Meet the Press NOW — November 12

0:00From the producers of The Traitors, The Circle returns with bigger twists and higher stakes. Contestants compete for popularity without ever meeting. Some are celebrities, some are regular people, and some are catfishing the competition. And now audience voting will influence the game. You decide who has what it takes to win in The Circle. Watch the Hulu original series The Circle on November 17th, streaming on Hulu and on Hulu on Disney Plus for bundle subscribers. Terms apply. Hi, I'm Kate Snow, NBC News anchor and host of the NBC News podcast, The Drink. This month, I'm having a non-alcoholic Guinness with filmmaker, actor and writer Ed Burns.

0:40You know him from movies like Saving Private Ryan and 27 Dresses, but you will not believe what it took to get his first movie made, including tracking down legendary actor-director Robert Redford. Ed and I talk about how he built his career on his own terms and the staying power of independent filmmaking. And of course, I had to ask, what's the secret to his decades-long marriage to supermodel Christy Turlington? We talk about all of it. I hope you'll join us for the drink, listen, and follow wherever you get your podcasts.

1:26Welcome to Meet the Press Now. I'm Kelly O'Donnell, and that was the closing bell on Wall Street. After a day that began with a massive shakeup in the tech world that could have significant national security implications and major influence on the global economy, NVIDIA, the chip manufacturing company powering much of the AI boom, announcing that its CEO and founder, Jensen Huang, stepped down. Under pressure and amid reports, he had multiple extramarital relationships, including one with an executive who had reported to him and another with an alleged Chinese spy. Shares of NVIDIA continued their slide today, falling more than 5 % on the day.

2:09Shares are down more than 25 % over the last month, while stocks across the board were relatively flat. Although all major indices, the three top ones were in the red. Jensen Huang's resignation comes just days after NVIDIA announced it is conducting an independent investigation into its CEO's relationship with Alice Huang, the alleged Chinese Asian. And NBC News has confirmed that U.S. intelligence, a memo written by that group, warned that Jensen Huang was in a romantic relationship with an asset of China's spy service. And that was circulated among top officials in the Trump administration earlier this year.

2:51President Trump defended Jensen Huang when the allegations exploded into public view in recent days and said the FBI is investigating. Today, the president calling for Apple's chairman, Tim Cook, to take the reins at NVIDIA. Meanwhile, multiple investigations are being launched on Capitol Hill, with lawmakers saying that Jensen Huang has agreed to brief members potentially before Thanksgiving. Well, I think it's important that we understand, you know, Chinese intelligence, how they worked in this situation, what information, what privilege information they had access to, as well as what advocacy they had for certain policy positions.

3:35And then the question of, you know, chip, either remote access or smuggling. We need to have strong safeguards when it comes to our technology and export controls. And he's been one of the strongest proponents for not having export controls. This shines a whole new light on that discussion. All of this playing out less than a week before President Trump travels to China, where he's to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The president told reporters on Monday he does not plan to discuss Jensen Huang with the Chinese leader. Now, I'm joined now by NBC News business and economy reporter Ali Canal, NBC News intelligence reporter Dan DeLuce, New York Times trade and economics reporter Anna Swanson, who has been reporting extensively on NVIDIA and Jensen Huang.

4:29And NBC News White House correspondent Monica Alba is also with us. Allie, let me start with you. What toll can we measure about how this resignation is having on the company's stock? Well, we just had that opening closing bell, excuse me, and the stock did fall about 4 percent on the day. So trimming some of the earlier losses that we saw earlier in the trading session as investors really are trying to digest what this all means for the future of this company, as well as the AI trade at large. But even since this scandal first erupted, NVIDIA has lost half a trillion dollars in market value. So a very significant hit here.

5:09And remember, Wall Street does not like uncertainty. And sources who I've been speaking with tell me that it was critical for NVIDIA's board to act swiftly and establish a clear path forward. That included establishing CFO Colette Kress as this interim CEO as the company continues to go out there and search for a permanent replacement. And the board also made clear that Hwang will have no continuing role at this company, not even as an advisor. So while shares did finish lower, I think the fact that we saw this board act swiftly, confidently and decisively is a big reason why we were able to limit some of these losses, because their primary role right now is to really reestablish some of that credibility.

5:52And taking a wider look, we did not see wild swings in the broader market, particularly the NASDAQ index. Are you surprised at all by that? Yes and no. If you take a broad look across those major indexes, we close down just a little bit. But even though NVIDIA is one of the most influential stocks in both that tech-heavy NASDAQ and also that broader S &P 500, and you can certainly see NVIDIA put pressure on those indexes when that stock does fall, the entire stock market is not NVIDIA, right? And there's been instances even over the past few weeks where NVIDIA shares have fallen, yet the broader indexes rise.

