were cherry-picked by Democrats to try to paint Trump in a bad light. And my colleague, Kyle Stewart, just caught up with Speaker Mike Johnson.

And the speaker said, this is just a distraction to try to distract from the shutdown and all the pain that he says Democrats caused because of it. Notably, though, just hours after Democrats released those emails this morning, the Republicans on the House Oversight Committee, as Halley noted, released a tranche of 20,000 documents from the Epstein estate. And according to a congressional aide who's been working on this investigation, they said that they had always planned to release those documents, but. After Democrats went ahead and kind of forced their hand here by releasing those emails, they decided to speed up their timeline for release. And so it seems like the strategy for Republicans is perhaps flood the zone here. But Republicans argue that they are just trying to be transparent, which is what Democrats have been calling for all along throughout this process. Garrett Hake, I watched the press briefing with Karoline Leavitt. She was very firm in that there's nothing to see here. And yet, as we have reported, this is a topic that really gets under the skin of the president. Based on your conversations with sources today, what's the reaction been there? Yeah, that's right. I mean, it was notable that she's firm in the broad sense of pushing back against the narrative, but not engaging in the specific details of these emails. That's been largely consistent with the White House's strategy. They feel like they're playing an endless game of whack-a-mole with Epstein-related stories, that there is always another mole. There is always something else around the bend and that they can't knock these stories down individually, effectively enough, or they can't release enough information to make the... public interest in this go away. And so you see what we saw from the press secretary today, which is to say, this is all politics, that whatever else you think about this, it is being weaponized by the Democrats. So she is true that there's no coincidence that Democrats released this information today. They gathered it weeks ago. They've been reviewing it. The fact that it comes out on the day that the House returns to Washington isn't just sort of a miraculous turn of events here. It is a political decision. But things can be political decisions. and also be damaging for their actual factual value here. And I think that's a situation where the White House is in here and how they respond next, I think, will be telling. Remember, the president has, I think, still is kind of the operative statement here given guidance publicly to Pam Bondi, the Attorney General, that if there's credible information in the government's Epstein files, it should come out. Whether the White House decides to sort of... front load coverage of this by releasing more information, I think is still at least a theoretical possibility. But for now, the president is frustrated. The White House is frustrated. And they're going to dig in and make this a political us versus them narrative as opposed to dealing with the specifics of what's in these emails. Well, as we continue to track that story, Mel, that's the backdrop to the other huge story that we're covering right now, which is the shutdown is on track to end. Walk us through what you are anticipating. First, Speaker Johnson has to swear in Congresswoman elect Adelita Gerhalva, and then what happens?

Yeah, and Kristen, actually, just while we are on air, I'm told that Grahalla has officially been sworn. And so that has been taken care of. She is expected to sign a discharge petition to force the release of the EPSA file. So that is something big coming down the pike as well. But no doubt, the shutdown is the big story this evening here in the House. We'll get our first glimpse of where the vote stands and also how many members are actually here at around 5 p.m. That's when the House is going to take a first procedural step. But the votes are starting to fall into place. There are a couple Republicans we were keeping on our eye on who could have been potential no votes, someone like Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has been really outspoken about the lack of a health care plan from her party. She said she's going to be yes, as well as Victoria Sparks. She voted against the CR when it initially came up in the House back in September. She's also a yes now. And so we are expecting it to pass. That'll happen after they do some debate around potentially 8 or 9 p.m. It still has to go to Trump's desk for signature. The big wild card, though, that we're looking out for is a time. because members are scrambling to get to D.C. amid these air travel delays caused by the shutdown. One member even opting to take his motorcycle from Wisconsin to D.C. He has arrived. Nice, safe and sound, we're told. So we'll see how many members are actually here. But if everyone is here and if everything goes according to plan, the government is on track to be reopened before midnight tonight. Yeah, that congressman safe and sound, but probably a little chilly. Garrett, is President Trump expecting to sign the bill tonight to get the government reopened? If they can get it to him, it sounds like he wants to do that. The press secretary openly talked about the prospect of bringing the pool in to see that signing. This is the story the White House would rather be talking about. The president would love to take some... public credit for ending this shutdown, although his role is certainly debatable. A signing ceremony of some kind would help him in that. Whether they choose to do it late tonight after most folks are asleep or wait till tomorrow to get more bang for their buck, I think is perhaps the only remaining decision. Assuming, you know, Mel keeps her people in line on the other side of town and they get this thing passed tonight. Well, I think everyone can agree there is a lot of pressure to get the government reopened. Mel, Garrett, thank you both so much. for joining us. We really appreciate it. Joining me now is Democrat from Pennsylvania, Congressman Madeline Dean. Congresswoman, thank you so much for being here again. We really appreciate it. Good to be with you. Well, it's great to have you. So first question, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is urging a no vote to your fellow Democrats. Is your caucus 100% united in voting no? And are you going to vote now? Before I respond to that, I want you to take a look and take a listen to what's going on here tonight. You and I have talked in the past eight weeks since Speaker Johnson sent everybody out of here on September the 19th, effectively shutting this government down 54 days ago. It is great to hear the noise, the livelihood, to have Adelita Grohalva more than 50 days later finally sworn in. And finally, we are back doing what we should be doing, which is voting. I don't think there's going to be any problem. with my caucus, though I won't speak for anybody else. I know I will be a strong no on this measure for so many reasons, not the least of which, what is tucked in there, I hope everybody is aware of it because they had hoped to slip it in without anybody noticing it, but it's a cause of action for senators.

