Meet the Press NOW — April 8

if it's Monday house Speaker Johnson prepares to face a divided Republican caucus and a growing to-do list in Washington with Ukraine funding aid for Israel an impeachment effort and Johnson's own job all on the line plus tens of millions of Americans across 15 states bear witness to a historic total.

Solar eclipse as the Sun Moon and Earth fully aligned plunging parts of the nation into darkness we're in the path of total ity as the rare event enters its final stretch and President Biden announces a sweeping student loan forgiveness plan it could cancel thousands of dollars of debt for tens of millions of Americans as the president.

Looks to gain a much needed political boost in the race for the White House welcome to Meet the Press now imami sh send her in Washington where this week lawmakers are returning after their two-e recess but waiting for them on Capitol Hill is a long to-do list including passing critical foreign aid.

For Israel and Ukraine passing funding to rebuild the keybridge in Baltimore which President Biden has vowed the federal government will pay for as well as passing the reauthorization of a controversial surveillance program this all comes of the Republican controlled house says it will deliver its articles of impeachment against Homeland Security.

Secretary Alejandra moror to the Senate this week once again all eyes will be on house Speaker Mike Johnson as he tries to navigate a path forward on all of these issues with an increasingly narrow majority and a looming threat to Al him as Speaker Johnson has pledged to bring some sort of Ukraine Aid bill up to the house floor over Democrats though have.

Urged him to bring the senate pass version up for a vote and Ukraine president zalinsky once again urged Congress to pass Ukraine aid over the weekend he said if Congress fails to act Ukraine will lose the war now Johnson finds himself on a collision course with some Republicans in his own caucus including Georgia congresswoman Marjorie.

Taylor green she insists that if speaker Johnson brings Ukraine Aid to a vote she will move forward with her motion to remove Johnson as Speaker that vote which would only need a simple majority to pass could throw the house back into chaos the lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are signaling the votes just are not there to do that I don't think he's.

At any risk I think that that what you know what people have been referring to is the chaos caucus those individuals who are seeking attention for themselves and trying to stop all of the important work in in Congress are now seen as merely disruptive if Marjorie Taylor green or anybody else brings a motion to vacate the chair and if speaker Johnson.

Gives us a vote on Ukraine I and a whole lot of other Democrats will not support that motion no we will not remove speaker Johnson um from that you can work with him um in a way the Democrats could not work with Kevin McCarthy so yeah I think I think speaker Johnson would survive that motion joining me now is sahill kapor on.

Capitol Hill and Monica Alba she's at the White House so sahill as we said Congress is facing a super long to-do list very very long how does house Speaker Johnson plan on navigating all of this well yamish it's a lot to navigate for a speaker just over 5 months into the job facing an Ever slimming majority which is about to be.

Cut to two defections maximum two defections that Johnson will be able to spare in just a few weeks uh to pass anything without Democratic support and he's doing that with of course this threat to his job note that Marjorie Taylor green has not officially triggered this motion to vacate unlike when Matt Gates did with Kevin McCarthy.

He filed it and immediately triggered it margerie Taylor green has written this out on a piece of paper and is just kind of dangling this over his head without explicitly triggering it if she does that would be a require a vote in uh within two legislative days and that would be a certain a challenge for Johnson to keep his job there's a whole.

Litany of policy issues that Johnson is facing starting with as you pointed out Aid to Ukraine and Israel he's got a lot of Dynamics within his caucus and some changing Dynamics within the Democratic caucus to navigate there there's the Baltimore Bridge rebuild which some of his conservative members are demanding conditions on fisa Section 702 the the.

Warrantless surveillance powers that expires later this month FAA reauthorization expires next month they've been punting that again and again struggling to get a deal and a new data privacy bill that was just released uh Yesterday by a a top Republican chair in the house and a top Democratic chair in the Senate and then there a couple of.

Things the Senate is working on or at least has on its agenda including what to do about Tik Tock which the house passed uh as well as this child tax credit expansion that also pass the house it's languishing in the Senate at the moment and rail safety legislation which uh Chuck Schumer the majority leader said he wants to do all while the.

Senate is about to receive the Articles impeachment for uh mayorcas for DHS secretary Alejandra mayorcas and it's not clear that's going to go very far in the Senate not even clear there's going to be a trial and saho I mean that was just such a laundry list that you just broke down there and you did it so well but I have to also of course ask you.

About foreign aid how much has the politics of this changed given the fact that now we have this Israeli strike that killed seven world world Central Kitchen Aid workers in Gaza it's been shifting on the Democratic side for some time now yummy for several months now as uh Israel's actions in Gaza have provoked a very intense uh backlash.

Especially from progressives especially from young voters who Democrats count on and a lot of them have been hearing from them whove been you know they've been heckling them at events they've been protesting them uh outside you know their their homes and their offices and things like that so the politics for Democrats have been shifting away from.

