Meet the Press NOW — September 9

Welcome to Meet the Press Now, I'm Kristen Welker. Right now, President Trump is on his way to Dallas, where Republicans are kicking off a first-of-its-kind midterm convention as they try to manufacture some momentum with less than eight weeks to election night, with the party facing significant headwinds, most notably on the economy, with the war in Iran leading to rising energy prices, which President Trump for the first time acknowledged could plague his party through election night. Here's what he told reporters this afternoon on the way to the convention. Right after the election, oil prices are going to be tumbling downward. They're going to be tumbling down and we'll get them down. I think for gasoline, we'll get them below two dollars a gallon. But not until after the midterm. I think it's going to take a little bit longer than the midterm. So I think the war is going to end immediately after the election. I think the war will end immediately after the election. They're desperate to try and affect the election so that we can get a nice, weak group of people in there and leave them alone and let them have their nuclear weapon. It comes as the Iran war keeps driving energy prices higher. U.S. crude oil climbed to ninety six dollars a barrel today amid renewed strikes between the U.S. and Iran, while the international benchmark for oil climbed above one hundred dollars per barrel. Since the start of the war, the cost of oil is up 43 percent. Gas prices are up 42 percent and diesel is at an all time high. And it all comes ahead of this Republican convention, which is not your typical convention. There's no official party business happening, no nominations, but there will be plenty of rallying cries from the president, party leaders and other top administration officials. The president is set to deliver tonight's keynote address and tomorrow's closing remarks. Both nights he will be competing with the opening games of the NFL season on his way to Dallas. The president explained his goals for the gathering. So we're heading over to Dallas. I think we're going to have a tremendous crowd tonight. Sold out. Looks very big, looks very exciting. And we're going to explain what we've done. We've done things that have never been done in the first term or the second term, frankly, of a president. The economy is very strong. The investment in our country is the biggest in the history of any country, not just our country. We have factories being built all over the world right now. And it's very exciting to see some top Democrats also descending on Dallas to counterprogram the GOP convention with press conferences and criticism. Here's Illinois Governor JB Pritzker earlier today. This bizarre Republican midterm convention here can't paper over the fact that Republicans have done nothing to earn your vote. Nothing Republicans say over the next two days is going to change how clinically deranged and out of touch the GOP has become. And they chose the wrong place to hold this clown show of theirs because a new generation of candidates is rewriting the rules of Texas politics. Joining me now from inside the convention hall in Texas is NBC chief Capitol Hill correspondent Ryan Nobles. So, Ryan, this is not your typical convention, as we've been talking about, where delegates nominate their presidential candidate. So what are the goals of this event? Well, Kristen, the first goal is to make it look as much like a real convention, a convention that would happen during a presidential election cycle. And that's where you see this atmosphere here behind me with all the strobe lights and the light show. Right now, they're singing America the Beautiful as they open up this convention. They want it to feel as if it is a major event with major consequences. And the goal here is to energize a Republican base that poll after poll shows is fatigued, that isn't as interested in voting in a midterm election if President Trump's name is not on the ballot. And this new polling that NBC has shows that the president's overall approval rating is in the mid 30s and more than almost half of the country strongly disapproves of his job performance. That's a red siren to Republicans that they need their base to come out and vote. And what President Trump is going to spend the next two days doing is reminding Republican voters that there's an election and that they don't want Democrats to take control of both houses of Congress. They need to participate. Kristen. Yeah, well, we mentioned the president's comments really striking, Ryan, acknowledging the war likely won't end before the midterms. He also said gas prices won't significantly drop before the midterms. He says this is part of Iran's strategy. But how are Republicans planning to address that today and tomorrow? Well, the president has a unique ability to tell you everything is wonderful, even if the underlying facts on the ground don't necessarily represent that. As you can see, the price of gas is up 42 percent since the start of the war. That's an inescapable fact that every single voter sees every single time they go to the gas pump. And so there is a danger here for the president just to come out and say that everything is wonderful, to say that everything is going to get better. As he said today, maybe now we have to wait until after the election for those gas prices to come down when that's not exactly what voters are feeling. It's a similar problem that Joe Biden had during the last election cycle. He ultimately ended up not even running for reelection as a result of it. So this is dangerous ground for President Trump. He needs to sell a message that Republican government governorship, that the fact that the Republicans have been in charge, have led to better outcomes for the American voter, which is not an easy prospect, given the reality on the ground. Yeah. Let me ask you about our colleague Garrett Hake, who's outside the convention center. He spoke with James Tallarico, of course, the Democratic candidate who's running against Ken Paxton in Texas. One of the most watched Senate races of this cycle. Ryan, I don't have to tell you that. Let's play some of that conversation. It's been 30 years since a Democrat won here statewide. Why do you think Republicans have had such a lock on this state? I'm actually not interested in turning Texas blue. I know my party wants to turn Texas blue. The Republican Party wants to keep Texas red. I think the best color for Texas is purple. I think she's a great