Meet the Press full broadcast — March 17

this Sunday Trump's promise Donald Trump vows to free those charged and convicted of crimes in the January 6th attack on the capital on his first day in office we going to work with the people to treat those unbelievable Patriots as former vice president Mike pen says he won't be backing him in 2024 I will not be endorsing Donald Trump this year I'll talk to Republican senator Bill Cassidy of Louis Iana one of the seven Republicans who voted to convict Donald Trump plus growing frustration Senat

e Majority Leader Chuck Schumer calls for new leadership in Israel warning prime minister Netanyahu is an obstacle to peace Netanyahu Coalition no longer fits the needs of Israel after October 7th this is unprecedented we should not treat fellow democracies this way at all is Israel relationship with the US in danger I'll talk to Democratic senator Ben Carden of Maryland the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and feeding the world in our meet the moment conversation Chef Jose and

rees founder of world Central Kitchen on his mission to deliver meals to people in crisis I think you never prepared uh the more I know the more I know nothing joining me for insight and Analysis are Jonathan Martin of Politico Simone Sanders Townsen former Chief spokeswoman for vice president kamla Harris and Lonnie Chen a fellow at the Hoover institution welcome to Sunday it's Meet the Press from NBC News in Washington the longest running show in television history this is Meet the Press with

Kristen Welker good Sunday morning and happy St Patrick's Day in a week where Donald Trump officially became the presumptive Republican nominee for president president his threats of Retribution are mounting promising one of his first acts as president would be to free those charged and convicted for attacking the capital on January 6th nearly 800 of whom have pled guilty to their crimes on Ukraine while he publicly says he supports aan he reportedly told hungary's authoritarian leader in privat

e he would cut off a if re-elected and last night at a rally in Ohio he said some undocumented immigrants aren't people if I had prisons that were teaming with MS13 and all sorts of people that they've got to take care of for the next 50 years right young people they're in jail for years and if you call them people I don't know if you call them people in some cases they're not people in my opinion and while addressing the Auto industry the former president made this ominous comment we're going t

o put a 100% tariff on every single car that comes across the line and you're not going to be able to sell those guys if I get elected now now if I don't get elected it's going to be a blood bath for the whole that's going to be the least of it it's going to be a blood bath for the country that'll be the least of it but they're not going to sell those cars the Trump campaign tried to clarify saying he was talking about the Auto industry but the Biden campaign seized on the comments saying Mr Tru

mp is doubling down on his threats of political violence at the same time Donald Trump's delay tactics with the legal system seem to be working for now the New York hush money case scheduled to begin next next week now delayed for 30 days giving the defense more time to review documents and in Georgia the election interference case the lead prosecutor Nathan Wade resigned Friday Wade was scheduled to appear on this broadcast today but canceled last minute citing a family emergency there's one pl

ace Trump didn't get a break his own vice president Mike Pence whose life was threatened on January 6th who said this Friday Donald Trump is pursuing an artic ulating an agenda that is at odds with the conservative agenda that that we governed on during our four years and that's why I cannot in good conscience uh endorse Donald Trump joining me now Republican senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana one of only seven Republicans who voted to convict Donald Trump in his impeachment for attempting to ove

rturn the 2020 election Senator Cassidy welcome back to Meet the Press thank you thanks so much for being here I want to start by getting your reaction to Donald Trump's comments about a bloodbath do you think that those comments were appropriate two things about that the the general tone of the speech is why is why many Americans continue to wonder should president Trump be president uh that kind of rhetoric it's always on the edge maybe doesn't cross maybe does depending upon your perspective