Unconditional Aid to the Netanyahu government that's certainly going to complicate the vote count uh in the house from several months ago when Mike Johnson you know last put Israel Aid on the floor and when there was more robust support and then Johnson faces A continuing opposition to any new funding for Ukraine within certain Maga forces.

In his Coalition these are not people that he wants to upset especially in an election year uh and of course margorie Taylor green has described Ukraine Aid as kind of a red line for her something that could trigger her to force that vote on a motion to vacate as she's been a little bit Shifty on this sometimes saying it maybe can be paired with US.

Border security sometimes saying if he pairs Ukraine's border security with our own border security then she would um you know move to to try to depose him she's not been very clear on that but what is clear is that she's adamantly opposed to Ukraine Aid and there are many other Republicans who feel the same way it's something for Johnson to.

Navigate as he tries to build this fragile Coalition and Monica as we talk about Ukraine and with sahill of course President Biden is now faing so much pressure from his own party over his continued support for Israel is the president's position changing at all given this pressure that's coming now from some of his closest allies in.

Congress and how concerned is he really that there could even be political backlash from Republicans if he gives into some of those Democrats demands and does something like put conditions on military aid to Ukraine I think we're on the cusp of a potential shift in US policy here and that's because that's what the president.

Said to prime minister Netanyahu in that phone call last week he said if you don't take some steps to immediately Rectify some of the humanitarian Aid situation on the ground in Gaza and to do more work to protect those Aid workers then I will have to re-evaluate and obviously the implication there and the message according to officials that.

I've spoken with was one thing we could do is condition some of that military aid so that's not something we had ever heard from the president until this point he told the Prime Minister that he wanted to see this happen within hours and in the coming days so we are within that period of trying to determine whether Israel is doing enough when it.

Came to its commitments that it tried to say it was going to be putting in place so I think we're still in a place where it's too soon to say whether the president is actually going to do that he didn't want to condition military aid and for 6 months he hasn't wanted to do that even though there are those moderate Democrats who are pressuring.

Him to do so but the president has been the one really deciding this foreign policy and saying that he thinks he knows best how to influence Israel and that is by still completely being a staunch supporter and backing it 100% when it comes to the weapons and the military aid that it is requesting and that the US is sending there yamish I.

Also want to ask you about Ukraine the Ukrainian president vadir Linsky he is called aid from the us a quote vital need um of course it's still stalled in Congress as of right now can we expect to see President Biden try to push Congress to act on this issue and if so how's he actually planned to do that given that of course he doesn't have the.

Power to make Congress do anything he'll continue to call for this supplemental to pass that is something that the president of course has been talking about but remember that in recent weeks there was some additional funding that was discovered from the Department of Defense that was used through the presidential draw down author.

That did go to Ukraine for some critical Munitions and artillery things they really were running low on and really frankly running out of so that at least was a little bit of a stop Gap measure now there's a question about whether that could ever happen again or whether that was really the last one but the president has also committed and pledge.

That he will not let Ukraine lose this war against Russia in his words because they didn't have us support So are there potentially other options or other ways to explore any kind of funding that's an open question as well but you certainly can expect the White House will continue to push lawmakers to do in what the president believes in his words the.

Right thing here Amish certainly going to be a busy week in Washington thank you so much to sahill and Monica for your reporting let me now bring in Lieutenant General Ben Hodes former commander of US Army Europe so thank you so much for being here thank you yish now Ukraine Aid has been stalled in its fight I.

Should say Ukraine has been stalled in its fight against Russia I wonder how much the aid that is stalled in Congress how much you could it could really make a difference here when you think about the boots on the ground and what Ukraine is trying to accomplish well it would have two or three significant effects uh number one.

Obviously the kinetic effect giv ukrainians the ammunition they need to stop these uh large Russian ground attacks and also to protect the thousands of innocent ukrainians who are being attacked every night by Russian missiles and Rockets slamming into apartment buildings like the one you're showing right there but it also would.

Have a significant effect on Russia Russia is counting on the US turning its back on Ukraine uh they are hoping for a trump uh election in November so that real support for the for Ukraine will dry up that's what the Russians are counting on and so if the president were to say we want Ukraine to win and if the Congress were to pass this Aid package.

That would take a lot of the steam out of Russia's uh only hope we've also seen NATO take steps to ensure Ukraine will continue to get military aid even if former president Donald Trump returned to the White House what if that say you think about our allies and our view and their view of our commitment to them given the fact that NATO is now.

Basically saying we're going to take this step in case the Americans politics shift this this is embarrassing yish uh this tells you that um our allies are losing confidence in the United States and when they lose confidence in us we lose influence with them yes of course our European allies should do more all of them can do a lot more but you've got.

Several countries that are given a much larger share of their GDP than we are so um I think we do not want to lose the influence that we have in Europe because all of our best and most reliable allies come from Europe as well as Canada and Australia and so this this war in Ukraine is about a lot more than just Ukraine well I have to ask you what do.