He said, let's go to the Supreme Court and see if we can avoid paying that. So I'm very satisfied with what we did. I'm disappointed with the Senate. And I do wonder, do those. who went on a final yes here know what John Thune put in here in the cause of action for $500,000 per instance per senator. It's grievously wrong. But the polls reveal the president is extremely unpopular. He is unhinged, unwell, not saying things that are reasonable, but some of that is not new. And the American people know it. Last Tuesday was such a referendum on that. Congresswoman, let me ask you because you are putting the focus on health care and Democrats are still demanding that the Obamacare subsidies be extended. They're set to expire at the end of the year. What leverage do you have now to get them passed? Because basically, as I understand it, this bill guarantees a vote on Obamacare. But what leverage do you have to actually make sure that there is one and that it... passes that the Democrats get what they've, you know, ultimately trying to fight for here. I'm not impressed with a guarantee on a vote. I think there is a guarantee of a vote on something, some vehicles, some legislation in the Senate. We do not have that same guarantee from the Speaker of the House. But why am I optimistic? The American people make me optimistic. They know what's going on here. They know what's going on here. The president has made sure that the billionaire friends got their tax credits in a permanent form under the big beautiful bill. And they will not extend the same decency of tax credits to those who are working, who are simply trying to access and afford health care. Congress layered in here. I want to make sure we layer in here today's events with the Epstein files. And of course, Adelita Grahalva, the representative, will be signing that discharge petition if she hasn't already and take a look at what's going on with the emails. They're in a world of hurt over at the White House. Congresswoman, if you could pause, we're going to listen it. She's, Congresswoman Rahas talking about it right now. Let's listen to what she has to say. Terrific. Justice cannot wait another day. Adelante, my gente. Much gracias. Thank you very much. I yield back.

So Congresswoman there, you hear her saying, justice cannot wait another day. She had also just said on the House floor that she would, in fact, be the 218th vote for the discharge petition. The Senate has not committed to bringing this to the floor for a vote. How confident are you that the files will be released? The Epstein files will be released. You see, they're already beginning to be released. I think House Democrats obviously release some very important, three very important emails. today, and then you saw the Republican response dump a bunch of more documents in hopes of flooding the zone and confusing everybody. I have a confidence. This will all come forward. And sadly, very sadly, an awful lot of people are going to be revealed for the crimes that they committed. But very importantly, justice will be brought to these victims. I hope it's not too late for many of them. Congresswoman, very quickly, you talked about your dissatisfaction with how the Senate handled all of this. Your colleague, Congressman Ro Khanna, has called for Leader Chuck Schumer to step down. Do you share that perspective? I won't waste one minute of energy shooting at Democrats. Not going to do it. We have too much to fight about here that is for the American people, not Democrats shooting at Democrats. I'm not going to be a part of that. All right. Congressman Dean, thank you so much for your time. We really appreciate it. We're going to keep a close eye on the House floor. Thank you so much for joining us. Thank you for me. Coming up, we just heard from a House Democrat. We will get the view from a top House Republican next as lawmakers look to end the longest government shutdown despite deep divides remaining in both parties over the future of health care, the federal workforce. Epstein Files saga. Stay with us. You're watching. Meet the press now. Instagram teen accounts default teens into automatic protections for who can contact them and the content they can see. Explore teen accounts and all of our ongoing work to protect teens online at Instagram.com slash teen accounts. The Genesis GV70 with all its award-winning tech and performance is built to thrill. So you can hit the road, hit the turns, and hit Sport Plus mode for serious acceleration and handling. Inside, you'll find intuitive tech that elevates every driving experience. And wherever you go, the GV70 will have you on the edge of your seat. It's luxury that's built to thrill. Learn more at Genesis.com and feel the GV70.