in purple, because when you have competitive elections, it forces every politician at every level to stay on their toes and compete to serve the people of the state and to operate within the 40 yard lines. Is there something on which you think the Democratic Party is failing? A whole host of things. I already have a religion and already have a sports team, so I have no problem calling out my own party. I called out Joe Biden for failing us on our southern border. And in fact, when I was a member of the legislature, I voted for and authored legislation to improve border security. I'm for an all of the above energy strategy, which includes oil and gas in addition to renewables like wind and solar. I think the Democratic Party has to do more on the national debt. Fascinating strategy there by James Tallarico, he says, I don't want to turn Texas blue. That's notable. He's clearly making a very strong play for the middle of the state. He sure is, Kristen. And it's a wise strategy when you take into account that Republicans obviously realize that this is a real race. The fact that they're holding this convention in Texas, a state that's usually reliably red. It's a sign that they're being forced to play defense here on a very wide Senate map that seems to be increasing by the day. So the fact the Republicans chose this state of all states, they didn't pick North Carolina. They didn't pick Maine. They didn't pick a place like Ohio or Kansas. They picked Texas because they realize how vulnerable their incumbency here is. Obviously, it's not the incumbent candidate running, but the fact that Republicans hold this seat and Tallarico sees an opening here. He sees that opening not as running as someone aligned with the Democratic Socialists of America, but instead someone who can reach out to both sides of the aisle. Now, Democrats have tried this playbook before. It's been unsuccessful for the last 40 years in Texas. Perhaps this is the year that it changes and maybe Tallarico finds the formula to finally make it a reality. All right. Well, it certainly is a fascinating race. Ryan Nobles, thank you so much for starting us off. We really appreciate it. As we mentioned, this Republican midterm convention is, of course, coming against the backdrop of the escalating war with Iran, which the president is now saying will not end until after the midterms, despite there being no sign of any kind of resolution. The U.S. military struck five Iranian crude oil tankers yesterday, bringing the total number of Iranian tankers destroyed by the U.S. in the last week to eight. Iran retaliated by launching missiles at U.S. forces stationed in Jordan, Jordan saying its air defense system intercepted 18 ballistic missiles and a U.S. official says all U.S. forces in Jordan are accounted for. Joining me now is NBC News senior national security correspondent Courtney Kuby and NBC News business and economy reporter Ali Canal. Court, let me start with you. So let's talk a little bit more about this latest U.S. response. What can you tell us about? Yeah. So what's really striking about how this has changed? We've seen this back and forth between the U.S. and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps primarily, but the Iranian military for months now, you know, it goes on for a couple of days and then it sort of fizzles out. We have a period of calm and then it restarts again. What's striking about what we've seen the past several days is this is Iran specifically trying to hit U.S. military warships in the region that has not been happening as much. Most of what we had seen recently was Iran going after commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz. So that's an escalation. The U.S. military also responding in a different way, not going after radar sites along the coast and not going after drone facilities, but going after specifically tankers associated with Iran in the Strait of Hormuz. And in the case of the last day or so, sinking, destroying five tankers. So that could be seen as an escalation. We are still seeing Iran lash out in the region. And that's been pretty consistent. But the question is, is this an escalation by both sides here? And if so, how will this latest salvo come to a close? We don't know the answer to that. And it was just so extraordinary to hear President Trump say he does not think this war is going to end until after the midterms. He tried to cast this as this is a part of Iran's strategy, that they want, as he said, a weaker leadership to get into power. I mean, this could be seen as an escalation, frankly, by both sides. And what's what's remarkable here is President Trump speaking at the beginning and many of the people around him about a four to six week war. And now we're talking about it stretching on for months. We're already seeing gas prices. I'm sure Ali knows this better than anyone else, but we're seeing gas prices are starting to creep back up. And again, the real question is, how does this end? So the U.S. effort here right now is not just on the military side. They've moved into this this compounded sort of U.S. military and economic pressure with the goal of bringing Iran to the table. But it's not clear that that's working. And the fact that Iran seems perfectly content to escalate this by going directly after U.S. military warships does not seem to be Iran capitulating in any way. Well, it's just fascinating to watch the twists and turns. Courtney, you're just back from Thailand, where USS Lincoln docked temporarily. What did the folks you were able to interview tell you there? What were your big takeaways? Yeah, we were really lucky. We got to speak with dozens of sailors while we were there in Thailand. They were there on shore leave. It was our first chance to have a real break in nine months. And it was a very difficult deployment. You know exactly what we're talking about. Constant combat operations, enforcing of the naval blockade along the of Iranian ports. One thing I was really struck by was that the Lincoln is a deployment has gotten a lot of attention because of their lack of fresh fruits and vegetables not getting mail. It is very clear that the reason that they had such a difficult time getting resupplied at at sea was because Iran was successfully able to take out logistics hubs in the region. And that had a real impact on them being able to get any kinds of supplies. But that's it's not that uncommon when you have a U.S. military ship, a carrier or some of these smaller ships that are and they don't get