You think it would take for Ukraine to win here I know you've talked about sort of what the aid could do for them what does that look like if they win yeah three things uh and thanks for asking that number one victory for Ukraine means ejection of Russia back to the 1991 internationally recognized Sovereign borders of Ukraine that.

Includes of course Crimea that could have happened this past year if we had made the commitment to help them win but that's number one number two is the provision of long range Precision weapons such as aack or the German toist that can make Crimea untenable for Russian forces and also can neutralize Russia's only Advantage which is their.

Mass because with long range Precision weapons you can destroy headquarters Logistics and artillery the third thing that they need of course is the protection of their civilian population from Russian attacks these uh illegal criminal attacks against civilian targets that are happening every night they need more air and missile defense.

To protect them and then finally Clarity from the United States for the president of the United States to say it is in our strategic interest that Ukraine defeats Russia and we're going to do everything to make sure that happens not this frankly empty phrase of we're with Ukraine for as long as it takes no nobody believes that anyway I want to.

Also turn now of course to the other big war that's happening abroad and that is of course what's going on between Israel and Hamas President Biden has told Israeli Israeli Prime Minister Ben Nan yahu that he would put conditions on US military aid if Israel didn't do more to protect civilians and humanitarian workers in Gaza do you think Israel is.

Really taking that threat seriously and what would withholding military assistance um do for Israel's fight in this war well um this this is a very tough situation for the Israelis but also for the president but it's an even tougher situation for thousand hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who were caught in this terrible conflict look um.

Hamas is a terrorist organization and all of them should burn in hell forever but the thousands of Palestinians who live there uh are caught here being used as Shields by Hamas but they are being killed by Israeli operations and the burden is on the Israelis to protect innocent people despite what a terrorist organization is doing I can't tell yet.

How much influence we've had with uh Israel and their policy um I I'm sure there is some of it but I just can't tell yet but I think it's going to require more steps from our side to tell the Israelis you can no longer use American weapons or American ammunition uh inside Gaza for example or any anywhere that um extends or enables the.

Greater Israel ideology that means illegal settlements in the West Bank uh doing anything that extends Beyond Israel's borders well something else really striking happened today Benjamin Netanyahu said that a date has been set for Israel's Invasion into Rafa and that he also said that victory for Israel.

Requires that an invasion of Rafa happened but over a million people of course have been taking shelter there so I wonder what impact do you think invading Rafa could have um when you think about the fact that there are so many people there um especially if Israel takes that step without having a serious plan to protect civilian there.

Could that impact their AG their relationship with the US I think this would be a catastrophe if Israel launches an attack into Rafa a place with thousands and thousands of innocent people uh if the Israelis continue the same sort of tactics that they've been using uh and plus I mean I think it would be almost impossible for.

The administration to continue to support Israel uh in a significant way because I mean this would be the prime minister of Israel telling the US Administration pound uh we're going to do what we have to do that's after vice president Harris has said it would be a disaster for Israel to go into Rafa for example I think that.

The problem here is that the goal that prime minister Netanyahu has set to destroy Hamas is a totally infeasible objective you cannot destroy a terrorist organization we tried for 20 years to destroy the Taliban and Al-Qaeda and Afghanistan and we never did it because you have to address the source what causes an organization like Hamas to uh.

Come come on the scene and what keeps it going and just killing your way um is not going to get it done there's going to have to be a political objective that is sustainable and of course that means a two-state solution I also want to ask you is you said you know it would be impossible for the us to continue to support Israel if they went into gafa.

Into Rafa why do you think President Biden was unable to convince Benjamin Netanyahu to not move forward with this military Invasion I think that U they are not the Israeli government this particular government is not convinced that the US would ever actually use the ultimate leverage that we have I think that they.

Are so accustomed to uh Republican administrations Democratic administrations always supporting them um that they are confident that we would never actually use the leverage that we have and I think that um if this continues on the path that it is um and again I want to be very clear what happened on October 7th horrible.

Everybody involved in that on the Hamas side should should burn in hell forever but that is no reason that's not acceptable for Israel then to use Aid that we provide and kill thousands of innocent Palestinians we're going to have to find a way to get towards a two-state solution this war is not about religion it's about.

Land well thank you so much Lieutenant General Ben Hodes thank thank you for the privilege coming up could the Sun be setting on Johnson's speakership I'll talk to a house Democrat about the leadership problems plus hello darkness my old friend will get a live report from the path of total's final us destination don't go anywhere you're.

Watching Meet the Press now welcome back as we mentioned at the top of the hour house lawmakers will have plenty on their plates when they return to C capit Hill tomorrow that includes a bill to send additional Aid to Ukraine that also includes aid for Israel and for our allies in the Indo.

