Meet the Press NOW — November 10

0:00Brooks Brothers. Quality tailoring that lasts a lifetime. The 1818 Collection. Italian crafted suiting for your important occasions. Explorer suit separates. Crafted from lightweight wool built for travel and ease. Brooks Brothers. Tailored for the moments that matter. I'm Craig Melvin. Cheers. Cheers. Cheers. I've always been a glass half full kind of guy. And now I'm talking to some people who look at the world that way too. some really fascinating folks who shared their defining moments, their triumphs, their challenges. Their stories are funny and quite candid. So I hope you'll join me each week.

0:37And who knows, you might just come away with your own glass half full. Search glass half full with Craig Nelson from today on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts.

0:59Welcome to Meet the Press Now. I'm Kelly O'Donnell in Washington, where Republicans are picking new leadership and picking up the pieces after last week's stunning midterm losses. And Senate Democrats are debating their way forward as well. Now, in the House, Republican lawmakers have just shaken up their leadership team, electing Ohio congressman, Freedom Caucus founder, and fierce Trump ally Jim Jordan to run their conference in the next Congress. After House Speaker Mike Johnson said he would not run for any GOP leadership position. We're expecting to hear from the new Republican House leadership team soon.

1:36Now, today's vote, of course, coming as Republicans chart a new path forward after suffering a generational defeat at the ballot box. Throughout the day, Republican members have been saying their party must reevaluate. I think we all, all of us House Republicans, recognize that we had a suffering loss on Tuesday and we're hungry to get back into the majority. When you have a defeat like we saw last week, we certainly have to reevaluate where we are and how do we get back to the majority. Whoever we select is our leaders. We've got some great ones up for election today. We have to be unified behind whoever we select.

2:15I want somebody that's going to message and admit that we made horrible mistakes. Republican Congress deserves what it got because we allowed it to happen. But America doesn't deserve what they're getting ready to endure. This is a moment for us to reflect as a conference and figure out our path forward. So the fact that there is a lot more listening going on is encouraging. Senate Republicans, meanwhile, just moments ago, reelected John Thune, senator of South Dakota, to remain as Republican leader in the Senate, despite some hand wringing among some members. Now, for the Democrats, we understand the House will hold its leadership elections next week.

2:55Senate Democrats, however, will wait until December, with a fight brewing in the race for majority leader. In just the past hour, Senators Bernie Sanders and Alyssa Slotkin suggested they would not back the current minority leader Chuck Schumer for the job. I personally have known Chuck Schumer for over 30 years, and I like Chuck. Nobody who works harder than Chuck Schumer. But in my view, the time is now for change, and I will not be supporting Chuck to be reelected as the Democratic leader. I think whoever wants to run this caucus should come forward with a plan on how they're going to govern differently, what they're going to do in the first 100 days to put money in people's pockets, and then in particular, how they're going to communicate differently.

3:49I am not actively seeking this job. I am seeking change. Whoever wants my vote is going to have to show me a concrete plan that's definitively different. I'm a no until and unless I see that from anyone. There is a lot happening this hour, and Senator Schumer also spoke to reporters in the last hour at the same time as Senators Sanders and Slotkin held their press conference, with Senator Schumer insisting that he will keep his job as leader. I'm confident I will be elected majority leader. And our caucus is really united in focusing on bringing down costs, on ending the corruption, on ending the chaos, on ending the war.

4:34We have great unity in our caucus, and I'll be proud to lead it as majority leader. Let's dig into this further. And joining me now from Capitol Hill is NBC's senior national political reporter Sahil Kapoor, and at the White House, NBC's Monica Alba. So Sahil, there's a lot happening where you are working today. And tell us more about what does the choice of Jim Jordan, Republican of Ohio, say about the makeup of the incoming Republican conference? Is Jordan's conference one that's going to be eager to compromise with Democrats? Short answer, no, Kelly. This decision tells us that House Republicans are doubling down on President Trump and MAGA in the wake of that 2026 electoral thumping.

5:16Jim Jordan is an aggressive defender of President Trump. You see some of his biographical details here. He was first elected in 2006 to the House. He helped found the House Freedom Caucus, the far-right band of rebels back in 2015 onward, that pressured leadership from the right. Now it seems sort of like the hard right from then over the last decade has become the center in the House GOP. And there is a controversy that's dogged him for some time. He was accused of failing to protect wrestlers as a coach at Ohio State University from abuse, which he denies knowing about at the time. Now, Jordan, privately, I'm told, made a twofold pitch to members behind closed doors.

5:53This is from a person familiar with that matter. Said first that the next Congress is going to be dominated by investigations by Democrats, of course. Jordan argued that he's a good investigator. And second, he said Steve Scalise has been in leadership for too long, but about a dozen years. He said that was the 2026 was the worst loss for Republicans in modern history and that it's time, in his view, for a new coach. Now, there's also developments happening on the Democratic side of things in the Senate. And this potential challenge to Chuck Schumer, how big of a deal is it? And is it at all surprising since they had such huge wins?

6:29I think you hit the nail on the head with the word potential, Kelly, because there is still no alternative right now. You can't beat something with nothing. And at this moment, Chuck Schumer is still in pole position to win the race to be majority leader because no one has officially jumped in to challenge him for that position. There are real rumblings of discontent here, more so than we've seen for the last decade, while Schumer has been either majority or minority leader on the Democratic side. Now, I spoke moments ago to Senator Chris Van Hollen, the Maryland Democrat, who some grassroots advocates are trying to draft as a challenger to Schumer.

