{"id":205855,"date":"2026-03-30T09:05:45","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T09:05:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/meet-the-press-march-29-2026-nbc-news\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T09:05:45","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T09:05:45","slug":"meet-the-press-march-29-2026-nbc-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/meet-the-press-march-29-2026-nbc-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet the Press – March 29, 2026 – NBC News"},"content":{"rendered":"

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KRISTEN WELKER:
This Sunday: Rising risks. More U.S. forces head to the Middle East as markets tumble and oil prices rise.
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
This war has been won.
KRISTEN WELKER:
And uncertainty grows over President Trump\u2019s next move in Iran.
SEC. PETE HEGSETH:
We negotiate with bombs.
SEC. MARCO RUBIO:
We can achieve all of our objectives without ground troops.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Is the U.S. seeking a diplomatic deal or preparing for a ground war?
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
They are begging to make a deal, not me. In the meantime we\u2019ll keep blowing them up away
KRISTEN WELKER:
My guests this morning: Republican Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma and Democratic Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey. Plus: Holding pattern. House Republicans reject a Senate deal to fund the Department of Homeland Security as airport security chaos and safety concerns grow.
SPEAKER MIKE JOHNSON:
This gambit that was done last night is a joke.
KRISTEN WELKER:
And: Public pushback. Tens of thousands across the country take to the streets to protest the policies of the Trump administration. Joining me for insight and analysis are: NBC News Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent Andrea Mitchell, New York Times White House Correspondent Tyler Pager, Republican strategist Sara Fagen and Adrienne Elrod, former senior adviser to the Harris campaign. Welcome to Sunday, it\u2019s Meet the Press.
ANNOUNCER:
From NBC News in Washington, the longest-running show in television history, this is Meet the Press with Kristen Welker.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Good Sunday morning. As the United States marks one month mark of war with Iran
New details emerged late Friday of more U.S Service members injured this time in an Iranian attack on a Saudi air base. 13 U.S. service members have been killed, and more than 300 wounded since the conflict began 4 weeks ago. All of it comes as President Trump considers sending thousands more troops to the region and continues to leave open the possibility of putting U.S. boots on the ground. Meanwhile, the status of negotiations between Washington and Tehran remains unclear.
[BEGIN TAPE]
SEC. MARCO RUBIO: We\u2019ve had an exchange of messages and indications from the Iranian system, whatever\u2019s left of it, about a willingness to talk about certain things. We\u2019re waiting for further clarification about who are we allowed \u2014 Who is it that we would be talking to? What will we be talking about? And when will we be talking?
[END TAPE]
KRISTEN WELKER:
Adding to the uncertainty \u2014 President Trump\u2019s original 48 hour deadline for Iran to open the strait of Hormuz has now slipped twice, first to five days and now to 10. With no clear end and no obvious off ramp to end the war, markets are feeling the strain. The Dow Jones and Nasdaq both entering correction territory this week, and globally, the price of oil hitting 112 dollars a barrel, up 55 percent since the war began. Meanwhile, President Trump continues to insist Iran is \u201cbegging\u201d to make a deal.
[BEGIN TAPE]
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
They are begging to make a deal. Not me. They are begging to make a deal. I say they are lousy fighters but they\u2019re great negotiators, and they are begging to work out a deal. They want to make a deal. The reason they want to make a deal is they have been just beat the s***
[END TAPE]
KRISTEN WELKER:
And joining me now is Republican Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma. Senator Lankford, welcome back to Meet the Press.
SEN. JAMES LANKFORD:
Hey, thanks for having me back again. Good Palm Sunday morning to you.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Good Palm Sunday morning to you. Thank you for being here. I want to start off by talking about the war with Iran, Senator. President Trump continues to insist that the United States is winning. Take a listen to a little bit of what he had to say this week.
[BEGIN TAPE]
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:
I mean, we\u2019ve won. You know, you never like to say too early you won. We won. In the first hour it was over. But we won. I think we\u2019ve won. We\u2019ve knocked out their Navy, their Air Force. We\u2019ve knocked out their anti-aircraft. We\u2019ve knocked out everything. This war has been won.
[END TAPE]
KRISTEN WELKER:
Senator Lankford, do you agree with President Trump that the United States has, in fact, won the war?
SEN. JAMES LANKFORD:
We are won or winning, there is no question about that. Of the major features of this was to be able to stop their production of ballistic missiles, of one-way attack drones, to be able to take out their capability to attack Americans and our allies in the region. To be able to stop their nuclear program development, to be able to halt that. And then to be able to try to take down their navy so that they can\u2019t endlessly shut down the Strait of Hormuz over and over again. Obviously there is still work to be done. It\u2019s not over by any means. But if you want to talk about the military objectives, just about every one of those objectives have been hit, and have been hit early.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Well, let\u2019s unpack that a little bit. And let\u2019s start with the regime that is in power. Because of course the supreme leader was killed. It\u2019s believed his son has taken over \u2014 and, arguably, more hard-line than his father even was. Is it a victory for the U.S. if the war ends with this regime still in power, senator?