I also think though that the mainstream media rutes to it if you take the one about the bloodbath which arguably could be about an economic blood bath not about kind of Street violence related to the election then it gives his Defenders uh something to focus on as something which was distorted uh so yes he always walks up to the edge on that rhetoric and again that's why people are concerned uh but sometimes the mainstream media whether they want to or not can't can't resist and they go just a l

ittle bit too far which distracts from what what could be the impact and just to be very clear you're saying it walks up to the line does that comment even if in the context that broader backdrop of talking about the Auto industry does it cross a line for you you heard what the Biden Administration said they say it's another sign that he's using terms related to political violence well that's that's their perspective uh they've got a Canada who also doesn't seem fit for office uh but you could a

lso look up at the definition of bloodbath and it could be an economic disaster and so if he's speaking about the Auto industry in particular in Ohio then you can take it a little bit more context that's why I say you walk up to the line depending upon the perspective somebody is going to interpret it he's running against Biden so Biden's going to say it's about political violence his Defenders want to defend them and so they're going to say it's about economic disaster uh there's always just th

at little bit of tension there which allows a dispute about the interpretation as opposed to the kind of General sort of uh is this the person we want to have an office and what about his comments that undocumented immigrants not all of them are people what does it say about the Republican party that the presumptive GOP nominee is using that kind of language sending that message let me let me say first he was speaking about the possibility of criminals being among the immigrants and that those a

re the people he was saying may not be people if you will uh on the other hand uh clearly the president's rhetoric has reflected poorly uh in terms of regarding folks who are coming here illegally illegally and they shouldn't be uh but in a dehumanizing fashion and that's why again many people continue to have reservations and I say the best thing going for Donald Trump running for president is that he's running against Joe Biden about whom many people also have reservations and frankly that's w

hy people are considering third parties so it's it's um it's a sorry State of Affairs well let me ask you about some recent comments he made about January 6th he said on the first day of a second term he would quote free those who've been charged and convicted with January 6th and committing crimes related to January 6th do you think that's appropriate that that people who've been convicted in many cases have pled guilty should be pardoned I do not think it's inappropriate We're a nation of laws

and those folks were convicted many times they LED guilty uh if you plead guilty I.E obviously you are not a patriot you're somebody who committed a criminal act uh so I think that would be a wrong signal if you're the chief executive and you're responsible for enforcing the laws Senator you know it's interesting when you became one of those who voted to convict former president Trump in his second impeachment you said our Constitution and our country is more important than any one person do yo

u believe that former president Trump would follow the Constitution in a second term now that is a hypothetical which is hard for me to kind of go at and and frankly Kristen that's the kind of question that people ask uh almost begging an answer all I can say is that we have checks and balances within our system that if any one person attempts to act in an unconstitutional fashion that they can be that can be theoretically checked I'll also point out that Joe Biden has acted in an unconstitution

al fashion when he attempted to forgive student loans and it was stopped in the Supreme Court he found a workaround I'm not sure the workaround is constitutional but nonetheless we have checks and balances so I I'm not defending the former president but if you present me with that theoretical I have to answer it in the context of how our government works but Senator can you really draw an equivalency between a legal battle over student loans and uh the idea that he tried to overturn a free and f

air election I mean my question relates to of course what happened on January six and I didn't hear you say yes that you have confidence that he would def defend the Constitution so I'm not establishing I'm not establishing equivalency at all period in the story there is not um uh but I can't theoretically say uh in the hypothetical that that Trump's going to do one thing or the other uh but I'm not establishing equivalency between January 6 and what Biden has done let me ask you about former vi

ce president Mike Pence as you know he made a lot lot of headlines at the end of this week when he came out and said he's not going to endorse his former boss Donald Trump it it comes as a number of trump critics from Mitch McConnell to Chris cunu Brian Kemp have said they are going to endorse Donald Trump I know you've gotten this question a lot but now that he's the presumptive nominee I have to ask Will you endorse Donald Trump Senator I'm smiling because uh this this keeps my streak my strea

k unbroken I'll Meet the Press where I'm ask a question either this or or similar to that uh in fact my staff had an over under as to how long it would take uh at this point all I will say is that I plan to vote for a republican for the for the presidency of the United States well I have to continue the streak and ask you a couple of follow-ups to try to get an answer out of you Senator just again will you endorse it are you ruling it out I didn't hear you say yes you're going to endorse him aga

in no the answer I'm going to give and the answer I've given consistently whenever ask on this on Meet the Press is that I plan to vote for a republican for the presidency of the United States you haven't endorsed him yet do you have any PL and I've answered this question so many times before by the way I've answered this question so many times before uh every show want it on their on their show but anyway that's that's the that's my answer I I hear you this week's a little different because he