6:29And that's the benefit of diversification because there are hundreds of other companies that are able to offset some of those losses. And another important thing to remember here is that the underlying demand story for AI, the fundamental story at NVIDIA hasn't necessarily changed because Jensen Wong is no longer at the company. This is a business that generates massive amounts of profits. Next week, we will be seeing earnings for this company. And if those financials are supportive, if they're high, then I do think you could see possibly a positive reaction on the stock. But certainly what this CEO scandal has shown us is that Jensen Wong was a huge part of this company and finding that replacement is question number one.

7:16Thank you, Ali, for bringing us up to speed on that. Let me turn now to Dan DeLuce, who's here with us in studio. You cover the intelligence community. Do officials there believe that there was a compromise because of what took place with Jensen Wong and any interactions he had with this woman believed to be working with Chinese intelligence? I think that is the key question. What is the potential damage here? What's the assessment of the potential damage? Because the sky is sort of the limit, right? It's a rich environment. Access to this big CEO and founder, access potentially to the president.

7:50That's right. This person is speaking to the president frequently, and they have a good relationship. So we don't know what information was passed, but they were watching closely for months. And we also don't know how she may have influenced his decisions and whether that has implications for chip smuggling, smuggling these chips illegally into China. Is there any sense that it goes beyond Jensen Huang in terms of other NVIDIA executives who may have been unwittingly a part of this or brought into conversations or access to them as well? I think that will be a question lawmakers are going to be asking when they talk to U.S.

8:28officials behind closed doors. And when they talk to him, he's due to appear before these committees behind closed doors. Can you tell us a little bit about what we do know about Alice Huang? And she's associated with a company that was doing business with NVIDIA. Do you get a sense that there is a long trail here of intelligence work? Do we have any clues on that yet? All we know at this point is that as about last spring, the U.S. government determined that she was some kind of an asset for Chinese security services, for the intelligence services. And how is that different than being employed directly by their spy shop?

9:08Right. So spying has different meanings, right? That's a good question. So she was not necessarily a career spy trained for many years, for example, you know, paid by them as a career spy. But she was somehow cooperating, possibly passing information. And what's interesting is you've heard some lawmakers, including Representative Himes on the Intelligence Committee, saying they still need clarity on exactly what was her role. How was she cooperating with the Chinese government? But that is the question. What information did she get and what did she pass on potentially to China? Anything yet that suggests her potential motives if she was acting in this way?

9:49I mean, first of all, she was heading a major company that was buying billions of dollars of chips from NVIDIA. So she had an interest in possibly getting those chips into the Chinese market, even just commercially. But, you know, the Chinese regime is not a democratic government, and they are famous for pressuring their citizens, especially those abroad, especially if their spouse is under some kind of spotlight. It couldn't be higher profile than this scenario it would see. That's right. And one more thing I think is important to add here. This was an intelligence coup at some level for the Chinese, potentially.

10:27But it also could blow back on them politically. You're now hearing from these members of Congress now who really have the bit between their teeth, and they want tougher restrictions on ship exports to China. So many repercussions. Dan, thank you so much. Let me turn now to Anna, and you have learned a lot in your reporting about Alice Wong. What can you share about who she is and what her role has been? Yeah, so we've actually been looking into her for a while at The New York Times. We reported on this story first over a year ago now, actually, that this company Megaspeed that she was associated with was under investigation by the U.S.

11:07government for potential chip smuggling. and that it had this woman at the head of it who was kind of this mysterious figure. She had sort of a mysteriously absent biography within China, but she was pictured as being very close with Jensen Huang, with him on multiple occasions. And so that certainly piqued our interest. It's taken a lot of digging and a lot of reporting to figure it out. But we do know now she appears to be a 43-year-old woman from Hunan, someone who was very tightly enmeshed in investor circles in Shanghai, working with a variety of tech companies there, including Chinese data centers.

11:50And she seems to have set up this Singaporean company as a way to just kind of sidestep U.S. rules that banned chip sales going directly to China. Even the photos that show the two of them together now are easy to view in a very different light. in terms of how much access she apparently had. Can you give us some insight into the issue of the Commerce Department not listing her company as an entity on the entity list? Why is that significant? Right. So there has been a push from some U.S. officials over time to take actions against Megaspeed. You know, obviously there have been these allegations of chip smuggling.

12:31There has been intelligence about this woman's work as an asset for the Chinese government. So that has alarmed many officials inside the Trump administration. There has been a push to put the company on what is known as the entity list. It's a kind of trade blacklist that controls exports to that company. That's something that other departments like state and treasury had been in favor of. But our reporting is that the Commerce Department had pushed back against that. Not exactly clear why. We had also had some reporting that an investigation into Megaspeed at the Commerce Department was suddenly halted after an unusual kind of communication between NVIDIA and officials at the Commerce Department.

13:15And that also may have delayed certain penalties that the government could have taken against Megaspeed earlier to stop their activities. We so appreciate your time and your expertise. We've all benefited from your reporting on this. Thank you for the work you do. Let me turn now to Monica. Attorney General Todd Blanche was just asked about the Justice Department's assessment of Alice Wong. And what did he say? Well, as you know, Kelly, from your day job covering the Department of Justice, the attorney general is always pretty careful when he's asked about sort of some specifics or a timeline of something, an investigation that he may not totally want to acknowledge or delve into.

13:55And that seems to be the case with this scenario. Let's play that exchange. I wanted to ask you, when did the Justice Department learn with regard to NVIDIA that Alice Wong might be a suspected Chinese asset? Well, your first question assumes something that I have never said and that I don't know to be true. So you assume that DOJ learns that she is, in fact, a spy. I'm not—nobody said that. I certainly haven't said that. And I don't—all I said a minute ago and all that I think I will say is that, of course, DOJ is an investigator looking at it. looking at it, which is an interesting kind of frame for this, because that's what the president implied on Monday when he specifically said the FBI was taking a look at this more broadly.

14:41Now, that doesn't always mean that there is an actual investigation. It could mean that there could be something coming as they're evaluating all of that. But that is sort of the broader and more important context here, which is that there are different government agencies within this administration that are taking a look at this. When you have the Commerce Department, when you have DOJ, and then the U.S. intel agencies that we know and have confirmed that Alice Huang does appear to be a Chinese asset, which comes from a memo that the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, was a part of putting together.

15:14So this is really, really kind of a web across this federal government at this point, Kelly, but there are still a lot of questions on the specifics of exactly what's being looked into and what it could amount to ultimately. And the timing, of course, is extraordinary. The president's about to travel to China. He has many feelings about his strong relationship with Xi Jinping. And this administration, that relationship matters. And this doesn't reflect well on the interaction. How do you think it affects the trip at this point? I mean, it's very, very hard to imagine that this won't kind of overshadow the trip in some way in terms of the headlines that likely will continue to be produced as this trip takes place early next week as he's traveling there and hosting potentially taking with him some of these CEOs, some of these tech leaders that traveled with him in May.

16:07that did include back then Jensen Huang, who the president actually picked up on the way to Beijing in Alaska at a refuel stop. So he was with him for the second part of that. Elon Musk, for instance, is expected, according to some reports, to travel to China next week as well. There is always going to be a business and a technology focus in a conversation like this, but we don't know yet, Kelly, who exactly will be accompanying the president, whether the president, in his words, intends to bring this up with President Xi. He says he doesn't plan on bringing this up, but it's something that certainly could be brought up.

16:42And it's something that reporters will definitely continue to ask the president about and to weigh in on in terms of this timeline, because what the president knew and when he knew it is still a little bit unclear and very important to this story overall, too, Kelly. And the White House has not provided more timeline when the president knew and all of that. So there's a lot of reporting for the team to do there. Thank you so much, Monica. And we're going to turn to some breaking news as well. The Metropolitan Police Department has just wrapped up an update on that shooting that happened earlier today in Washington, D.C.

17:15that killed one and injured four others. NBC's Gary Grumbach joins me now from the scene. And Gary, you've been on this all day. We appreciate the work you've been doing. What have we learned about the suspect and any motive here? We just learned a ton of new information about who was involved and some of the actions of who were involved and how it all went down here this morning. We've learned that the suspect, Dr. Matt Lambert, a 55-year-old man who lived in the apartment complex behind me, walked into Vita Gym around 8 o 'clock this morning. This was a targeted shooting. He was looking for the victim, James Stewart.

17:52He is the building manager of this location. He found James Stewart. He shot James Stewart. James Stewart has died. He then went upstairs to his apartment on the seventh floor of the building behind me. He went into the patio area that overlooked the streets of 15th Street and Church Street, which is just behind me here. And then he started shooting down at the street. That is where the four other individuals were shot outside of the gym, just walking on the street. There's no indication he had any relationship to those four individuals. But after that shooting, he then walked into his apartment.

18:26Of course, police responded within 30 seconds of the shooting, a remarkable response time here by MPD and their federal law enforcement partners. He went into his room, he barricaded himself in, and then he broke his gas line, according to police, in the apartment. That is when he lit a fire. And so there were flames that came out. We're seeing some of those videos online as well. after that point, the sprinkler system went on. It worked, according to police, and then the police was able to move in on his particular apartment. That is where some gunfire ensued from the individual towards the police outside.

19:04We're told no police were injured in that incident, but then we are told once police started moving in towards his apartment, he suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound, and he was pronounced dead on the scene. So there's a lot to take in here. The big question next is motive. According to police here, there was some indication that he was very upset with what was happening in the apartment complex. He was not happy with the condition of the apartment complex. He made it known in a series of ex-posts and a series of online writings over the past several years that he was not happy with this complex and not happy with the ownership and the homeowners association of this complex.

19:41So that is certainly one part of the motive that the investigators are looking into now, Kelly. Gary, thank you so much. A lot of new information there. We appreciate it. And coming up, history is made. Scott Cologne will be Mississippi's first black senator in nearly 150 years. A milestone victory for Democrats in a state Donald Trump won by more than 20 points in 2024. How Cologne did it and what it means for the future of U.S. politics. You're watching Meet the Press Now.