SEN. JAMES LANKFORD:
Well, to be clear, we\u2019ve yet to see the new Supreme Leader anywhere in public or to make any kind of public statement. So we\u2019re not sure 100% about that yet. But the administration\u2019s focus has been very clear: this has been about taking out their nuclear program, stopping their terrorism, their ballistic missile program, and reopening the Strait of Hormuz permanently. We\u2019re going to have to work with whatever leader is there. Iran is not going to bring in Thomas Jefferson to be able to lead Iran, though it\u2019d be great to be able to see that for the people of Iran, to be able to have that kind of freedom. It will be a different type of regime than what we would select here in America. But it will be important for us to be able to have at least someone who\u2019s not trying to kill us every day. Remembering that for 47 years this regime has been attacking Americans at every opportunity they can possibly get, whether it\u2019s Marine barracks in Lebanon, whether it\u2019s Houthis attacking just ships randomly coming across their coast, Iran has been focused on trying to be able to carry out their acts of terrorism. Every base that we have in the region there is a base there because of the threat of Iran. This is not a new threat. This has been a threat for almost five decades now. And President Trump is just determined it\u2019s going to stop. \u201cYou\u2019re going to stop trying to threaten and kill Americans.\u201d
KRISTEN WELKER:
Let\u2019s talk about the missile program \u2014 you raised that. Reuters is reporting that the U.S. can only confirm the destruction of about a third of Iran\u2019s missile arsenal, which is significantly less than the 90% or more that the administration says that it\u2019s destroyed. Do you think it\u2019s a victory if the war ends with less than 100% of Iran\u2019s missile program destroyed?
SEN. JAMES LANKFORD:
Yeah, there\u2019s a difference between the missiles and the missile launchers. We\u2019ve been actually going after missile launchers. You can\u2019t launch a missile if you don\u2019t have the launcher itself. So the focus from the administration from the very beginning is, yes, taking out their production capability for missiles and all of their industrial infrastructure for that. But taking out one by one the launchers so they can\u2019t actually launch these missiles at us and our allies.
KRISTEN WELKER:
As you know, there\u2019s a lot of discussion, Senator, about what exactly is going to happen next. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that he believes it is possible to meet all of the military objectives without putting U.S. boots on the ground. Do you agree with that assessment?
SEN. JAMES LANKFORD:
Yeah, it\u2019s hard to be able to tell. We should be able to do that for what the American objectives were, and still remain. That is taking out their nuclear program, stopping the terrorist threats on it, and reopening the Strait of Hormuz on it. But I would tell you, the president\u2019s actually bringing ground troops \u2014 he\u2019s got 5,000 Marines coming in. He has the folks from the 82nd Airborne. He is creating contingencies to put pressure on Iran to be able to finish the negotiation, to say, \u201cWe are capable of doing more, and doing what the United States military alone in the world can actually do.\u201d So I don\u2019t fault the president for being able to put additional pressure on Iran saying, \u201cCome to the table. Let\u2019s get this done\u201d. No one wants a war, and you certainly don\u2019t want a battle against the United States of America, the strongest, most moral fighting force in the world. So I think the president\u2019s right to be able to put troops in the area and to be able to ratchet up the pressure on Iran to make a deal.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Let me follow up with you on that point. The Wall Street Journal announcing they could be preparing some 10,000 troops to be deployed to the region. Would you support the President putting U.S. boots on the ground in Iran, Senator?
SEN. JAMES LANKFORD:
Well, that, that is a different story. We\u2019ve got to be able to know what the objectives are and what they\u2019re actually carrying out. So to be very clear on this, the worst thing that could happen is to be able to have this kind of conflict start, and to not end it \u2014 to leave it undone. We\u2019ve got to be able to finish this. Again, almost five decades Iran has been attacking Americans at every single chance that they have, at any moment through their allies in the region, through all these terrorist proxies that they have in Iraq, uh, and all the way through Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis. They\u2019re going to continue to be able to come after us until we make them stop. The focus here is to be able to stop them from attacking us, and to make sure it does not restart again.
KRISTEN WELKER:
So you say it is a different story when we\u2019re talking about U.S. boots on the ground. Let me ask you bluntly, Senator, do you believe President Trump would need congressional approval if he, in fact, does want to put U.S. boots on the ground in Iran?
SEN. JAMES LANKFORD:
If we have a longstanding war that\u2019s happening, go back again to what happened in Iraq or in Afghanistan, yes. If this is to protect Americans and to be able to make sure that we\u2019re in there for a season, and we\u2019re stopping and getting out, that\u2019s very, very different. So again this is all contingent \u2014 it\u2019s an interesting question to be able to talk about on the political side. But really, the focus needs to be on, how do we make them stop attacking us? That\u2019s the main focus. The president has the authority to be able to prevent someone from attacking us. That is what he\u2019s doing right now. If we\u2019re going to have a longstanding occupation, that\u2019s a very different issue. But I don\u2019t think that is even what President Trump is even talking about. We\u2019re not trying to be able to go in and to be able to occupy the country, or to be able to have a longstanding, long-term war. No one wants to see that. So I\u2019m looking forward to us getting this mission complete and getting out of there.
KRISTEN WELKER:
I just want to put a fine point on what you\u2019re saying, though. You are not ruling out supporting the President putting U.S. troops on the ground if he deems that necessary.
SEN. JAMES LANKFORD:
That, that depends on what boots we\u2019re putting on the ground in that sense. If this is special forces to be able to carry out a specific operation, get in, get out, that\u2019s very different than longstanding occupation.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Okay, you talk about Congress\u2019s role. I want to play a little bit of what President Trump said this week as it relates to congressional oversight. Take a look.