did just become the presumptive nominee so you don't have any plans right now to endorse them you plan to endorse and vote for as you say a republican will you vote for Donald Trump or you going to write in a name really good Kristen but I plan to vote for a republican for the presidency of the United States you're not you're not going to tell us you will can you would you rule out voting for Donald Trump let me ask you that is it off the table for you you know I think yeah you're kind of beatin

g a dead horse right now I've been very explicit in what my answer is and I've answered this in Greater detail in times past uh and so I'm just going to stay where I just said I plan to vote for a republican for the presidency of the United States all right let me ask you this you have not closed the door uh publicly on a third- party run we we've learned that no labels does in fact plan to run a candidate have you been approached by no labels and is there any chance that you would run on a No L

abels ticket you know I was never seriously considered to be their candidate it was reported in the Press otherwise but I was never seriously considered uh so that kind of obviously the answer is not uh so uh on the other hand the very fact that no labels did that was floated I will say has a certain rationale to it people in No Labels actually want answers the serious problems in our country and right now neither candidate is actually offering serious Solutions you've heard me speak about socia

l security before the the neither neither candidate is offering something which has a snowball's chance of passing Congress and yet Social Security will become insolvent in about 8 years so wait it's going insolvent in 8 years and neither candidate is offering a solution which has a snowball's chance in Hades in order to get him ped so the very fact that I speak about that means that wait a second this might be somebody somebody whom we would consider uh because this person is talking about seri

ous serious answers to serious problems just to be very clear out by the way that if social security goes insolvent there'll be a 24% cut in benefits for everybody receiving it that's why it's so serious we're getting to Social Security right now but just to be clear you're not running on a No Labels ticket I just want to be clear about that I'm not okay let's get to Social Security you say neither candidate has a plan Biden has put forward a plan part of that would be raising taxes on businesse

s large corporations um on Monday Donald Trump said he would be open to cutting Social Security he walked those comments back but do you think that Trump can be trusted on the issue of Social Security to protect Social Security uh well Define protect Social Security neither candidate has put up a plan that will prevent the mandatory 24% cut in benefits When the trust fund goes bankrupt and by the way Biden's plan he's already proposed $4.2 trillion dollar on wealthier Americans and now he's goin

g to now he's going to tax them again for this at some point you could confiscate the wealth of wealthier Americans and you wouldn't achieve everything that saying that he's going to do this is kind of like his go-to I'm going to tax wealthy Americans to fill in the blank um it's just not practical the way he's proposing it but it gives them a talking point people want to move Beyond talking points they want actual answers we're not getting them Senator part of your plan involves an investment f

und and and the challenge and the criticism is that would that not pose serious risks to investors essentially leaving Social Security uh to the chance of the market the stock market no in our proposal we actually created a trust fund separate from uh an investment fund separate from the Social Security trust fund so no risk is borne by the beneficiary she is going to be able to we're going to repeal that law that says she gets a 24% cut and we'll use the money here to offset whatever borrowing

is required to pay her in her benefits until it's fully um U fully kind of accounted for and so so we actually know exposure and if you look at the stock market returns since 1929 uh it's average 8.5% return and so yeah there might be some time in the future where it dips down but history shows that it increases back up and by the way this is what every every pension fund almost in the world does except for Social Security we need to follow best practices Senator before I let you go I have to as

k you about the housebed bill on Tik Tok which effectively requires the Chinese owned company bite dance to sell it or face a total ban of tiktock in this country which has been deemed a national security threat will you vote for this in the Senate if it comes to the floor for a vote I'd like to see the final language but I'm certainly predisposed to vote for it uh anyone that doesn't think that the Chinese Communist Party would like to influence how we think in our country uh just doesn't under

stand what they do they have members of the board of directors Chinese Communist party has members on the board of directors of bite dance the parent company of this and in previous times the the federal government has required the sale of a Chinese social media company uh over over these sorts of National secur Security concerns and so I think this is consistent what we've done in the past uh and by and by and large I support it all right Senator Cassidy thank you so much for joining me this mo