7:01He told me he's still actively listening and he's not made an announcement or a decision about whether he's going to jump in. He did say that we should not have a coronation in his words and that nobody should be supported for leader without a very clear plan to show the voters that change will be coming as a result of the 2026 election. Well, that's certainly interesting. And in terms of lessons from what happened with the midterm losses, I know you got a chance to to spend time with the outgoing House Speaker Mike Johnson as House Republicans are dealing with their future. What did he have to tell you?

7:36Yeah, that's right. Speaker Johnson, who I spoke to earlier today, he said he did his best. He said House Republicans did their best. And he attributed what happened, that extraordinary electoral thrashing that Republicans received to simply politics moving one way and then back and then the other way. Take a listen. Look, there's a lot of armchair quarterbacking and diagnosis going on with that. We did our job. We let you all in the field. I raised over half a billion dollars for the team, and I've traveled enough miles campaigning for my colleagues to circle the globe nine times. So sometimes these are just ebbs and flows in politics.

8:14Just the ebb and flow of politics is what Speaker Johnson says. One thing he is not doing, one thing pretty much no Republican I've talked to is doing is blaming President Trump or his policies, including the Iran war, the tariffs, for driving up Koss Kelly. We know from our exit polls, voters overwhelmingly were unhappy with the president and the administration. Republicans do not seem to be echoing that criticism. So interesting, Sahil. Thank you so much. Asking you to stay around here as other developments happen. And I want to turn to the White House now where Monica is at her post. Do you have a sense yet of how closely the president has been watching the leadership elections.

8:48He knows Jim Jordan well. They've got a strong relationship. Any any details yet on how the president views this? We don't have his exact reaction yet, Kelly, but I think he is certainly somebody who will come out and applaud this move and be very supportive of it. Jim Jordan is pretty much as close of an ally as you can get on Capitol Hill to this president, to this White House and administration. And likely it is another signal of sort of the intensity of which Republicans are going to look to the next two years of how they have to kind of brace themselves for a fight from Congress and in both directions of Pennsylvania Avenue.

9:25The president will feel like he can do that with somebody like minority leader Jim Jordan, who is, of course, as pugnacious as they come. And the president likes that. He wants to see that kind of intensity, that kind of fighting spirit. And certainly that's something that Republicans will have to be prepared for with all of the ongoing, you know, investigations, probes and inquiries that are going to be coming from Democrats as they have signaled since those sweeping wins last week, Kelly. When you describe that Jim Jordan style, John Thune is cut from a very different cloth. And sometimes we've heard the president be critical of him and at times call him a friend.

10:01What do you get a sense of with the fact he's now been reelected by his fellow senators to be the minority leader in the Senate? How do you think the president will be able to continue working with him? Yeah, and just yesterday, the president was asked about that, and he referred to Senator Thune as a fine man, as somebody that he does like. But overall, he does wish that Republicans, in his view, had been able to do more when they did control the Senate under his leadership, specifically the Save America Act. There was so much back and forth of the president sort of demanding action on that. And Senator Thune having to come out time and time again and saying the votes simply were not there to make any moves on that kind of legislation.

10:45So you saw that tension point. And at times the president, even former press secretary Caroline Levitt would say plainly they were disappointed in John Thune. They would express those kinds of things. But today and now moving forward, the president indicating that he does want to support him, that he will be able to work with him in that capacity. And certainly it's possible he could kind of revive some of that disappointment when he talks about it. But yesterday he said he wasn't involved in these elections and that he was just happy for Republicans to choose who they wanted to be in these leadership positions.

11:17Kelly. There's something else I wanted to check in with you about, because in that out of the blue press conference where the president came into the briefing room yesterday, he was asked about his comments since the election, and he seemed to back away from his initial impression that he would try to make deals with Democrats. He was complimentary of the electoral success Democrats had, at least for a moment, and then seemed to shift away. What do you make of that? Yeah, and it really was a bit fleeting in terms of that tone that we saw from him. It definitely shifted. Yesterday, he even called into question the results of the election after saying previously that he had congratulated Democrats, saying they had done a good job and conceding that he may have played a role in where Republicans lost votes with things like the war against Iran, the high gas prices and also his immigration policy.

12:10So this idea now that this White House is going to try to work with Democrats, there are so many questions about how exactly that might work. Also with the elevation of Stephen Miller, who is the chief of staff now. This is his second full day in that role. And certainly he has not been shy about the way that he has described the ability or inability to work with Democrats. So those two things definitely are in conflict here today. Kelly. Thank you for those updates, Monica. And Sahil, we'll ask you to stick around because there could still be more action in the House. We've been watching for steps to make a key procedural vote in the next hour or so on Congressman Thomas Massey, who will not be in the new Congress.

12:52his resolution to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. In a press conference this morning, the secretary struck a defiant tone, calling the impeachment push a political spectacle and claiming it was effectively an attack on the president and U.S. service members. It's a farce and it's a stunt. And everybody knows it. You see, we've seen this show before. They impeached President Trump over a perfect phone call. Now they're trying a third time, this time against a member of his cabinet. They will fail again. And if standing with President Trump puts me in that company, I'll take that company every day of the week.