[BEGIN TAPE]
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
We have a thing called a war, or as they would rather say, a military operation. It\u2019s for legal reasons I say, because there\u2019s a military operation I don\u2019t need any approvals. As a war you\u2019re supposed to get approval from Congress, something like that. So I call it a military operation.
[END TAPE]
KRISTEN WELKER:
Do you agree that as long as President Trump calls it a military operation he doesn\u2019t need congressional approval?
SEN. JAMES LANKFORD:
No, I would say the people of Iran believe this is a war. There\u2019s no question about that. The, the key focus will be when the supplemental request comes in for additional funding from the White House to say, \u201cOkay, we need additional funding to be able to carry this forward.\u201d That\u2019s the moment that Congress always engages. So this, this moment is about protecting the American people that have been under attack from Iran and its regime for decades now. When additional funding request comes in, Congress will have to speak at that moment to be able to talk about how far, what the plans are, what we\u2019re going to do. Just to put one other fine point, America\u2019s problem is not with the Iranian people, it\u2019s with the regime that is dominating the Iranian people right now. They\u2019ve killed tens of thousands of their own people. They dominate them, they cut off the internet, they cut off all access to the outside world. They crush protesters, they, they hang teenagers for protesting. I mean, they-this is a brutal regime that hates its own people and dominates its own people, much less what they\u2019re doing to the rest of the world. So it is a good thing to be able to have some-someone to step in and to be able to stop them from attacking us. But it also leaves an opportunity for hope for the Iranian people to one day live in peace.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Let me ask you, the administration is temporarily waving sanctions on Russia and Iranian oil to try to ease the supply shock the war has caused. I want to play for you something that President Zelenskyy of Ukraine had to say to our Raf Sanchez about what the sanctions relief means to Russia from his perspective. Take a look at this exchange.
[BEGIN TAPE]
PRES. VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY:
But now if sanctions are lifted, and he will get more money, much more money, he will put this money to the weapons.
[END TAPE]
KRISTEN WELKER:
Is President Putin the big winner here with this sanctions relief by the Trump administration?
SEN. JAMES LANKFORD:
No, President Putin\u2019s certainly not the big winner here. He\u2019s a dictator and a thug in that area, and is brutally attacking his neighbors. One of the things that the United States and President Trump has taken out is the ability for Iran to be able to provide these one-way attack drones to Russia. Remember, Russia\u2019s major weapon has been these one-way attack drones provided by Iran. So the United States has taken out those production facilities, so Iran can\u2019t provide weapons anymore to Russia. To be clear, the sanctions that were lifted on the oil were the sanctions that were on ships in the water. President Trump\u2019s trying to be able to manage a global shock to oil prices worldwide, while we\u2019re also trying to be able to take out a terrorist regime in Iran. This is a very difficult balancing act.
KRISTEN WELKER:
But Senator, do you support lifting those sanctions against Russia, what President Zelenskyy sees effectively as a reward for Russia?
SEN. JAMES LANKFORD:
Right. It\u2019s not a reward for Russia by any means. What President Trump is trying to do is to be able to deal with just trying to be able to get oil that\u2019s already on the water. So no, President Trump is not unilaterally lifting sanctions on Russia. They have a tremendous number of sanctions on them, and they should have a tremendous number of sanctions on them. They are a brutal regime.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Senator, I do want to move to this funding fight on Capitol Hill. The Department of Homeland Security isn\u2019t being funded. On Friday the Senate unanimously \u2014 I don\u2019t have to tell you this \u2014 passed a measure that House Republicans rejected. It would\u2019ve funded DHS, it wouldn\u2019t have funded ICE and CBP. Why aren\u2019t Republicans on the same page about how to reopen the government?
SEN. JAMES LANKFORD:
Yeah, this is a difficult issue on it. Because we\u2019re dealing with Democrats right now that do not want to fund ICE and CBP. They want to go back to our open borders, they don\u2019t want to have enforcement in the interior of the country. But that is \u2013
KRISTEN WELKER:
\u2014But the Democrats did support the Senate measure, Senator. They did support the Senate measure.
SEN. JAMES LANKFORD:
They did support, they did support\u2013they did support the Senate measure. But you remember, there wasn\u2019t any new funding for ICE or for CBP. Now, I would tell you, Kristen, last summer in the One Big Beautiful Bill we actually included additional funding for ICE and CBP. We pre-funded ICE and CBP because we knew there would be a day that Democrats would not want to fund ICE or CBP at all. So last summer we pre-funded them completely for the next three years, so that we would not have a moment like this. The DHS funding bill for the last five years has been the hardest bill to be able to pass through Congress. It\u2019s been blocked over and over and over again by Democrats. We knew this was not going to get easier, so we pre-funded all that money, so when we got to the negotiations, and at the end of it, it couldn\u2019t make progress and everything, we determined, okay, we\u2019re going to just use the funding. We\u2019ve already set aside last summer to be able to fund ICE and CBP for the rest of the time. But let\u2019s get everything else in DHS open. What Democrats were asking for for ICE and CBP on their, quote-unquote, \u201creforms,\u201d were absolutely absurd. They asked for things, for instance, like ICE could not be at polling places. Well, if you\u2019re not legally present you shouldn\u2019t be voting in America. But Democrats were demanding that ICE agents would not go to a polling place. They were demanding body-worn cameras, which we were fine with and said, \u201cYes, absolutely. Let\u2019s add funding for body-worn cameras.\u201d Then they brought back language and said, \u201cWell, the footage can only be used to be able to prosecute agents. They can\u2019t be used to actually prosecute anyone else on the film.\u201d That is, anyone else that would actually be not legally present in the country. There were so many different rules they tried to put on everything, that made it unreasonable. Even limiting where Border Control could even function in the country, limiting to a very narrow strip right along the border and saying, \u201cThat\u2019s the only place Border Patrol can go.\u201d It has been a very, very frustrating negotiation. We just want to get DHS back open again.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Senator, just to be very clear, though, the Senate vote was unanimous. It seems like Republicans are not on the same page here. But let me ask you, big picture, because you\u2019re a member of both the Homeland Security and Intelligence Committees. Federal officials have been warning about the war with Iran creating a heightened threat environment in this country. Republicans are in charge of all three branches of government. Given that and the strain on airport security caused by this shutdown, is air travel and airport security safe right now?