resupply because of ongoing combat operations. That's not what's so unique here. What I learned from the sailors was what was unique here was the length of the deployment, just having these sustained periods without some of the creature comforts, not knowing when this deployment was going to end, especially when this wasn't what they initially deployed for in the in the first place. They were supposed to go to the Pacific. They were rerouted because of the Iran war into the Middle East. That's what really had an impact on these sailors and their families back home. And, Kristen, I am struck by the fact that this is like more likely to be the norm than the exception when it comes to U.S. military U.S. Navy deployments going forward. And this is something that the Pentagon is really and the Navy is really going to have to address. Well, you have been all over this story and fantastic reporting from Thailand. Thank you so much. Welcome back. Glad to have you home. Thanks, Court. Ali, let me turn to you. Let's talk about gas prices. You heard Courtney mention them. They jumped seven cents a gallon from just yesterday. That's according to AAA. You heard the president saying that gas will fall ultimately below two dollars a barrel, but not until after the midterms. What do you make of what the president said? Is that realistic? I mean, Kristen, I think that would be very difficult considering where oil prices are trading right now. I mean, we have U.S. crude closing above ninety six bucks a barrel today. Brent crude. That's the international benchmark up over one hundred dollars a barrel. And even though these levels, they're not as severe as what we saw when this war with Iran first broke out. But it's the reversal in some of these price declines that we saw throughout various pockets in the summer that has a lot of these industry analysts very concerned here. And when it comes to gas, it is possible we could see some relief at the pump over the next few weeks as the industry switches to a cheaper winter blend. But that could actually be offset by the oil price swings that we're seeing in the market right now. And several energy experts who I've spoken with told me that there's not many levers that the administration can pull at this point. Really, the only thing that's going to bring oil prices down is reopening the Strait of Hormuz. And as we've been talking about, we keep seeing these back and forth strikes between the two countries. So that's a big TVD. Yeah. And oil and diesel prices are approaching six dollars a gallon. Yeah. We talk about the significance of that. Obviously, diesel prices determine the price of a number of other goods. Yeah, you can think of diesel as the lifeblood across the entire economy. Right. It powers trains. It powers trucks, even farming equipment. So these are all things that move your products that help with harvesting your food. And if that starts to get more expensive, the ripple through and trickle down effect to the consumer can be pretty severe. I mean, six bucks a gallon on diesel. That is super, super significant. We're already at all time highs. And it doesn't seem like we have much relief. He's a prominent energy analyst. He was out with a note this morning and he estimates that the world has lost nearly eight percent of its diesel supply. And there's not much room to make up that shortfall because currently U.S. refining capacity is at 98 percent. So it all comes down to that supply crunch that's happening across the industry right now. And with these ongoing wars, not just with Iran, but also Russia, Ukraine, there's been energy infrastructure attacks in Saudi Arabia. All of that is contributing to the crunch that we're seeing. Kristen. All right, Ali Canal watching all of it for us. Ali, thank you so very much. And coming up, a rare Steve Kornacki doubleheader. We have election results while voters are also voting today in one of the last primaries of the season where a sitting governor could be ousted for the first time in years. Kornacki is tracking it all for us. Plus, sounding a dire alarm on artificial intelligence. Top AI researchers go public with growing fears that their industry is moving too fast and that I could spiral out of control and imperil all of humanity. We'll delve into that. Stay with us. You're watching the press now. Welcome back. If it's Wednesday, we've got election results and voters are voting in a rare Wednesday primary. Rhode Island's Democratic Governor Dan McKee faces former CBS executive Helena Foulkes, who leads according to recent polling. McKee is at risk of becoming the first sitting U.S. governor in eight years to lose a primary. That vote is taking place as the Senate matchup in nearby New Hampshire is now set after the Granite State's primary last night. Trump backed former Senator John Sununu, defeated former Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown to win the GOP nomination in a seat Republicans hope to flip in November. He'll face Congressman Chris Pappas, who defeated Karishma Manzur, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, to win the Democratic primary. Meanwhile, Stephanie Sheehan, whose mother is retiring Senator Jeanne Shaheen, won the Democratic primary yesterday in the battleground district Pappas represents. She'll face Republican businessman Anthony DeLorenzo in November's general election. NBC News chief data analyst Steve Kornacki is, of course, at the big board. He joins me now. So, Steve, we got to start with last night's results in New Hampshire. Break it down for us. What did voters in the Granite State tell us about where November might be heading? Yeah, I think there was a little bit of suspense about this Democratic Senate primary last night. Obviously, you mentioned here a DSA aligned candidate. We've seen that type of candidate have breakthroughs in some other places on the map this year. Was it going to happen in New Hampshire? And the fear of Democrats and the hope for Republicans in New Hampshire is that it would and that Manzor would win this thing last night, would be a vulnerable Democratic nominee in what otherwise is a favorable climate for Democrats. And that might open the door for Republicans here. But you see, it's a pretty emphatic verdict from Democratic voters here. A two to one margin Pappas over Manzor basically winning every city in town in the state. So that that sort of socialist, progressive, sort of far left movement that we've seen get traction in some places did not really get much here in the Democratic side in New Hampshire. So now the pressure really would be on John East. Nunu, the former senator here trying to get the seat back 18 years after he was defeated by Jeanne Shaheen. The pressure's on him to prove he can make this competitive because the challenge here, obviously, the climate is so difficult for Republicans. President Trump, low approval rating. It's also this. You don't see White House parties picking up Senate seats from the from the opposition party. It's rare to see that at all in midterm elections, let alone in a state like New Hampshire that the president didn't even carry in the previous election. Trump is over three in New Hampshire. So it's a very tall order. Republicans were hoping they'd get an assist from the Democratic electorate in New Hampshire last night. Didn't happen. See if Nunu can make this thing race in November. But his hill got a little bit steeper, I think, with that Democratic result. Yeah, fascinating. He certainly does have the name recognition heading into November. Let's talk about Rhode Island holding a gubernatorial primary tonight. What are you watching there, Steve? Yeah, we'll give Rhode Island its moment in the national spotlight here because it is, as you said, this is significant. It's been almost a decade since a sitting governor anywhere in the country lost in a primary. Dan McKee, though, is in serious danger of becoming the first one since then tonight. He was became the governor in twenty twenty one when Gina Raimondo left to become Joe Biden's commerce secretary. He faced a stiff challenge in twenty twenty two in the Democratic primary from Helena Foulkes and a few other candidates. He barely survived that, got elected to a full term, and he's really been pretty unpopular in the polls throughout the term. There's been a major controversy about a bridge, a long bridge repair project that the administration, the McKee administration, has insisted on. It's been delayed. There's been some controversies around it. It really seems to have touched a nerve there with voters. And folks has led big in the polling here. So we'll see if polls close at eight o'clock, if McKee can pull a rabbit out of the hat. But if not, it'd be the first governor anywhere in eight years not to win a primary. Last time it happened in Rhode Island, 1994, Bruce Sundlund, a Democrat, went down by 30 points. That's about what the polls show McKee trailing by heading into this. Well, we'll see if history is made tonight. Once again, Steve Kornacki, we'll be watching you. Thank you so much. And make sure you tune in to Steve Kornacki's 745 Eastern on the Kornacki Cam tracking tonight's election results as they come in. Tune into NBCNews.com and of course, YouTube. Coming up next, new warnings from A.I. insiders about the potentially existential consequences of an A.I. arms race. Plus, we'll speak with a lawmaker leading the charge to ban the development and deployment of so-called artificial super intelligence. That's next on the press. Welcome back. Turning now to some unsettling warnings from inside one of the country's top artificial intelligence companies, adding to growing concerns about A.I. safety. A team manager at Anthropic, who evaluates the safety risks of A.I. models, says he believes there is a greater than 10 percent chance A.I. could kill all humans within the next decade. His post was in reaction to an Anthropic employee who quit the company yesterday over safety concerns, also warning that the people building A.I. earnestly believe that it could kill us all by the end of the decade. This is not a marketing stunt. The employee who previously worked for OpenAI also warning neither company is acting responsibly. They are racing straight to self-improving super intelligence and gambling with our lives. Back in June, Anthropic called for a coordinated pause among A.I. companies, saying, quote, We believe it would be good for the world to have the option to slow or temporarily pause frontier A.I. development to enable societal structures to keep up with the advance of the technology. Joining me now is NBC News artificial intelligence reporter Jared Perlow. Jared, thank you so much for joining me. Boy, this is sobering. You have new reporting on what led to these warnings from these employees, including the resignation from that Anthropic researcher. What's the latest that you're hearing? Yeah, well, this is all happening as we speak. I think that tweet that Jacob Coxon, this researcher who resigned, he announced it yesterday. I think it has over 100 million, I think around 110 million views right now. So this is blowing up worldwide. I was able to actually get access to his Slack message where he announced his resignation. And I'll just quote from the beginning. He says, I think that without international coordination, we will incur a risk of causing human extinction. So Jacob Coxon, along with his boss there, Evan Huebinger, they're working on developing A.I. capabilities and figuring out how to align those systems with human desires, make those A.I. systems do what humans intend. They see that the technology is just advancing way too quickly. We don't understand what's actually happening underneath the hood. It's time to pump the brakes here. It's just terrifying to think about. Do you have any insight into how specifically these researchers think A.I. could threaten humanity? What's the scenario they're thinking about? Yeah, I mean, it all sounds very sci-fi at a very high level, but there are many different pathways that people in the A.I. world think could get us to human extinction or mass wipe out of humanity. So people think that bad actors could use A.I. systems to develop chemical weapons, biological weapons. Think about something like covid, but much, much more deadly. They think that what happens if A.I. gets put in control of launching nuclear weapons because the Pentagon has said that they want to race ahead in terms of adopting A.I. What happens if that spirals out of control? You can think about killer robots, dwarves, drones, excuse me, pursuing humans. And also there's the potential that A.I. systems could develop themselves, basically spiral out of human control, and then humans would lose control of those A.I. systems. All those are different vectors through which, you know, humans could go extinct if A.I. systems continue at the pace that they're currently increasing. And what has the reaction been inside the world of people like yourself who studies A.I. or folks taking these warnings seriously? I think they are serious warnings. You know, this is coming from within the house saying that, you know, our house is on fire. We should take this seriously. And as you saw in those tweets there at the beginning, they say this is not a marketing stunt. You know, a lot of times people think, well, open A.I. Anthropic, they're going to IPO. They just want to get more value for their investors in the next couple of months. They say this isn't about that at all. We genuinely believe that there's a 10 percent chance or so. Some say 25 percent. Some people say 50 percent chance that humans could go extinct. Now, I do think that we should view some of those claims with skepticism about today's A.I. systems. You know, they're thinking several years down the line, but they're also thinking about, well, the U.S. is racing with China. All these companies have these incentives to go as fast as possible. So there's really no incentive to slow down and pause and say, well, do we actually understand what we're developing and can we do it in a safe manner? That's really the core message here. Yeah. And, you know, we talked about the fact that back in June, Anthropic asked for that global pause or at least a slowdown on development. Is that a possibility? What are other A.I. companies saying about that? I think it is a possibility, but maybe an unlikely one right now. I think these race dynamics, they're just controlling everybody. Meanwhile, the White House says that they want light touch regulation. They don't want to hamper American A.I. innovation. Now, President Xi is meeting with President Trump in just two weeks. And we think that A.I. is going to be on the menu there. But talk is cheap. People in A.I. companies were saying we need to develop this coordination, coordination mechanism back at Davos, you know, several months ago, going back a couple of years. And we still really haven't seen anything materialized. So I think, you know, to viewers at home who say, you know, all this is cheap talk and I'm waiting to actually see something materialized. I think they're right. You know, it's completely understandable to say, well, if these companies are pursuing trillions of dollars, you know, where are we actually seeing real impact at home? Well, we always appreciate your reporting again. Really stark warnings here, Jared. Thank you so very much. Appreciate it. Joining me now is Texas Democratic Congressman Greg Kassar, who is one of the lawmakers leading the charge on placing guardrails on artificial intelligence. Congressman, thank you so very much for joining us. Appreciate it. It's good to be here with you. Good to have you here. So let's talk about this big picture. You did recently announce legislation alongside Senator Bernie Sanders. It would effectively ban the development of super intelligent A.I. until safety measures are established and put in place. Why do you think that's so important? And do you think you have the votes to pass that kind of legislation? This legislation is so important to make sure that we protect Americans' freedom and our safety, our lives and our national security. And, Kristen, you're right. This has not been a topic where there's been a lot of leadership from the United States Congress. In fact, Donald Trump has been trying to block A.I. regulation. But now that you have top anthropic researchers resigning from their jobs or saying that they believe there's a 10 percent chance that this unregulated artificial superintelligence could kill all of us. I mean, they're talking about 10 percent chance of human extinction. That's not to say the percentage chance of thousands of people or millions of people needlessly being killed. So I think you're starting to see amongst the Democratic Party much more interest in having strong regulations to protect our safety from unregulated artificial superintelligence. And more and more Republican members of Congress's constituents are starting to see the really negative impacts of unregulated A.I. We need to treat this as the emergency that it is and move forward. Senator Sanders and I bill to ban artificial superintelligence. That is A.I. that can escape human control. Terrifying thought. Senator Ted Cruz was asked about this today on The View. I want to play a little bit of what he had to say and get your reaction on the other side. And one of the real challenges is China is going full speed ahead. And whatever we do here, China is not going to stop. So I've said somewhat tongue in cheek, but not entirely. If they're going to be killer robots, I'd rather they be American killer robots than Chinese killer robots. What's your reaction to that? Look, we should not have killer robots in China, Ted, and we should not have killer robots that kill us here in the United States. Ted, we are the United States of America. We were able to pass the New Deal, create social security, beat fascism around the world. We can regulate A.I. to protect us in this country and protect us all around the world, which is why Senator Sanders and my bill, one of its top priorities is an international treaty system with adversaries and allies alike to ban artificial superintelligence because we don't want A.I. to take away our freedoms or kill us here or in China or anywhere else. It's that simple. All right. I do want to turn to the midterms now. A.I. is one of the big topics in the midterms. But let's talk about what's happening in your state. The president kicking off a midterm convention in Texas today. He has been using the rise of Democratic socialists to attack all Democrats. Do you think that DSA candidates could ultimately hurt Democrats running in more moderate districts? No. I mean, Donald Trump is going to keep on calling up the specter of communism, and that's the exact same strategy that they tried to use against Harry Truman. They said Harry Truman was a communist. They called Social Security and Medicare communist. They called President Barack Obama a communist. If that's really all they've got, then I think Donald Trump and his Republican cronies are in real trouble. I mean, they are up the road for me right now in Dallas trying to defend against Texas flipping. They thought that Texas was firmly in their column. And they're talking about spending nine figures bringing in the president because they're thinking of losing Texas. So I think they are. They know that prices are up. They know that Donald Trump ordered them to cut millions of people's health care, all to give handouts to his billionaire friends. And if this argument of calling us communists again is really all they've got, then I think they know the blue wave is coming big time. Well, let me ask you specifically about Hispanic Latino voters. A recent poll earlier this year found 20 percent of Hispanic, Democrat and Democratic leading voters viewed Democratic socialists favorably. That's 20 percent. Do you think the rise of Democratic socialism within the party could cost Democrats with Hispanic voters? Hispanic voters here in Texas are overwhelmingly working class voters that want to know that we care about their pocketbook issues. When I mean, I've represented Latino working class communities here in Texas on a city council. Now, my congressional district is overwhelmingly Latino, African-American working class. And what people want to know is, are we going to make sure that you can afford your health care, that you don't have to check your bank account before you go see a doctor or even go to the grocery store? That's what people want to know. And some of the working class Latino voters in Texas that decided to vote for Donald Trump this last time thought Donald Trump was going to lower prices, but he's jacked the prices up. We've got gas at four dollars a gallon in Texas. They also heard Donald Trump said he was going to go after the bad guys. And now he's going out arresting U.S. citizens. They killed 23 year old Ruben Ray Martinez for simply celebrating his 23rd birthday. He's a United States citizen who's been buried. So the Latino community here in Texas is just pissed off that they've been lied to by the Trump administration. And you're going to see that out in the midterm voting results. All right, well, let's talk about the big Senate race in your state between James Tallarico and Ken Paxton. Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett, who's a member of the Progressive Caucus, has suggested she's not planning to campaign with James Tallarico. She, of course, lost to him in the primary. Do you think she's doing enough to help get him elected or do you think she should be doing more? I appreciate that Congresswoman Crockett has endorsed our future senator, James Tallarico. It's going to take all of us working together to get him elected. I mean, Kristen, as you know, I was about four years old. You know, Congressman Crockett and I are both young legislators in the House. We were very young the last time that we flipped the state, but we can really make it happen this time. One, we have an excellent candidate in James Tallarico who's out there talking about rooting out corruption. And then we have Ken Paxton at the top of the Republican ticket. He's not just the most corrupt politician in Texas history. He might be one of the most corrupt politicians in American history. He was impeached by the Texas Republicans in the Texas House. This is a very Republican, hard right Texas House that impeached Ken Paxton for being too corrupt. That takes a lot. And so that's why I think we have really a generational opportunity right now to flip Texas. But, Congressman, do you want to see Jasmine Crockett out campaigning with James Tallarico? Do you think he can win without her on the campaign trail? I recently saw a poll for James Tallarico where he is overwhelmingly up with Latino voters, with African-American voters, with working class voters. At the end of the day, this election is not going to get won by talking heads or by politicians. I'm really seeing it come from the ground up. So I appreciate everybody that's come out and endorsed James, everybody that's going out and doing the work. But honestly, if we think that it's going to be the National Democratic Party that pulls this one off, I think we're wrong. I think it's going to be one. James will become Senator Tallarico because of everyday grassroots organizations working on the ground. So I appreciate our whole congressional delegation on the Democratic side has endorsed him. But ultimately, I think it's going to be James, his organizers and grassroots folks that win this election. Very quickly, because we are out of time. If Democrats win back the House, you have previously said you would support Hakeem Jeffries for speaker. Do you still stand by that? I support Leader Jeffries. And I believe that we can, as progressive members in the House, drive a progressive agenda onto the floor that the overwhelming number of the American people support. You would support him for speaker? Yes, I support. I support. I support Leader Jeffries for speaker. And I support him because I know that with his leadership, we are going to get health care back to the American people, that we're going to raise the minimum wage, that we're going to finally end stock trading by members of Congress. So this isn't about any individual one of us. It's about a Democratic agenda that renews faith in the American people in our party. And that's what I care absolutely the most about delivering for people that have lost faith in us. And that's why I support Leader Jeffries. All right, Congressman Kassar, thank you so much. We really appreciate it. Thank you, Kristen. Coming up after the break, election chaos in the show me state after dueling court orders on Missouri's new congressional map. Less than two months from Election Day. We'll sort it all out. Stay with us. This is Meet the Press Now. Welcome back. We are following breaking news out of Missouri, where a pair of conflicting court orders have created more chaos over which version of the state's congressional map will be used in November. Less than two months before the midterms and just days before the state begins sending out ballots. Late yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court left in place a Missouri Supreme Court order that a recently drawn map that favors Republicans could not be used in November. Shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court's decision, a federal judge in Missouri ruled in favor of two Republican congressional candidates who contend the new map must be used in November since it was in place for last month's primary. NBC News senior Supreme Court reporter Lawrence Hurley is with me now. You kind of need a flow chart to follow this story, Lawrence, but let's try to sort this out for people. So first, you're learning about some new developments. What are you hearing? Yeah, so as you said, there's this federal court ruling that's saying that the state must use the new map that the Missouri Supreme Court said they couldn't. And now the proponents of a referendum