Meet the Press NOW — September 18

0:00To every clinician finishing notes at 9 p.m., there is a faster way. Whisperflow is a voice-to-text app. You talk, it types, in your EHR, your email, anywhere you type. Say the progress note, the referral letter, the patient instructions, and it comes out clean and formatted with your terminology spelled right. Four times faster than typing and HIPAA ready. Whisperflow is free. Get it at whisperflow.ai. That's W-I-S-P-R flow. Viori.com.ai. Jimmy Conrad here, and I have something to put on your radar. The core short from Viori. Because after getting my first pair, I was hooked. They work for everything that I like doing.

0:40Soccer, tennis, hoops, and lifting weights in MFU. And they're unbelievably comfortable, which is why I wear them doing everything else. They're designed to work for whatever your day throws at you. For our listeners, they're offering 20 % off your first purchase. So head to Viori.com slash footy. That's V-U-O-R-I.com slash F-O-O-T-Y. Exclusions apply. Visit the site for full details.

1:06Welcome to Meet the Press Now. I'm Kristen Welker in Washington. Right now, President Trump is speaking in the Oval Office for an event on drug prices. We will take you to the White House if he starts taking questions from reporters. It comes as the Trump administration walks the line on its economic messaging, defending its agenda while acknowledging voters' frustration with high costs driven by the war with Iran. And as some Republicans on the ballot in November are increasingly distancing themselves from the president's policies. And now the president is lashing out at the press, saying in a social media post he's banning several major media outlets from the White House because of their coverage and saying more bans are coming.

1:44Of course, it's unclear if he has the legal authority to do this, considering the First Amendment. It comes as the president faces low marks from voters across a host of issues, including around the economy and the war with Iran, which has dramatically driven up fuel prices. Gas is up 50 percent since the start of the war, with diesel reaching record highs, seeing a more than 70 percent increase since February. Meanwhile, oil closing over one hundred dollars a barrel for the seventh day in a row. The president has repeatedly sought to downplay those impacts, promising a dramatic drop in prices when the war ends.

2:19Though when that will be remains a moving target, recently suggesting it would be after Election Day. Right after the election, because they'd like to have it that way. But right after the election, oil prices are going to be tumbling downward. They're going to be tumbling down and we'll get them down. I think for gasoline, we'll get them below two dollars a gallon. I have to say, you have a little higher, you have a higher gain. It's a very inexpensive price to pay for what we've done. Remember that it's a little more. It's even if it was, frankly, even if it was a lot more, but that's going to come tumbling down.

2:55That's going to be like a rocket ship in reverse. And you watch what's going to happen to Iran. It's going to be a really good conclusion. It's going to, and it's going to happen. It's going to, I say it's going to be a little bit after the election, but maybe not. Maybe it's before the election. The high prices and lack of an apparent off ramp for the war drawing new Republican criticism. Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski telling Punchbowl News, quote, We've seen the long term impacts in our industries, on our communities and on our people. And folks are saying, you know what? I'm not sure what was the goal here, Mr.

3:31President. Meanwhile, seven House Republicans joined Democrats to approve a measure to direct the president to end the conflict unless he receives congressional authorization, including two Iowa representatives in tough reelection campaigns. Campaigning in Iowa today, Vice President J.D. Vance avoided the issue of the war, instead touting the administration's efforts to help farmers and slamming Democrats. Today's Democrat Party has decided that this country needs to not be preserved and built upon, but this country needs to be utterly transformed. And it's ordinary men and women in states like Iowa who are standing in the way.

4:09Ladies and gentlemen, the choice is this simple. It's common sense versus crazy. It comes as Democrats look to flip an Iowa Senate seat in their quest to retake the majority. Republican Congresswoman Ashley Hinson faces Democrat Josh Turek. Hinson notably was absent from the vice president's event today, her office telling The Washington Post it was due to a scheduling conflict. Joining me now from the White House's senior policy reporter, Shannon Pettypiece. Also with me, NBC News business and economy reporter, Ali Canal. And Brianne Festenstiel, chief politics reporter at the Des Moines Register.

4:44Thanks to all of you for being here. Shannon, let me start with you. So talk about this event President Trump holding at the White House today on health care. What have we heard from him so far? Well, another one of these moves by the White House to try to get some credit with voters for efforts to lower drug prices. Obviously, cost of living a top issue. There's not many bright spots in the economy that the White House can point to as examples of how they've lowered prices. Drug prices is kind of one of those areas. This announcement today, though, is focused on Medicaid programs. It would really save states money by allowing states to get negotiated prices that are similar to what pharmaceutical companies charge in other countries.

5:27So if you're a patient, even if you're on Medicaid, you already probably pay a pretty low copay. So you're not necessarily going to see your drug price bill go down. But potentially, and we don't have many details on this, but potentially states could save money on Medicaid drug pricing. So just one more way the White House is kind of trying to get some credit here. And it does seem on the campaign trail, Republicans are really going to be talking a lot about drug prices as a bright spot they can point to. And Shannon, there's some breaking news because the president announced he plans to ban some news organizations from the White House.

6:01What are you hearing about that? Well, obviously, this just sort of coming out a few moments ago is still an evolving situation. One of the news organizations he mentioned, CNN, I can see my colleagues from CNN down there working right now. So Shannon, physical Shannon, we're going to hear from the president right now about the ban. Let's listen. because they're fake news uh you get so tired of reading and seeing fake news uh when you look at cnn it's just fake that's why their ratings are no good when you look at ms now which used to be msnbc which some people call msdnc democratic national committee uh it's fake news it's fake and, excuse me, excuse me, and when you look at Politico, I mean, they got a government, the government under Biden gave them like$8 million to keep them afloat and the stories they wrote are fake.

6:59So there's a lot of news and there may be others to join them and maybe they can get better and would like to have them in. But our country has to have honest news. You know, you don't have a country unless you have, as I say, borders, good voting, we're straightening them out. The borders are unbelievable. Nobody's come into our country in the last 17 months illegally. But you need borders and you need fair and free voting. And you know what you need? You need a free press. You need a fair press and an honest press. And CNN, and you know, and everybody knows it. You're intelligent. I've known you a long time.