rning I really appreciate it when we come back Democratic senator Ben Carden of Maryland the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee joins me [Music] next welcome back this week's Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer the highest ranking Jewish elected official in the country and a strong supporter of Israel took to the senate floor to call for new elections in Israel as the humanitarian crisis in Gaza worsens by the day as a lifelong supporter of Israel it has become clear to me the Neta

nyahu Coalition no longer fits the needs of Israel after October 7th the world has changed radically since then and the Israeli people are being stifled right now by a governing Vision that is stuck in the past the backlash from Israel was Swift Israeli and ambassador to the US Michael Herzog calling the speech unhelpful and counterproductive Republican lawmakers also lined up to criticize the Senate leader it is grotesque and hypocritical for Americans who hyperventilate about foreign interfere

nce in our own democracy to call for the removal of a democratically elected leader of Israel this is not only highly inappropriate it's just plain wrong for an American leader to play such a divisive role in Israeli politics while our closest Ally in the region is in an existential battle for its very survival Schumer however found support in the white house with President Biden weighing in Friday he made a good speech and I think he uh expressed a serious concern shared not only by him but by

many Americans joining me now is Democratic senator and chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Ben cardens Senator Carden welcome back to Meet the Press Christ it's great to be with you thank you very much is so great to have you here in person I want to ask you about leader Schumer's comments on the senate floor he called prime minister Netanyahu an obstacle to peace President Biden said it was a good speech do you think prime minister Netanyahu is an obstacle to peace I think people s

hould listen to his entire speech uh Senator Schumer's speech came from his heart what he believes is necessary for peace he was very clear about Hamas needs to be eliminated that there can be no peace in the Middle East for either the Palestinians or the Israelis with Hamas the responsibilities for what is happening there is clearly on Hamas Israel has the total right to defend itself and then he's talking about how do we move after the war how do we get peace in the region and he was very clea

r about the fact that you need security you need an authority for the Palestinians that will provide security for the Palestinians and Israelis but you also need to have a pathway to two two States living together in peace and I I think he was very clear that it's the Israelis their system need to give clear direction as to who they want to be their leaders would you go so far though Senator and I hear you saying he gave context in his speech but would you go so far as to call Netanyahu an obsta

cle to peace given his opposition to a two-state solution I think it's up to the israelies to determine their own leaders I recognize that we had challenges with the Netanyahu Co ition prior to October 7th uh real concerns it caused major division within Israel before October 7th there's Unity now because of the war let's see what happens after the war well you make a really interesting point and in fact according to a US intelligence report netanyahu's viability as a leader may be in Jeopardy a

s you know there have been protests throughout Israel because of how he's handling the war right now do you think Netanyahu is the Right leader for this moment well we got to get past I think there Israelis recognize they got to get past Hamas at this particular moment once there is Security in Gaza and and there's security for the Palestinians and the Israelis the Israelis need to focus on who they want their leader to be we don't want to see a repeat of October 7th nobody wants to see that but

it means you have to have a pathway towards peace you need to have security and you need two states living together side by side in peace who is the Right leader it's up to the Israelis yeah um President Biden said that if prime minister Netanyahu goes into Rafa that that would be a red line for him I wonder what you think should happen if Netanyahu goes into Rafa if there's no clear plan presented to the United States for protecting us for protecting civilians I should say in the region should

the US consider withholding Aid and weapons to Israel with a trusted friend a long mature relationship you don't look for a transactional Leverage in order to deal with your conversations you have Frank and honest discussions and you try to find a common path forward there's clear that going into Rafa at this particular moment where so many people or so many Palestinians that you just you have to make arrangements to make sure that the people that are there are not going to be at undue risk so

there it's going and the Israelis have acknowledge that so we're going to deal with our foreign policy based upon our values at times we may disagree with Israel but it'll be a relationship of friends you're saying we don't use leverage but isn't this the right time to use leverage when you have this growing humanitarian crisis and and Schumer and President Biden saying Israel's not doing enough to protect civilian lives in Gaza why not use all of the leverage at the United States disposal the U