13:35I stand behind every one of these operations. I was proud to execute them, and I would do it again tomorrow. We destroyed terror regimes' capabilities. We sank the boats carrying poison into our communities. We put a narco dictator in handcuffs. These are not high crimes. This is the job. And shortly after those remarks, President Trump came to the defense of his embattled secretary, saying in a social media post that Hegseth gets a, quote, A++ for his defense against what he called a disgruntled, angry, defeated former congressman. He's still in office until January, Thomas Massey. Vice President Vance also coming to the secretary's defense, arguing that Hegseth did not commit impeachable offenses.

14:24Now, back with us is Sahil Kapoor, and also with me is NBC News senior national security correspondent Courtney Kuby. She was at the Pentagon for that event today. So, Sahil, what is your sense? Read the room for us on this procedural step. Where are the votes? What do you think comes next? First off, Kelly, you can hear the secretary sort of speaking to an audience of one with phrases like a perfect phone call, and he got the accolades, the strong support that he wants from the president and, it seems, the vice president, who do have an impact on House Republicans, which gets me to your question here.

14:56This is likely to be a close vote because the margins in the House are still very, very narrow, at least until Democrats take control in January. Hakeem Jeffries, the minority leader, has said he's a hard yes on impeaching Hegseth. And, of course, the sponsor of this resolution is Thomas Massey, the Kentucky Republican who has filed eight articles of impeachment on matters, including, or rather allegations, including violating the War Powers Act, extrajudicial killings, suppression of free speech. I'm not certain yet, Kelly, that the House has the votes to actually impeach him because they need a majority.

15:27They need several Republicans to join Democrats. And here's a look at what some House Republicans are saying about Hegseth and the impeachment push. And I have a lot of thoughts on that he didn't commit any crimes. The secretary has committed no high crimes or misdemeanors. The allegations are essentially as they often are. They don't like his policies. They don't like his style. I have separate complaints about the secretary that's not in the impeachment. So, Mr. Bacon, just to be clear, you will be a no on impeachment. I plan on being a no. Now, that last member, Don Bacon, he's retiring. He has not been the biggest fan of Pete Hegseth, But he does indicate in that audio that high crimes and misdemeanors were not committed, that there may be policy disagreements here.

16:12So I suspect that's where the vast majority of Republicans are going to come down, even if they are critical of Hegseth. The only question is, is there is there some attendance disparity? Maybe more Democrats show up than Republicans. We've seen that happen before. I wouldn't be surprised if somehow this gets over the top. But right now, I'm not I'm not counting enough votes for it, Kelly. Thank you, Sahil. That's good insight about what's happening there. So even if this impeachment effort does not go anywhere in this Congress, do you get a sense the Democrats, with their big majority coming in, could continue to push this in the new Congress?

16:45Absolutely, but probably not through impeachment. They're going to use tools like investigations. They're going to have subpoena power in both the House and the Senate, especially in the House. I think the Department of Defense and Secretary Hegseth is going to be one target of their investigations. And second, the power of the purse. Government funding is coming up. They have to reauthorize the Pentagon. I think those are the tools that Democrats are going to be looking at to try to end the Iran war. I've talked to a lot of Democrats across the spectrum, progressive and moderate, who see their overwhelming victories in 2026 as a mandate to end the Iran war, Kelly.

17:16That's a significant goal they have. Thank you, Sahil. We appreciate all of that. I'm going to turn to Courtney now. And I want to play some more of what Secretary Hegseth said today, and then we'll talk about it. And on the eve of Veterans Day, these resolutions tell every one of them that their service was a crime. Their service was not a crime. These are heroes. And no politician in Washington will tell them otherwise while I hold this office. So, your takeaways. He was combative. the impeachment details that are in the resolution do not attack U.S. service members. It is about his leadership.

17:58What is your takeaway of what this was about today? So he made three, there were three big goals here. One, Sahil just mentioned, and that is to message to President Trump that he's going to keep fighting, that he's his fighter at the Pentagon. Hegseth has bragged about that since about the day he came into the job, frankly, that President Trump told him he needs to fight, fight like hell, I believe is what he usually says. But there were two other big things. One was what we just saw there. Hegseth is trying to tie this impeachment as a direct link to the troops. So he's saying anyone who votes to impeach him is directly impugning the service of the men and women in uniform and the acts that they've carried out.

18:36Now, I've read through those impeachment articles, eight articles, several times. That is not the case. It is a direct call on him saying that in multiple cases now he has not followed the law with the war in Iran, the extrajudicial killing of potential narco-traffickers, boats and other things. But he also made a very concerted effort here to tie himself to Donald Trump as well. At one point even saying, well, the Democrats have tried to impeach President Trump twice and this is their third time, but this time they're going through one of his cabinet members. He is trying to score points with President Trump and he is trying to make anyone who votes in favor of impeaching him unpatriotic.

19:18And that can be a very effective political tool. It's not the first time we've seen politicians try to tie things to the troops for that means. And what are we hearing now when you weigh what the president said in his public statements yesterday in the briefing room and what you're hearing in your reporting about any potential plans regarding Iran? You know, Kelly, it goes up and down. So right now, I would say there doesn't seem to be anything imminent. There doesn't seem to be some urgency to go in and to finish the job is one thing that we keep hearing from officials around the Trump and the Trump administration or to conduct more strikes for any reason.

19:54I mean, what everyone has to remember is they continue to have a huge presence there and that cannot stay forever. There are readiness concerns that are really starting to creep up as there are almost two dozen ships and hundreds of aircraft and thousands, tens of thousands of troops. But it's not just that. There are real questions about what additional action, military action could carry out. And another thing to keep in mind, the U.S. military is engaged on a near daily basis. In the Strait of Hormuz, Iran is firing again on a near daily basis on commercial ships. U.S. men and women continue to be in harm's way.