SEN. JAMES LANKFORD:
It is safe right now because we have a lot of great patriots that are working in Homeland Security that are working for no money at all right now. They\u2019ll be paid at some point, but they\u2019re not being paid right now, and that\u2019s incredibly frustrating. But those patriots that are still out there serving, they\u2019re doing the hard work to be able to protect the nation. But we\u2019ve got to get this back open again. We have thousands of folks that are on furlough. And one of our frustrations, one of the things you mentioned, we\u2019re in a conflict in Iran right now. We need the cybersecurity professionals at their desk, and they\u2019re currently not being funded. We need to get those things funded. By the way, I\u2019ve got a bill that ends government shutdowns forever. You and I have talked about it before. This is a bipartisan bill. I believe we have enough support in the Senate right now. We want to move this to the House. But I believe that we should never leave Washington D.C. until everything is funded. But we should never get to a moment we\u2019re not paying federal workers. The simplicity of that bill is, pay the federal workers and make sure everything\u2019s taken care of on the programs. But members of Congress are in session seven days a week until we solve the funding issues. That should be the way we actually solve this. My focus is we should never, ever have government shutdowns on any of these areas.
KRISTEN WELKER:
All right, well, Senator James Lankford, thank you so much for joining us on this Sunday. We really appreciate it.
SEN. JAMES LANKFORD:
Thank you.
KRISTEN WELKER:
When we come back, Democratic Senator Cory Booker joins me next.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Welcome back. And joining me now is Democratic Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey. He\u2019s the author of a new book, \u201cStand.\u201d Senator Booker, welcome back to Meet the Press.
SEN. CORY BOOKER:
It\u2019s so good to be back on. Thanks for having me.
KRISTEN WELKER:
It\u2019s so great to have you back on. Let\u2019s dive in and start talking about the war with Iran. The U.S. has reportedly sent Iran a 15-point plan addressing its ballistic and nuclear weapons program, and some analysts have already drawn some comparisons to the talks under the Obama administration, the deal that was struck during the Obama era. Do you support the Trump administration\u2019s efforts to try to negotiate a deal with Iran to bring this war to an end?
SEN. CORY BOOKER:
I don\u2019t support this administration, period. They\u2019ve gotten us into what will be looked at as one of the greatest blunders, presidential blunders of our time. Remember, this president had stated objectives, none of which he is achieving right now, from the nuclear program all the way to, frankly, regime change. The regime is more extreme. They\u2019ve shown an asymmetric ability to choke up the Strait of Hormuz has caused a global oil shock, and for Americans at home, our costs continue to rise. This is after the president has cut people\u2019s health care and nutrition programs, and now with over $25 billion that has been spent on the war, over 300 people injured, 13 Americans who have lost their lives. This president is pushing us further and further into a conflict with no foreseeable off ramp and thousands of more troops moving into that region, and he still has not come to Congress for any kind of authorization for what is clearly not just a war, but the biggest military engagement we\u2019ve had since the war in Afghanistan. This president is off the chain, and we are in a global crisis of his causing.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Well, let me ask you, you talk about the regime being more extreme, I wonder, at least 40 senior Iranian officials have been killed, as you know, the son of the late Ayatollah Khamenei now reportedly in power, although, as you know, there are questions even about that as well. Do you think it would be responsible for the United States to walk away with hard liners still in power? Do you want to see the U.S. stay and try to affect regime change?
SEN. CORY BOOKER:
Well, so this is the quagmire that he\u2019s gotten us into. He has stated an objective of regime change, and now put us in a position where we have a more extreme regime. My colleague and my friend Lankford talked about, \u201cHey, we went in here to stop terrorist attacks on Americans.\u201d Well, we\u2019re seeing Iranian proxies from Iran to now, the Houthis in Yemen, causing more attacks. And we\u2019re in a situation now where we have degraded their near-term military combat capabilities. But remember what we learned from Ukraine is we are now in a state of war where in garages, in basements, people could be putting together drones for just a mere thousands of dollars that could cause serious harm, as we\u2019ve seen just yet another attack on our base where Americans were severely wounded. So what is the administration\u2019s plan? This has been the problem from the start. He did not consult with Congress. He did not come and make his case to us, or the American people, or strategic allies in the region. This is a president that is failing this moment and making matters worse for Americans. He\u2019s a man of chaos and corruption, and we\u2019re seeing that now on a global scale.