that has got this that was put this before voters have now appealed to an appeals court and they've refused to block that ruling for now. Right. So that ruling still remains in effect means they still. The law currently is that there's these two conflicting court rulings, one saying they can use the map, one saying they can't. And now this is all heading right up back to the U.S. Supreme Court, which is probably going to have the final word in the coming days on whether this what's going to happen. So and just so that people understand. And this, I think, is clarifying for folks. Emanuel Cleaver, who, of course, has been in his congressional seat for a number of terms, was looking for reelection under the initially redrawn map. He is likely to lose right under the old map. He's likely to win. So right now, do you have a sense of which map looks like it's prevailing or can we just not know that until the Supreme Court weighs in? Well, the secretary of state in Missouri has told election officials we're going to use this new map, but he's under a court order from the Missouri Supreme Court that he can't use that map. The Missouri Supreme Court has now called him in to for a hearing tomorrow morning on whether he should be held in contempt of court for defying that order. He's also asked the federal judge to get involved, saying the federal judge, because under the Constitution Supremacy Clause, federal law has over state law. So he's saying that he's just doing what the federal judge is telling him to do so that he shouldn't be held in contempt. So we're getting this kind of fight between state courts and federal courts, which is something I haven't really seen anything like this in the years I've been covering the law. Yeah. And explain just how unusual is it that the secretary of state, Denny Hoskins, would be called for the state Supreme Court potentially to be held in contempt? Yeah, I mean, it's extremely unusual, especially because, you know, we're talking about everyone here is a Republican pretty much. It's a Republican dominated Supreme Court in Missouri. It's a Republican dominated Supreme Court in Washington. And this fight is basically a lot of Republicans fighting each other about whether this map should go forward. And obviously it's going to have stakes for this upcoming midterm election because it could help determine which party controls the House. We are past the state's deadline to finalize its ballots. How quickly do you anticipate the Supreme Court is going to act here? Well, I think based on the timeline and the ticking time bomb that's going on, they're going to have to act really quickly. The question is how quickly this case gets to them. The lawyers would have to file something at the court. They haven't done that yet. Once they do that, we could get something happening pretty quickly. It's just the twists and turns are head spinning. Lawrence Hurley, thank you for helping us to understand it. We really appreciate it. The panel digs deeper into the state of play and the shifting battle lines as Republicans kick off the midterm convention in Texas. That's next on the press now. Welcome back. You are looking at live pictures as housing secretary Scott Turner speaks at day one of the GOP midterm convention. Joining me now is our panel, Dan Merica, anchor of the early brief newsletter at The Washington Post. Taryn Rosenkranz, founder and CEO of New Blue Interactive, and Stephen Hayes, editor and CEO of the Dispatch and an NBC News contributor. Thanks to all of you for being here. So, Dan Merica, they are kicking off day one of the GOP convention. President Trump called Speaker Johnson, told him his idea. Speaker Johnson said conventions, not a thing in terms. And he said, well, make it a thing. And so here it is. What are you watching for and what could come of this convention? I mean, certainly I think Republicans are well aware it's going to be a bit of a Trumpapalooza, as I think some are calling it. The president is uniquely capable of blotting out. The Republican son has done that for the better part of 10 years. He'll probably do that again for the next two days. I don't think that will necessarily change. I'm going to be really interested to see how candidates in particular, not those who are already in Congress, but kind of candidates who are running for office are going to talk about the president. I think of someone like Mike Rogers, Senate candidate for Michigan Republican, was once a Trump critic and is now going to be speaking at this Trumpapalooza. Does he speak about Trump? Does he speak about the administration or does he try and focus on other things about changing Lansing as he's done in Michigan? I think that's going to be really interesting. But, you know, these conventions are supposed to elevate the party. And I think at some to some level, because the way that the Trump administration has handled the last two years and his approval rating, you're going to have kind of this rock and a hard place dynamic with Republican candidates that is going to put this on display in primetime. Well, talk about a rock and a hard place. Steve, you have President Trump upon departing for Texas, acknowledging he doesn't think gas prices are going to come down until after the midterms. He doesn't think the war with Iran is going to end until after the midterms. How does that backdrop impact how tonight plays across the country? Yeah, well, I mean, it's not good, right? I mean, the fact that gas prices remain high is problematic, but also, I mean, it's a reminder to voters, particularly Republicans, of just how the president can turn on a dime, right? I mean, we were told not long ago that the war was over, that the Strait of Hormuz was open. Gas prices were already coming down, was what the president said. So now it's just a sort of a nod to reality. I've got to say, I just don't think this convention, this mini convention is going to matter much. I don't think people are paying attention. Republicans hope that it gins up support for people who are the sort of diehard MAGA types and that they will show up. In November or early voting. Skeptical that that's the case. Democrats, of course, I think are pretty happy that Donald Trump is making himself the center of the midterm elections. We'll weigh in on that, Terry. Certainly anytime they're not talking about the economy and they're putting Trump out there and he's saying things and you're going to the pump and you're seeing over five dollars. That's going to be a good thing for