20:28there is virtually zero transparency about what they are doing, when they are injured, what is happening out there. So it's not as if it is. The president said yesterday, we have not lost a service member in months, but we don't get a real clear picture about injuries and things like that. Even today, when we finally had an opportunity to ask the secretary of defense questions, we got almost nothing about Iran. He only called on particular media. He didn't call on a lot of us who wanted to ask about Iran. So there is very little transparency. Frankly, That's one of the arguments from members of Congress is that this Pentagon has not provided them with information when they've requested it, as they are obligated to do by law.

21:06And his appearance today was the first time we've seen him in that setting in months. More than six months, yes. At a time of war. Thank you, Courtney. We appreciate you being on your beat with vigor all the time. We are following breaking news on Capitol Hill closely, and we will bring you any major developments on the Hegseth impeachment effort if we get them during our time here. And coming up as Democrats are set to take over the majority in the Senate, Leader Schumer, his grip on power is being put to a test. I'll talk to a top Senate Democrat. And that's coming up next. You're watching Meet the Press Now.

21:49Welcome back. Joining me now is Democratic Senator from New York, Kirstjen Gillibrand. She is also the chair of the Senate Democrats Campaign Committee, coming off a big win. Senator, so good to see you. Thank you for making time. I know it's been a busy day there. And want to check in with you about your agenda for the Democratic conference and caucus after there was this huge electoral victory, really a generational shift. There's a lot of question about who will be the majority leader. I know you support your fellow New Yorker, Chuck Schumer, and there are some incumbent senators. I'm thinking of Bernie Sanders, Alyssa Slotkin, Warnock, who are saying they're not sure they can support Chuck Schumer even after these big wins.

22:38So I want to get a sense from you of how confident are you that Senator Schumer will be the majority leader in the next Congress?

22:46Kirsten Gillibrand: Well, to answer the first part of your question, this was a seismic election, as you said. It wasn't just a blue wave. It was a blue tsunami. And people across this country are begging for change. They want to see real results when it comes to accessibility to health care, costs of health care, getting grocery costs, fuel costs, child care costs, housing costs down. And so they are looking for this new Congress to produce results, to actually be laser focused on getting access to health care increased and then decreasing the cost for it and making it better, as well as reducing costs for all these other things by ending the war in Iran to get those fuel and grocery costs down, by ending these chaotic tariffs to get housing costs down and every other type of everyday good.

23:36Kirsten Gillibrand: That was a very clear message from voters. They are very clear. That is what you were you were hearing from voters. And so is Chuck Schumer the person to lead Democrats forward on that? I think so, because our candidates were the change. The fact that most of these candidates are under the age of 45. The fact that these candidates come from red and purple states who so authentically represent those states. You're looking at a generational shift in Kansas, literally a hundred year shift in Mississippi. I mean, it's shocking how many voters came together to vote for this change. But what it takes to win those elections is somebody strategically placing all these amazing candidates ready to win in position.

24:18Kirsten Gillibrand: That's the kind of work that Senator Schumer has done. Not only did he recruit great candidates up top, people like Sherrod Brown for Ohio and Roy Cooper for North Carolina, but the strength of those candidacies allowed us to expand the map. He raised over$600 million and made sure our caucus, which is also very diverse, stayed incredibly united in our message. We've been talking about costs and corruption and chaos for a year and a half. We continually augmented and lifted up the voices of these candidates running in all these red and purple states to amplify their messages so we could win. And that takes strategic vision and enormous experience.

24:56Kirsten Gillibrand: And so when voters are asking for change, they're asking for policy changes. They're literally asking to get the price of groceries and child care and housing down. They want this war in Iran to end. And I just think Senator Schumer is the one that put us in the position so we could take advantage of the brilliance of these candidates to deliver this change election. And so I'm optimistic that our caucus will feel gratitude more than anything else. And he will be reelected. That is a fulsome affirmation of what he brings to this, the experience, the candidate selection, all of those points. And yet some of those new class victors that are joining the Senate in the new year are saying part of the change that voters sent them there with, this is a list of them, they have not said they will support Chuck Schumer.

25:45So despite that sort of resume you outlined for us and the fact that he brought everybody to the victory, how do you convince these new members that he is the choice? Or is there some other choice who could unite the full Democratic caucus?

26:01Kirsten Gillibrand: I think Senator Shurwell will be able to unite the caucus. And so I'm optimistic. And what my job is, is to make sure that we stay laser-like focused on delivering for the American people. I hope to do the DSCC again. I actually want to build on this blue wave we created for this election cycle. And the last time Congress, particularly the Democrats, had a blue wave was 20 years ago in 2006 and 2008. And if you remember, that's when I first ran for Congress in a two to one Republican district that hadn't been Democrat since the Nixon era. And I was able to be that strong candidate standing there in a very, very tough two to one Republican district.

26:39Kirsten Gillibrand: And that wave was able to take me over the finish line. That was a two wave cycle, both 2006 and 2008. I think we're looking at the same thing. We have enormous opportunities on this map because we've already expanded it. And so I want to double down on delivering for the American people on the issues of costs, on restoring the people who are cut off Medicaid, making sure Medicare gets expanded, Medicare for all, maybe 55 to 65, being able to buy in, covering, vision, dental, hearing, making sure we end this war in Iran so we can get our fuel costs, home heating costs and grocery costs down and ending these chaotic tariffs, which make the cost of everything, especially housing and food go up.