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a way on this that most Republicans will support and most Democrats. And I know the majority of Republicans want to support something to stop the premium increases that we're going to see on January 1st. And so I'm offered a way out and I think most Republicans will support it. Well, let me ask you because Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has a plan. He says he's going to force a vote through a discharged petition. It would be on a three-year extension of the health care subsidies. Is that something you would support, Congressman? I believe that's dead on arrival. That's, say, in my way or the highway. This, first of all these tax credits were put in by all Democrat votes on a single Republican vote in 2021. I'm listening to our side. We are willing to do these tax credits, but we want to cap the income. Why should someone getting $600,000 a year get these tax credits? So we're going to cap it at $200,000. That's our plan. And right now, a third of this money doesn't even go to individuals' premiums. And so we want to make sure that this money goes directly to help premiums out. So, you know, I will not support the Hakeem Jeffries my way or the highway bill. But I'm willing to meet in the middle, and I have Democrats already on our framework. I'm on a Democrat bill that does exactly what I'm proposing. You've got to meet in the middle on this to say that's my way or the highway. It just don't work in Congress. Congressman, have you discussed your proposal with the House Speaker? And has he made any type of commitments or guarantees to you that he will put it on the House floor? Because again, he has not said he's going to put. an extension of these health care subsidies on the floor. I have not talked to one-on-one, and I don't think he's going to put the Hakeem Jeffries bill voluntarily on the floor or what the Democrats want to push in the Senate. I do believe he'll support a bipartisan way forward, and he's going to count on the appropriations chairman, my good friend Tom Cole, and the Democrat minority, a ranking member, and they're going to have to work this out and put this stuff in the appropriations bill. And the vast majority Republicans want something done. I believe the Speaker will respond to that. I mean, I've talked to a lot of my colleagues on the Republican side. They do not want to see premium skyrocket either. So this is a shared concern. But we're not going to do the Democrat plan 100% verbatim without our input. Do you think that it was a mistake for Speaker Johnson to not commit to put health care subsidies on the House floor, given that polls show a majority of Americans want to see those subsidies extended? Well, okay, they want to see subsidies extended. Do they want to have subsidies extended for people earning $600,000? I think they want something done here that will lower for the majority of Americans their health care costs. I've committed to doing that. I think Speaker Johnson, But he should commit himself to finding a bipartisan agreement and doing it. I think that would be the commitment. A bipartisan plan, not Hakeem Jeffries plan, but a bipartisan plan to do it. But I also think there's another area that we're concerned about. The Affordable Care Act.

It's so expensive now that there needs to be some reforms made and something to look at, but we're not going to do this by December 31st. So I do encourage the speaker, find a bipartisan plan, buy us a year or two, and let's look at how we can lower the cost of health care beyond, you know, in the next year of the following year. We're not going to be able to do that by December 31st. All right, Congressman, let me turn to the other big story today, of course, the release. of some more of the documents related to Jeffrey Epstein initially by House Democrats today, including an email where Epstein said President Trump, quote, knew about the girls. What was your reaction to that document and the others? Well, we've always known there was a friendship there, but at some point they had a falling out. So bottom line is, I'm for transparency. I wouldn't like to point out to your viewers. The Oversight Committee provided thousands and thousands of pages today. The process is working, right? The Oversight Committee, Republican and Democrats, are turning out this information. They have subpoenas out there. I do think it's working. Now, there's been all this talk about the discharge. petition, even if we pass it out of the House, it's got to pass the Senate, and the president's going to sign it or veto it. And that's going to take a while. The Oversight Committee is getting the job done now. And I'm for total transparency. I don't care who's on it. I don't care it's Republican, Democrat. It should be public. Let's just protect the victim's names. The victims deserve protection. Other than that, total transparency. So you support releasing all of the documents, including the documents that DOJ. has access to in the name of transparency. So would you support? Okay. Let me ask. If this bill comes on the floor, I'm going to vote yes on it. There are some reasons why they did not sign the discharge petition, but they're going to get their 218th signature today. But that aside, that bill will come on the floor. I will vote yes. Okay. Let me ask you to respond to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. She called this whole thing a, quote, manufactured hoax by the Democratic Party. But you yourself are calling for transparency. Others of your Republican colleagues are, in fact, a lot of the MAGA base is calling for transparency here. Do you agree with Karoline Leavitt that this is a hoax? You know, the White House made a glaring public relations failure here, mistake. As you know, the Attorney General, and I think she does a good job in many areas, but she really made a mistake here. Months and months ago, she said she has all the names, all the clients of Epstein, and all the people that were breaking the law with these underage women, and she was going to release them. And then a little while later, says, oops, there is none. That was a failure. That was a mistake. They shot themselves in the foot. So because of those announcements, I think they will have to release everything and just make it public. And we're going to let the chips fall where they fall. Anybody that was involved will have their name out. Maybe they just had dinner with Epstein. Well, they can say that. Maybe they were breaking the law with underage women. They'll have to answer to the public on that or face the judicial system.

But I think OPA transparency right now is the only way forward on this. Congressman, very quickly, before I let you go, there's apparently a provision in the House bill that would allow senators to sue the government if their electronic records are obtained without their knowledge. You just heard my prior guest, Madeline Dean, talking about that. There's also a sense that Johnson might try to have that stripped. What is your sense? Will that provision be in the final bill? I don't know. I think it was a mistake to put it in there. We got to get the government open. It's better to keep all of this. nefarious stuff out. Let's do the three appropriations bills. Let's do the CR through January 31st. Those other three bills through September 3th. That should have been the focus. Let's pay our federal workers. I wish they would not have put that in the Senate side. That said, I'm going to vote to keep the government open. I think it was mistake to have that part in there. But I don't want to go another day not paying our federal employees. I don't want to stop stamp. And I want to get our airline travel back to normal and safe. All right. We'll be watching closely throughout the night. Congressman Don Bacon, thanks so much for joining us on a really busy day for the House. We appreciate it. Coming up next, why President Trump is facing pushback from some of his own allies over his latest comments on H-1B visas. The panel's next. Keep it right here and Meet the Press now.

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Welcome back earlier this year. The Trump administration's handling of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein's case and the lack of release of all of the DOJ's investigative files created the first real major crack between President Trump and his typically loyal base. Now with Epstein case back in the headlines, President Trump has angered some of his Republican supporters on another topic with these remarks about American workers and his support for H-1B visas. Take a look. And does that mean the H-1B visa thing will not be a big priority for your administration? Because if you want to raise wages for American workers, you can't flood the country with tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of foreign workers. But you also do have to bring in talent. Well, we have plenty of talented people here. No, you don't. We don't have talented people here. No, you don't have certain talents and people have to learn. You can't take people off an unemployment line and say, I'm going to put you into a factory who are going to make missiles. Joining me now is my panel, USA Today, White House correspondent Francesca Chambers, Democratic strategist Antoine C. Wright and T.W. Rehi Republican strategist and former national press secretary for the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Thanks to all of you for being here. Francesca, let me start with you. played that clip of President Trump this week talking about H-1B visas. That was a big split within Magal World months ago, in fact, when that was in the spotlight. And then again this week. And now we're seeing this divide again around the Epstein case. And it's fascinating because we don't usually see Maga World divided. And one person who's been at the center of both of these has been Marjorie Taylor Greene, both her criticizing the president over the H-1B visas, but also she is one of the four Republicans who signed the discharge position for the Epstein case files. So the president earlier this week lashing. She's lost her way. But, you know, she's been pushing back on him very aggressively. And the base seems to be on her side on this. Yeah, T.W, there are few topics that get under President Trump's skin as much as the Epstein files. And here they are thrust back into the spotlight in a way that's problematic, not just for the president, but for his Republican allies who are having to answer for this new batch of emails. What do you make of this? How do you see it unfolding? Yeah, look, I think any time. The attention is taken away from what Donald Trump was to talk about. He's going to be upset about it. That goes for every president. This is no different. Look, I support getting all the information out. But look, the Democrats see this as a very valuable tool to hold over the president's head. They are... almost giddy at the fact that he might appear in this report. And obviously the information you came out today with those emails, which I believe more reporting came out saying it was Virginia Joufrey, somebody who said openly that Donald Trump was nothing but kind to her in the few meetings they had. And I feel as though, look, I want to see these documents out. I think most Republicans do want to see it out. But I don't want it.