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21:33Welcome back. We're turning now to Mississippi, where Democrat Scott Colombe is celebrating an historic victory over Republican incumbent Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith. after days of uncertainty in a razor-thin race. Last night, the NBC News decision desk projected Scott Colom as the winner. His victory in the deep red stronghold raises Democrat Senate majority to 55 seats in the new Congress. Last night in Jackson, Colom addressed his supporters. In Mississippi, it's local people that make the difference. Not just the names that are recorded in history, but people that do the work without any expectation of recognition.

22:16And I'll tell you, it's local people that have faith that Mississippi can make progress. And it's local people like the people out here who have faith that we can win this election. So God bless you. All I did was have the courage to imagine a night like this. I had the courage to believe in Mississippi. I had the courage to understand that we could show the country that Mississippi matters. It has been more than 40 years since Mississippi elected a Democrat to the Senate, and Cologne will become the state's first black senator in nearly 150 years. Senator Hyde-Smith congratulated Cologne in a concession video last night.

23:06While this is not the outcome we worked for or hoped for, I respect the decision of Mississippi voters. I want to congratulate Scott Cologne and wish him well as he takes on the tremendous responsibility of representing our great state. And joining me now from Jackson, Mississippi, is NBC's Priscilla Thompson and senior national political reporter Sahil Kapoor, who is at the big board to break down Cologne's historic win. Priscilla, let me start with you. We have outlined how historic this is, how meaningful it is in the state of Mississippi. How is this resonating with supporters there? Yeah, that is something that was definitely felt in the energy on the ground, especially at that victory party last night where you had voters and supporters who were calling this moment historic, monumental and also inspiring.

23:57I want to play some of what folks there say. To see that he is a black man who was once in my shoes, that's one thing I heard him say. He said, I was once in your shoes, and I want y 'all to know that y 'all won't count. And to see somebody that was in my shoes, be able to fill a seat like this, it's inspiring. It's motivational. I am not one generation out of the cotton field. Both of my parents fit cotton. And my great-grandmother was sold here as a slave from Virginia to here. So I am so excited to be on this side of history. Scott Cologne really represents not only the opportunities for today's government, but also represents what's been over the last nearly 200 years where we've been suppressed in so many ways.

24:43This is historic for us. I'm so happy that everyone got out and voted.

24:51And Cologne did give a nod to much of that sentiment in his speech. He started out talking about that first black senator all those years ago. He also talked about some of Mississippi's civil rights greats like Medgar Evers and Fannie Lou Hamer. And then he talked about the voters and the supporters that were out there and how there were many people who did not think his win was possible, that it was because of them, those ordinary people that organized and got out and voted that this moment has been made possible. Kelly. And Priscilla, you really hear the sense of history, how personal it is to voters there.

25:23And it comes also against the backdrop that we saw that the Supreme Court had a decision earlier this year that effectively gutted the Voting Rights Act. And do you get a sense that that helped to motivate voters to get people thinking about what could be possible heading into Election Day? Yeah, that no question that that galvanized a lot of voters here. I mean, for many people, one of the reasons why Mississippi has not had a black senator, in their opinion, since Reconstruction is because of things like Jim Crow laws and polling taxes and the voter suppression that effectively stripped black people of the right to vote until the Voting Rights Act came along.

26:03And Mississippi was an epicenter of one of the places trying to achieve that goal. And so many there were people here who were alive and marched when that act was passed. And we know that after it was gutted, Republicans here sought to draw out the one majority black district that had protection from that act. And you heard people come out and voice their concerns about that. And you also heard young people coming out, a lot of college students coming out and talking about that and becoming activated as a result of that because they felt like this was their civil rights moment. Kelly. Thank you, Priscilla.

26:38And we'll turn now to Sahil. We know how much this has been a big win, but can you help us understand how did it actually happen? What made the numbers do the math in Mississippi? Absolutely, Kelly. So this is the map as it stands right now. And I don't think I've seen this much blue in the South in my entire adult life. This is the result in Mississippi. Scott Cologne win by one half of one percentage point. Cindy Hyde-Smith has conceded. So this race is truly over in a state that Donald Trump won by 23 points in 2024. Many people didn't even believe Scott Colom had a chance, and he was able to flip this.

27:11Let me visualize just how he was able to pull this off. This is the vote shift compared to 2024 when Donald Trump won this race. The blue arrows represent vote shifting toward Democrats based on the size of the shift. Usually in a map like this, depending on the election, you see some red arrows. You see some blue arrows of different sizes. There's no red arrows. This is all blue. He gained ground everywhere, all over the state, and he gained more than 23 points, which is absolutely critical because it adds up to this narrow victory that he had. Now, just to set the table here, President Trump's approval rating, this is what it was in Mississippi among the electorate, 45 percent approved, 55 percent disapproved.

27:48So they were running in an environment where even in deep red Mississippi, President Trump was 10 points underwater, which is a very important part of the story here, Kelly. And Sahil, we know there's been a poor national environment for Republicans, But that doesn't necessarily equate to an automatic win for Democrats. So what else is going on in Mississippi that might help us to understand these results? Yeah, that's right, Kelly. We talk a lot about how midterm elections are about turnout. That's a big part of it. But this election was much more than turnout. There was a lot of persuasion going on here.

28:19So let's scratch beneath the surface of exactly how that played out. This is the electorate that voted for Trump in 2024. Scott Cologne was able to win 9 percent of voters who supported Donald Trump in 2024. Without the Trump-Colomb crossover voter in Mississippi, you don't get a Democratic victory. He was able to keep Cindy Hyde-Smith under 90 percent with Donald Trump's voters in Mississippi. It was very, very important for Scott Cologne and a significant feat. This was the ideological breakdown. No surprise here, Scott Cologne dominating with liberal voters. But that's not nearly enough because they're only about 16 percent of the electorate.

28:52About a third of the electorate is moderate. And he won them three to one. That was a very important part as well. But this may be the most impressive feat by Scott Cologne. conservatives are more than half the electorate in Mississippi. Scott Cullum won nearly a fifth of them. For a Democrat, that is highly unusual. And that's a big part of the story of how he was able to pull this off. If we go to the party breakdown here, the Democratic Party, not very popular in Mississippi at all. They're 16 points underwater, 42 % favorable. But keep your eyes on this unfavorable, 58%, because among that 58%, Scott Cullum was able to win 15 % of those who have an unfavorable view of the Democratic Party.

29:29He was able to get people to look past their red and blue jerseys and simply evaluate these two candidates, which, again, very difficult to do in this environment. Similarly, opinions of the Republican Party. They were also a little bit underwater, but not as unpopular as the Democrats. Republicans are more popular than Democrats in Mississippi. Keep your eyes on this. One, about a quarter of the electorate has a somewhat favorable view in Mississippi of the Republican Party. How did they vote? Scott Cologne was able to win 12 percent of those voters who have a somewhat favorable view of the GOP.

29:58Again, a lot of persuasion, a lot of crossover vote going on here. It was absolutely essential. You add all of that up, add everything up, and it totals a one-half of one percentage point victory for Scott Colom over Cindy Hyde-Smith, the first Democrat in 44 years to go to the Senate representing Mississippi. He's going to the Senate for a six-year term, Kelly, and you add all this up. Democrats have gained eight seats so far with Alaska the last state standing. That data is so helpful, Sahil, to understand what's behind these historic outcomes. So thank you so much for digging into it for us.

30:33And up next, we do have some breaking news. We'll be live on the scene in New York City 24 hours after a building partially collapsed, killing at least eight and injuring more than a dozen others. Please keep it here on Meet the Press Now.

31:13Thank you. with Gemini at go.gle slash workspace with Gemini. From the producers of The Traitors, The Circle returns with bigger twists and higher stakes. Contestants compete for popularity without ever meeting. Some are celebrities, some are regular people, and some are catfishing the competition. And now audience voting will influence the game. You decide who has what it takes to win in The Circle. Watch the Hulu original series The Circle on November 17th, streaming on Hulu and on Hulu on Disney Plus for bundle subscribers. Terms apply. Stay informed with the NBC News app. Major developments out of the White House.

31:55Read, watch, and listen throughout your day. And now, unlock 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.

32:22We're glad you're back with us. We have some breaking news now from that deadly Brooklyn building collapse, where a three-story apartment building partially collapsed in the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn on Wednesday afternoon. The New York City Fire Department saying the search and rescue effort is now over, and they're determined there are no more victims. Mayor Zoran Mamdani said today that at least eight people are dead, including two children. Eighteen others were injured. And joining me now from Brooklyn is NBC News correspondent Stephen Romo. And Stephen, you have been observing the operation there.

32:56Can you bring us up to speed on what is the latest? Yeah, Kelly, the rain that we've experienced today certainly not made things easier for that search mission. And now for the ongoing cleanup and investigation, which is happening right now. The fire commissioner saying they would not stop this search mission until they could see the ground, meaning that they were sure that they had combed through everything and made sure there were no more people trapped inside. And they had been working around the clock to get to this point to comb through that massive debris pile you see there on your screen.

33:29Now, you mentioned those eight people have died, including two of them were children, more than a dozen others injured, including a few firefighters among those injured. And the stories we've heard from families have just been heartbreaking. Some had heard their family members were injured and taken to hospitals, but they had been unable to connect with them. There's a lot of emotion here, Kelly, as people are now demanding answers for how this was able to happen in the first place. Right next door, another building had been demolished as part of a larger construction project. It had been demolished last year.

34:00And there are a lot of questions about whether that had any effect on this collapse. It is still too early to tell as the investigation continues. But Mayor Zoramandani also saying today there are five entities, five companies connected with this construction project, and they have 100 other construction projects across the city. Right now, the Department of Buildings now is doing sweeps of those sites to check for their safety as well right now. But investigators have not yet determined what exactly led up to this. And that's one of the questions that people here on the ground want to answer, Kelly.

34:32Stephen, thank you so much for keeping us up to date on that. We appreciate it. And I know it's been a difficult 24 hours there. And after the break, spies, war and Washington. I go one on one with the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee as he prepares to lead a congressional investigation into the NVIDIA spy scandal. And his response to President Trump's latest comments on the Middle East saying, quote, we don't need a deal with Iran. Congressman Gregory Meats is standing by. So please don't go anywhere. This is Meet the Press Now.

35:16Welcome back. Turning back now to our top story this hour and the growing questions and calls for accountability around the now former NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang and his relationship with an alleged Chinese spy. The chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee says Huang has agreed to brief Congress, potentially before members leave for Thanksgiving. Meanwhile, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries says Democrats will continue to press for answers as they prepare to take control of multiple House investigations into Huang in the next Congress. There certainly are more questions than answers. We need a classified briefing made available to members of Congress as it relates to the NVIDIA situation and to the extent that our national security has been compromised.

36:07The American people deserve answers, and we're going to work to make sure that happens. And joining me now is Democratic Congressman Gregory Meeks of New York. He's the ranking member on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and therefore is poised to become its chairman in the new Congress. It's one of the committees that is leading efforts to investigate NVIDIA. Thanks so much for being with us. We're good. We're happy to see you, Congressman. And tell us what are you. Thank you, sir. Tell us what you are anticipating in this briefing that's been talked about that could come in the next couple of weeks from Jensen Huang.

36:43How likely is it that you will learn substantive details there? Well, I think that we'll get some information. I think it's even more important, as the Democratic leader has said, that we have an Intel briefing with the Secretary Rubio, who seemed to have informed the president of this a year ago. Second, whether or not the administration had knowledge about this illicit tie between Megaspeed and NVIDIA. So we need those questions. I think that we could find out about the relationship that was taking place and the conversations that Mr. Hong had with Ms. Hong. But what's more important is what transpired between the two of them?

37:33Was NVIDIA chips continue to be sold to Megaspeed? And why it was not stopped if, in fact, we knew that there was someone there that had a relationship with China. So we need those answers that are not happening there. So I think that we have something in regards to that conversation, but it's much deeper than that. When did the president know of the information? What did he do? Why was the information transfer or the investigation transferred to the DOJ as opposed to the best, which generally reviews any of these kinds of deals that's taking place? So there's a lot of questions that needs to be answered.

38:15And it's going to take much more than just having Mr. Hague in front of in front of us. That's a beginning. But we need to get a lot more transparency, a lot more of the questions actually answered. We need to bring in the Singaporeans also who apparently had a information and was doing an investigation themselves. What it was? When did it happen? So there's a lot I think that we're going to have to look into. You have quite an outline there. And as you indicated, you have not received any briefing materials thus far. So that list of questions is a long one. Now, there was some discussion that this might be a closed door briefing.

38:55Do you know if that is the expectation or given how important this is broadly, could it become a public hearing? Well, I can tell you that once January 3rd and 4th happens, there will have to be a public hearing. Sometimes you have to get various information in a closed door meeting if it involves national security of the country. But the public needs to know also. And one of the things that we will be doing extensively in the 120th Congress is having public hearings where the press and the public can hear the key individuals answer questions. I think that's really important. And we will do that.

39:42Hopefully we can do some of that in the 119th Congress. But if not, we will definitively do that in the 120th Congress and do it, I hope, in a bipartisan way. because this is really important information for every American. And I think that's what the American people want is that kind of transparency. That's how they voted and why they voted the way they did on November 3rd. You will have a broad agenda here. And so I'd like to move on to Iran. The president said in a post, or he talked about this, we don't need a deal with Iran anymore. Now, by my memory, he has for months talked about Iran wanting a deal.

40:18And it is now one of the issues where he says we've gotten hundreds of billions of dollars out of Iran. He's laid out his view that they don't have access to the strait. The president putting kind of a whole mixed bag there. How do you respond to that? And do you think that there needs to be a more specific definition for how the war in Iran can end? And how would Democrats define an ending there? You know, what the president says, his back and forth has been dizzying. You know, he says one thing, one moment and another thing, another moment. We know that this war must end and we know we can't bomb our way out of this war.

40:58So it's going to be diplomacy that has to take place. And it needs to be done in conjunction with other countries in the region, other countries in Europe and around the world. And we need to have experts in diplomacy doing that, not just real estate developers that have been trying to put this deal to bed. We shouldn't have started this war in the first place. And that's where the first problem started. No intervention or no conversations with Congress. So I think that what we need to do is to make sure we put diplomats back in charge. We have a dialogue and conversation. We bring the atomic agency, the IAEA, back into this so that we can verify that fact that there's no nuclear weapons.

41:43Now, I remind you that the president now says that this war is because of nuclear weapons. But when he initially did it, it was about regime change. So that has shifted back and forth because we had something in place. And I believe that we can put something in place again and be able to verify no nuclear weapons in a negotiated fashion as had been done previously. Now, let me turn to Ukraine. And President Zelensky is saying that his country continues to face some restrictions with the Star Shield network, which is the military version of SpaceX's Starlink Internet service. Now, when this happened in October, you had sent a letter to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, pressing for some answers.

42:26Have you gotten a response? Where does that effort stand? Have not gotten a response. And it's absolutely horrific what's taking place with Star Shield. It seems to me incredible that one individual, and I don't know whether he's gotten orders from the president of the United States or not. We need to find that out to make or bring down the star shield so that the Ukrainians are not able to protect themselves. They put a speed limit of 100 miles per hour on what can be detected and what can't. And of course, ballistic missiles travel at a much faster speed. So it does not give any time that shield is put down to that speed limit.

43:08It means that those ballistic bombs are allowed to fly without Ukraine having the ability to intercept them. And as a result, devastation happens and innocent men, women and children are killed at the hands of Vladimir Putin. And it seems to me that with the coalition that is between Elon Musk and the president, between the two of them, there's big questions that have to be answered. And the direct result is trying to allow that the Russians continue to bombard and hurt innocent Ukrainian people and take the sovereignty and territory away from Ukrainian folks. But when we're in charge, we're going to stand with Ukraine.

43:55We're going to fix and make sure that we put stronger sanctions that the president cannot avoid because that's what happened before. Put sanctions on him. He just avoids them and does not apply them. That is going to end. And is Musk on your list to call him in when you have the gavel? Oh, Musk has to be on the list with all of this. There's no question about it. He has to be someone that has to be before Congress and his orders or what he does with Star Shield has to be addressed in the public forum. So absolutely, he would be on our list. We covered a lot of ground there, Congressman. And this should be done in a bipartisan way.

44:34I just want to make sure this is not about, you know, doing what Trump has done. We want to do this in a way that benefits the American people. Thank you. We will be following that all very closely, especially when the new Congress convenes in January. Thank you for your time. Appreciate the insights on what your priorities are. It has been a busy day in news and in politics, and we have much more ahead. So stay with us right here on Meet the Press Now.

45:08Welcome back. Mississippi is the latest Southern state to see a generational Democratic victory as Democrats flipped Senate seats across that have not gone blue in decades. And as we said earlier, Scott Colom will be the first Democratic senator from Mississippi in 44 years. When we look at Texas, it's James Tallarico who flipped a seat that last went blue 38 years ago. Going over to South Carolina, Annie Andrews became a 28-year Democratic drought prevailer. And Roy Cooper put North Carolina back in the Democrats' column for the first time in 18 years. Now, all of that as Democrats held onto Georgia with Senator Ossoff's re-election.

45:49So joining me now, it's our panel, panel time, Carrie Dan, managing editor of the Cook Political Report. Don Galloway, Democratic strategist and former Democratic member of the Missouri House of Representatives, and Mark Bednar, Republican strategist and principal at Monument Advocacy. Good to have all of you here. We have no shortage of topics. Carrie, let me start with you. When you look at the South, you had been crunching the numbers as a part of your work at the Cook Report ahead of this. There were indications that the South might be ready for a change, but this was big and bold. What do you make of it?

46:22Well, I think what we saw, especially in Mississippi, this was a race that was on maybe Chuck Schumer's radar, but prognosticators looked at this race and said, this is a 23. This is a state that Donald Trump won by 23 points. Scott Colum ran an excellent campaign and he capitalized on a couple of different things that I think other Democrats in the South will take note of. One, obviously, there's going to be a lot made of black turnout. Black turnout in majority black counties in the state of Mississippi looked like it did in 2024. That's really remarkable that he was able to do that. A presidential year level in a midterm.

46:55Literally a presidential year in a midterm. But another thing that I think was really important here, not only was the Republican turnout depressed, especially in, for example, evangelical hubs, but you also saw conversion happening, which I think is one of the biggest stories of this midterm, particularly in these Senate races. He won 9 percent of Trump voters. He won independents by 28 points. So he and his other the other Democrats who won in the South were dramatically overperforming 2024 performance and winning over huge chunks of independence. And what's more, even people who voted for Donald Trump.

47:28And Don, let me turn to you when you see what Mississippi means in terms of the result, how it has moved people. Is there a sense that there is more to do in the South, more growth for Democrats? Yeah, yeah. The Bible tells us to build up the old waste places so that you can build a foundation for future generations to thrive in. There is a lack of investment. There are no red states. Obviously, there are red states on a political map, but there are no deeply red states in as much as there are voter suppressed states. And that shouldn't be lost here. There are suppressed and unorganized states.