Democrats. It's going to be a good thing because that's what we're trying to talk about and trying to put out there for our plans purposes. I mean, this is theater. And I do think it's it's a GOTV move. I get out the vote move. He's trying to get those people aligned and happy and excited and to show up at the midterms, even though he's not on the ballot. Yeah, I had the opportunity to interview Senator Kennedy this past Sunday. Talk to him about the state of the economy, Dan America. I'm going to play a little bit of that and get everyone's reaction on the other side. Do you believe Republicans will be punished at the polls for the price of gas? Well, here's what I think about the economy for what it's worth, except for inflation, which, as I said, sucks. The economy suck. But look, that that inflation is a big if and it's it's gutting people like a fish. Inflation is pernicious. And we've had it for a few years now. It's been up and down since President Biden's administration. What we ought to do is something about it. Dan, pretty striking to hear him say we ought to do something about it. And it's also a message that kind of conflicts with what we're hearing from President Trump. I'm not sure you can get a bigger caveat than except for inflation in this political environment. You know, I've talked to Republican operatives all year. There was a sense when you were describing the gas prices were coming down, the war was ending, that maybe they could turn this around. And by the time voters go to the polls in November, things would be better. That is dawning on people. It probably already has last month that that's not going to happen. That like the cake is already baked. This is the midterm environment they're running in. Republicans are running in and they're going to have to make do with that. That's why you see lawmakers saying, you know, except for inflation or trying to explain away what voters are feeling. And I'm just not I think you're exactly right. When voters are going to the pump and they see five dollars and they can't fill up their their their grocery baskets. It's really hard to explain that away. Yeah, absolutely. Well, no doubt the economy will be the backdrop tonight. If you look ahead to twenty twenty eight for a moment, which we'll all be doing after the midterms in November today, there's reporting out that Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said he has no plans to run for president right now. That's according to a person familiar with the matter who tells NBC News he told at least one person in recent months that that is not going to be on his dance card. Steve Hayes, what do you make of that? I mean, all accounts were that there was this big rivalry between him and J.D. Vance. Yeah, I mean, I still think there's a rivalry between him and J.D. Vance. And to me, the most important part of that phrase was no plans. At this time, at this time, I'd be surprised if the guy who's serving as secretary of state and national security advisor had plans to run for president right now. I mean, he certainly isn't among the Republicans who are trying to set something up. But Marco Rubio, nobody should think that he wouldn't run. If he saw an opportunity. Remember, this is the same guy who in twenty sixteen decided to run against his mentor, Jeb Bush. The Bush team came to him and said, hey, Marco, this is not your time. You know, you need to wait. Jeb has been preparing for this for a long time. And Rubio said politely, thanks for your guidance. I'm running anyway. If he sees an opportunity, he's going to run. Karen, who do you think Democrats are eyeing as someone who they would want to run in? I think right now everybody is focused on the midterms, to be quite honest. I know there are a lot of people who are signing up for the stance card. So I think there is a united front behind anyone right now on both sides. I'm both sides. Let's talk, if we could, about what's happening at the Smithsonian and Lonnie Bunch announcing he is retiring. He says he the environment is incredibly stressful. Actually, the opportunity to interview him. I want to play a little bit of that and get your reaction. I think the Smithsonian, in some ways, is the glue that helps hold the nation together, right? You look at who visits the Smithsonian, everybody, red states, blue states, whatever your politics, you come to the Smithsonian. Why? Because you want to understand who you are. The Smithsonian gives you ambiguity. It helps you understand complexity, nuance, subtlety, debate. And I think that that's a major contribution. If you could help people feel comfortable with ambiguity, then you could help a nation move forward. A lot of people are surprised he's stepping down, Dan. People just associate the Smithsonian with Lonnie Bunch, its secretary, first African-American secretary, we should note. Also, what's the reaction been? I mean, the president has put a lot of pressure on the Smithsonian. I think that even if he says that's not the reason he's stepping down, I think it's hard to separate that from just the reality of what's been happening over the last two years. A lot of friends and family come to Washington, D.C. You take them to the Smithsonian because they're the greatest probably American institution we have right now. And I think that they will continue to be that. But that pressure definitely has mounted on the Smithsonian. Yeah. How's it being received in the Republican circle? Look, I think Republicans are pretty sympathetic to the arguments of the Trump administration, making that this was woke and activist. And look, you had some of the administrators, in fact, talk about the need to tie social justice and activism to the Smithsonian. It's just a different approach. I wish the Trump administration hadn't been so aggressive in hounding him out of office. There's a valid critique. They just didn't make it. Yeah, I think it's a shame, quite honestly, because we are in this moment in time where I think there's some defenders of democracy and what we want to be the message we give people. And I think this is an unfortunate one. And it was an unfortunate delivery that they just kept kind of hounding him until, you know, despite whatever we have said that they hunted him until he needed to step down and take a step back. Well, I feel fortunate I got to interview him a number of times. Thank you for this great conversation, Dan, Taryn and Stephen. Really appreciate it. We're back tomorrow with more Meet the Press. Now there's more ahead on NBC News Now.