7:33You know how fake their reporting is. It's one-sided. It's never good. I've done many, many. Look at the story today about favored nations on drugs. We lowered the drug causes by 50, 60, 70 percent. They won't even put it. If they put it on, it'll be a leg. They will find a reason why that's a negative. OK. Now, no, no reason. No, just because. No, no. It's really just cumulative stories over the last few years. You get sick of it and you call them and you tell them I have very good experts like people behind me. Bobby Oz, they call and they try and explain things to them. They know that they know it.

8:19They know it as well. They're smart people. But they purposely write negative news. And they do that because they want to try and diminish the Republicans and a Republican administration. And honestly, we've done a fantastic job. Look at the numbers. Look at the economic numbers. We have more money coming into our country today than ever before. We have the highest employment that we've ever had in history. All of these things are the lowest. We have the best poverty rate, the lowest poverty rate in the history of our country. And people are making more money today than they ever had. And we do have something that I'm very proud of.

8:55Iran will not have a nuclear weapon. Now, for that, people are going to have to pay some extra gas. I think most people, if they had a vote on lower gas prices or letting Iran have a nuclear weapon, I'd be willing to vote that it would be a massive landslide. People don't want to have Iran have a nuclear weapon. And you know what? They won't. And the war is going to end soon. And when it ends, your gas prices are going to drop to a level that they were before, maybe even lower. When I left Iowa, just before I started this, I had no choice. I said to my people, I'm going to have to do an excursion down to Iran, the Islamic Republic of Iran, because they're going to have a nuclear.

9:35If we don't hit them with a B-2 bombers, they right now would have a nuclear weapon. And if they had it, it would be a matter of days. I equate it somewhat to the Democrats. If they ever got into power, they will terminate the filibuster and they will immediately have D.C. as a state. They will immediately have many other things take place. But D.C. and Puerto Rico will become immediately. That gives them four more senators. That gives them lots of other things like 12 congressmen. They want to have ideally 21 Supreme Court justices. They will have everything they ever dreamed of. And frankly, Republicans should terminate the filibuster, because if you don't do it, they're going to do it.

10:24And you can't let that happen.

10:30Mr. President, Willie Nelson with Salem Media. Mr. President, reports say the holdout juror in the Lindsey Clancy case and his family were doxxed and threatened so badly he left Massachusetts. What's your take on that? Well, I just don't know. I think the case is very sad. It's a horrible thing. She was on all sorts of drugs and she was very messed up. She killed three children, her three children. It's a very tough situation. And I know the jury was certainly not a friendly one in terms of that one person. But it's not for me. Look, you had a jury and the jury was hung. And we'll see whether or not they have another trial.

11:13Mr. President, many leading Democrats have condemned far less streamer Hassan Piker. What is your take on him? And do you think he's a liability for Democrats? I do. I think he's a terrible liability. I think they he's he's got a power over some of these Democrats and he'll be voting that way. I mean, he's a communist. There's no question about it. And the Democrats have a lot of communists and the communists can hold up the party because it only takes a few votes when you have a close election or you'll have a fairly close. I hope the Republicans are going to do well, but you're going to have it's going to be pretty close.

11:52And a group of three, four, five, ten people can steer a party in a certain direction. That's, you know, both parties. Yeah. Now, he's a guy who's very, I mean, his statements are so bad. How a Jewish person could vote for a Democrat is not even if you think of it, not even believable. And yet they will. It's amazing. But it is not possible in a world of rationality that somebody who's Jewish, that somebody who's black could vote to be a Democrat, could vote for a Democrat. The things that have been said about different groups of people by them are incredible. And the mainstream Democrats, I know many of them and I'm friendly with many of them, but they've gone way left because they've had no choice.

12:43not because they don't believe it. They know communism has never worked. They know socialism has never worked. But these people are petrified of the radical left, and he's one of them. Mr. President,

12:59Polish leaders have expressed concerns that Russia may attack Ukrainian allies. Do you agree with that assessment? Well, I think they already have attacked Ukrainian allies. They've been attacking Ukrainian allies for approximately five years. I do agree with that. I think everyone agrees with us. Mr. President, we have the president. Did you mean Ukrainian or not? Ukraine, so Poland is concerned. Are they concerned that they're going to attack Poland? Yeah, they might attack Poland. Well, you have a great president. He was a big Trump fan. He was in 12th place. I endorsed him. And now he's president.

13:35And he's doing a fantastic job. And he is, he's got it under control. So he's got it. Congresswoman Maria Salazar filmed a video outside the White House that they disagreeing with your immigration policies. You endorsed her primary campaign. Do you still back her run? And have you seen that video? Well, I do. And I have. I disagree with her. Look, I have a strong, a very strong movement, my movement. It probably at least partially won the election. When I got elected at the beginning and previous to my coming in, we had the most unsafe border maybe anywhere in the world, maybe in history. Twenty five million people poured in from prisons, from mental institutions, drug dealers, murderers.

14:19Eleven thousand eight hundred eighty eight murderers came in, all documented. They allowed them into our country. I have a very strong. She obviously doesn't have a very strong feeling for the border, but I do. and I understand what she's saying but I have a very strong I won because of my border now nobody thinks about it anymore look they just announced the numbers over the last 16 months nobody zero I even find that hard to believe but it's it's done by a group of people that seem to sort of lean democrat you know they're not going to give me anything for nothing and they say over the last 16 months, not one person came in through the southern border illegally, which is pretty hard to believe.

15:03But even if you said a few did, but 25 million came in through Biden and a lot of them should never be here. Now, I'm very strong on the borders and she isn't. And she's a nice person. I got her elected. Without me, she wouldn't have gotten elected. She ran against a person a number of years ago who was not even thought possible to lose. And then when I endorsed Maria, she ended up winning and the biggest surprise in all of Congress for that session, for that term. And Maria won only because of me. So she got a little bit soft on the border. I understand that. I understand that. But I just don't happen to be there.

15:47Mr. President, are you trying to intimidate the press from doing its job? No, no, no, no. I dislike dishonest press, like you. I think you're terrible. But I dislike dishonest. I like to see honest press. Yeah, please. Yeah, please go ahead. In the first administration, you tried a similar band against CNN, and it didn't survive a court challenge. What makes you think that this move? Well, we'll see. I mean, it didn't we didn't have to take it too far because the reporter that you're talking about discredited himself. He became a joke. So he no longer was very effective. So it didn't matter. No, but I think it's good.

16:27I think it's good to point it out whether it survives or doesn't. I mean, I don't think a court should allow depends on the judge you get, to be honest with you. I don't think that a court should allow fake news to be written day after day after day. I think that somebody has a right to keep them away. Are they going to write false stories all the time? I don't think I've had. Look, I won the presidency. I won all seven swing states. I won the popular vote. I won 87 percent of the counties. That's why the maps are all red when you look, except for two little blue lines on each on each coast. I won a landslide and I get no.

17:08I don't get fair press. I get it from Breitbart. I get it from a little bit from Fox. Fox is the worst. I think Fox has, frankly, the worst polls in the whole business. I think they should have gotten rid of their pollsters years ago. They've been calling me wrong for 10 years. But my polls have been very good. I get good polls. I get good everything. But what I do ask is just a semblance of truth. CNN is fake news. MS Now is fake news. They're fake news. They know it. They're put there for a reason. Politico was bailed out by our government from going out of business. I don't know if it was$8 million or something, but they were given this massive subsidy prior to my coming into office because they write only negative, you know, only negative.

17:59Now, we've done something that nobody's ever done politically. I've had a political career like nobody else in history. On occasion, it would be nice if we had some fair news. It's all fake news. Yeah, please. Mr. President, to put a finer point on it, though, how is this action legal and constitutional considering the First Amendment? And Governor Sanders, you were a White House press secretary. Do you agree with this plan to ban news outlets? Well, I'll just answer it again. I'll say it the same way. I don't think somebody should be allowed to come in and write fake stories. They're fake news.

18:28And that's why they have no credibility. That's why. So I had 96 percent negative coverage during the election and I won because they have no credibility. I get 96. I guess NBC was 93 percent negative. So 93 with all of the victories I've had, everything's been a victory. It's all been a victory. And I won the election like nobody's ever seen anything like it. I get no, they never write a good story. They won't write a story about, I just reduced drug prices by 40, 50, 60, 70, 80%. I will get a good story out of these people. From some of them, I will. I'll get one from him. I'll get one from him.

19:12I'll get a few of them, but it's sick. I mean, there's something wrong with a country that can allow people to write purposely negative stories. Now, if they want to write them, that's fine. But I don't have to let them into my into the people's house. Yeah, please. Sure. I think it's hard for you to argue against a free press when you're literally standing in the Oval Office asking questions. He's been more accessible and easier to talk to than any president in history. Think about the previous administration where he could barely get through a press conference, and yet you have the opportunity to stand here in the Oval Office and ask questions to the leader of the free world.

19:58I mean, that's pretty free. And you're standing here asking those questions. I think the president is right to support the First Amendment, but he's also right to ask that you be honest and fair. That's not an unreasonable thing. Look at the way you treated Biden. He went a year and a half without having a press conference. A year and a half. And what was the question you asked him most? What is your favorite flavored ice cream? OK, what? I think you asked him that question once. What ice cream do you like the best? I mean, I heard that question so many times. And he always say vanilla. That's a good thing.

20:37It was very consistent. I'm surprised he got that right. But he'd always say vanilla. Yeah, please. I want another note. Are you just aware that Senator John Boone isn't bringing the Repair Protection Act to the floor? And he's doing what? He's not bringing the Repair Protection Act that the House passed. Well, I'm talking to him about it. We'll see what happens. President Xi coming in next week. Great honor. China is one of the most repressive countries for journalists in the world. What signal does it send? Well, I don't know about that. I think we're repressive also. We get fake news. We don't repress, but they write fake news.

21:12No, I think he's going to come. We get along very well. It's nice that we get along very well. We've had a good relationship. He'll be here next week. I can tell you this. It's too bad we don't have the ballroom open because if we did, we could have we'd have thousands. We could have 2000 people having dinner. They would love. We have a very tiny little room that's going to be squeezed out at about 125 or so people. but uh i literally could tell you that thousands of people would love to be at that dinner this is a very tough ticket for me i've told a lot of very good friends of mine you just can't come just can't come uh it's uh we're gonna have a very good meeting we're gonna have a meeting we get along well we're doing very well with china i would say others maybe not so well but we're doing very well with china and president she and i have a good relationship do you expect an AI safety deal or any talks on that?

22:07I wouldn't have a lot of different deals. We intend, we're not just doing it for our health. We're going to have some pretty important meetings. You know, China's paying us a lot of tariffs. And you remember I had it up to 145 % at one point, but it was too much. It was really, it was really hurting them badly. And I didn't want to do that. No, we get along very well. We have a good relationship. Now, you know, somebody said, oh, they spy on us. And I said, maybe they do, but we spy on them too. I don't want to give any certified or classified information, but we spy on them, too. They said, they spy on you, sir.

22:43I said, we spy on them, too. Yeah. Sir, can you describe how you can envision your ban? Not you. Thank you, sir. Charlotte Scott with Spectrum News. Pennsylvania has reported four measles-related deaths. What's your message to other states who might worry about a spread or outbreak coming to America? I think we're going to be in good shape. We have nothing against vaccinations for measles. Do you want to discuss that for a second, either Bobby or us? We encourage people to vaccinate on all the CDC's websites. CDC has not yet received information about the measles death, alleged measles death. We're waiting for that.

23:26And we will put it up on our website when we hear about it. We encourage people to vaccinate. One of the problems with Pennsylvania is that the governor has still very recently refused to cooperate with CDC. We were able to go in and end the outbreaks in all the other states, in South Dakota and Texas and all the other states. We sent our EPA team into those states. When I offered that to Governor Shapiro, he said, no, we don't need your help. They've got a bad governor in Pennsylvania. People just don't know it. He's very he's close to incompetent. Daniel, Mr. President, you announced last week that you'd be delivering five hundred dollars to paychecks to nearly a million Americans who were overcharged via Obamacare.

24:16Can you talk about what this would look like? Yeah, we saved hundreds of millions of dollars for the overcharging that the Democrats did for Obamacare and other things. And we we found it. We gave it back to the people. We handed it back a lot of money. And thank you for bringing that up. The other thing is, as you know, because we're doing so well, taking in so much money on tariffs and other things, because we have more factories being built than at any time in the history of our country, including car plants and every other kind of plant, including A.I., but including everything. we are giving Republicans or and when I say Republicans, because I think everybody's going to be Republican, actually.

24:59But we're giving the people of our country who are adults five thousand dollars if the Republicans win, because if the Republicans win, we're going to have a lot of money. If the Democrats win, we're going to go into a depression. And all these tax cuts and all the things that have made this economy so strong and and the the with the hottest nation in the world all of the things that we got will be taken away by the democrats every one of them is going to be taken away the tax cuts no tax on tips no tax on social security for our seniors no tax on overtime all of that is going to be taken away they all voted against it they voted in favor of men playing in women's sports.

25:40They voted in favor of the transgender mutilization of your children. You're going to be back to that stuff right now. It doesn't exist, but you're going to be back to it. So if we win, because we have so much, because we are taking in so much money, we're going to give all people, not just everybody that's an adult,$5 ,000. The only proviso is that I have to spend it in this country. And when they spend it in the country, inexpensive. Mr. President, what do you mean by others to come? And how is this ban going to work? Others to come in terms of fake news? Yes. Well, there you go. The New York Times is fake news.

26:19Washington Post is fake news. The Crummy Papers, both doing very poorly, by the way. But we'll see. We're probably not going to display the paper anymore in the White House, those papers. But we haven't taken the step of throwing them out. But they're fake news, totally. New York Times is so fake. Washington Post is disgusting. I mean, they're disgusting. I don't get it. Why would they be? You know, we're doing so well. And they'll take the most positive story and make it as negative as possible. Go ahead, please. Maybe you tell me free when you agree with this. No, no, please. Speaking to UNGA next week, what is your message?

26:54Because last year you sort of said that the United Nations are helping end wars. Well, last year they wouldn't let my person in the teleprompter room. Remember that? my teleprompter operator was banned from the room he went out came back and they wouldn't let him in so standing there without a teleprompter isn't it nice to have a president and actually they said it was one of my best speeches i don't know i don't know how that happened but i'm they're introducing ladies and gentlemen behalf of the united states and i'm looking at the teleprompter screen is totally blank it was for more than half the speech somehow they let him in in about half the speech.

27:32Probably they did that on purpose. And he should have been leaving the room for a minute. He had to leave the room, come back. But you remember that? They turned off the escalator. Fortunately, my first lady was very strong and I was able to grab her back or another part of her body. It was actually a little bit lower than the back. And it kept me standing tall. I was standing very tall. But you remember, I was going up and it came to a dead stop. I built a lot of escalators. I put in a lot of escalators. You can have some beauties right over here, but they don't do that unless somebody wants.

28:09And then I got up to make my speech and I said, I don't have a teleprompter. Can you imagine? And I think I spoke very well. It's nice to have a president that doesn't need a teleprompter. Mr. President, have you looked at any plans to demolish the Kennedy Center? There was an image of you from Air Force One. Well, look, here's the problem with the Kennedy Center. I should be very careful because Bobby's standing right behind me. And and I cherish that, too. I actually like the name of Kennedy and Trump, Trump and Kennedy, because it showed bipartisanship. It showed a Republican Party and a Democrat Party working together.

28:48The problem with the Kennedy Center, it loses for years. It's lost between 60 and 100 million dollars a year. It loses that every year. It's not an economically sound thing. Now, with all of that, Carnegie Hall loses money. All of those places lose money. They need massive subsidy in order to sustain. They get very little from Congress. I'm ready to fix it, make it good. We have a hostile judge. We have a conflicted judge. His wife represents, I think, Barack Hussein Obama. But Biden represents Kamala. represents Democrats. She has a different name, so most people don't know that, but we're able to figure it out.

29:28But we have a very hostile judge. As I understand it, he gave us the right to go and do the job finally after a week. I could have started this job seven months ago. As you noticed, a big portion of ceiling fell down two days ago, almost killed a security guard, I've missed him by the place is a dump. It's been a dump for years. It's lost money for years. I can turn it around, fix it. But the question is, somebody is going to have to subsidize that for years to come because palaces of the arts lose tremendous amounts of money. The Kennedy Center for 25 years has lost a tremendous amount of money.

30:10And all I'm saying, I don't mind doing the job. But if I do the job, I think the Trump administration, including Bobby, but the Trump administration should be recognized. why should I raise and put up and do all of this work, not only building it, which I'll do a better job building it than anybody else, anybody in America, but why should I do everything and then for the rest of my life have to go out and raise money because by nature, by the nature of that type of an operation, you lose anywhere from 50 to 100, maybe even$150 million a year. I think if I do that, excuse me, I think if I do that, because we should be recognized with the Trump administration, if I'm willing and the administration is willing, we have a lot of people working very hard on it to save it.

31:04I can save it easily. But why should we be doing that and then raise money for the rest of our lives to keep it afloat? Because that's what you have to do if we get no recognition. I think the Trump administration should be recognized as having saved the Kennedy Center because nobody else can do it. Wait a minute. I already raised two hundred and fifty eight million dollars from Congress and they gave it to me because it's me in order to rebuild it and fix it. The problem is once it's built, it's going to lose 100 million dollars a year. And it was losing a lot of money before I got there. You know, people said, oh, Trump got there.

31:41No, no. I came there to save it. The problem is we had a very hostile judge. We have a very outstanding board. The board is among the most successful people in the country. And they vote. We have a congresswoman who's, you know, a person that never did a thing in her life, frankly, never did anything constructive. All she does is complain. But saving the Kennedy Center is very, very tough. A tremendous amount of effort is going to once it's built and I'll build it. Great. Get it done on time like that building on time under budget. It's going to be great. Like your heliport outside. It's already it's two months ahead of schedule.

32:18It's going to open. They're going to have an official opening on the 21st with the first helicopter landing. And it's beautiful. Everybody fact they were going to sue me on the heliport. And then they saw how beautiful it was and they decided not to sue the same group that goes around suing everybody to stop progress. But if we're going to save the Kennedy Center, I think the Trump administration should be given recognition for doing so. Was it appropriate for your son to accept the gift of some of his wedding festivities? Well, it's totally it's totally allowed. And a lot of people have parties and all, but it's totally allowed.

32:57But as I understand it, he paid him back. He didn't want to have that. So I hear he paid him back. A person that he knows, I guess a friend of his, I gave him a wedding party. That's very common. I've heard of many people given wedding parties. I've given. Wait a minute. I've given. Well, I don't know. Maybe you didn't do a background check. But I've given I've given wedding parties to numerous people. They get married. I give them a party. I give them parties at beautiful places like Mar-a-Lago and others, but I've given many. With all of that being said, I understand that Don's paid him back.

33:31That's the president. Yes. No, I heard about that. I actually heard that when I heard the story, I asked about it. He said, no, I'm paying him back, Dan. So, and that was a while ago. So I heard he's paying him. I have to say, though, you know, giving a wedding party is pretty common. Yeah. Mr. President, on the ban, what does that mean in practice? Are you taking away their badges? Are you banning them from the pool? What does this actually mean? When you say the ban, which ban? You don't have any bans I'm involved in? I've got more bans going. I've got more bans going than it's going to be. On the three news outlets, sir, what does that mean in practice?

34:09Are you taking away their badges? Are you banning them from the pool? Are you banning them from the Oval Office? What does that mean? I still don't know what that is. What do you envision the ban's ban like in the media outlets? Oh, the ban on the free press, right? A very simple ban. I don't want them in my office. I don't want them here. I would say the ban would go as far as you can. And if they could straighten themselves out, you know, if they could straighten themselves out, I'd love it. Look, they're very dishonest people. They write in a very dishonest way. ABC Fake News gave me$16 million.

34:42dollars that was agreed to 16 million dollars that i won from abc news because george slapidopoulos wrote incorrect so cbs gave me 38 million dollars because they broadcast kamala harris on 60 minutes and the question borrowed no relationship to what she said you saw that i'm right now suing bbc because they have the granddaddy of them all. They have where I said, walk freely and patriotically, having to do with January 6th. And they put horrible fighting words into my mouth with me actually saying it. I said, I never said that. And when we checked, it was BBC actually changed my language and they put words in my mouth.

35:32That's the furthest I've seen. so that we have numerous lawsuits. We'll be showing these people too. But the ban is because they are fake news. They cannot write the truth. And Politico is very bad. And Politico, frankly, I think what they did was illegal. They accepted the world's largest subscription. They got$8 million or something like that for a subscription to their stupid, you know, lightweight paper. But I will say Politico and MS now, which nobody ever heard of and CNN, which is doing very poorly. The reason they do so poorly is because they have no credibility. And if they had credibility, I wouldn't be sitting here right now.

36:14So we are banning them. Yes, we are. And there may be others to follow. Thank you very much, everybody. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you, guys. You've been listening to President Trump taking questions in the Oval Office after he announced on a social media post that he intended to ban CNN, MSNOW and Politico from the White House. He fielded a range of different questions, but many of them did relate to his announcement that he intended to ban those news outlets. He was pressed on the reason why and whether he was trying to, in fact, intimidate the press. He said, no, I just dislike the fake press like you, he said to one reporter there.

36:57He also said, I don't think a judge should allow the fake news to be written day after day. He was pressed on why and how this is constitutional, given the First Amendment. And he responded and said he was going to give the same response, which is, I don't think people should write fake stories. You also heard from his former press secretary there, Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders of Arkansas, who basically backed up the president and said, you all are here standing in the Oval Office asking the president questions. again there are a lot of questions about the mechanics of this how it would work does he intend to take away the passes that these media outlets have how does the white house plan to actually enforce the ban we will cover the range of other topics that the president discussed from iran to the visit of president xi jinping but i want to go to shannon petty piece who's standing by at the white house shannon what were your key takeaways in terms of the questions the president fielded about his ban on a number of news outlets?

38:07The president seemed very clear that he was banning these outlets because they were not giving him enough positive coverage. He, as you noted, referred to it as fake news, fake stories. And then he would go on to talk about how they do not cover the positive things that he does, that he has high approval rating or he won a certain number of electoral votes and that he still does not get positive news coverage. So he was pretty clear in saying that this ban was related to their coverage and the lack of positive coverage they receive. Now, the president has attempted to put restrictions on press access at the White House before.

38:48There was a conflict with the Associated Press that's been going on for over a year, again, trying to ban AP photographers from accessing the White House or certain parts of the White House. That was because of a dispute over the style guide in the Gulf of America versus the Gulf of Mexico. That quote unquote ban was knocked down by a judge. They're appealing, so this is going back and forth. But there are also previous cases from Trump's first term where he tried to restrict access of specific reporters. And those bans were knocked down by the courts because there is a constitutionality, a right of First Amendment.

39:26And judges have said you can't essentially cherry pick access to the press because you don't like someone's views or you don't like their coverage. The president was asked about the constitutionality of this. He suggested he expects this to go to the courts. He said, in his opinion, it will come down to whether he gets a favorable judge or not. And, of course, he said that he felt those past judges weren't being fair or favorable to him. But that will likely be the next step, at least according to what the president is anticipating. And yeah, as far as logistics of how this works, obviously, Kristen, you and I have worked in this White House together.

40:05We know how it goes. But for those watching at home, you know, there's reporters from all over the world, media outlets, large and small, who get access into the White House every day. They have a little pass. They swipe at the gate. They're let in through security. Some have a workspace. Some don't. They just work out of the briefing room chairs. Some have a camera station set up like NBC does. Others have a little iPhone camera and they come here and they film and they give their reports. So banning reporters from the White House would essentially mean that those reporters from CNN, MSNOW, Politico would not be able to get into the gate, would not be able to do their reporting from here, go to the press office, ask the press officials about questions, access those events like when the president takes off on a helicopter.

40:48And so that's how they potentially could be affected if this is sort of an all out blanket ban on these news organizations coming into the White House. Yeah. And I think you make such an important point, Shannon, which is that there are reporters who come from all over the world to cover the White House, to cover the People's House. Shannon, as we're having this conversation, CNN has released its first reaction to the president's statement that he plans to ban them among with other along with other news outlets. That's CNN writes. CNN stands fully behind our White House team and their fair and accurate reporting.

41:20We have a right under the U.S. Constitution to do that reporting without hindrance or interference from the government. Should the ban which President Trump threatened go ahead, it would be an illegal assault on that fundamental and constitutionally protected right. Signaling that they may be taking legal action if this ban moves forward. And Shannon, we should note that the president was also pressed on the fact that he said he was going to ban potentially other news outlets. He was asked which outlets he didn't say specifically, but he did take the opportunity to lash out at The New York Times and The Washington Post as well.

41:56What are you going to be watching for in the coming weeks as it relates to this? Well, I mean, I think the question tomorrow would be whether those reporters are able to get access to the gates here. Like I said, I've seen some of our colleagues from those organizations are still here, still working. When they leave through that security gate, does their pass work tomorrow? And are they able to come in and do their reporting from the White House lawn, go into the press office, ask the press secretary what's going on? Are they able to attend some of these wide public events that all other reporters have access to?

42:31You know, there's some like the overall office. There's sort of a select group, this press pool that gets access to those events because there's just so many reporters and there's limited space. But, for example, like when the president takes off from the helicopter, any reporter with a press pass can go there and shout a question to the president and see if he'll answer it and get that type of action and interaction. When they start holding press briefings again, will all those reporters have access to the room? But we should kind of know, you know, at the start of business tomorrow, whether people are able to access the White House who work for those organizations.

43:05All right. We'll be watching that very closely. Shannon, thank you so much. We should note a couple of other headlines that came from President Trump taking questions on Iran. He reiterated that he believes the war will end soon. He was asked about Representative Maria Salazar, who released a video saying that she opposed his mass deportation. He said, I disagree with her, but he also said, I understand what she's saying, basically saying he acknowledges she's in a tough fight for reelection. He was asked about his upcoming meeting with President Xi Jinping of China set to take place next week.

43:39He said of President Xi, we get along well. And he reupped his pledge that each American will get five thousand dollars if Republicans are reelected to the House and Senate. Coming up, making his case in Kansas, the Democratic Senate candidate trying to turn the seat blue for the first time in nearly a century. He's going to join us. Keep it right here. You're watching Meet the Press Now.

44:10Within every beautifully busy day, there's a brief moment between now and next. A moment made just for you to recharge, refuel, and most importantly, bring out the bomb. Bring out the new Bob Evans protein mac and cheese. Bring out the rich, velvety goodness, now with 18 grams of protein-packed perfection. Bring out the mmm. Before you ask what's next, just take one more bite. For a delicious protein power-up, bring out the Bob. Bob Evans' new protein macaroni and cheese. To every clinician finishing notes at 9 p.m., there is a faster way. Whisperflow is a voice-to-text app. You talk, it types in your EHR.

44:49your email, anywhere you type. Say the progress note, the referral letter, the patient instructions, and it comes out clean and formatted with your terminology spelled right. Four times faster than typing and HIPAA ready. Whisper Flow is free. Get it at whisperflow.ai. That's W-I-S-P-R flow dot A-I. What's going on? I'm Arch Manning, Viore athlete and college quarterback. Whether I'm running, training, traveling, or just unwinding at home, I love doing it in my core shorts from Viore. With a breathable box of brief liner, they're quick to dry, super versatile, and stand up to even my most intense training sessions.

45:21Plus, they come in three inseams and a ton of colors. Ready to try pair? Go to viuri.com slash arch and get 20 % off at checkout. I think you're going to love them as much as I do. That's viuri.com slash A-R-C-H and get 20 % off your first order. Exclusions apply. Visit the website for full terms and conditions. Not only will you receive 20 % off your first purchase, but enjoy free shipping on any U.S. orders over$75 and free returns. Have a great day.

45:45Welcome back. As Republicans continue to face headwinds on the economy and the war with Iran heading into the midterms. Democrats are looking to flip a deep red Senate seat they haven't won in nearly a century. Methodist pastor and moderate Democrat Adam Hamilton is looking to unseat Kansas incumbent Republican Senator Roger Marshall in a battle that is heating up. A new poll released today shows Hamilton leading Marshall by two points, well within the margin of error. We should caution this data represents one poll, but it comes after former Kansas Governor Republican Bill Graves crossed party lines and endorsed Hamilton's campaign earlier this week.

46:22Take a look. With our nation facing increasing partisan gridlock and division, it's time Kansas does something different. For the last six years, Senator Roger Marshall has turned his back on Kansas. In contrast, Adam Hamilton stands as a bulwark of kindness, humility and service to others. And joining me now is Adam Hamilton. Thanks so much for being here. We really appreciate it. Kristen, it's a joy to be with you. Thank you. It's great to have you. We are getting closer to November, less than two months now. You have this new poll, which shows you leading by a slim margin. We should note we have had polls showing the incumbent Republican in Kansas trailing before, only to have them come back and win by more than 10 points on Election Day.

47:08How confident are you that you can actually flip this seat? And just as a reminder, it's been nearly 100 years since Democrats have won a Senate seat in Kansas. We're feeling really excited right now. So when I travel across Kansas, in Kansas you've got to win not just Democrats and independents, you've got to win Republicans. We travel across the state, about 30 percent of the people who come to each of my events are Republicans. They're telling me I've never voted for a Democrat before. We've had leaders, I mean, committee chairs, you know, in various counties tell us we're voting for you. We've got obviously Bill Graves, but others who are leaders, Republican leaders in the state saying we've got to do better.

47:42And I'm an independent minded Democrat. I'm somebody who wants to work across the aisle and build bridges instead of walls. And we feel really excited right now. Well, I want to get your reaction to something that Vice President J.D. Vance said when he attacked you and another Democratic Senate candidate of faith. Take a listen. In Kansas, the Democrats are running this guy. His name is Adam Hamilton for Senate. Now he's got kind of a gee whiz, I'm a nice pastor vibe, but he's a man who tells his congregation not about the gospel of Jesus Christ, but that they need to repent for their white privilege while eating beef.

48:22In Texas, they're running a guy by the name of James Tallarico,

48:29who says that God is non-binary and there are six genders. What is your reaction to his comments about you? Well, first of all, I felt a great excitement when I heard that he was in town rallying around Roger Marshall. I thought the White House has sent the second most powerful man in the country to try to rescue my opponent. And then listening to what he says is just ridiculous. I actually had to laugh when I heard it. I thought, seriously? And he goes on to attack my faith. He talks about somehow I'm not really a Christian. And I thought, that's just so interesting. I would love to have a chance to have a conversation with you about faith.

49:06For 45 years, almost every morning, I wake up, get down on my knees and say, here I am, God, please use me. I've led thousands of people to faith in Christ and baptized thousands and thousands more. And, you know, this little line about repenting for eating beef while, you know, whatever it was he said, repenting for being white while eating beef. I thought, you know, you don't even get this right. So there was a sermon and they took little bits and pieces out of different paragraphs of it and sewed it together. And it's just it's desperation. And and I just take that as a great sign that we're going to win in November.

49:38Well, let me part of the strategy also is to paint Democrats as radical. The vice president said this recently. If you're one of the few Republicans who's running against a Democrat who's not that crazy, then just talk about Abdul El-Sayed. He's got enough material for the whole country. What do you make of that? Do you think that Dr. Abdul El-Sayed is a drag on Democrats' chances? You know, I'm not really paying any attention to Abdul El-Sayed. I'm really interested in Kansas, and in Kansas we're interested in$6 diesel prices right now,$4 regular gasoline prices, phosphate for farmers. It's double the price it was before.

50:19We're looking at the fact that our kids can't afford to buy homes anymore, that interest rates keep going up instead of going down. And all of these are self-inflicted wounds happening at the highest level. It's really Roger Marshall is supporting these things. Republicans are supporting them. And it's hurting people in Kansas. People who voted for Roger Marshall last time, voted for the president three times, are saying enough is enough. The policies that they're pursuing are hurting people. And so that's what I'm focused on is how do we make life better for Kansans to stop the policies out of Washington that are actually hurting people in their everyday lives?

50:49So 51 ,000 people no longer have health insurance in Kansas. They did a year and a half ago because the decisions made by Roger Marshall and Republicans in Washington. Just big picture, though, do you think the Democratic Party is big enough for the progressive branch? Is that something that you embrace? You know, yes, just like the Republican Party has its most conservative elements. You're going to have progressives and conservatives in the Democratic Party. I think there's, you know, there's room for people like me. And I am, again, an independent-minded Democrat. The church I pastor, we have 24 ,000 members, 9 ,000 are Republicans, 9 ,000 are Democrats.

51:24I love my Republican members. I love my Democrat members. I care about the things they care about. And what I really care about is Washington working again, where Republicans and Democrats come together to solve the really big problems like the national debt or health care or immigration reform, all of these things, Social Security. We need Republicans and Democrats, thoughtful Republicans and Democrats working together. And right now, that's not what we have in my opponent. All right. Adam Hamilton, thank you so very much for joining us and for your time today. We really appreciate it. Kristen, thank you so much.

51:55If anyone wants to know more about me, Hamilton for Kansas dot com. All right. There you go. You got it in. Thank you. Joining me now is our panel T.M. Mitchell, Washington Bureau Chief for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Don Calloway, Democratic strategist and former Democratic member of the Missouri House of Representatives. And Ashley Davis, former White House official in the Bush administration, thanks to all of you for being here. Let's start on this race and sort of this fight that we're seeing unfold in some red states. What do you make of Mr. Hamilton's chances, the fact that he's up?

52:30I noted that we've seen in past races in Kansas, you know, the Democrat maybe has a narrow lead, but then Election Day comes around and it's the Republican candidate who's got the strong ground game and pulls out the victory. Yeah, I mean, we have to be cautious about those polls. Every poll showed that Hillary Clinton was going to beat Donald Trump in 2016. So we've learned our lesson. But polls are definitely a snapshot in time. They tell us something in the fact that in a state like Kansas and states like Iowa and Alaska, that Democrats are doing well enough to be in striking distance, if not, you know, slightly ahead, even within the margin of error, shows a lot.

53:07I mean, it shows he talked about the cost of diesel, the price of goods. That is what is top of mind to voters. I know that, you know, Vice President Vance and other Republicans are bringing in some of these culture war issues and getting at, you know, eating meat and where they go to church. That is not what is top of mind for most voters, including Republicans. They care about the cost of goods. All right. Let's talk because time is short about this media ban that President Trump announced. Actually, let me start with you. Here we are less than two months from the midterms. Do you think that type of an announcement helps or hurts Republicans?