48:01So when Democrats, I hope, make the proper investments, this gives us evidence that the opportunity is there to, first of all, get rid of the suppression, but second of all, build the organizations. I got a bunch of texts from Scott Cologne the day after the election because I hadn't gotten them from him on the front end, despite getting texts from everybody else. Why? Because we hadn't properly invested in that race because we didn't think it was real. We didn't properly invest in Louisiana, where Jamie Davis lost by less than two percentage points. And I think that this is a great opportunity to reconsider the DNC location in 2028, Philadelphia, Boston and Denver, each where we've had one and move that thing to Atlanta.

48:38It's time to invest. That's an interesting idea. Mark, when you look at the resources that Republicans put into this race, so much more money. And when you hear Kerry talk about the stay at home voters and so forth, what do you think are the immediate lessons of this? Was it about the mood of the country or is this a change that might be sustaining? Well, there's a couple of different things that we can point to. One is that regardless of the map, the message is what's going to save you. It's not the map. But secondly, it's important to realize Republicans built their House majority in 2020 and 2022 over two cycles through places with unconventional coalitions that we've never seen before.

49:17So the Rio Grande Valley, California, New York, making inroads in different southern Florida, making inroads in different places with different voting groups that we've never engaged before. So this is an important lesson, important reminder that while no voter is out of reach, the other side of that coin is no voter can be taken for granted. And so Republicans really need to get back to basics here and re-engage with these coalitions that, you know, should be in our camp, can be in our camp again, but can't take them for granted. Because so much was made of history in several of these places that we've talked about.

49:47Now that history has been altered with the Democrats' win, does that sort of neutralize that issue and kind of give Republicans an opening two years from now, four years from now, etc.? Well, a giant gift that President Trump gave to the Republican Party is do not be afraid to engage voters across any ethnicity, across any income level, across any education level, across the country. And so Republicans really need to re-energize and reinvigorate that ethos that President Trump, you know, he brought to the table. But now, you know, that baton has to be passed. And if Republican electeds and Republican candidates don't take up that mantle, then we're going to continue to see problems on Election Day.

50:26Kerry, let me share with you and our audience some of what we heard from Scott Colom in advance of this, where he was talking about the investment or perhaps in his view, not enough from the National Party. And we have a bit of Senator Gillibrand of New York. She, of course, was in charge of the campaign committee for Democrats this cycle. Let's share a little of what Scott Colom said and how Senator Gillibrand responded. Yeah, I mean, first of all, let's not give too much credit. They haven't been trying. What I did is I showed up. And it turns out when we show up, people start to believe. My own personal network was very instrumental to getting him the resources that he did need to get across the finish line.

51:08But none of that would have happened if he wasn't inspiring. He began his comment there saying, let's not give them too much credit, referring to the Democratic apparatus. I know you are enthusiastic about him. 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. So money was a factor. The quality of the candidate was a factor. What's the takeaway here? Well, candidate quality mattered immensely in not just this race.

51:46And I think that the point is very well taken that Scott Cullum had a unique candidacy and he was laser focused on affordability. He was able to distance himself from the more toxic parts of the Democratic Party. That's how he was able to pull off this win. But we saw the same thing happen, for example, in Kansas. I don't think a generic Democrat with all the money in the world wins that Kansas Senate race for the first time in 100 years. Adam Hamilton was a very unique communicator who was able to do that. And also the flip side of the coin matters to the Republicans in both of those states, Roger Marshall in Kansas and Cindy Hyde-Smith in Mississippi weren't present enough for their constituents to pull together a campaign at the last minute to get people to put on their jerseys and come out and vote for Republican candidates.

52:24And when we come back to a new Congress and Republicans, Mark, will have to organize themselves with this bigger than expected Democratic majority, how much pressure is there on leadership and how do you think they'll organize themselves? You meet these dozens and dozens of Republicans in the House, for instance. Yeah, they're going to be interesting because they still have President Trump in the White House. And so there's going to be an important element where they need to serve as a backstop for his legislative goals, while also making sure that, you know, there's going to be important bills that are coming up even within the next couple of months that need to get done.

52:58And Don, what would you say a successful Democratic leadership looks like? We hear people saying don't over investigate, deliver for consumers, all of that. How do you define success for Democrats? Affordability and accountability. And I think Hakeem Jeffries has actually done a good job of articulating that agenda, but we cannot over-index. And I know we want to hold the Trump administration responsible. They're broadly criminal behaviorists. But at the end of the day, we have to look toward the future because folks are worried about the price of bacon and eggs and folks are worried about the price of gas.

53:30I spent a lot of time in Alabama. And at this time, this election, black folks, white folks and everybody in between couldn't afford to fill up them pickups. That was a problem. And that's what you got to a stress point for. We can say it together. It's about the economy. Thank you. Great panel. We have more news coming up right here on NBC News Now.

53:49Over the years, I've met people whose lives were changed forever in a single moment. In my new podcast, Before and After, I explore what happens after that decisive moment. Personal, powerful conversations with Colin Kaepernick, Jeremy Renner, Gabby Giffords, and others. Join me wherever you get your podcasts. Listen to all episodes of Before and After with Lester Holt now, wherever you get your podcasts.