KRISTEN WELKER:
All right. Let\u2019s talk about the funding fight over the Department of Homeland Security. As I was just discussing with Senator Lankford, there was a bill that passed the House. It would have funded DHS, but not ICE and not CBP. Democrats are demanding changes to the way ICE operates, requiring judicial warrants before immigration officers enter homes, banning their use of face masks, just to name a few, those measures were not a part of the Senate deal. Senator, will this shutdown have been a failure if Democrats cannot secure those changes to ICE policies?
SEN. CORY BOOKER:
Well, again, I just want to continue to emphasize that we are seeing a colossal failure in presidential leadership, because this president has said, again, \u201cI have the power to pay TSA agents, and I\u2019m going to do that.\u201d Why didn\u2019t he do this weeks ago when we started seeing the suffering of folks at the airports, and remember, this fight has never been about TSA \u2013
KRISTEN WELKER:
But what about what Democrats \u2013
SEN. CORY BOOKER:
\u2013 Democrats over and over \u2013
KRISTEN WELKER:
\u2013 are asking for, senator? So far, it\u2019s not a part of any of the legislation that\u2019s being considered in either chamber.
SEN. CORY BOOKER:
Yeah. We\u2019ve had a unanimous agreement to do what Democrats were saying from the beginning, pay TSA and not let ICE have another dollar when they\u2019re reckless and out of control in our neighborhoods around the country. We came to that deal. The Republicans capitulated. We unanimously passed that out of the Senate, and the Republicans rejected it. So yeah, I don\u2019t want ICE, masked people jumping out of unmarked cars, slamming Americans to the pavement, barreling into their homes without sufficient warrants. I do not want ICE running into and around our churches, our schools, our hospitals, our courthouses and yes, I don\u2019t want ICE showing up at our polling places, doing the kind of things we\u2019ve seen video after video of them doing so, so that\u2019s why I\u2019m not funding. I\u2019m not going to vote for another dollar. And we finally, finally out of the Senate, got them to come to their senses and say, \u201cDon\u2019t hold TSA hostage. Don\u2019t hold FEMA hostage. Pay them.\u201d We got that out of the Senate, and now the House Republicans saying, \u201cNo, we want to continue this chaos at our airports until you come around and just give us more money for this out of control, reckless TSA — excuse me — reckless ICE agency that\u2019s in our neighborhoods, in our communities.\u201d
KRISTEN WELKER:
Senator, this has been the longest partial government shutdown now in U.S. history, coming on the heels of the longest shutdown in U.S. history. Is there still a path for Democrats to secure those key demands that you are asking for in this round of negotiations? Or do you not see that as realistic, given this standoff?
SEN. CORY BOOKER:
Well, again, we know that presidents can bring parties together and solve problems. This is the president who\u2019s bragged about being the great deal maker, but he is not focused on Americans. He\u2019s not focused on the rising costs. He\u2019s not focused on the pain at the pump. He\u2019s not focused on the problems that he is causing. He\u2019s involved in a war of monumental proportions that\u2019s shocking the globe. He is not focused on America first, and we are seeing the chaos of this president visit the world and visit Americans lives. Look at what\u2019s happening to our airports. This is presidential failure that is actually growing, because we in America are seeing the real cost of a president like this: American soldiers dying abroad, and Americans at home paying more and more from their health care costs to their fuel costs. Enough is enough. This president needs to be brought to account. And the problem is, Republicans in Congress are refusing on any of these issues to provide meaningful checks and balances. They\u2019re not providing the oversight that is needed at this crisis in our country.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Senator, let\u2019s talk about your new book. I have it right here — \u201cStand.\u201d I\u2019m going to read a little portion for everyone. You write, quote, \u201cWe cannot cancel everyone who fails a purity test. We cannot exile those who don\u2019t ally with our every belief, however passionately we hold it, coalitions that are only composed of the already converted cannot change the country. If everyone in your coalition agrees with you on everything, your coalition is too small, too small to make big change and too small for what our democracy demands.\u201d Do you believe Democrats are making the mistake of shrinking their coalition with what you describe as purity tests, senator?
SEN. CORY BOOKER:
Look, I\u2019m proud of so many things that my Democratic colleagues are doing, but as a whole, our party has failed this moment. It\u2019s why I\u2019ve called for new leadership in America. I\u2019ve called for a generational renewal, because this left-right divide is killing our country, and our adversaries know it. They come onto our social media and try to whip up hate in America. That is one of our biggest crises. It is time for a new vision of our country that\u2019s far more uniting, that brings people together, doesn\u2019t deepen divides. I really believe this is a time where we need new leadership, new moral imagination to pull our country together, because the challenges on the horizon aren\u2019t just this current crisis that Trump has caused. He shouldn\u2019t be the main character of our narrative right now. We have real challenges from new technologies like AI and robotics, new challenges, that we need more unity in our country and a reminder that we are not each other\u2019s enemies. In fact, our ability to find common ground has always been our greatest hope.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Senator, I do have to ask you about your own political future. You recently got married to your wife, Alexis. Congratulations, first of all. You have said that she will play a big role in your decision about whether to run for president. So let me ask you, is she supportive, broadly speaking, of your running for president?
SEN. CORY BOOKER:
I think what she\u2019s supportive now is number one, we both are excited about being married and hopeful for a family, but she knows what\u2019s at stake right now. The generations before us are great — her parents and her grandparents — but I think what she wants to do as a couple is for us just to play a role in whatever that is in the future of trying to get that renewal in a country where we begin to have Americans fully embrace the dream. In fact, as she and I talked about in the coming months, we just want to be a part of a generation of Americans that helps to redeem the dream for All.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Sounds like you\u2019re saying she would be open to you running for president. So you\u2019re not ruling it out, senator?