53:50What do you you know, does it energize the MAGA base? What's the impact, do you think? So there's two things. Yes, I think it energizes the MAGA base. And I also think it energizes the Democrat base 100 percent. But I say this all the time with Donald Trump. He knows how to switch the conversation. So, you know what we're talking about right now? The fact that he's banning people. We're not talking about gas prices as much. We're not talking about some of these other broad issues. And there's a part of me and I'm not in his brain, but that's like, what can we throw out there that's going to cause people to melt down and not talk about what the other issues are?

54:27and this is it. Yeah. What do you make of it, Don? Do you see it that way? Do you agree with Ashley? Well, yeah, Ashley's right. He's very good at pivoting and deflecting. But let's be clear. This is the fascist playbook. And I know that fascism doesn't always resonate with people who aren't political scientists. But let's be clear. This is Russia. This is Hungary. This is the playbook that folks have started over in Europe and the far right globally to ban alternative views. This is an extraordinary threat to the free state and the First Amendment. Ashley, you're going to hear Democrats making that argument on the campaign trail.

55:00Does it hurt in some of these districts that are really close? Well, I think it helps with independence for Democrats, of course. But I also think, and this is where I think it gets lost, is what are they really losing access to or what are they not losing access to? But listen, it is, I'm going to throw everything against the wall. It's like the$5 ,000 that everyone's getting. We're throwing everything out there and we're going to call it. But listen, the base is going to be really happy about this. Not about Politico. I don't think anyone understands that besides us, but everybody, the others.

55:34Tia, put this into context. You and I both covered the White House. There's and Shannon Petty piece touched on this. There's a question about how practical this really is. And CNN has released a statement making it very clear if this ban moves forward, they will view that as crossing a legal line. news outlets have press passes that allow them into the White House. The question is, are they going to turn those press passes off? Yeah. And for organizations as big as like CNN, we're talking about dozens of people. We're not just talking about the reporters that people might see on air. There are editors, photographers and producers that are often at the White House getting content.

56:15They have a tent there just like NBC does, you know. And so I think just Just logistically, how do you completely revoke access? But the other thing that we know, Kristen, is CNN is going to get scoops about the Trump administration, whether their people are in, you know, on the grounds or not, because a lot of the big scoops don't come while you're there in person. They come through the sourcing and and that's going to happen. He's not going to be able to shut down coverage, even if he tries to limit access. Don, do you anticipate this is going to become a legal battle if, in fact, the president does move to revoke some of these?

56:54Yes, and it should be. I mean, it is a blatant violation of the First Amendment, but it is absolutely a legal battle. And we've seen these types of legal battles before because it's not the first news organization he's banned. But I just want to say from a practical perspective, imagine let's play the parlor game for the one millionth time. Imagine if Barack Obama had tried to ban Fox News. What would that look like? What would the immediate blowback look like? It just simply wouldn't be fundamentally acceptable to anybody on the right or even in the center in this country. Ashley, what about that?

57:23Well, I completely agree with you or George Bush, you know, or anybody else. But I think that what we're losing here, if it goes to the courts and we lose the messaging, I mean, like the court system is just going to be a long process. And so does it stay in the headlines as it is now, which like tonight, it's a big story. Well, the other story that we're tracking today, Vice President J.D. Vance in Iowa actually hints in the Republican candidate there not appearing with the vice president. She said she had a scheduling conflict. But just zooming out, this is a battleground. Tia, what do you make of the optics and the vice president's message, which is Rome was not built in a day.

58:05That's his big thesis statement. Give us more time to finish the job. Yeah. And I don't know the ins and outs of Ashley Hinton's schedule, Hinton's schedule. But when the vice president comes to your state, you normally clear your schedule. And so I think it's it lends to the perception that she is choosing not to share a stage with him. And I think him, the the vice president's messaging has been a little bit tough because he's not completely aligned with President Trump on some things where President Trump's like, I'm on the ballot. Vote for me. Everything's great. Keep it great. The vice president's being a little bit more realist, a little bit more pragmatic.

58:45And he's like, OK, we know that certain things aren't great, but give us some more time. We're going to keep working at it. Ashley, what about that sort of distance that we're seeing in their messaging? So that shows to me that I'm not there with Kansas or even Texas. I'm there more with Texas than I am Kansas. But I think in Iowa, it's a real situation. I mean, we have a really the Democrats have a really good governor's candidate, which could hurt the Senate seat. And I think Ashley's made a strategic decision not to show up. Don, you know, it's interesting because President Trump's message is twofold.

59:20Pretend I'm on the ballot. Also, if Republicans win, we're going to give you five thousand dollars. Some Democrats have referred to that as a bribe. The White House says, look, it's not a bribe. But that aside, he does drive turnout when he's on the ballot. And again, to Ashley's point, both for the Republican and the Democratic base, how do you anticipate that's going to play in these midterms? He drives turnout, but he is extraordinarily unpopular right now. And so I think he'll have the converse effect of driving turnout against him. It's hard to use him and his magnetic personality where the afford against it when diesel prices are six dollars a gallon.

59:56That is a nonpartisan issue. It's affecting municipal and county budgets across the country, and it is immediately attributable to his personal policy. So I understand why Ashley didn't show up. It ain't had nothing to do with our schedule. All right. Well, a lot to watch with less than two months to go to you, Don, and Ashley. Really appreciate it. Thank you all. We are back next week with more Meet the Press Now. And if it's Sunday, it's Meet the Press on your local NBC News station. I'll have exclusive interviews with Senators John Barrasso and Cory Booker, plus actor and comedian Hasan Minhaj sits down with me for a Meet the Moment interview.

1:00:28There's more ahead on NBC News. Real talent is defined by what people can do, not where they learn to do it. So by stopping at the education section of a resume, you might throw away the perfect hire. Skills First Hiring helps you see talent others miss, like more than 70 million stars, skilled through alternative routes. Let their story unfold and gain a competitive advantage, because hiring managers who start with skills are 60 % more likely to find a successful hire. Hire Skills First. Learn why at tearthepaperceiling.org. Brought to you by Opportunity at Work and the Ad Council.