S has tremendous leverage in our conversations with Israel and we use that leverage we don't have to do it through conditionality do you why I should say do you you think that you have not gone as far as leader Schumer and President Biden in being critical of how Israel is conducting this war and again the growing humanitarian crisis that we're witnessing in Gaza I I I would say I'm deeply concerned about what is happening in Gaza today about the humanitarian crisis we all have a responsibility

including Israel to do more to help in regards humanitarian assistance we need to do more to get the hostages released so no I'm not satisfied by What's happen on the ground we we need to be much more aggressive in dealing with this crisis it's innocent people are dying and we can't let that happen let's turn to Ukraine now uh there's obviously been a big debate over whether more Aid will be sent to Ukraine and what the form of that will be former president Donald Trump has said he would support

it only if it's in the form of a loan is that something that you would support Senator no I think Ukraine needs to have the we got to get help help the Ukraine if it starts as a loan if we can't do anything other than that we might have to consider that but this is in our national security interest it all they're asking for us is resources not our troops Ukraine is not the end of Russia's aggression if they win in Ukraine they'll go further I've met with the president of Poland this past week t

he prime minister of Estonia had a chance to talk to her last night there there are NATO allies that are at risk and that means US soldiers so we should be we should have done it well before now we shouldn't be hesitating in providing this Aid do you think that's the only realistic path though this loan that's being discussed and and again it sounds like you're open to it if you reach that conclusion I want to see the supplemental past as is that's the way we get Aid in as quickly as possible it

passed by an overwhelming majority in the United States Senate it provides the aid that Ukraine desperately needs it provides the humanitarian assistance that we needed it helps Israel it helps our allies in the Indo Pacific we need to get that done it also helps our military resupply what they need and it it's all done through Aid here in the United States to provide the resources we need to get that done that's the way you get things done quickly if we try a different path it's going to take

a long time Ukraine needs the help today they don't have the ammunition they need they're fighting Russia that recognizes there is a weakness here because of the lack of equipment no we shouldn't be looking at Alternatives we should be passing the supplemental I have to ask you what I was just talking to Senator Cassidy about Tick Tock this bill which just passed the house again the house bill would effectively require bite dance the parent company to sell Tik Tock or face a total ban in the US

is that something you would support if it did come up for a vote in the Senate we are concerned about what Tik Tok does with this information that whether they could use it against Americans and use invade privacy and and compromise our national security our concern is on the ownership of Tik Tock it's not on those that are using it it's not on freedom of speech or content it solely on ownership and by the way we have concerns on all the social media platforms as to safety particularly for our c

hildren so there's some broader issues but Tik tok's concern is whether the Chinese will be using it against our national security interest but if this bill in its current form came before you would would you vote Yes on it I'm certainly sympathetic to it U let's see how it goes through the Senate process but yes I I think we need to put guard rails in regards to the ownership of Tik Tok so you're open to it it sounds like but haven't made a final decision no because I think we'll see how the Se

nate wants to take this up and consider it there as I said there are issues concerning uh safety for our children so there's some other issues that may get combined with this so I'll be working with my colleagues but I'd like to see us get to the finish line and and provide the guard rails that are necessary let me switch gears you became the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee when uh New Jersey Senator Bob Mendez was indicted on bribery charges he stepped down from his post we now

have reporting that he's considering potentially running for re-election as an independent we asked him about that our reporters did he didn't rule it out what is your reaction what do you make of him running for re-election as an independent if that happens so these are very serious charges there trials coming up shortly my responsibility in taking over the chairmanship of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is to make sure that committee can function and deal with the challenges that we hav

e globally so I'm going to focus on my responsibilities as chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and we'll see how these matters come out I have to ask you one more before I let you go you are retiring at the age of 80 obviously age has been in the spotlight against the backdrop of this election cycle do you think there should be an age limit for elected offic office no I don't think there should be an age limit for elected office and if I could just correct you a little bit I'm not re

tiring I'm just not running for re running for reelection yes thank you not running for re-election an important distinction so but uh no I think each person has to make their own decision I had to make an eight-year decision when I made my because it was two years before the elections a six-year term and I think it's the right decision okay all right Senator garden thank you so much for being here great to have you in person thank you we really appreciate it and when we come back back Democrats

are playing it cool in the face of polls showing President Biden trailing Trump are they right not to worry the panel is [Music] next welcome back the panel is here Jonathan Martin of Politico Lonnie Chen a fellow at the Hoover institution and Simone Sanders Townsen former Chief spokeswoman for vice president kamla Harris thanks to all of you for being here I want to start on Trump's legal battles and specifically the drama that is playing out in Georgia this week a judge effectively ruled that

the top prosecutor or the district attorney one of the two had to come off of the case after allegations there was a conflict of interest because they had a romantic relationship Nathan Wade decided to step down he was supposed to be here this morning uh he decided not to be citing uh family emergency but Jonathan what do you make of this politically how did the politics of this all play out the whole Trump strategy Christian is to muddy the waters on these cases blur them as sort of one great

persecution against him and bet the American voter can't keep Pace with all the details and by the way oh if there's some hiccups along the way here uh in some of these individual cases well all the better for me and I'll try to buy Time by delaying and appealing and pushing these things back the best I can to after the election and bet that I could win the election and then try to Pardon myself at least in the federal cases that is obviously what he's up to and we're here on St Patrick's day so

far he appears to have had a pretty good string of luck uh in in that strategy Simone what what do you make of that and do you expect any of these cases to go to trial because as Jonathan's pointing out I mean look all of these cases have been delayed now that hush money case was supposed to start at the end of the month and now that's not even going to happen literally delay delay delay in Georgia I think the delay this delay came about because um they we were distracted that this was an entir

e distraction of salacious gossip that because there was a formal inquiry the judge had to hear it and then we had these evidentiary hearings and uh instead we're talking about Nathan Wade and da fonny Willis's relationship and not the fact that Donald Trump and his allies in Georgia and across the country tried to steal an election and that is why there is a case in Georgia in the first place I I think perhaps in New York we're going to see that case go I don't know about any of the others that

's my what do you make of I think there are two things that come through in all of this in Georgia for for most voters number one this is a hot mess okay this whole thing is become a hot mess and that leads to number two which is I think if you look at recent survey research out of Georgia what you find is voters say this is a politically motivated prosecution and that by the way is the message that the Trump campaign and the Trump team has been emphasizing all along and so I really think fundam

entally to to Jonathan's point this strategy is working for the former president what he is doing is working in terms of saying look there's a lot of stuff out there but fundamentally what this is about is a Witch Hunt against me yeah bottom Democrats working for yeah bottom line Democrats can't count on the legal system to take care of trump he's going to have to be beaten in the political court right Biden's going have to beat him at the polls yeah absolutely but this I mean he there all of th

ese cases Donald Trump brought upon himself he's the one that kept the documents in Florida after the archives begged him to give them back you know he the person that got on the phone asking for 11,780 votes and attempted to steal an election he's the person that tried to cover up the relationship with sty Daniels because he thought it was going to affect the election I mean he did say it was going to be wild and encourage people to march on the capital the insurrectionist like a block away fro

m us Lonnie it plays differently in a general election than it does in a primary doesn't it it it does but I think for independent voters which is what we really care about right or potentially soft Republican voters uh I do think some of it's become background noise unless and until there's a dis again until there's a disposition that will be the difference and if you look at all the polling that is fairly consistent if there's a disposition any one of these cases then it does change the dynami

c and that is why you see the legal strategy now becoming a political strategy and that's why this the question of timing is so important it's great it's a really great point the other thing that we all saw this week uh special counsel Robert her testified about his uh report on the classified documents handling by President Biden of course he decided not to charge him Simone basically infuriating Democrats and Republicans with this testimony by the way bipartisan moment if you will it comes as

we are getting this new reporting about the Biden campaign and about President Biden himself and how he is taking especially all of these polls which show him in some cases losing to former president Trump basically our reporting says that Biden has grown angry and anxious about his reelection effort Simone is that what you're hearing in your conversations with Democrats oh yeah I mean look if if I were running for election against a person like Donald Trump who has as many issues as he has and

has committed as many uh potent alleged acts of criminality as he has and I would be and you saw polls that that said I was losing to him even I would be like well what is going on here in America and so I I have heard the frustration from Democrats but also that they do believe there is time and opportunity to get their message out now that it is a one-on-one Trump and Biden make that contrast so folks understand their choice come November but he's got to drive the message though I mean Biden's

got to make the case every day against Trump almost as though he's more of the Challenger than the incumbent right he's got to sort of do that prosecute the case against Trump how do you do that from the overal office that's a challenge well look I think you have to have an army of surrogates out there helping you every day uh and I think you also have to try to get out there and do it uh yourself more aggressively but there's so many examples just take the Tik Tock case where Trump changes his

mind on being Tik Tok clearly in part because of the influence of a billionaire with a stake in Tik Tok if you're a Democrat how do you not scream that from the rooftops this is brazen corruption but where is that aggressiveness I think it still remains to be seen that Biden can prosecute that case I look I think that there's two angles that that they can take here one is this democracy angle I I would submit to you I don't think it's working I don't think it's working it had they would argue i

t has in the past they they would say 2020 is not abortion rights in more abortion is part of the Democracy argument the biggest intervening factor between 2020 and 2024 has been inflation and that has come into effect and people really feel the impact of that so unless the Biden team goes directly on the economy and talks about how a second term of President Biden would potentially be better economically than a second term of President Trump that I I think that's the argument that they've got t

o go to and I get I get it's a tough argument to make because most people are inclined to believe that Trump's better was so dependent upon his opponent to win re-election I mean notal election of course it's not this is not a normal time and so I I think Trump com yesterday well yes exactly talking about the January 6 criminals as hostages promising a blood bath demonizing immigrants saying they are not human so I just think this is an normal elction the best bet for the do the democracy plus w

hat you're going to do for the voters is what is going to speak to them I believe all right great conversation you guys didn't need me here at all thank we're happy to be here when we come back age is seen as a potential liability in the 2024 campaign but it was also an issue in the last presidential rematch in 1956 our Meet the Press minute is [Music] next welcome back concerns over President Biden and former president Trump's age are not the first time a president's Health has come under inten

se scrutiny the 34th president Dwight Isaac Hower suffered a heart attack and was hospitalized in his first term raising questions about whether he was physically fit for office as he sought reelection in 1956 as former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt argued on this broadcast the issue of the president's Health brought an intense focus on his vice president Richard Nixon even before the campaign started the Democrats indicated that they were going to lay great stress on the slogan a vote for Eisenh

ower is a vote for Nixon Do you think that that's either a real issue or a good issue I think it's an issue you have to face because uh at no time do any of us know uh what may happen to us therefore when we elect a president and a vice president we must be prepared to face the fact that the vice president may become president that's may happen to anybody at any time and I think all of us should face that issue and know whether we are prepared to elect on that basis when we come back celebrity c

hef Jose Andre the founder of world Central Kitchen joins me for our meet the- moment [Music] conversation welcome back Chef Jose Andre says he doesn't know if he even describes himself as a chef anymore to the world he's one of the most significant humanitarians of the 21st century World Central Kitchen the aid organization he founded is the first group on the front lines of Crisis around the world from the earthquake in Haiti to the war in Ukraine its Mission feeding the people impacted by dis

aster and hardship recently Andre has been on the ground in Gaza working to bring more food and Aid into the territory with officials warning famine is imminent this week I sat down with Jose Andre as the first shipment of humanitarian Aid into Gaza by sea departed Cyprus thanks to a new Maritime Corridor that world Central Kitchen organized what we cannot do is use fail the people of Gaza that will be the true failure is not trying so we're trying and I hope that in few days we can say we've ha

d little success and from that success everybody being comfortable that this is possible we can build uh a bigger system to bring huge quantities of Food daily into the shores of Gaza now that Aid has been offloaded in Gaza and a second ship with more food and supplies is being prepared now in our meet the- moment conversation I asked Chef Andre about the crisis in Gaza and whether Israel should be doing more to help should Israel be doing more uh totally uh ceasefire should be happening immedia

tely the hostages should be released totally what is a little bit difficult to understand is how you are doing a mission to try to liberate your fellow citizens but you are bombing at Times building after building that you may have those hostages right in those buildings so if the true intention of that is releasing the hostages I will not say this is the most clever way to try to take them out alive uh at the very least if they don't stop the the military advance to make sure that nobody is hun

gry and that nobody's without food and water this is something that should be happening overnight but for political reasons I guess it's not happening yet let's talk about the history of world Central Kitchen the first major conflict Zone war that you went into was in Ukraine what was that like and how did it prepare you for the work that you're doing now in Gaza well I I think you're never prepared uh the more I know the more I know nothing uh with boots on the ground is when life shows you exp

erience many of the things W Center kitchen we've ever done it's not like we have a manual uh you learn as you go um uh we were on the first day of the liberation of bua and irpin we saw the atrocities that the Russian military did to those men and women with people uh on the ground with a shot in their head with a piece of bread next to their hand uh used for going out and trying to bring better bread to feed their children people were being shot and we lost uh six people uh in three different

bombings uh in the places they were is sleeping that even they were in a bunker when uh the missile use get on top uh sometimes there's not much you can do so this gave me an understanding and a feeling I never have before uh are you worried that the world is starting to forget about what's happening in Ukraine what is still happening in Ukraine as there's so much Focus rightfully so on the war in the Middle East now um obviously Ukraine has been um forgotten and this conflict um has made even t

hat uh even worse uh Ukraine is a country that is defending ourselves I'm not a man of war I'm a man of Peace um but they are defending their land if they don't defend their land they have no land left uh so it's very different when you attack than when you are defending yourself so I do believe United States should be far away more uh Europe should be doing far away more we are letting these people that they shown they know how to defend themselves almost like alone and forgotten um I do believ

e that if we don't stand to leaders that want to bring Mayhem and CS to the world uh the world is not better place are you ever afraid I I I don't think you are always afraid uh but you are next to people that support each other and even if we're all afraid what are you going to do um by being conscious almost is like it disappears your new cookbook named after this restaurant zatina focuses on Mediterranean food talk about the significance of that and what you hope people will take from this ne

w cookbook that you have well uh listen um you know especially we going to what's happening in the Middle East now um everybody has a huge love for food especially now in Ramadan the the the fam is coming together uh to to break fast and and being a very important moment but the time I spend in Israel and the time I've been spending in in in Gaza seems everybody loves Falafel and everybody loves humus with equal intensity how much you wonder how how people that love the same Foods they can be at

odds with each other uh right here in this restaurant I have longer tables when you bring people together around a table with the foods they love that's a beautiful powerful moment uh I W I wish my words were not used romantic words that everybody will agree with and that food could be an amazing powerful medium medium used to bring uh people together but but it is true uh uh Saia celebrates uh uh hundreds if not thousands of years of of traditions and dishes uh with different cultures that eve

rybody has added their touch that makes the the Mediterranean uh cooking in the East fascinating and just finally given that you are immersed in all of this difficult work in all of these places that are experiencing so much pain and violence right now what gives you hope and optimism listen The Hope and optimism I have is that when when the early days uh on the first day um of the brutal attack against uh different Israeli communities uh W Center began feeling right there and with the help of o

f locals uh not only Israeli but other nationalities not other Jewish but other people from other religions they all coming together to help us bring food and relief to those people that were decimated on that brutal attack at the same time so there I saw people helping people the best Humanity in the worst moments of humanity nobody should be wishing back to others breaking bread with people in gasan breaking bread with people in Israel that's the feeling you get that they don't wish the others

anything wrong that everybody wants peace and prosperity because I do believe is what the vast majority of people want we need to give those people the place at the table and their voices must be heard because it's more people of good than people of Mayhem let's give the table to the people of goodness powerful message there and you can watch my full interview with Jose Andre at meetthe press.com his new cookbook atinia is out March 19th and Andre will be on the Today Show on Tuesday so be sure

to tune in before we go we'd like to give a final mention to Betty cold duer former executive producer of Meet the Press who passed away Saturday at the age of 96 she was a producer with the show for 41 years starting as an assistant to Lawrence bivac in 1956 she was a cherished member of the Meet the Press family and she will be sorely missed that is all for today thank you so much for watching we'll be back next week because if it's Sunday it's Meet the [Music] Press thanks for watching stay

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