SEN. CORY BOOKER:
I am definitely not ruling it out. I\u2019m running for re-election. I hope New Jersey will support me for another six years. But what I love about her is she knows as a partnership, we are better than we were before we met, and I\u2019m excited about whatever challenges we may take on as a couple.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Let me ask you, you have run for president before in 2020 on a message of love. It\u2019s the same message you had back in 2016. I want to play you a little bit of something that you had to say back in 2016, get your thoughts about it today. Take a look.
[BEGIN TAPE]
SEN. CORY BOOKER:
I love Donald Trump. I\u2019m gonna say that.
REPORTER:
What?
SEN. CORY BOOKER:
I don\u2019t want to answer his hate with hate. I\u2019m gonna answer with love. I\u2019m not gonna answer his darkness with darkness. I love him.
[END TAPE]
KRISTEN WELKER:
Senator, do you still love Donald Trump?
SEN. CORY BOOKER:
I\u2019m a Christian and my faith is very clear. Love your enemies, love your adversaries. Never let somebody pull you so low as to hate him. That doesn\u2019t mean I won\u2019t fight him with ferocity. Try to defend and protect people\u2019s health care and public education, but God bless America — our Declaration of Independence ends with those profound words. If we\u2019re going to succeed as a nation, we must quote mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor. He may be abandoning that ideal of sacred honor, but we need a return to it, an urgency to return to it in our country. Hate is going to tear our country apart. Tribalism is already making it difficult to do common sense things. Americans don\u2019t want leaders that will show how great they are at beating others down. They want a new generation of leaders that show that they can lift the whole country up. So yes, I will not hate my adversaries in Congress. I\u2019ll be doing a better and better job, I hope, of reaching out to people, pulling them together, and reminding them that in this American moment, the definition of our success ultimately will come down to, are we able to put more indivisible into this one nation under God?
KRISTEN WELKER:
All right. Senator Cory Booker, we thank you so very much for joining us.
SEN. CORY BOOKER:
Thank you.
KRISTEN WELKER:
And when we come back, President Trump delays his Iran threat. Is a deal to end the war within reach? The panel is next.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Welcome back. The panel is here. NBC News Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent and Chief Washington Correspondent, Andrea Mitchell. Tyler Pager, New York Times White House Correspondent. Democratic strategist, Adrienne Elrod, and Republican strategist, Sara Fagen. Thank you to all of you for being here this morning. Andrea, I have to start with you and this extraordinary moment in the war. Here we are a month in, President Trump is both talking about diplomacy on the one hand and at the same time readying troops on the other hand. What are your sources telling you, Andrea, about where things stand?
ANDREA MITCHELL:
I mean, talking to people in the Gulf, to Arab leaders, they are telling the White House, \u201cDo not do ground troops, that that will change the whole nature of this. It will postpone what they are really hoping for at the end of this process, which is go in, make sure now that you\u2019ve started, finish it, don\u2019t leave Iran, you know, hurt and wounded and still able to strike back against us.\u201d And try to restrain Israel from going after civilian targets and regime change because that is changing the mission and expanding the war. And then Iran is still able to retaliate against the Gulf states and against our civilian targets. We now have to rebuild ourselves. Lebanon is becoming a disaster. It\u2019s freaking out the Syrians. So, go after Hezbollah but don\u2019t destroy Beirut, where there is a million and two people already displaced in Beirut. The Gulf leaders are saying, \u201cWe\u2019re going to have to rebuild Lebanon, Gaza, the West Bank, and it\u2019s delaying what you really want, which is the Trump Abraham Accords, the transformation of the region.\u201d So, that\u2019s what they\u2019re saying. U.S. officials say, \u201cDiplomacy is real,\u201d that there is some real progress. There were talks in Islamabad today. It goes beyond Pakistan. It\u2019s Pakistan, Egypt Turkey. But there are no real negotiations. It\u2019s not trading proposals back and forth. It\u2019s overtures. The Pakistani chief of the army, the military power there, with people in the IRGC. And one of the problems is that the more leaders you assassinate, there really aren\u2019t, as the president said. Plus the Gulf of Hormuz and the oil crisis is a lot more serious. We can talk about that in a second.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Well, and the fact that it\u2019s prompted this energy crisis, Andrea. Tyler, Andrea\u2019s making the point that on the surface there are talks happening but there are no real direct negotiations at those highest levels, in part because so many people have been assassinated. You, of course, have been writing about the 15-point proposal that the Trump administration proposed. What are you hearing about where these talks stand?
TYLER PAGER:
Yeah, absolutely. I was speaking with senior White House officials this weekend and they\u2019ve told me that it\u2019s more accurate to say talks than negotiations. And I think that is evident of really the early stages of where this is at. And on your question about these 15-point negotiations, one of the challenges is that these proposals are very similar to what the U.S. put forward before the war started. And the collapse of those negotiations has led to the conflict we\u2019re currently in. And so, there\u2019s some in the administration that think that the president needs to authorize some more military action to tilt the negotiations and take away some of the leverage Iran has. One of the differences now is Iran has a lot of leverage over the U.S. because of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which is causing this global energy crisis.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Well, and, Sara, when officials were briefing members of Congress, according to NBC News, there was a frustration, quite frankly, on both sides of the aisle that lawmakers weren\u2019t getting the information and, quite frankly, just answers that they needed from Trump administration officials about the strategy and about what happens next. Do you think this war is potentially causing a rift in the Republican Party?