27:18Kirsten Gillibrand: So there are many senators, the winning message. And I want to be part of electing more Democrats to solidify this majority. So there are people who've held that position who are not anxious to do it a second time. So it is notable that you want to do it again. And obviously you had a huge year with so many wins for Democrats. But I want to focus your attention for a moment on one of the races that is very close, remains too close to call. But the Democrat there is ahead narrowly against a Republican incumbent. I'm talking about Mississippi and Scott Colombe. He has been critical of the Democratic Party and the team from the Senate not doing enough to invest money in Mississippi, which might have made this very tight win a deeper win.

28:04He sort of says he had to do it all on his own. How would you respond to that?

28:08Kirsten Gillibrand: Well, that is not the Scott Colombe I've talked to. He has been so grateful from the beginning. We had the philanthropists investing in Mississippi a year and a half ago with an$8 million investment to actually register 100 ,000 new voters in Mississippi. I helped support and attended a fundraiser where we talked about that investment with the NAACP and what this race could mean for Mississippi. I was a true believer from the beginning because Scott is a once in a generation candidate who could bring a red state into play. You have to remember, Mississippi was Republican plus 23 points. And so not only did he have to take advantage of whatever blue wave could get him that far, he then had to outperform the blue wave exponentially to actually get across the finish line.

28:54Kirsten Gillibrand: And I made sure we highlighted Scott Colombe at events all across the country. We introduced them to all our supporters. I did two fundraisers for him personally. And introducing him to that network of people to help him, my own personal network was very instrumental to getting him the resources that he did need to get across the finish line. But none of that would have happened if he wasn't inspiring. He's been inspiring from the beginning. He was supposed to be the first black judge in Mississippi nominated, but Cindy Hyde-Smith didn't return the blue slip. And so what a swipe of karma. It is an interesting twist.

29:29Kirsten Gillibrand: He runs against her and as a DA in that community, running on the things his community needs so authentically from the beginning. I also would give Scott Clome the unbelievable creativity award with his choose another protein. I'd rather choose another. That was a memorable moment. That was a memorable moment. And so candidate quality is something there. Let me ask you this. It matters. Yes, it does matter. And we have as many news organizations have been sending more people to Mississippi than we typically do. and one of our colleagues was able to talk to him last week. And here's how he described the relationship between the National Party and his race.

30:09Let's listen. Yeah, I mean, first of all, let's not give them too much credit. They haven't been trying, right? I've been in Mississippi 15 years. Most of the time, the Democrats conceded to state. When you say, listen, I can't win those voters, what you're saying, I don't care enough about those voters. And when you show voters you don't care, they don't show up. So what I did is I showed up. And turns out when you show up, people start to believe. So you get a sense he was in a different headspace than what you were just describing. He began his comment there saying, let's not give them too much credit, referring to the Democratic apparatus.

30:44I know you are enthusiastic about him.

30:46Kirsten Gillibrand: I agree with that. All the credit goes to Scott Colombe. He is the generational candidate that made the difference. And no amount of money can make up for the fact that he was the unique, fantastic candidate of the moment. And so don't get confused on who won that race. It was Scott Colombe. It has nothing to do with the Democratic Party. The Democratic Party and its brand is not very good. But what Scott brought to the race was vision and hard work and determination. And lots of people helped him all across the country. He's humble. He's kind. He's a hard worker and he's visionary. And that is why that race is going to result in his victory.

31:25And Senator, we will track as you put yourself forward again for that critical campaign seat. I understand next month is when Democrats will decide. We've run out of time here. I have so many other questions. Please come back soon. We so appreciate it. Absolutely. Thank you, Senator. And coming up, we've got a mixed bag in today's inflation report showing costs remain stubbornly high, even as gas prices fall below$4 a gallon. That's the first time it's happened in months. Plus, President Trump says the FBI is investigating NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang's relationship with an alleged Chinese spy as the scandal's sweeping fallout continues.

32:06Please stay with us right here on Meet the Press Now.

32:24Unlock even more with an NBC News subscription. Get deeper reporting and exclusive articles. Plus, more insight, analysis and content only for subscribers. When you really look inside these numbers. It's more context and clarity from the reporters you trust. Download the NBC News app now and subscribe for more.

32:48Welcome back to The Economy Now. And a bit of mixed news today for many Americans struggling with high prices. Now, on the plus side, the average price for a gallon of regular gas dropped below$4. That's the first time since July, according to AAA. The drop comes as oil prices have continued to fall, with President Trump downplaying the prospects of renewed military strikes on Iran. The news, though, comes as new data from the Department of Labor Statistics shows prices overall are still higher than expected. Now, the Consumer Bureau is reporting that consumer prices rose four-tenths of a percent in October compared to a month prior.

33:29That exceeded the estimates. Top White House economic officials not sugarcoating these numbers. Well, there's no doubt that you guys are right, that it's a disappointing report. And we had so much good news throughout the year, like lower drug prices and everything, that it kept things from heading in the wrong direction on the wrong trajectory. But right now, the trickle down from the higher energy prices is definitely very palpable in the data. I guess the silver lining for this cloud, and it is a cloud. I don't want to say that this is a good number. It's not. The silver lining is that so far in November, Brent crude is down 24 percent.