Pacific but house Speaker Mike Johnson is also facing a Revolt within his own party and a slim majority and it's not clear how the speaker will proceed I'm joined Now by Congressman Adriano espat Democrat from New York and member of the House Appropriations and budget committees he's also Deputy chair of the Congressional Hispanic cockus thank you.

So much Congressman for being here thank you thank you for having me so house Speaker Johnson is meeting with members um all week on Ukraine Aid I wonder how do you think outside pressure from Republicans might affect his willingness to bring forward a bill that contains aid for Ukraine in particular I hope it doesn't impact him.

I hope he keeps through to his word that he's going to be a voice of reason uh we want to help uh Ukraine the Ukraine conflict is not just about America it's really about the European Union and its economy is about NATO uh it's about the US economies in many ways because if you have a collapse or a meltdown of the European economy it will impact the US.

Economy as well but ultimately it is about the human rights of ukrainians to uh to be able to exist their sovereignty is a stake and I think that we should stand up and help them and of course the speaker plays a vital role in making sure the help gets there they're right now rationing bullets those soldiers are aing bullets to stay alive we should.

Step up and help them and of course I'm hopeful that the magga extreme Republican wing of the party of the Republican party will not Prevail I also Congress want to ask you about Israel the recent strike that killed seven World Central Kitchen Aid workers has really highlighted divisions among your own party Democrats on US military aid.

To Israel where do you stand on this issue and in particular do you believe that there should be conditions put on Israel to get more Aid look I'm a strong supporter of Israel have will continue to be a supporter of Israel I begin this debate by saying that the hostages are still there many some of them are US citizens.

We want them back but we also got to fight for peace and uh this last uh incident where we saw the the killing of uh seven volunteers and I know Jos Andres uh he's someone that shown up uh he showed up in Puerto Rico during Maria he shows up every time there's a Calamity a crisis a a human rights crisis a a a a crisis.

That impacts the quality of life of people anywhere in the world he so doesn't distinguish one continent over the other and to have this happen is is horrible do you think that there should be conditions do you think that there should be condition there should be a code of conduct for any country that we give.

Help to now if you spoke for example about Iron Dome which is something A system that is used to uh preserve the lives of of Israelis in in Israel we saw how that work to benefit them but there should be a code of conduct uh to protect human lives across the world including in Gaza now you're saying a code of conic but specifically would you.

Vote for there to be conditions put on Aid to M to Israel I would I would continue to support the president of the United States Joe Biden and his efforts to bring about peace uh to the Middle East and I will continue to Str strong on his efforts to ensure that Netanyahu and his his government understand that it is.

Important to abide by human stability yes um and we've also in the last few days here in the last five days we've seen Israel allow additional Aid into Gaza and we've seen Israel withdraw some troops from Southern Gaza do you think that that's a direct result of President Biden's firmer tone with Benjamin Netanyahu I believe so and I believe.

That that's a start for a a good conversation but there must be another uh component to that as well and that is the hostages and we saw grave mobilization in Israel just recently uh uh Israeli citizens uh in the streets saying that they want their those hostages back home and that they must be front and center in any.

Negotiations uh that that is uh being conducted right now the other component I think is that there's clear Hamas is a horrible terrorist organization and and we have to the world has to take a stand uh on this issue because I think we cannot continue to move forward in peace either in the Middle East or other parts of the world.

We saw what happened even in Russia with organizations like Hamas under command yeah the Biden Administration I want to turn to another issue here of course the Biden Administration announced an extension of work permits for certain categories of immigrants you advocated last year for work permits for some groups of immigrants are you happy with.

The administration's progress on this issue and do you wish the White House maybe even moved a little faster here well I think uh very often uh we uh get into an immigration debate that's very sophisticated and complicated right but a work permit is a simple concept right we're not even talking here about a p a pathway to citizenship a temporary.

Protected status for that matter or anything else some the other components of the immigration debate a simple simple concept a work permit so someone could leave their house in peace know that they're going to get back home and they're going to provide for their families they're not going to be a loow in government and they will help the.

Economy in fact the Congressional budget office just revealed that uh the immigration Dynamic will help the economy by a trillion dollars in the next 10 years so immigration is still very much synonymous with good economics and I think that we should look at that way and let's start just with a simple concept a work permit yeah I also want.

To ask you about because there's so much that Congress is going on and dealing with um if speaker Johnson were to deal with a possible motion to vacate would you vote to keep him in his job as a Democrat I will vote for Hakeem Jeff for speaker I think that he is someone that speaker Johnson should have a conversation with uh he seems to be a.

Leader that brings everybody together that even uh with folks that maybe have traditional differences with one issue or the other somehow he's able to bring them together so I will be casting my vote for hakeim Jeff I hear you I hear you Congressman thank you so much for joining us thank you thank you so much and coming up Dancing in the Dark of the.

Total solar eclipse we're live in Maine where people have gathered to get the last glimpse of the rare event you're watching Meet the Press now welcome back Today's total solar eclipse across the United States is now out to see but not before millions of Americans had the opportunity to engage with.

Science and culture in a profound way from Texas to Maine people took off from school and work and put on their special glasses for the lucky ones in totality this was a chance to witness a rare perfect alignment of the Sun the Moon and the Earth bringing Fleet in darkness during the day totality stretched from parts of Mexico 15 US states and Eastern.

Canada and the rest of us got to witness the partial eclipse if you missed today's excitement you've got some time to plan the next total solar eclipse for the continental US will take place over parts of North Dakota and Montana in 2044 there will be a coast to coast eclipse the following year NBC News senior National correspondent Kate snow.

Is in Holton Maine which was one of the last spots in the US to experience this eclipse in its totality so Kate I'm so jealous of where you are right now because that's amazing so tell me a little bit about how the weather um did today for today's big announcement and big event rather you know I you I guess y you can't see the sky right now behind.

Me because I'm I'm in the plaza here in Holton downtown U but Blue Sky absolute Sunshine not a single cloud in the sky and that meant that we had a near perfect view I would say a perfect view of the solar eclipse and and particularly the totality when it went totally dark here and we were looking up at the sky it was completely on.

Inspiring but let me play you a little bit of sound just moments before that as the crowd here 6,000 people live here and thousands more came in and listen to how they counted down 6 5 4 3 2 1.

Can we take our glasses off yes take your glasses off oh my gosh wow there's Venus there's Jupiter there's Mars where are you seeing Venus the star oh yeah down below these are planets you can see planets in the sky these are planets that is the total solar oh it is beautiful it is stunning you noce.

The yeah it's yamish it's hard to put into words what it feels like um it is a inspiring it is this moment where everybody comes together I think and is witnessing the exact same thing and we feel I felt anyway so small right as part of just this bigger whole picture um and just to let you know about Holton I mentioned it's a small City 6,000.

People here live here permanently they've never ever had an event like this they spent years planning just for today to make sure they would be ready and to to they're a warm welcoming people and they wanted to host people and that's exactly what happened a lot of folks I talked to today we're going to go to Texas and when they saw the.

Weather forecast they decided to come to Little Holton Maine yum it was just so amazing to hear people really exclaiming saying wow and to see your face I should say you looked like it was amazing to you in particular so I want to ask of course how did today's Eclipse compare to the one in August 2017 well you know I I was in 2017 I was.

In Oregon in the middle of the desert in the high desert with my whole family Amish so I had like 20 of my family my parents my brother my sister all of our kids kids so there was a very different experience for me personally I wasn't covering it as a as a reporter but the the awe that I felt this the feelings that you saw in my face that was the.

Same and I have to tell you I'm almost tempted to go to the next eclipse a couple years from now there's one that's going to go through Spain maybe you and I could book tickets together and we could go to Spain for the next one right that would be fun definitely pitching that idea as soon as I get off here Kate so thank you so much all.

Right and still ahead former president Donald Trump making good on his promise to formally take a position on abortion rights his comments The Fallout and why what he didn't say is getting the most attention you're watching Meet the Press now welcome back we have some new developments in the multiple legal cases.

Facing former president Trump with just a week too until his first criminal trial is set to begin Donald Trump's lawyers have filed a last minute appeal to delay the hush money trial case Trump is challenging the partial gag order against him and he argues holding the trial in Manhattan would be unfair due to potential jury bias against him and.

Earlier today judge aen Cannon scheduled a new hearing for Trump's codefendants in the classified documents case but we are still waiting to see when the trial will actually begin J judge Canon is widely expected to move the current May 20th start date today is also the due date for special Council Jack Smith's brief to the Supreme Court on Trump's.

Presidential immunity case or arguments for that case are expected to kick off later this month joining me now for more is NBC News justice and intelligence correspondent Ken delanian Ken thanks for being here of course it's that laundry list of cases are there but we'll start with Jack Smith's brief to the Supreme Court which is due today are.

We expecting anything new out of it that's hard to know am we certainly expect him to make the same argument he made when he originally asked the Supreme Court to hear this case on a fast track back in February remember Smith said then that quote the president's alleged criminal scheme to overturn an election and thwart the.

Peaceful transfer of power to his successor should be the last place to recognize a novel form of absolute immunity from Federal Criminal Law I'll be watching actually for whether the special Council addresses a possible concern for some conservative justices on the high court which is the sweeping nature of the DC appeals court ruling.

Saying that presidents enjoy no immunity whatsoever for official acts they take while in office some scholars believe the court may decide that there are in fact things a president does that should not be second guessed by a prosecutor then of course Jack Smith would argue that Mr Trump's alleged schemes to overturn the election were not.

Presidential acts but the Supreme Court could in theory instruct the trial judge to rule on that question which could then be appealed which would be another recipe for delay you talk about the appeals process how long does the Trump team have to file their reply before we get to oral arguments at the end of the month it's due on April 15th which is.