SARA FAGEN:
Well, there\u2019s certainly a corner of the GOP that hates this war, but if you look at polling they are strongly supportive of President Trump and the action that he\u2019s taken. And so, I think that has been over-reported. There\u2019s a few podcast hosts that have been loud, but generally the party is strongly in support of him. You know, as you sort of look to the future. The question then becomes how long, how expensive, you know, is there a ground invasion? And the constellation of those things I think could dramatically change how the party reacts to this. But right now they\u2019re firmly in support of the president.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Well, and notably, Senator Lankford, when I asked him about ground troops, would he support it, he said, \u201cIt depends,\u201d and signaled that would certainly mark a different phase of this conflict. Adrienne, Democrats watching this very closely. You obviously heard from a fiery Senator Cory Booker. How should Democrats be responding, given that, quite frankly, this is a crisis that could land in the lap of the next president, who could be a Democrat?
ADRIENNE ELROD:
Well, I think so far, Kristen, Democrats have been responding very effectively on this. Number one, they\u2019re holding Trump to account. Number two, let\u2019s also keep in mind that he gave a record-long 108-minute State of the Union address. He dedicated three minutes of that to the situation in Iran. And then several days later we went into war. He could have primed the American people a little bit better for that, and I think Democrats are making sure that people are reminded. But I think also, as we go forward, I mean, Sara brings up a really good point. Right now the MAGA base is with Trump on this. But I think at this point, unless things start to change, his poll numbers right now are about as high as they\u2019re possibly going to be when it comes to the war, and they are not high. So, I think he only has to go down from here. And the real question is, \u201cHow long does the MAGA base stay with him?\u201d I also think Democrats should continue to remind the American people how important it is to have our relationship with our allies. Because if this continues we need to make sure that we do have a strong relationship with our allies, and Trump has only alienated our traditional allies in Europe and NATO.
SARA FAGEN:
Well, I mean, look, I think you look at the Gulf countries and they don\u2019t want this regime in power. I mean, this has not been a good situation for the Middle East. And, you know, we have been in an almost 25-year negotiation with the Iranians over their nuclear weapons. And so, you know, I think there is an understanding by Republicans, particularly traditional Republicans, that this had to be dealt with. It was a matter of when. And so on that regard, Republicans will give him some leash.
KRISTEN WELKER:
And, Andrea, it\u2019s a crisis you\u2019ve been tracking for years. What we\u2019re seeing though is a global energy crisis.
ANDREA MITCHELL:
It\u2019s a global energy crisis, the worst that we\u2019ve ever seen actually. And the people I\u2019m talking to in the industry and in finance and in diplomacy say, \u201cThis is not going to end.\u201d This is not, quote, a \u201cblip,\u201d as the president called it. This is going to go for months and months and months, up to the midterms at this point already. Because what you\u2019re seeing, a complete disruption of the supply chain. And it\u2019s food. It\u2019s fertilizer. Now, U.S. farmers, most American farmers, they\u2019re already planting so they had already bought their fertilizer, but the head of the global trade organization just warned in the last couple of days, this is a global food shortage. You\u2019re already seeing, by the way, that Sri Lanka has gone to a four-day work week. Malaysia is telling people to work at home, Thailand as well, New Zealand. So, you\u2019ve got Asia already affected in profound ways. And right now that does give, at least temporarily, Iran more leverage because Iran has leverage over the strait. And what we also saw is, importantly, the Houthis getting into this now, the first time the Houthis got into it, which could threaten the Red Sea, which is the Saudi back door. They\u2019re pipe-lining oil out.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Well, you\u2019re so right, Andrea, to point out that this is so much broader than just gas prices. Pause right there. We\u2019re going to come back. We have much more with our panel. But when we come back, the war with Iran, as we\u2019re just talking about, triggers an historic global energy shock. Our Meet The Press Minute is next.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Welcome back. The war with Iran has triggered the largest oil supply disruption in history, threatening global supplies and hitting Americans hard at the pump. Concerns are growing. It could echo 1973 when Arab oil producers imposed a total embargo on several countries, including the U.S., sending oil prices soaring nearly 300%. Vice President Gerald Ford joined Meet the Press to respond to the growing fears of a global depression.
[BEGIN TAPE]
PRES. GERALD FORD:
It does seem to me that neither the producing nations nor the consuming nations are anxious to have an energy problem create an economic depression throughout the world, and therefore it\u2019s in the best interests of both the producers and the consumers to sit down and find an answer. But of course this answer may have to come with some solution of the problems in the Middle East.
LAWRENCE SPIVAK:
Can you say whether the administration now regards the main problem facing the economy as being the threat of renewed inflation or the threat of recession?
PRES. GERALD FORD:
I don\u2019t believe the administration feels that the main problem is a recession. Even with the oil problem or the energy crisis, the predictions are not dire. They\u2019re not serious as to the economy.
[END TAPE]
KRISTEN WELKER:
And when we come back, the funding fight in Washington continues as Republicans split on Capitol Hill and airport lines grow. More with the panel next.
KRISTEN WELKER:
And welcome back. The panel is still here. Tyler, let me kick it off with you because we got some new poll numbers for the president this week showing, again, new lows for him against the backdrop of this war, increased gas prices and of course, the ongoing government shutdown.