34:07And so assuming that stays, we'll basically see this in reverse. Just a notable tone there from White House officials. NBC News business and data correspondent Brian Chung joins me now. And the White House appears kind of gloomy about these economic numbers. Just how bad were they, Brian? Yeah, well, look, I mean, the numbers were disappointing from the economics perspective that economists were projecting the numbers to be better than they ended up looking. They were a little bit what they call hotter than expected, higher than we had expected. Now, when you talk about four tenths of a percent in terms of how much prices rose between September and October, the silver lining is that that's a slower pace than we saw in the month of September, where the same inflation reading was something closer to six tenths of a percent.

34:53But I think that what you heard from the tone in both of those individuals, Kevin Hassett and Christopher Phelan, is really that there wasn't a bigger drop as a result of lower energy prices. Because the reason why September was so high was because of skyrocketing energy costs as a result of negative developments concerning the war with Iran. Whereas that reversed between September and October, which maybe increased the expectation that this number would look better, but in the end was a little bit higher than perhaps those in the administration were hoping for, Kelly. Let's widen out a little bit and look at today's CPI report.

35:25What do the numbers say about inflation overall? Yeah, well, again, four tenths of a percent between September and October. But I think that when we talk about affordability, we zoom in on food prices. So food prices actually increased by a half a percent just in the month of October. That also includes food away from home, which means dining out. And so when you talk about the affordability and the concerns that people have with making ends meet, living day to day, which people went into the midterms very clearly thinking about as they voted for Democrats in that huge blue tsunami that took over the country.

35:57I think that's a big part of the story. And we mentioned gas prices down for regular gas down below four dollars. Do you get a sense that that is going to hold for a bit? Yeah, well, look, the national average falling below four dollars is a very significant psychological test, especially when you consider that during the throes of this conflict with the war in Iran, national average gas prices were hitting something like$4.50. I should remind everyone on diesel fuel, that was hitting an all-time high in September of this year. That's a big deal for the tractors and for the tractor trailers that move things across the country or are so integral in producing the agricultural product in this country.

36:36But again, some of the more positive developments coming out of the war with Iran, more ships flowing through, optimism that maybe a democratically controlled Congress can do something on the war with Iran, that has led to lower energy costs, Kelly. Let's switch gears while I have you. President Trump confirmed that the FBI is investigating NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang over his relationship with an alleged Chinese spy. Any new details today about where that investigation stands, how the company is responding? Yeah, that was huge. And the president's making that announcement in that surprise impromptu press conference yesterday.

37:08Now, he didn't say exactly what the FBI was investigating, but this comes alongside our own NBC News reporting, a source familiar with the matter saying the Department of Justice is looking into Alice Huang. She is the person at the center of this spy scandal that U.S. intelligence officials say was a Chinese spy that was working with Beijing. She was an executive at a data center company based out of Singapore called Megaspeed. And this same source is saying that this investigation from the Justice Department will look into that company, whether or not this spy had a role in helping to smuggle chips into China illegally.

37:41You have to remember there's an export ban on these NVIDIA chips being sold directly to China. Was Megaspeed, was this spy integral in making that happen? And how did she potentially leverage her relationship with CEO Jensen Huang to make that happen? Those are going to be things that they will investigate, as well as the independent investigation, which the NVIDIA board has commissioned themselves, Kelly. There are so many directions this could go. Brian, I know you'll stay on it. Thank you for stopping by to visit with us today. And we will have more news and politics coming up after a quick break.

38:11This is Meet the Press Now.

38:22We're glad you're back with us. And we're turning now to the brewing battle to lead Senate Democrats. Now, as we mentioned last hour, Senator Bernie Sanders and Senator Alyssa Slotkin suggested they would not be supporting Chuck Schumer to be the majority leader. And other key Democrats are also refusing to commit to supporting him. Here's Senator Raphael Warnock. I think we're at an inflection point in our country. The voters are demanding that we stand up and fight for them. And so any member of my caucus that feels like they should lead in this moment, I look forward to hearing their case. Now, this all comes as Maryland Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen says he's not closing the door to challenging Schumer.

39:08Joining me now is our great panel, Susan Page, Washington Bureau chief at USA Today, Joel Payne, interim executive director of MoveOn, and Stephen Hayes, CEO and editor of The Dispatch. He's also an NBC News political analyst. So let me start with you, Susan. Van Hollen's blowing it open, saying he might be interested. And we're hearing these rumblings from others that they'd like it to be a race for who is the majority leader. Where do you think the numbers are right now? What a week for Schumer, right? Triumphant. Triumphant, yes. Wins back the Senate. The numbers keep getting bigger on the number of Democratic senators.

39:42And today, this, where he sees suggestions not from the crazy people, not that there are any crazy people in the U.S. Senate, but not from the fringe people in the U.S. Senate, but from some pretty solid Democratic voices saying, it's an inflection point. Maybe it's time for a change and a credible alternative in Chris Van Holland. So I don't know who ends up being the majority leader, but it is this is a significant, incredible threat to Schumer keeping in his role. That is a statement. That is really a statement. Joel, do you think this is a through line from what voters said when they cast their ballots to this uncertainty about leadership?

40:19Yeah, absolutely. I mean, Schumer finds himself in a tough spot because for some moderates who were elected to bring change to D.C., Chuck Schumer is the living embodiment of what D.C. has been for the last two decades. And of course, for progressives, they don't like his politics. You know, you mentioned in the interim ED for MoveOn, we polled our members and 82 percent said that they believe that Schumer should step aside as the Senate majority leader. And I think a lot of the frustration there is with the fact that when Democrats were in the minority. I don't think that those folks felt like Schumer had the right strategy and met the moment.