Both tax day uh and the day that the state of New York's criminal trial against Mr Trump begins wow we also have some news around the special counsel report into President Biden the doj saying that it will not release the audio of his interview with Robert H so what more do we know about that decision yeah the doj in a letter to the.

Committee today said that the committee hadn't demonstrated a need for the audio recording of the interview given that the transcript has already been made public the doj said it was concerned that quote the committee's interests may not be in receiving information in service of legitimate oversight or investig at functions but to serve.

Political purposes that should have no role in the treatment of law enforcement files I should point out though Amish that news organizations including NBC News are seeking access to that audio because we believe it's a public record and we think the justice department doesn't have a right to withhold it we believe that audio could add context to.

The transcript and to the question of whether special Council Rob her accurately characterized President Biden's memory lapses and mental capacity during that interview yish Ken thanks so much for juggling all these legal cases first us as always you bet turning now to the issue of abortion as former president Trump has tried to.

Avoid taking any firm position on the key 2024 issue despite weeks of hinting at support for a 15 or even 16we Federal abortion ban in a video released on social media this morning Donald Trump did not mention a national ban at all instead he repeated familiar talking points many people have asked me what my position is on abortion and abortion.

Rights especially since I was proudly the person responsible for the ending of something that all legal Scholars both sides wanted and in fact demanded be ended row v Wade my view is now that we have abortion where everybody wanted it from a legal standpoint the states will determine by Vote or legislation or perhaps both like ronal Reagan I am.

Strongly in favor of exceptions for rape incest and life of the mother you must follow your heart of this issue but remember you must also win elections to restore our culture and in fact to save our country now despite Donald Trump's claims polls show that the majority of Americans disapprove of the do's.

Decision and abortion access is broadly popular with the American public with 70% of Americans saying it should be legal in all or most cases in the latest marquet poll NBC News correspondent Dasha Burns joins me on set for more so Dasha thanks for being here so we saw Donald Trump release this four minute V video laying out his his stance on.

Abortion do we have a clearer picture though of exactly where he stand he's had a lot of different stances here but what do we what did we learn from this video today yes and no in terms of that Clarity question I mean prior to this video he had been sort of testing out 15 16 weeks he was talking in interviews saying you know a lot of people say.

People are finding consensus at 15 or 16 weeks there was some New York Times reporting around uh that being Something He was discussing privately uh but that is not what this video talked about there was a lot of speculation we knew this was coming a lot of people thought that perhaps he would come out with something on the national level but here.

He is sticking to uh the state's rights Direction however he did not answer the question which I'm sure he's going to be asked whether or not he would sign a federal abortion ban if that were to land on his desk that question is not put to bed uh and there are so many issues surrounding abortion and Reproductive Rights that a lot of people.

Still have questions about there are a lot of questions as you said especially because former president Trump is a resident of Florida and that state is set to have a six- week abortion ban go into effect on May 1st so is he going to have to take a position on the abortion ban that's happening in the state that he lives I don't know if he will take a.

Position but he's certainly going to be asked on top of that in Florida that's one of the states putting the question to the people the Supreme Court there just approved a constitutional uh Amendment question for their ballot in November so people will actually be able to cast their votes to decide whether or not to enshrine the right to an abortion.

In the state constitution uh former president Trump of course a resident of Florida so how will he vote on that I also wonder Democrats have really tried to seize on the issue that the GOP isn't coalescing on one message one unified message around abortion does Trump's announcement today does that does that connect with all of that is that going.

To impact the way the Democrats are going to be able to go after Republicans on this issue well you're already seeing the Fallout from this where you have uh folks on the left President Biden saying look he's uh saying he's proud that he uh overturned Row versus Wade he's on the wrong side of this issue at the same time you have folks on his right Lindsey.

Graham this Susan uh B Anthony the pro- life the anti-abortion organization saying that they're disappointed in this position from the former president but I think he is kind of tuning out that noise right now this is from the reporting that I've done this is an issue that has been top of Mind a key part of that message in that video he.

Said follow your heart but it's important to win and he knows that this has been a losing issue for Republicans that the 2022 midterms even some of the candidates he himself endorsed he was very frustrated with the positions that they took on abortion so for him it's less about um the the fundamentals and the philosophy and more about the.

Message the rhetoric and whether or not this could be the Achilles heal for the GOP and there's this issue that you said where he's tuning out some people that are in favor of this restricting abortion is it because he thinks maybe he doesn't need them in this general election or that they really have no place to go anyways I mean I think what.

You what you just said at the end there I mean even in some of those statements including from Susan banthony at the end they said you know we are not going to support uh President Biden we're going to do everything we can to make sure he doesn't win this election so they can speak out now and say you know we wanted him to take a different position but at.

The end they don't have a lot of places to go yeah well a lot of questions to still answer thank you so much josha for being here and up next President Biden trying to steal some sunshine on this Monday we'll ask our panel if the new student loan debt relief plan will provide array of Hope come November you're watching Meet the Press.

now really what was your degree was that lot welcome back this afternoon President Biden announced a sweeping new student loan forgiveness plan it comes less than a year after the Supreme Court rejected his first attempt to cancel the president called the relief quote life changing married tens of.

Millions tens of millions of people's debt was literally about to get cancelled but then some of my Republican friends and elected officials and special interest sued us and the Supreme Court blocked us but that didn't well that didn't stop us no I mean it sincerely we continue to find Alternatives P to reduce student debt.

Payments that are not challengeable and altogether my Administration has taken the most significant action to provide student debt relief ever in history of this country the White House hopes this narrower plan with a different law as its justification Will Survive legal.

Challenges and Democrats hope that forgiving student loan debt will also help them particularly with young voters in November in all three of our decider focus groups voters in Pennsylvania North Carolina and Michigan said the president's efforts on student loans resonated well well for me it's it's um it comes down to this whole thing with.

Student loans who can name at least one thing President Biden has achieved while in office something that President Biden himself would say is an achievement Todd uh student loan reduction Andrea yeah student loan forgiveness Mary student loan forgiveness anybody there anything you like about President Biden student loan.

Forgiveness I was going to say the same thing as Michelle student forgiveness okay hold on a second so if President Biden comes through with student loan forgiveness you might vote for him okay so literally it's that kind of thought process yes because as of now it's nothing he's not doing nothing for me personally to where I feel like I.

Want to give him my vote again striking so joining me now is our panel Benji Starin Washington bureau chief for Su for the former Democratic congressman from Maryland Donna Edward she is also an NBC News political analyst and Republican strategist Matt Gorman he recently worked on the presidential.

Campaign of Senator Tim Scott saeni I want to start with you uh I mean I can't stress enough how much I heard even from Republicans and Democrats that student loan debt forgiveness was the thing that they saw as an accomplishment for President Biden but of course this new plan it could get caught up in legal challenges again so I wonder how much is.

This the president wanting to just be caught trying and how much of this is maybe them really trying to do something well it's a mix of both he needs to show he's made real sub substantive gains on this for people to believe that you know he's doing it I mean one thing we've seen in addition those focus groups is for every one of those you have someone.

On Twitter or on Tik Tok driving their white ass you crazy complaining about what has Biden ever done for us on student loans and they say we're trying we've done all these things but part of the reason they're holding these events is that a lot of what they've done is either stuff people don't quite realize exists option they don't realize exists.

A lot of this is about making things automatic and just publicizing it more and also that they don't connect it to Biden that it's like now I'm paying 5% of my income instead of 10% of my income on you know loan payments but I have no idea that that's because the White House made a decision so they really have to communicate the change at every.

Opportunity is what they really are going for here and congresswoman Edward just this idea though that if this all backfires and people see him try but fail I wonder could that hurt the president in the long one could that hurt Democrats if they're seeing it is doing something that ultimately gets blocked in the court well look I think.

It is important for the president to try and look already he's already uh cancelled or forgiven about $146 billion dollar in student loans the challenge though for the president is it hasn't benefited enough people and so this announcement that he's just made will benefit something like over 30 million people that is a wide swath of people.

Who will benefit from these various programs and I think that will help them get the message out that he's doing something I want to stick with you for a minute congresswoman because there's also this issue of while he was making this announcement there were protesters and they were focused on Gaza and the civilian casualties there I wonder what.

H what you make of that the fact that he's trying to say I'm doing this thing on student loan forgiv but there are a lot of young voters and also African-American voters that I've interviewed who say yeah but you need to take a better stance on Gaza I really can't get behind you well young people like most Americans are not single-issue.

Voters and so I do think that um when it comes down to it between uh Gaza I think the president does and the administration does have to do more to hold Israel accountable for uh civilian casualties I think that's what these um young people are demanding young people uh African-American people people of color are demanding um but I think the.

Combination of doing something on student loans taking the positive step around abortion rights and then um you know trying to wrap his head around what to do around Israel and Gaza I think can make a real difference to some of these voters I don't think it's a secret either we saw news over the weekend Politico that Biden is losing ground.

Among younger voters specifically minority younger voters too I'm sure they're seeing the same thing probably earlier in their internal surveys so I don't think this timing is a coincidence either on that front also when you talk about timing though he was speaking during the solar eclipse now of course I'm sure that you know maybe the two.

Aren't related but you know there is that timing what do you make of that well as a cons person you got to try and get it out a little before I mean look I don't think it was it was a coincidence Trump put his abortion statement out early enough in the morning but with enough time though that there was time to cover it before the eclipse if I.

Always wanted to dump some negative information I would put it out what time was did it hit around the DC area about 3:30 I would have put it out right at 3 310 or so well the president's news actually did come out earlier in the day and got tons of coverage even though his statement came later in the day I think their timing is okay well Benji what do.