continually trickling that Donald Trump has done something he has not been, there's not evidence he has done as of yet. Well, it's a really important point, Antoine. I mean, there's nothing in anything that's been publicly released that suggests that he did anything wrong. The implication of these latest batch of emails are that he may have known more. And as T.W. points out, Virginia Dufre has, in her own words, said that he was nothing but nice to her. What do you make of Democrat strategy? Do they risk overplaying their hand on this political issue? And of course, there are Democrats who are mentioned in the Epstein files as well. Well, this rare, bipartisan. political moment that ensures that oceans of justice and rivers of accountability flow, I think should be applauded. And if you do not have anything to hide or if you did not do anything wrong, then there should not be meetings taking place telling people not to sign the petition. Now, on the other hand, I think Democrats can use this as a sugar high, but I don't think this will define electoral success next year. I think we have to keep the conversation around affordability and the affordability crisis. been created in America. Magonomics has been a failure. We cannot take our foot off the gas on that. But we can also bring new oxygen into the air because we know part of the Trump strategy is to flood the zone and suck all the oxygen out of the political air. I want to stay on this idea of the divide within MAGA world. President Trump was asked about MAGA ideology. Here's what he had to say. Take a look. Don't forget, MAGA was my idea. MAGA was nobody else's idea. I know what MAGA wants better than anybody else. And MAGA wants to see our country thrive. Francesca, it's such a fascinating quote from the president because he's basically saying, don't tell me what MAGA is. I write the rules when it comes to this movement. But his base is saying, no, you promise to release the Epstein files and you promise not to be focused on foreign wars. You promise to be more focused here on domestic issues. And it's creating this somewhat fascinating rift as we head into the midterms as we think about who might emerge as a candidate in 2028. And he's talked about that a few times in the past, usually in response to the Jeffrey Epstein thing. And when we heard him today, or rather we saw him on true social today hit back. He said that any Republican who he's saying is falling for this, as he put it, is stupid essentially, which was, which was. Because again, it does hate at some of his otherwise fiercest allies in the past like Marjorie Taylor Greene. And also Lauren Boebert has signed on to this as well as Nancy Mace too. But in some ways, the MAGA movement, I think, as you're getting at here, is moving on some of these issues without the president and in ways, you know, that get beyond his presidency. TWA way in on that. How do you see this divide? Is it being overstated right now? Do you think that it's a real divide? There is no.

movement that's ever thrust somebody into the White House that hasn't dealt with some sort of fracture, dating back to Jefferson. That always happens. But when you're governing, there's new responsibilities and pressures that come with it. The H-1BVs the whole debate is a fascinating example of that. He has had a number of tech CEOs come to his Oval Office, including Elon Musk, and say, we need these workers here. We need these workers if we're going to stay on the cutting edge of AI. We don't want to lose that battle. The Manhattan Project wasn't all Americans. So we need to be, he's mindful of the actual realistic parts of governing. Trump leads the MAGA movement. And I think people are coming to grips that there will be life after Donald Trump. So there's no fear of him in life after Donald Trump. But the other thing is Trump has been consistently inconsistent on the things that he promised on the campaign trail. And I think that's a coup. That's a hat tip to their ability to. of being able, not being able to govern. We see that with the majority party in the House and the Senate and now with him in the White House because campaigning and governing are two different things. They are indeed. I want to talk to you about some news from the Democratic world, which is that Jack Schlossberg, the grandson of... JFK announced that he's running for Congress, New York's 12th district. That's Jerry Nadler's district. I want to play, he's had a very big presence on social media. I want to play a little bit of his mix of social media posts. Take a look. Hey, everybody. Don't give up on your dream. Newsflash, Republicans are lying. This one goes out to Usha Man's, the most beautiful woman in the world. Your hands up to the ceiling. Dear President Vladimir Putin. If somebody doesn't like you back, that's okay. I respect pigs, because you're great, but they're not clean. Pigs are not clean. I'm really sorry for all the things I said. Not. Francesco, what do you make of Jack Schlossberg entering the fray? I mean, he certainly has a lot of content there. Yes, he does. Whoever on your staff just mind all of those TikTok videos. I mean, look, he's certainly saying the right things. He's 32, and he's talking about fighting against Donald Trump, at least saying the right things. I mean, for a Democrat at this time in the Democratic Party. But in this particular race, I mean, he's running into a situation where Nadler, the outgoing person who held the seat. isn't supporting him. He suggested he was not supporting him. His own former aide was already in the race here. And so he certainly would have a lot of work to do. Antoine Jerry Nadler has said he doesn't have the experience to serve in Congress. And as Francesca notes, he's supporting his aid, not surprising. Well, I think New York has taught us a lesson that experience may not matter, i.e. the male or race that just happened, what, two weeks ago. But I think that what he's trying to do is make a big splash in its introduction, very similar to the way Zohran Mamdani did. And I think related. is going to be key in a Democratic primary. T.W., last 30 seconds to you, broadly speaking, is this yet another sign that voters are hungry for a younger generation and that there's space for that? We'll see if he can relate. I don't know.

Look, I was disgusted by him with how he responds to his cousin, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.. I don't know much about the Robert F. Kennedy Jr. family. That's not how I was raised. You would have to waterboard me to talk that way about a family member and make fun of their voice and their illnesses. I'm disgusted by him in many ways. Well, we'll have to see how it plays on the campaign trail. Guys, thank you for being here. Thanks for a great conversation. Francesca Antoine and T.W. Coming up after the break, come back. Comeback campaign, a member of the January 6th committee who lost a bid for re-election in 2022 speaks out to NBC News. That exclusive interview on Meet the Press Now is next. Welcome back with the shutdown likely to end tonight and the 2025 off-year elections in the books. The race to the 2026 midterms is now underway. And today, former Democratic congresswoman Elaine Loria of Virginia announced she's launching a bid for her old congressional seat. Virginia's second district is a battleground seat. Loria flipped it blue when she won in 2018. She served two terms but then lost to Republican Jennifer Kiggins in 2022. The former congresswoman who was a member of the House committee that investigated the January 6th attack on the Capitol sat down exclusively with NBC News chief. Capitol Hill correspondent Ryan Nobles to announce her plans. Take a listen. I'm looking forward to the opportunity to come back to Washington to stop this chaos that we're seeing in the house. I hear from people all across the district every day that prices are going up. I'm in line at the grocery store. Everything's more expensive. Housing is more expensive. Gas is more expensive. The cost of health care, which is in the middle of a fight right now. And I know what's the right side of that fight is to get health care costs down for millions of Americans. And right now, there's an impasse. And the right people are not in the right place fighting to make sure that things are affordable for Americans and Virginians. I want to talk to you now about the work that you did on the January 6th Select Committee. how much of that work seems to be undone by the Trump administration. Are you concerned about efforts by Republicans in those tied to President Trump to whitewash what happened on January 6th? Absolutely. I... As you know, served on the January 6th committee, and our goal was to present the facts of what happened that day and leading up to January 6th. And so that the American people could judge for themselves and understand what role the former president played. I led a hearing with my Republican colleague, Adam Kinsinger. We focused on the 187 minutes. We're going to replay this interview, I don't know, 45 times and just sit there and watch it. That's a long time. 187 minutes that President Trump sat in the White House and didn't do anything. He had the ability to tell the January 6th rioters to stop. He had the ability to basically stand up and stop this, not to mention the fact that all of his language and rhetoric and lies about the election being stolen leading up to that time incited this.

And he was never held accountable. So now we see. The people, literally the criminals, the people who assaulted law enforcement, Capitol police officers, assaulted and destroyed property in the Capitol, slowed the proceedings of the government. You know, things that were, they were charged, found guilty, and were serving time, they've been part. And not only that, they have a choir, they've become heroes, you know, they sort of are figureheads of a movement, which to me, very distressingly, you know, doesn't represent the rule of law and doesn't represent. what our country stands for. How concerned are you about the lack of willingness by Republicans and Democrats to work together in Congress? And how are you prepared to address that if you were to be reelected? So I think that when we're talking about issues, like the government shutdown that we're going through now and the prescription drug costs are really the ACA supplements that are at the center of this struggle to either get the government open and or, I mean, the problem is that it has just been, like, Republicans are proposing a lose-lose situation. We shut down the government and we cause a lot of harm to a lot of people. And we don't allow them to have affordable health care. So are we going to choose a lose-lose scenario? Or can we choose a win-win scenario? Because all the way back in September, it would have been pretty simple to keep the government open and keep people's health care premiums for the subsidies. I would say that I do have a long track record of working in a bipartisan way with people or with members across the aisle. Do you feel like Congresswoman Kiggins has done enough of that? Has she found ways to work across the aisle? I mean, she's among a small group of Republicans that has advocated for the extension of the Affordable Care Act credits. Do you think that she's done enough to work with Democrats to find common ground? Well, you know, she went along to the edge of the precipice. and then only started caring about people's health care premiums when it became clear that the shutdown was going to happen and they were not going to be included. So, no, I think that what she's doing is really just a... a gesture to act like she cares, but look at her voting record. She doesn't care about your health care. She's cut your Medicaid, and she doesn't care about your health care premium. So, you know, it's one thing to just go out there and pretend that your care and can work across the aisle. But, I mean, I was voted one of the most bipartisan members of Congress. I have a track record of working across the aisle, especially on veterans and military issues. And, you know, I think there's...

There's a lot to be desired. All right. Well, our thanks to Ryan Nobles for that fantastic interview. We really appreciate it. Still to come. The world's largest aircraft carrier arrives in the Caribbean in a major escalation of U.S. military operations against drug cartels as Latin American nations push back. Stay with us on Need the Press Now. Welcome back. The U.S. Navy's largest aircraft carrier. The USS Gerald Ford arrived in the Latin American region yesterday. Amid speculation the Pentagon could escalate its military operations against what it's calling narco terrorists. The military buildup in the region comes after the latest U.S. strike on an alleged drug cartel boat on Sunday, bringing the total number of reported strikes to 19 with an estimated 75 people killed. NBC News chief foreign correspondent Richard. angle is in the region and filed this report. I'm now in downtown Bogota, and people here and all across this region are now reacting to this major escalation, the arrival of the USS Gerald Ford to the region, the biggest American aircraft carrier in the U.S. Navy, and it is only adding to a... military escalation and military buildup that is already underway. There are thousands now of American soldiers and ships in addition to dozens of aircrafts and drones that are already in the region. And people here are wondering, what is the ultimate objective? Is it just to continue the airstrikes that the U.S. has been carrying out against boats, allegedly carrying drugs destined for the United States? And now the Trump administration has authorized about of those strikes, or is there a bigger objective? Is regime change in Venezuela, toppling the regime of Nicolas Maduro the real goal that President Trump has in mind? And that apparently is what the Venezuelans believe, and Nicholas Maduro's government has now ordered his armed forces to be at a maximum state of readiness, putting his country effectively in a state of emergency, saying that... 200,000 troops are now at the ready to defend against imperial aggression. But also here in Colombia, the president has taken a hard stance against the United States. For years, the Colombian military has cooperated with American drug enforcement agencies, the U.S. military to... confront narcotics. But now, because of the military buildup, because of the American strikes against boats allegedly carrying drugs, the Colombian president has announced that he is suspending cooperation with the United States. So major developments underway, major escalations as this buildup continues in Latin America. And our thanks to Richard for that report. We are back tomorrow with more Meet the Press now. There's more ahead on NBC News Now. Real talent is defined by what people can do, not where they learn to do it. So by stopping at the education section of a resume, you might throw away the perfect hire. Skills first hiring helps you see talent others miss, like more than 70 million stars, skilled through alternative routes. Let their story unfold and gain a competitive advantage.

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