40:51But more broadly, this is a moment where we just had a gigantic historic change election. I think the members of MoveOn, the grassroots base of the Democratic Party, I think they want some change. And I think what you're seeing is a manifestation of that. And Stephen, on the Republican side, we're seeing some change and some stability. Thune remains in his position. But on the House side, Steve Scalise, who was wounded in a politically motivated attack on Republicans, has been an ally of the president, wanted the job, has been second to the House speaker. He's defeated by Jim Jordan, who brings a fighting spirit.

41:28How do you assess that decision? Yeah, I mean, a fighting spirit is definitely one way to put it. Look, I think if you look at what's happened in the House of Representatives, they're looking at these election results and saying what the country really needed is more MAGA. Yeah. And I mean, that's what some of them are saying. It's a debatable claim, to be sure. I mean, Brian Jack, who was Donald Trump's former political director at the White House, won his bid to be the head of the National Republican Congressional Campaign Committee. This is the person who's going to go out and recruit candidates.

41:57This is the person who's going to fund candidates. He made an argument that one of the things that the NRCC would be doing from this point going forward was defending incumbents. So they're going to defend the MAGA incumbents that are there. I mean, this is the Republican Party, at least in the House, saying we are all in on MAGA and we're going to give you more MAGA, whether you like it or not. Multi MAGA, more to come. That's their approach. One of the things that we've also seen is that there's been a push about how to deal with immigration, that voters had a lot to say about immigration in a number of ways, supporting border security, but concerns about tactics and so forth.

42:35And Leader Thune, who just won reelection, he's one of the people who has been trying to keep that balance as well. Do you think Thune can help to deal with any deal making that the president alluded to only briefly when it comes to the issues of changing any tactics with immigration? Yeah, look, I think if anyone can do it, John Thune would be somebody who can do it. I mean, Thune in the last Congress, I think, was a moderating element. He certainly wasn't as MAGA as the MAGA senators wanted him to be. I think that's part of the reason that you had people standing up and hoping to postpone the election today.

43:11Look, I mean, Donald Trump himself has been on all sides of the immigration issue, right? Well, to make that point, let me play a piece of the president's comments just yesterday in the briefing room where he was he was pushed about this on immigration because he had said maybe his policies were too tough. But then when pressed on that, that wasn't really what he said. Here's the president. We have a very strong deportation policy. There's no amnesty, no anything. We keep that. We want to get the worst of the worst, and then we'll see what happens. But they came in illegally. Many of them have good jobs now.

43:46They're productive. Some of them are even paying taxes. And we're seeing what's going to happen. There won't be amnesty. Somebody suggested, will there be amnesty? No. Well, he had sort of suggested it when he said in an interview that some of the hardworking immigrants who pay taxes, maybe they should not have been swept up. Is this just a reaction from MAGA where the president is like, oh, no, no amnesty? Yeah, I mean, I think what you're seeing in real time is Donald Trump not knowing how to respond to this election, which he and his policies were thoroughly repudiated. So you saw him say on the night of the election, the days afterwards, I'm open to compromise.

44:22And then he picks Stephen Miller as his chief of staff. I think what we're most likely to see come out of this is sort of the YOLO Trump era. Donald Trump has always wanted to just be Donald Trump. That epitomizes Landup, right? This is what he wants to do, yeah. And what is your sense, Susan, about how the moving target on immigration, one of the most driving issues voters expressed their views about, and the president is sort of holding the line now? Don't watch what he said. Watch what he did. He appointed Stephen Miller as the new White House chief of staff. What is the original animating issue for Donald Trump since 2015?

44:58It is immigration. So I will hold my breath until we are. I guess I won't hold my breath until we get a deal on immigration that includes Donald Trump. Joel, do you see any pathway here after voters said so much about what they didn't like tactically or limitations they want on the approach to immigration? Is there any deal making with a Stephen Miller and the chief of staff job? This is what the interpretation of Democrats is from the last election. Ice in the street marauding and harassing communities is deeply unpopular. So unpopular that a state like Mississippi, a state like Kansas turned blue.

45:35Donald Trump's prioritization seems off. And I don't think Democrats should have any feeling of they need to be the ones that give. if Donald Trump wants to come to the table, if the president and Republicans want to come to the table, fine. But Democrats have the mandate right now to redirect how the party, how the policy of immigration has been administered for the last two years. And I think the president and his team are going to have to acknowledge that change in reality, which is a high bar. That's going to be difficult. I mean, they do need 60 votes and they are not at 60 for any substantive legislation.

46:06Give us another cycle. We might get there with Donald Trump continuing to do what he's doing. So some of the post midterm jockeying continues and we have seen the moves today toward a vote on potential impeachment for for Pete Hegseth. From our reporters on the Hill, they're not necessarily confident that there's enough votes for that. But others are saying it wouldn't stop with Hegseth. They would also consider looking at other members of the cabinet. Is this a one and done or is this a season now of potential impeachment? I think it is a way to not impeach Trump. because the Democrats know that that did not work out to their benefit the two times they did it before.

46:45But there's so much anger and unhappiness and dissatisfaction with his administration. This is a way to express that without taking that final step. And Stephen, when the president was on with 60 Minutes, he did not weigh in on 2028. You know, there's such an urgency to get to that as well, that he is holding back. And yet, of course, he's got a vice president who may be interested. He's got a secretary of state who may be interested. Are you surprised that he is sort of holding his powder on that? No. I mean, I think we can expect Donald Trump to weigh in soon and then maybe undo what he said before, because he wants this leverage as long as he can have it.