You what do you make of this this idea that this abortion Announcement by Donald Trump um came out today especially because he's been facing pressure because there abortion has has been seen as an issue that could be a liability for him well you see the difficulty uh of trying to please everyone on this.

Issue which Trump keeps saying he's doing he keeps promising some big compromise that everyone agrees on that everyone will love um justtin the reactions today and why he might want to bury it under say an eclipse I mean obviously you have Biden and the Democrats they're not going to let up their criticism of the fact that as they.

Keep mentioning an ad after ad even a new one today it's Donald Trump's Court appointments that ended roie Wade and put us in this situation in the first place but on the other hand you're seeing some of the most spirited criticism from the right that you really ever see of Donald Trump I mean Mike Pence who is not voting for him already.

For some fairly personal reasons put out just an absolutely scathing statement saying this is a slap in the in the face to pro-life voters some of the leading anti-abortion groups were unusually critical of trump for this he's just caught from all sides on this that's sure I want to play some sound for you Matt of where Donald Trump has been on.

The issue of abortion take a listen I'm very pro-choice I hate the concept of abortion I hate it I hate everything it stands for I cringe when I listen to people debating the subject but you still I just believe in choice just very briefly I'm prolife do you believe in do you believe in punishment for abortion.

Yes or no is a principle the answer is that there has to be some form of punishment for the woman yeah it has to be some form we're going to agree to a number of weeks or months or however you want to Define it at the federal level uh it could be state or it could be Federal I don't frankly care I don't frankly care federal or.

State so I wonder when you look at all of that that he said but most recently of course he was the the president who put the conservative justices on the Supreme Court that eventually overturn roie Wade what do you make of of this shifting position and can he really still shift given what happened at the Supreme Court under his watch I I feel.

Like I'm back in like 2015 2016 when I was working for Jeb Bush and trying to pitch stories about his his positions in abortion nobody really cared back then um but I will say this there's no politician who read polls as part of their stum speech really other than Donald Trump so I think other he knows polls I think more acutely than any any.

Other politician what I'll say is this you know Benji is right he has gotten some blowback on the right on this but look this was this is the one of the few issues that Tim Scott during his campaign that we attacked Trump on for for being kind of moderate on abortion that we viewed and so you see hear this a little bit too I think it's going to.

Come down to really this campaign there's really two is issues that one side feels like they're winning on and the other side that getting attacked on it doesn't want to talk about abortion certainly against the Republicans by way the Democrats and immigration on the other side too and who can win that argument is going to tell a lot and.

Congressman I want to ask you do you think that the Biden Administration is able to connect Donald Trump in the way that they want to to this issue of abortion there was a Fox News poll out that said only 1% of people saw saw overturning roie Wade as his biggest accomplishment 2% though said it was his biggest failure so there's real issues.

There what do you make of that well except that if you look at what's happened on state ballots in an election since um dos was overturned uh row was overturned that you actually do see that the electorate really cares about that and they identify that as Donald Trump's responsibility and frankly the administration doesn't have to do a lot.

They just use Donald Trump's own words uh to Define where he has been and where he is on abortion he can't on one hand take credit for overturning roie Wade and then on the other hand uh position in self as a moderate on some of these issues and I think the electorate is going to see that yeah an irony of this is that for a long time especially early.

On in that cycle you're talking about in 2016 um Trump's big weak spot was with the right on abortion it was trying especially while roie Wade was a lot of land it was trying to convince him he was one of them so he's trained himself and was still doing it today to just constantly brag about how he's against roie Wade and now how proud he is to.

Have gotten rid of it and Democrats have been banking all that footage you're going to have hundreds of millions of dollars to make sure that every voter is at least seen the clips of trump himself taking credit and Matt there's also of course the issue of IVF Trump mentioned it very quickly in this video but do you think that that is a a sort of liability.

For Republicans going into this well look I mean when you talk about having to answer for these at the state level these are some of the issues that trickle out and and whether you're Congressional candidate Senate candidate you are going to have to start talking about these things you know the it'll flow down hill so to speak so these are.

The sorts of things if if I'm back at the nrcc running Communications you have to then talk about when you get asked about IVF and about your abortion you have to start for figuring these answers Trump can say it can be a state issue but eventually somebody have the answer for it but Donna I talked to so many women in Alabama in particular.

Republicans they have lasting Trauma from their doctors telling them sorry hold on we got to wait for the legislator let you build your family do you think what how do you think that's going to impact the election well I think that what voters can see is that it really does trickle down and every single time that Donald Trump goes to.

Take credit or um to disabuse himself the idea of abortion abortion rights voters really step up and they just go this doesn't make sense to me so I think it's going to reverberate from the top of the ticket all the way down to the bottom yeah well thank you so much Benji Donna Matt thank you for being here and we'll be back tomorrow with more Meet.

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