TYLER PAGER:
Yeah, it is certainly a tough moment for the president across many fronts, and we\u2019re seeing images not just of conflict in the Middle East but these really long lines at airports across America. And I think one of the things that Democrats are trying to seize on is that Republicans control, you know, both houses in \u2014 in Congress and obviously the executive branch. I think one of the things when I talk to White House officials is they say, you know, \u201cThe midterms are still far away and we still have time to adjust.\u201d But one of the challenges here is that some of these crises are not immediately resolvable. One of the big ones, obviously, with the Strait of Hormuz being closed and gas prices skyrocketing, that\u2019s not an immediate fix. Even if that reopens, it\u2019s going to take weeks or months for gas prices to come back down. And one of the things we\u2019ve seen over the course of decades is gas prices are a barometer for how people vote, and the economy is \u2014 is often the main issue, and that\u2019s going to be a challenge for the president and the Republican Party as they move into the heat of the midterms.
KRISTEN WELKER:
And, Andrea, it\u2019s that climate in which we saw these No Kings rallies \u2013
ANDREA MITCHELL:
Yeah.
KRISTEN WELKER:
\u2013 yesterday all across the country, tens of thousands turning out to voice their opposition to the Trump administration and his policies. Just put this into perspective for us. When you see these types of rallies, how significant is it? How much of a barometer is it for potential Democratic energy heading into the midterms?
ANDREA MITCHELL:
Well, one of the things about these rallies are that they are now getting extra fuel, if you will, from the anti-war movement. And the anti-war movement includes some \u2014 a lot of independents and young people who otherwise might not be engaged. So, this could energize the base more than just the Democratic base but the independent base, which is so critical. And it can upset the MAGA base as well, depending on how long it goes. And again, inflation is a rising factor, affordability, and that is the economic question. This is not just gasoline. It\u2019s surgical gloves, other commodities. A lot of chemicals come through the Gulf.
KRISTEN WELKER:
And, Sara, of course, the government is shut down. You heard my conversation with Senator Lankford, Senator Booker. There doesn\u2019t seem to be any end in sight, but Republicans don\u2019t seem to be on the same page here about how to end it and they\u2019re in charge.
SARA FAGEN:
Well, they\u2019re certainly, as we\u2019ve seen, Republicans thought they had a deal and \u2013
KRISTEN WELKER:
Yeah.
SARA FAGEN:
\u2013 the House had \u2014 Senate Republicans had a deal. The House Republicans had a different idea. Look, I think that this is a really problematic moment in part because, you know, this was sort of squarely pegged on Chuck Schumer and the Democrats in terms of being the force for stopping funding of DHS and causing this, and now when you have a kind of Republican-on-Republican fight, it changes the narrative. And I think that in the most basic function of government, which is to be able to walk through an airport and go through screening in some reasonable amount of time, that is the kind of thing that lingers and causes incredible problems at a ballot box. And it\u2019s early enough that they can certainly recover from this, but if this goes on for months and months, coupled with the fallout from Jeffrey Epstein, you know, inflation, a potential, you know, long war, that is not going to be a great day for Republicans.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Adrienne, how do you see this unfolding?
ADRIENNE ELROD:
Look, I mean, here\u2019s the bottom line. The Senate had a bipartisan deal. It passed 100 to zero. Mike Johnson came out, botched the whole deal, said, \u201cWe\u2019re \u2014 I\u2019m sending folks home for two weeks.\u201d This is squarely on Republicans: why TSA has not been funded, why we are in this situation to begin with. And I want to say something really quickly on Andrea\u2019s point about independents, you know, coming out and joining some of these No King rallies. We do know that independents are squarely against the war. So, I think the point that Andrea made about Democrats building this coalition that is going to carry us into the midterms, we\u2019ve already flipped 30 state legislative races. The momentum is on our side. Democrats are in a good place here.
KRISTEN WELKER:
All right. Well, we\u2019ll see how it all plays out, guys. One more beat here. I want to thank you all for a great conversation, to our panel. But finally this morning, we do want to send off our dear friend and colleague Peter Alexander who is leaving NBC News after 22 years for a new adventure. Peter is woven into the fabric of NBC News, serving as our chief White House correspondent and covering three presidents over the past 15 years. He has truly set the gold standard for holding our elected leaders to account. Peter has also greeted America every Saturday morning as co-host of the Weekend Today show, making us laugh, a role that I was so honored to share with him for several years. He\u2019s also sat in this chair when I was on maternity leave after my son was born, and in my house we just call him Uncle Peter. We are so thrilled. Alison, Ava and Emma will now have more time with him. Peter, this place will not be the same without you, my friend. We will miss you and we will cheer you on every single day. That is all for today. Thank you so much for watching. We\u2019ll be back next week because if it\u2019s Sunday, it\u2019s Meet the Press.
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news AlertsThere are no new alerts at this timeKRISTEN WELKER:This Sunday: Rising risks. More U.S. forces head to the Middle East as markets tumble and oil prices rise.PRES. DONALD TRUMP:This war has been won.KRISTEN WELKER:And uncertainty grows over President Trump\u2019s next move in Iran.SEC. PETE HEGSETH:We negotiate with bombs.SEC. MARCO RUBIO: We can achieve all […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":205856,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-205855","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-us","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205855","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=205855"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205855\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/205856"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=205855"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=205855"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=205855"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}