47:20One of the things Donald Trump likes more than anything is attention. He wants to have that power. He likes to exercise it. And this is a way for him to do that. And he knows how to sort of deal it. He knows how to deal it out. Correct. Thank you all for a great conversation. We so appreciate it. I want to turn back to Congress where Democrats are projected to hold roughly 260 seats. That's on the House side, even after Republicans mid decade redistricting push. That is significant. Remember, Republicans redrew more than a dozen congressional districts heading into the midterms in an attempt to boost their numbers.

47:52But that strategy appears to have backfired. We asked our NBC News chief data analyst Steve Kornacki to explain it all for us. One of the themes this midterm was mid-decade redistricting, redrawing lines ahead of the 2026 midterms. Both parties did it to some degree here. Republicans were hoping it was going to give them a pad on that majority they were trying to protect. How did it work out? Well, I think one of the most dramatic examples here is North Carolina. Republicans in North Carolina, the legislature there, was able to redraw the district lines, trying to get more seats out of it. So the Democrat, one of the Democrats they were targeting by doing that was Don Davis.

48:33And Don Davis, the Democrat in North Carolina's first congressional district. Let's dive in there and show you that race. You can see that Davis won. You can see he had about a three point margin, a little bit more over his Republican challenger. Here is his district. Now, this is what that redistricting did. Let me show you under the lines that Republicans drew in North Carolina. This became a district that Donald Trump would have carried by 11 points in 2024. So in the run up to the midterm, a lot of folks were looking at Davis as the underdog in this race, trying to win in a double digit Trump district.

49:05But he ended up winning easily. One of the reasons that Davis did so well here is there is a large African-American population, rural African-American population in this district. In 2024, Democrats weren't too thrilled with the turnout they were able to get from that vote. that vote did materialize certainly here, but it wasn't just here in the first district of North Carolina. Let's go back to that North Carolina screen, because I think there's a much bigger story in North Carolina, maybe about the effects of that redistricting effort in terms of firing up the Democratic base in response to it, particularly the Democratic base of black voters, large black population in North Carolina.

49:43Let me show you some of the results that happened statewide here because Republicans really took it on the chin in North Carolina, perhaps more than any other state. Start with this. I think this is the most dramatic result in North Carolina. Richard Hudson, Republican incumbent, 9th district. Let's go over there and take a look. Richard Ojeda, that's the name of the guy that beat Hudson. Now, first of all, look at the district. Trump won the district by 16 points. So for a Democrat to win there, it's an upset. But who is Richard Hudson? Do you know the name? Richard Hudson's a member of congressional Republican leadership.

50:15He was running the campaign arm of congressional Republicans, the NRCC, and he lost his own district in North Carolina, a district, again, that Trump had carried by 16 points. Take a look. What else happened here in North Carolina? We have a couple uncalled races. Okay, look at this. The third district, Greg Murphy, a Republican. Close call here. He's leading by just a couple hundred votes. We haven't officially called it. Again, show you what this district looks like. Trump won this by 13 points. Raymond Smith is challenger. One of the things you saw, it's that theme there of large black turnout supporting Democratic candidates across North Carolina.

50:53So Murphy might survive. How about this? Another uncalled race. That's what gray means right there. You know, this name, she's been a fixture in Congress. Virginia Fox, long-serving Republican. She's trailing. Now it's by about 100 votes. This could be in recount territory here, But she is trailing her Democratic opponent again in a district that Trump carried by 17 points. This is happening all across North Carolina. These double digit Trump districts. Democrats are either winning or they're coming very close to winning. Take a look. What else can we show you in North Carolina? Take a look here at the sixth district.

51:27Cyril Jefferson beats freshman Republican Addison McDowell. Again, about a two point margin there to and change. Jefferson, very little campaign money, very little national attention. a race that was not on anybody's radar. Folks looked up on election night, and this was a shocking result. Again, look at the district, a 17-point Trump district. We're seeing this all across North Carolina. Take a look here at the 14th district. It's the same story. Tim Moore, Republican incumbent, goes down to defeat, again, a Democratic candidate who wasn't on many people's radar, who've had very little in the way of campaign resources.

52:00This was not expected to be a very competitive race. And again, in a district that Trump won by 15 points. This is just the story across North Carolina here. And again, even where Republican incumbents survive or might survive, take a look here in the seventh district. Look at this. The Republican incumbent leads here by about 2000 votes. Right. And take a look. Trump plus 13 district. This is the story in North Carolina. The redraw was supposed to give Republicans more seats. The effect of the redraw in North Carolina seems to have been in part to fire up a Democratic base in that state that maybe hadn't turned out in numbers Democrats had usually want in the past, turned out for this election.

52:43And all of these double digit Trump districts, they either flip the Democrats or they came like this close to flipping. Our thanks to Steve for breaking it down. Always learn something with him. We are back tomorrow with more Meet the Press Now. There's more news ahead on NBC News Now.

53:13I'm Craig Melvin. Cheers. Cheers. Cheers. I've always been a glass half full kind of guy. And now I'm talking to some people who look at the world that way too. Some really fascinating folks who share their defining moments, their triumphs, their challenges. Their stories are funny and like candid. So I hope you'll join me each week. And who knows, you might just come away with your own glass half full. Search glass half full with Craig Nelvin from today on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts.