Meet the Press NOW — September 24

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1:10Hi there, welcome to Meet the Press Now. I'm Ryan Nobles in Washington as President Trump rolls out the literal red carpet for Chinese President Xi Jinping, praising the authoritarian leader and touting their personal relationship. The warm welcome for the strongman leader comes against the backdrop of President Trump's efforts to ban media outlets from the White House grounds whose coverage he disagrees with. The ceremonies surrounding President Xi's state visit to Washington were full of pomp, including a military flyover during his arrival ceremony yesterday and a military review at the White House this morning.

1:46Now, we should note that TV coverage for much of Xi's historic visit was limited due to the president's media ban. In brief remarks today, President Trump touted what he called a truly great friendship with President Xi, saying the two leaders would discuss pressing issues concerning security, technology, and what he's calling super intelligence or AI. Meanwhile, President Xi called for healthy competition between the U.S. and China and reiterated the need for the two countries to coexist in peace. The president's embrace of Xi has been met with skepticism on Capitol Hill, including from members of his own party.

2:22What do you think about President Trump rolling up a red carpet literally for a communist leader like President Xi? Well, when world leaders engage, there are certain formalities. I personally looked at the red carpet treatment and thought it was a little bit over the top. But, you know, President Trump likes to do things big, right? She's here now. I mean, I understand that, you know, Trump has to be diplomatic, but she's a despicable person that is killing us with fentanyl, building the military to try to defeat us. President Xi is one of the best liars I've ever seen. I mean, he learned to lie before he learned to talk.

3:02It doesn't bother me if the president wants to buy him dinner. I'm fine with that. I just wouldn't believe his bull. Those, again, were all Republicans. And as we mentioned, the events today were not captured by the network pool cameras after reporters for CNN, MSNOW, and Politico were initially denied access to the White House this morning, despite an overnight ruling from the judge temporarily halting the president's ban. Reporters for those organizations, though, were eventually allowed back into the White House complex after the administration confirmed it was in fact abiding by the judge's ruling, who said in a written order that the media ban was likely unconstitutional.

3:40Joining me now to talk about all of this, NBC News White House correspondent Monica Alba. And with me on set, of course, is NBC News Chief Justice and National Affairs Correspondent and the former president of the White House Correspondents Association, Kelly O'Donnell. Let's go to the North Lawn first. Monica, we didn't get to see what happened during President Xi's visit to the White House today. But what more are you learning about what was discussed, especially when it comes to AI? And does the White House expect to make any sort of meaningful progress on that very complex issue? It's a question that we have been asking, Ryan, and it doesn't seem like there is going to be anything that really differs from the status quo.

4:17There had been the suggestion, according to Secretary Rubio, that perhaps a hotline could be established between the U.S. and China to have more open communication when it comes to the potential security threats or any incidents around AI. He said that's something they were going to discuss. But earlier today, the president said, bottom line, he didn't really want anything to change when it comes to AI and that he's comfortable with the only existing guardrail, in his words, to be the DOJ. And he argued that President Xi feels the same way. And President Xi, for his part, in his short remarks today that we were able to see but not broadcast because of everything that you just laid out in the introduction, said that, of course, the U.S.

4:58and China are going to compete in this space of AI, but that they should be able to work together when it is possible. So I think right now the status quo on AI is what is going to stay in place. We shouldn't expect any kind of a major breakthrough, even if the tech titans who are going to be attending tonight's state dinner would like to see that. And some of them have even really urged them to do something when it comes to safety and security on AI. We are not really expecting that, Ryan. Yeah. And of course, artificial intelligence is getting a ton of attention right now, rightly so. But there are much not I shouldn't say bigger, but there are other geopolitical issues that have been lingering between the United States and China, among them the war with Iran and, of course, U.S.

5:39support for Taiwan. Do we expect any of those issues to be addressed? Yes. It's a great question. And with Taiwan, first, of course, you even have some Republicans and senators who are urging the president to approve a weapons package for Taiwan. While you have reporting out there that suggested that President Xi was going to come here to ask President Trump not to do that or to hold off on that. And President Trump, for his part, has sort of talked about Taiwan as a, quote, bargaining chip in all of this. So we don't know if that is something that was already discussed in the bilateral meeting that the leaders had today, because, again, we didn't have the regular press access or editorial availability to be in there and to press either of them and ask questions on this front.

6:24But so far, it's unclear whether they discussed those big topic items. The president was asked briefly in one of those moments in passing from some other reporters whether he brought up the war against Iran with President Xi. And he declined to engage on that, saying only that President Xi loves granite because he had just concluded a tour of his new helipad and granite that he had installed on the South Lawn, Ryan. OK, I guess that's at least something. As you heard, Monica, we did play some sound from Republicans that are at the very least uncomfortable with the president's decision to roll out the literal red carpet for President Xi.

7:02He also personally greeted the Chinese leader at Joint Base Andrews yesterday. What do you make of the president's decision to have all this pomp surrounding the state visit, especially given the fact that this is the state visit of a communist leader? Absolutely. I think what you just pointed out about the JBA arrival says it all. President Trump has never greeted a world leader on the tarmac before, like you see there in those still images, either in his first term or in the second term. He has rolled out the red carpet for other world leaders on the South Lawn, as you saw, take place here today, along with the First Lady.

7:37But what he did last night at Joint Base Andrews is remarkable. And that is because the president wanted to do that. I was told by a White House official that was his idea. He wanted to be there. He wanted to be there as a gesture of warmth and friendship that this president clearly values. He feels like President Xi is somebody he looks up to and somebody who he does want to form a closer partnership with, even though in the past President Trump has railed against communism repeatedly for years. Ryan, even making it a campaign issue in this current election cycle. All right. Thank you for breaking down all that for us, Monica.

8:12And of course, as we bring in Kelly O'Donnell to talk more about this, for the most part, there are always always still pictures of the president's greeting of Xi Jinping. And that's because of this media ban that the president attempted to put in. A court has rolled back. Talk us through what happened this morning. Even though this this ruling did come down relatively early this morning, I think around in the one o 'clock hour, there were still reporters this morning that were having a hard time getting into the White House. There was a significant lag after a very clear order that they had to restore that badge access, allowing those three outlets and their personnel to go inside the White House and to continue to do their jobs.

8:47It's unclear why that lag happened. In part, there are systems involved. There's the computer system that allows a reporter to clear security, things like that. Maybe that was some of it, the bureaucracy of getting the day moving. But it became concerning enough that the lawyer for those outlets went back to the court and said, you must enforce what you have ordered. We're concerned that it won't be done and set a new deadline. And within that deadline, what we saw happen was there was a sworn statement from a White House official outlining the timeline of their actions. And then we saw personnel from those three outlets being admitted to the White House.

9:25Was it additional pressure that brought that about? Was it always a plan? It's hard to know right now. As it stands right now for 14 days, this temporary restraining order is in effect. And those journalists from CNN, MSNOW and Politico are able to go back inside the White House and do their work. And there was kind of an interesting moment today that the print pool caught when the two leaders were in the Oval Office. President Trump made a joke about how friendly the Chinese press corps is. Obviously, the Chinese press corps is essentially just an organ of the state. They've cracked down on any sort of independent journalism in China.

9:59What do we make of the optics of this happening in the American Oval Office in a country that explicitly allows for the freedom of press in its most important document? It is a stark moment and one where we get to talk about the contrast that may be helpful in terms of just public awareness and reminding our viewers and the general public of how stark that is. China is repressive toward the media. Anyone working in the media works for the government. Very different than our system. It is common for the president to tease a foreign leader of all types, close allies and even adversaries, that his press corps, the visiting dignitaries press corps is easier or nicer.

10:37That may be just an affectation of the president. But in this case, it really has a more deep meaning that is worth noting when we're talking about free access of the press to do its jobs. And then the important access in certain instances of getting inside the White House. There's First Amendment rights broadly. That really isn't what the judge talked about today. You talked about Fifth Amendment rights due process when the government strips you of, in this case, a press badge or other access that you would typically have. So it is a lesson. It's a notable example. It is very much a part of the Trump era.

11:11And we don't yet know where this is headed. Yeah. Well, let's talk about that, because this, as you have already pointed out, is only a 14 day window for the court to allow more time to process this. You point out they have not even really addressed the First Amendment issue here, instead focusing on the Fifth Amendment issue here. What could happen next? And are there other machinations within this that we should be looking for in terms of President Trump's efforts to limit access by certain outlets? Well, in a big picture sense, one issue that is not yet resolved is, will the five networks that have long provided the infrastructure of television coverage for the general public, will that continue?

11:48At the moment, it is not continuing because that is unclear if CNN will be allowed to continue in that role that's been going on for decades in which sort of a wholesale product, if you will, the raw video observations from journalists are shared broadly with other media to use as they see fit. That's one question. Another is the issue of the administration is saying barring those reporters in the first place was about national security. The judge said the record doesn't seem to show that, that the president talked about not liking coverage, negative coverage, fake news, a term he uses, that journalists, we reject that term, that that was more of the issue.

12:25And that could fall under what's known as viewpoint discrimination when a First Amendment right is denied because of the content of what you report. Right. So this is maybe potentially just a roadblock, but there's a lot more that needs to be resolved. All right, Kelly, thank you for being on top of it. We appreciate it. Now, as we mentioned, trade between China and the U.S. has been one of the major topics of conversation during the state visit by President Xi. The White House confirming ahead of today's meeting that a key trade agreement with China would be extended. Here's what Treasury Secretary Scott Besson had to say.

12:56We have agreed today that we will extend what we call the Busan Agreement, the the detente economic detente between the two countries that was scheduled to end on November 10th. That is going to be extended until January 10th to give us more time to see what we can do on the economic front. And we had a very productive Sunday. We had a very productive meeting this morning. Joining me now is NBC News business and data correspondent Brian Chung. So So, Brian, break down where the U.S. and China stand on trade right now and what it means that this agreement was extended. Well, that announcement from the Treasury Secretary on Fox News, as, by the way, the same time when the Chinese president was landing on the tarmac here stateside, I think it does point to positive elements on the negotiating front between the U.S.

13:49and China for kicking the can down the road at least until January. As you'll recall, November 10 was the deadline for the trade truce to be resolved. If there was no negotiation or positive elements on the negotiation fronts, then that November 10th date could have come with dramatically higher tariff rates. You'll recall that at one point in the spring last year, the United States and China were threatening something like 145 percent tariffs on each other. There are still tariffs in place, but they're much lower than that right now. But by kicking the can down the road until January, as the secretary was saying in that clip that we just played, it gives them a little bit more room to negotiate something that would be a little bit more longstanding, some sort of real framework for trade between these two countries.

14:27But at least for right now, the major onus for this big meeting here in Washington, which was largely to avoid that November 10 deadline from passing, has largely been avoided as a result of that announcement yesterday. OK, so but they are going to be in a room. They're going to be talking. And the secretary hinted that there could be more agreements. What are you looking for? Could there be some sort of breakthrough while Xi is here in the United States? Yeah, well, in that same interview, the Treasury Secretary did suggest that there could be other negotiating fronts and there could be some agreements on things like financial services, non-critical goods as well.

14:57But I think that there are critical types of goods that may be in focus as well. Rare earth metals as well as magnets were a big point of contention in negotiations the last time around. Could there be some agreement on that front? The Treasury secretary did seem to suggest that on the Chinese side, he was satisfied with the Chinese purchase of American soybeans. That is a major export from the U.S. to China. So that seems like it's settled on the agricultural front. But what other types of agreements can we get before the end of the week? That is something that the administration has teased. And meanwhile, mortgage rates are reaching their highest level since President Trump took office.

15:31They're up over a percent since the war with Iran. What are analysts saying about this trend? And should we expect those rates to continue to climb? Yeah, I mean, this is just straight up unwelcome news for anyone that is potentially thinking about trying to buy a home because 30 year fixed mortgage rates right now sitting at 7.37 percent. We haven't seen those kinds of levels in over a year. And it is indeed pretty shocking for those Americans that were perhaps looking on the sidelines of the housing market earlier this year, seeing 5.996 percent already thinking that was expensive. And now at over 7 percent, probably saying, all right, well, we'll just continue renting for right now.

16:09The big story for that has been the rise in longer term bond yields. The 30 year bond market has been pricing yields at levels that we have not seen since 2004, mostly because of repriced expectations over the Federal Reserve under newly minted Fed chair Kevin Warsh. He was appointed by the president to lower interest in the hopes that the president thought at the time of lowering interest rates. The Fed now raising interest rates because of the specter of inflation, the expectation that they will do so through the end of the year. And bond markets and mortgage markets also pricing that, Ryan.

16:39Yeah, the difference between a three percent mortgage and an eight or nine percent mortgage in your monthly payment is astronomical. All right, Brian Chung, thank you so much. Coming up, rising prices, falling political fortunes. We'll dive into how the economy has gone from one of the president's biggest strengths to one of his biggest liabilities heading into the midterms. Plus the battle for the Buckeye State. I caught up with the Democratic and Republican Senate candidates running in Ohio as they tackle the hot button issue of data centers and AI. A race that could decide control of Congress.

17:13Keep it right here. You're watching Meet the Press Now.

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18:52Welcome back. The U.S. economy is the envy of the world, but with less than six weeks until Election Day, voters' frustrations with costs and inflation are poised to dominate the midterms. At the pump, the Iran war has led to a spike in gas and diesel prices. Both are up more than 50 % since February. Energy everywhere is more expensive as the price of oil also remains elevated. Overall inflation is up to prompting an interest rate hike from the Federal Reserve earlier this month. What could it mean for the president and the midterms? Let's turn now to the big board and NBC News' senior national political reporter Sahil Kapoor.

19:28You know, Sahil, the economy is top of mind for voters heading into this midterm, much of the same way that it was for voters in the 2024 election. How have the views of the president changed when it comes to this issue? That's right, Ryan. With under 40 days to go, I want to set the table here with one statistic. 2024, these are the exit poll results of voters. They cited the economy as their top issue. This is how those voters broke down. 81 % voted for Trump, 18 % voted for Kamala Harris. He dominated among those voters. And this number is why he's sitting in the White House right now. Keep this in mind, four to one, that is the ratio here, because this is going to be very important later.

20:06That was then, 2024. How do those voters feel about Donald Trump right now? Wow. 29 points underwater. This is an astonishing turnaround. This means by a 29-point margin, our poll finds that voters believe Trump's policies have done more to hurt than to help the economy. But of course, politics is all about choices, right? How did Democrats do? How did Joe Biden do at this point in 2022. Badly, but even he did better then than Trump is doing now. 2022, this was the height of post-COVID inflation. The economy dogged Biden throughout his presidency, and even he was not doing as badly then on the economy as Donald Trump is now.

20:44Let's go to 2018. Look at this. Plus 15. This was an asset for Donald Trump in 2018. Voters thought he had done more to help the economy than hurt the economy. Now, remember, 2018 was not exactly a great midterm for the GOP. They lost about 40 House seats, but they held their ground in red area in large part because of this. They gained seats in the Senate in large part because of this. The fact that this number, plus 15, is now this number, minus 29, it's why we're even talking about states like Iowa, Alaska, Texas being in play. It's why Republicans have recently had a scare in Kansas and Nebraska in some recent polls, Ryan.

21:20Yeah. And so Sahil, obviously these numbers aren't good on their face for the Republicans and the White House. What could it mean practically for the results in these midterms? Well, let's take a look at the progression on this front. In March, this is what our poll found in terms of the share of Americans who thought Trump's policies that hurt the economy. 48 percent under a majority. What is it now? 55. A seven point swing. It's over a majority. Let's go one layer deeper at this time. Among Democrats, not much of a shift. They're already tapped out on President Trump. Among independents, not much of a shift, although this is not a great number for the president.

21:53This is where the shift has come from by a nine point margin, statistically significant. Republicans are souring on Trump on the economy. That is an astonishing turnaround. This has been Trump's firewall. This is, again, why he prevented the bottom from falling out in 2018, why Republicans held their ground in red states. The fear here is that this 17 percent, they may never vote for a Democrat. They may never vote for an independent. The fear Republicans have is that these folks might stay home and exacerbate an already significant enthusiasm deficit for the GOP going into the 2026 midterms. What does this all boil down to?

22:28For the first time in nine years, Democrats have an advantage with voters in our poll in terms of who they trust to handle the economy. This has been a bulwark for the GOP. You see plus 15 in 2018. And by the way, you have to go back to 2009 to find Democrats consistently having an advantage that wasn't a one-off. If this number holds and if this materializes on election night, there are going to be a lot of very nervous Republicans watching the returns, Ryan. Yeah. And I know where some of them are, Sahil, because I just got back from one of those battlegrounds. And we're going to turn to that right now and talk about what is happening in Ohio, a place where those economic numbers that you just talked about could make a real difference in a Senate race that Democrats still see as a real opportunity to flip.

23:10The incumbent Senator John Husted is facing a challenge from former Senator Sherrod Brown. Ohio is also a state where the backlash over AI data centers is growing. It's a sentiment that I heard from voters on the ground there last week. I spoke to people outside a planning commission meeting where residents voiced opposition to zoning changes that would allow for new data centers. It would pretty much destroy our life. We will be definitely exposed to the high decibels of noise, lighting. The water that is going to be released in a flush, possibly in a closed loop system, it's possible it'll go right through our property.

23:51I don't want my backyard. I don't want them taking farmland that could be used for anything else, but you're putting a data center in there. It's going to destroy this town. It's going to take up anywhere between 15 to 20 percent of this town. It will become a data center town. I think our national leaders are pushing for one thing, but I don't think that they are actually taking in consideration the people and the effect that it's going to have on the people, especially the farmers. Yeah, yeah. So will that impact how you vote in November? Is this issue in the back of your mind? Most definitely.

24:24They're not really concerned about us. They're really not. They're not concerned about my power bills, my water bills, my land, my house, the appreciation of my house when this thing comes in. So I don't. I don't think they're listening. Now, our latest NBC News poll finds that more than 50 percent of voters say they are much less likely to vote for a candidate who supports building AI data centers in their community. Now, I asked Sherrod Brown about his past support for data center construction in Ohio and pushed him on what's different now. What's different now is that these out-of-state corporations have come in.

25:03They've gotten these$2.5 billion in subsidies. They've gone in local communities. Local communities had no say over this, taking their land, swallowing up their water. And then they have to pay more in electric bills for this. And nobody, you know, it's just you build 250 of these and one guy has led the charge on these. That guy's responsible. And that's John Huston. So I know that you're really supportive of unions, folks that build these data centers. Aren't there going to be a lot of jobs and economic investment that comes from that? How do you balance those? Well, I talk to workers, union and non-union all the time.

25:41I've insisted on any of these jobs that data centers bring, that they be union jobs. But the union members and the workers generally, they don't want to hire electric bills. They don't want to see their farmland swallowed up. They believe there should be local input, local community input on these, and they don't see any of that. And while voters do give Democrats an edge on who they think could do a better job dealing with data centers, a quarter say neither party would be better on the issue. And when I caught up with Ohio Republican Senator John Houston on Capitol Hill today, he highlighted his support for a bipartisan bill to force data center companies to pay for their own electricity usage.

26:21I've sponsored the Ratepayer Protection Act. The Ratepayer Protection Act passed the House 417-3. We hope to have it on the floor next week, and it would require data centers to pay for all of their electricity infrastructure, means generation and all of the transmission lines. And we hope to get that done because that's something that Democrats, Republicans, and the House agreed upon. We hope to get the Senate Democrats to come along with us. What do you say to constituents though that just feel that no one is listening to them and they have these popping up in their backyard? I am listening to them.

26:57I'm the one trying to lead the effort to make sure that they don't have to pay the extra cost for electricity. This is literally true. Sherrod Brown voted twice in 2015 and 2022 for legislation that would fast-track data centers. He celebrated them when he was a senator and did nothing to try to help address this issue. I've been here for 18 months, and I am leading the way to make data centers pay their own way. Do you regret at all the effort that you made, though, when you did encourage them to come to the state and your other roles that you had in Ohio? Local citizens and communities make those decisions, not me.

27:32Local decisions decide whether they want data centers in their community, not me. And the one thing we found for sure in Ohio is that these voters that are directly impacted by these data centers are angry with both parties, and they're angry with their elected leaders at every single level. So it's not a very easy issue to distill red or blue. These voters are prepared to make their anger known at the ballot box and make sure that every party is held accountable. How that impacts the balance of power, that's yet to be seen. Up next, no party, no problem. Two independent Senate candidates join me in studio on how AI is reshaping the campaign trail as Congress weighs new guardrails for the technology.

28:17Stay with us on Meet the Press Now.

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29:56Welcome back. Independent candidates running for Senate are making artificial intelligence a focus of their campaigns amid new warnings about the technology. The heads of two A.I. industry giants told world leaders at the United Nations yesterday that the industry could lose control if more guardrails aren't put into place. Meanwhile, Australia announced this week that rogue models and open AI bypass safeguards during training and hacked into a government health care website. And while Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill mull regulation to independent candidates running for Senate in the Midwest are demanding urgent action to address AI as well as issues around data centers.

30:37And those independent candidates join me here on set. Brian Banks is running in South Dakota against incumbent Republican Senator Mike Rounds. And Dan Osborne is running in Nebraska against the incumbent Republican Senator Pete Ricketts. Well, thank you guys both for being here. Obviously, this topic is very timely. Let me start with you, Mr. Banks. How do you read these warnings from these top AI companies? And what should Congress do right now to try and stop this creep? Congress should first stay in session and address it. The AI industry is moving faster than the law, certainly. And a big reason for that is Congress is not doing its job.

31:13So first of all, I'm calling on Congress to stay in session and do something about it. These warnings, if you're a risk management person, if you go, oh, it's only a 10 percent risk of extinction of humanity. If it's a 1 percent risk of extinction to humanity, we should be pulling the reins back and hitting the brakes on this till we get some guardrails up. And that's what Congress really needs to do. And so, Mr. Osborne, I don't know if you saw Senator Bernie Sanders just introduced a bill that would create a new federal agency to ban artificial superintelligence, as it's called. And if this was continued on, it could face as much of a 20-year prison sentence if you violate that ban.

31:47Do you think that's a good idea? Would you support it? I don't know. I would have to read that and understand it a little bit more. But what we do know is our politicians should stop taking their money and doing their bidding, right? Because that's really what it boils down to. For example, P. Ricketts has gotten like$9 million from AI. So, of course, he's going to do their bidding. But we want it to cure cancer, right? We don't want it to store data for flock centers to surveil us. We want to protect the things that can be good and guard rail from the things that we can be bad. It's really that simple.

32:22But we do need a task force, an independent task force to monitor these companies. So, Mr. Banks, President Trump said this ahead of his meeting with the Chinese President Xi today. He said superintelligence will be a big topic of discussion, but I want to leave it exactly where it is. Even if Congress does take action, are you worried the president might veto that legislation or try and stand in the way of it? Absolutely. That is a genuine concern, given his statements there. So we should all be worried about that. But again, the American people, certainly the people in South Dakota, want something done.

32:53So this isn't just a Wild West free for all, do whatever you want. We need to have some genuine guidance here. We're not getting it from Congress. And I would note that my opponent, two-term Senator Mike Rounds, is the chair of the Senate AI caucus. And he is deeply in bed with AI money. So that's the problem with the system. Yeah. Well, you both have made this fight against data centers, in particular a key part of your campaign. Mr. Osborne, you mentioned, though, that there could be some good benefit from AI, perhaps curing cancer. Do you support a national ban on building new data centers, a moratorium?

33:26How do you think this issue should be handled? Well, I think Congress should not go home until we get a bill. And the data centers, the physical data centers themselves, like we see, Nebraska sits on the Ogallala Aquifer, one of the biggest, largest fresh-bodied waters in the country. And it is getting depleted six times faster than it gets replenished. And so that's a crisis. And data centers, as we all know, use a tremendous amount of water. And we have public power in Nebraska, so we have cheaper power than most of the rest of the country. So data centers love Nebraska. And so it is, you know, our power bill shouldn't have to go up a cent, and we need to protect our water sources.

34:07So a moratorium, no, but transparency, yes. What about you, Mr. Banks? Do you think a moratorium or a ban on data centers right now is responsible? This is where I'm going to differ with Dan, because I've called for a full halt moratorium on construction of new data centers until we get guardrails. So not a permanent halt, but until we get the guardrails in place, I think it is reckless. And we really need to have a genuine, no kidding, local voice that is, do you want it or do you not in the local community? Because that is the big problem. People are just getting steamrolled by money. Yeah. And I wonder, though, if you try and implement a ban like this, are you concerned that China might get some sort of a national security advantage if the U.S.

34:45rolls back at all in their not only the building of the data centers, but advancing in AI? Well, I would point to the fact that the United States has roughly 10 times at this point, 10 times as many data centers as China. So we do have a cushion in there because we've been building at a breakneck pace so fast. Congress just cannot go, oh, what are we going to do and twiddle their thumbs because of the money that is influencing them? They need to actually just act. And they can. Historically, they can. They're just not. All right. Let's talk about both of your races here. It is somewhat of a novel idea to have independent candidates seriously challenging incumbents of major parties.

35:22You both have talked kind of obtusely about how you would serve as members of the Senate. You say you'd be independent voices. But do either of you plan to caucus with a party when you come to Washington? For me, no. Well, I plan on caucusing with both parties. I plan on challenging the system because a good idea is a good idea. It doesn't matter where it comes from. So, yeah, I can caucus with Republicans and Democrats. And I can go and talk to majority leaders and minority leaders, you know, get committee assignments. But, yeah, that's that's how I plan. But I mean, you'd have to vote for a majority leader, right?

35:57Wouldn't that on some level require you? You can abstain. Yeah. Right. How about you, Mr. Banks? How would you handle it? Yeah, I pretty much echo what Dan said. My plan is not to caucus with either party. I'm not going to the United States Senate to be a loyal foot soldier for either Team Red or Team Blue in the color wars. I'm going to actually address problems, which is the situation we have right now with the dysfunctional gridlock that they don't get addressed. And I would echo him in saying, there's not a monopoly on good ideas. If Team Blue has a good idea, I'm going to go work with them.

36:26If Team Red has a good idea to get me where I want, where we're helping out regular folks who work for a living, I'm willing to work with anybody. And independent status is an opportunity to do that because Red and Blue will not work together, apparently. So if the two of you are running, there are a couple of other candidates from other states that are making some noise. If there were a group of independent candidates that came together, would you consider caucusing with them and creating your own little legislative body? If it meant passing a farm bill so we can get in and rescue our ag industries, yeah.

36:57What about you? Well, from my perspective, I think this is a rare opportunity to offer a third path. If there's enough independence, given how closely divided the Senate is between Team Red and Team Blue, I would ideally like to form an independent caucus to the extent that there's interest in doing that and deny the majority to either party. So then they would be expected to come to work with us and they'd be more willing to work with us rather than their current partisan hatred. Mr. Osborne, I want to give you the opportunity to respond to this right before interview. Actually, you were at a press conference over on Capitol Hill.

37:30you were confronted about some leaked audio of you using profanity just to disparage president or to disparage Trump voters who live in rural Nebraska. Do you think that you've alienated any Republicans by the release of this audio? And how would you respond to folks that might be concerned about it? Yeah, no, absolutely not. You know, we're all angry. You know, my family, we're treading water here. And it feels like every day it's hard to keep your head above water, with the economy and how much groceries and gas costs right now for families. And so that comes from a place of anger. And I've gone, I'm doing a 93-county tour.

38:08I've gone through Nebraska six, seven times now and talked to everybody. And people are angry. And life is hard. And so a lot of this just mimics that. But specifically aimed at Trump voters, though, do you regret that you framed it in that regard? I think that's taken out of context. I mentioned to Trump's store. I didn't mention Trump voters. That's as far as it goes. And he's spending$30 million against me, and they're putting a lot of money into this because he's afraid. And so he has people follow me around all over. That guy today, this is what they do. But we're going to stay the course and win this election.

38:50Well, what would your message be? And this question is for both of you, because Trump voters are very loyal to the president and to the Republican Party. But in many ways, they do feel let down on a wide range of issues. What is your message to these Trump voters that do feel alienated or don't feel like they have a place to go? Working class people deserve a seat at the table. If you're not at the table, you're on the menu. Less than 2 % of our elected officials in both the House and Senate come from blue collar jobs. So we need a seat at the table and really work for workers' issues. What about you, Mr.

39:19Banks? Well, I've actually called myself a Teddy Roosevelt Republican. So I am saying literally the same things that Teddy Roosevelt was saying well over a century ago. And he is consistently ranked one of the best presidents in American history. And his face is on a mountain about an hour north of where I live. So when you say, you know, we need to get big money out of politics to a person, everybody I've talked to says yes. When you say billionaires ought to pay a higher tax rate than the folks who work for a living, than their secretaries, they're on board with that. when you say we need to bust up corporate monopolies like the big meat packing monopoly that is cheating both the consumers and the cattle producers.

39:53People are on board with that. So it works. All right. Brian Bangs, Mr. Osborne, thank you guys both for being here. We appreciate it. Good luck in your races. After the break, a raw deal for ranchers. NBC News speaks to cattle ranchers feeling the impacts of the Trump administration's new beef policy as a top Republican in Texas warns his party could lose the midterm elections because of it. That story's next. This is Meet the Press Now.

40:26Welcome back. As Republicans worry that affordability issues could cost them votes all across the map in the midterms, one typically reliable constituency is making some Republicans very nervous. Cattle ranchers. They've been hit hard by the White House's efforts to lower the cost of beef for American consumers. Politico is reporting, citing two people with direct knowledge of the conversation, that the White House is weighing whether to roll back the president's plan to increase beef imports because of frustration from Republicans in farm states. The White House denied it was considering any such action.

41:00The issue of beef prices is playing predominantly in Texas, as state Democrats are feeling increasingly bullish about. NBC News Correspondent Ryan Chandler has more.

41:13This is a part of the food chain few Americans ever see. And every Wednesday, a hundred ranchers come from near and far to the city of West Texas for the cattle auction. And nowadays, it's a buyer's market. What's it like in the cattle business nowadays? Volatile. Brian Upmore has led the sale here for decades. Lately, he says, it feels like everything is working against the ranchers. Supplies are tight. Real estate values, urban sprawl, data centers, solar panels, fight over the land. It's going to make it harder for us to produce food at an affordable level. Adding to the pressure, ranchers say one policy shift from the Trump administration is undercutting their business.

42:00The president announcing late last month he will import an additional 661 million pounds of foreign beef at lower tariff rates. Whitehouse says the move will lower beef prices for consumers. But for cattle ranchers, it's more foreign competition when times are already tough. They can get the meat imported in cheaper than what they can buy it in the ring here. And then they don't have to haul it. They don't have to process. Yeah, that affects us. Bam, right away. The decision has drawn criticism from some of the president's supporters. I always support him, but I had to disagree with him on importing this beef.

42:38It caused some problems. A lot of ranchers are very upset about it. Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller has been raising cattle on this ranch for decades, and he's still a working rancher. You picked up cattle for yourself this morning. Yeah, I went and got 35 head. But after 12 years in office, he lost his primary and will soon leave office after this year. Now he's sounding the alarm. Warning, rural America is hurting, and their anger may cost other Republicans this November. There's the beef prices, there's tariffs, there's diesel and fertilizer prices. It's a death by a thousand cuts.

43:13I hope I'm wrong, but I think we're going to lose some statewide offices. I think this is a bad year. To ease ranchers' worries, late last month, the Trump administration unveiled their Ranchers First initiative, issuing a package of executive orders aimed at giving ranchers a leg up. USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins tells us they're focusing on the long-term strength of the national herd while navigating short-term disturbances for consumers. This is a very short-term fix to support all Americans eating beef while sending the signal for the long-term, like I mentioned, all the different actions that we've taken and more to come will continue to take to build and continue to build the biggest, the largest, and the best beef in the world.

43:56And make no mistake, this is still Trump country. The ranchers we met gave the president some grace in hopes of long-term success. As long as we win this midterm, I think we'll be fine. I think that it's like making an omelet. It gets a little messy at first, and it turns out pretty good. But in an election year looking razor thin, with Democrat James Tallarico narrowly leading the polls for the Senate race, any apathy in rural Texas could hurt Republicans' chances. Ultimately, ranchers say they just want to be left alone. Give us a fair and open playing field and let us do our jobs. In Texas, Ryan Chandler, NBC News.

44:43All right, Ryan, thank you for that. Still to come, a shift. We're tracking the changing midterm landscape and new updates from a top elections forecaster. The panel is next. You're watching Meet the Press Now.

45:04Welcome back. Turning now to more signs of midterm momentum for Democrats. Our forecasting friends at the Cook Political Report moving three Senate races in Democrats direction, including moving Kansas into competitive territory. Kansas hasn't elected a Democrat to the Senate in nearly 100 years. The move gives Democrats other potential pickup opportunities ahead of November. Joining me now, today's panel, Mariana Sotomayor, a Capitol Hill correspondent for Puck News, Corbin Trent, former campaign strategist for Bernie Sanders and former communications director for Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and T.W.

45:40Arrighi, a Republican strategist and former national press secretary for the NRSC. Thank you guys all for being here. We appreciate it. So, Mariana, let's talk about this shift from Cook. It's interesting. We were talking about it on our Capitol Hill team. Our conventional wisdom all this time has been that this is a friendly map for Republicans, that Republicans have more fertile ground. But when you start to look at this map, it's starting to shift to be a much more friendly map for Democrats. Yeah, I just keep thinking about how even a year ago, maybe even six months ago, all of us would have been saying, oh, the Senate's not going to flip, right?

46:12And the fact that that is even a place of conversation and we see how that is possible is telling us a lot, especially because we are in that post-Labor Day period. Voters are tuning in and you are seeing Republicans, both in the House and the Senate, already starting to take positions against the president, one that war in Iran. Number of Republicans, I would mention all of the Republicans in the Iowa delegation of the House and Senate, for example, earlier this week, saying the war should end, we should break down gas prices, let's put a ban on diesel exports. So many different issues are coming front and center, which we've been discussing and wondering how Republicans would position.

46:53The fact that they are pushing back now, I don't know if that is going to change hearts and minds yet, but it could work. Well, let's ask the GOP strategist. is this should we take something into this kind of trend line of Republicans finding opportunities to push back against President Trump, especially because in the Trump era, that has not been a successful strategy to distance yourself from the president. Well, I would quarrel with that because I think Susan Collins would disagree that pushing back doesn't help. And she's seeing that play out right now. But when it comes to the Cook Political Report, with all due respect to the people at Cook.

47:28I lived through 2020. I worked for Lindsey Graham, and that race was deemed a toss-up. Lindsey Graham won by 10 points. So I would not get too caught up in the rating agency plays. Look, the Republicans have a huge financial advantage. I'm sure we'll talk about that more. The Democrats are historically unpopular. They got about a 20 % negative approval rating. That's playing out. Right now, what you're seeing post-primary is that for the first time, Republicans who came out of competitive primaries are now actually starting to talk about their opponent's record. You're seeing that in South Carolina.

48:03People who are radically to the left of where the average voter is in their states. And you're going to see water find its level here. And that's not to say that I don't think this is going to be a bad cycle for Republicans. The treadlines are not good, broadly speaking. But I would not sound the alarm bells that all is going to hell in a handbasket. To that point, Corbyn, I mean, do Republicans or do Democrats risk being too bullish? Do they risk spending money in a place like South Carolina or Kansas and then lose the script or the plot in a place like Maine or Michigan? I mean, there is a money disadvantage.

48:36Right. But I don't think that Democrats are going to go bad being too bullish. I think really where they're going to Democrats, at least in my lifetime, have failed because they pulled back too much because they didn't have a 50 state strategy, because they didn't have big ideas because they didn't go. They didn't swing for the fences. And I think this moment in time has parallel to like 1930 when when at that point the Republicans had a trifecta. They had the Republican in the White House. And then six years later, three cycles later, you had a Democratic supermajority that held for, I don't know, 60 years.

49:08Not the supermajority, but the majority, 60, 80 years in the House and the Senate. And it was because people were in desperate, dire straits. They needed their lives to be changed. It was because of the Great Depression. And Democrats did that. They went in and they did things to improve the lives of people. And they did it quickly. If Democrats learn that lesson, that right now people can't afford their houses, they can't afford their cars, they can't afford their tuition, they can't afford life in this country. And we need solutions. And if they meet this moment, then I guess my kids will live through a massive majority.

49:38To T.W.'s point, though, I mean, the polling does reflect that right now voters may not be happy with Republicans, but they're not necessarily convinced Democrats have that prescription you're looking for. There's no doubt. And that's why, for example, I'm the kind of Democrat that worked on both of Bernie's campaigns, worked for AFC, Justice Democrats. I want a different Democratic Party. And it's actually not one that's to the left, I think, of most people. It's one that understands how this country was built, that we need to invest in the things that make this country great. And that's something we haven't done, I don't know, for my 40 some years of life.

50:06So, Mariano, let's talk about how this Republican pushback is playing out, because they're not it's not by any sense a watershed. Right. They're finding moments. And what was interesting today, we had a Senate vote to end the Iran war. It failed. And Senators Dan Sullivan, Roger Marshall, John Husted, all in races that we can consider battlegrounds. They all voted no. Does this vote signal that Senate Republicans may still stick with President Trump when push comes to shove? Yeah, I mean, I think that is entirely the case. We were all wondering whether there would be a break given all of the issues, given that criticism that we have heard from different corners of the Republican Party as to how to proceed on this war.

50:44We have seen a break on the House side, which was in some ways an indicator of maybe how today's vote would go. But the fact that they didn't, I mean, I am curious to see how Republicans answer to the messaging that is definitely going to come from Democrats who will point to that vote and say, hey, he might be saying bring down the gas prices, but just voted to continue this war. That gives Democrats a messaging advantage on that front. T.W., the senator from West Virginia, Jim Justice, had an interesting response to our question today about these Republicans pushing back against the president.

51:18I want to play it for you and then have your response. The voters are going to think this way. They're going, well, if you thought that way, why didn't you think that way three months ago? You know, and if you thought that way, if you really want us to believe that, how do we believe that you're not going to go right back, you know, right after the election? You know, that's voters are not dumb bunnies. I'm going to get that on a T-shirt. Voters are not dumb dummies or dumb bunnies, I should say. Does he have a point here? Does it seem a little disingenuous now a couple months before the election?

51:47now you're going to try and find some distance with the president? Yes and no. So I agree voters are not dumb bunnies. Kudos to him for that phrase. But look, I think a lot of this vote had to do with tying the hands of the president. I think there is a universal approval of the statement, Iran shouldn't have a nuclear weapon. I think everybody agrees with that. The question is the after effects of that action, which to many Americans do not feel very well thought out. It's why gas prices are high, oil prices are high. and so forth. But the problem that, or the distance that Republicans are trying to make with Democrats as it pertains to those core issues that are impacting our numbers, mainly energy prices, the Democrats, Republicans are making the claim that when we can end this quick, if we can end this quick and get trade of energy coming to and from the Gulf quicker, energy prices will come down.

52:40But the Democrats are still at war with the oil and gas business, and we need to build refineries so we can get this Venezuelan crude. But he's been promising that for a while, right? It's been quite some time. And, you know, what the problem is, is also you had Trump saying just, I don't know, a month and a half ago how outlandish it was that Exxon and all these folks were making so much profit while we're paying so much for fuel, A. And then, B, you had a lot of people saying that Iran was not actually looking for a nuclear weapon, you know, like Tulsi Gabbard, the DNI. You had Marco Rubio right after this war started being confused about why we had started in the first place.

53:10So even the Republican Party and the administration itself couldn't really put their finger on exactly why we did this war in the first place. And so people are having a hard time understanding why they're paying the costs. OK, we're going to have to leave it there, Mariana, TW. And it was your first time at the desk or at the panel today, Corbyn, on the Meet the Press panel. You did OK. Yeah. I warned you, TW, might bite. He didn't. So we got through that. We appreciate you guys all for being here. Thank you so much. We're going to be back tomorrow with more Meet the Press Now. Thank you so much for joining us.

53:40But there's much more news ahead on NBC News Now. Have a great day.

54:10get 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.