Democratic strategist says ‘explosive’ DNC report could be released ‘in a matter of weeks’

[0:00] The panel is here, Jonathan Martin, senior political columnist and politics bureau chief [0:04] for Politico, New York Times White House correspondent Tyler Pager, Republican strategist [0:10] Matt Gorman, and Ashley Etienne, former communications director for Vice President [0:15] Harris and Speaker Pelosi, and our newest Meet the Press contributor. Ashley, congratulations. [0:21] Welcome to all of you. Jay Mart, I have to start with you. We have to talk about redistricting. [0:26] You heard my conversation with Senator Booker. Who has the edge right now heading into the [0:32] midterms? Well, on the topic of reapportionment, [0:34] clearly it's the GOP. On the broader question of who is, I think, better for this fall in terms [0:40] of the political environment, Democrats still have an advantage. I think you have an environment [0:44] right now in which a sitting president is in the 30s in terms of his approval rating. [0:48] That bodes well for the party out of power. That said, I think that this climb got a little [0:54] steeper this past week for the Democratic Party because of the combination of what happened [0:59] in Virginia and obviously the Supreme Court ruling on the VRA. It's going to be harder for them [1:04] to get back the majority. I still think the odds are that it happens. But make no mistake, [1:08] this was the best week Donald Trump has had in months. And I think it's now going to be more of a [1:12] challenge for Democrats this fall. I just think that the environment is unlikely to get better [1:17] for the GOP this fall unless gas prices come down significantly by Labor Day. [1:23] It's hard to see how Democrats wouldn't still take back the House and still have a chance to take [1:27] back the Senate. Tyler, given those headwinds, given what J-Mart lays out, what are your sources [1:33] inside the White House telling you about how they feel about this moment? [1:36] They feel vindicated and validated in a strategy that drew a lot of criticism from Republicans around [1:42] the country. This was an ambitious gambit led by Donald Trump and his top advisors to redraw the maps [1:49] nationwide. And there was a lot of Sunday morning quarterbacking after Democrats won that [1:55] referendum in Virginia. Republicans inside the White House, Donald Trump's top aides and allies [2:00] were confident in their strategy that this was going to give them a fighting chance to recapture [2:05] or to maintain the majority in the House. I think they still recognize the political realities [2:10] that J-Mart just laid out, just how difficult this environment is, but they feel a lot more [2:15] confident in this strategy after the latest developments. [2:19] Matt, take us inside your conversations in Republican circles. What are folks saying [2:26] about the prospects of holding onto the House, the Senate in the wake of this week, which was by [2:31] all accounts a very strong week legally for the GOP? [2:35] Yeah, the words I keep hearing are measured optimism. Exactly right. This is the best week [2:40] President Trump and our party's had, I think probably all year. Indiana, Virginia, the jobs [2:44] numbers. Even the NRCC had some pretty good battleground polling coming out. I mean, look, [2:48] I'm not naive. History is not on our side on this. Gas phrases need to come way down. [2:53] President's job approval needs to go up. That's going to take real work. I think also Virginia [2:57] changed the psychology around redistricting a little bit. You know, the conduct of Louise Lucas [3:02] and Democrats breaking their own constitution. It was the release valve in many respects. [3:06] So expecting the weeks ahead, Southern legislatures may have gone one or two or waited until 2028 to [3:13] change their districts. There, all systems go, all gas, no break for this year. [3:18] Ashley, what strategy should Democrats employ? You heard the language from Hakeem Jeffries [3:24] accusing the Supreme Court of trying to rig the election. Really strong language there. Is that [3:30] the right tactic? Do you think Democrats can still win? [3:33] I absolutely think that's the right tactic. And I think Democrats feel very optimistic about not [3:38] measured and overwhelmingly optimistic about the chances come November. And that's because you [3:42] cannot gerrymander out the reality of what's happening on the ground in the American people's [3:47] lives. You've got skyrocketing gas prices. You've got the president who's underwater on everything [3:52] from the war in Iran to the economy. So Democrats are going to continue to weaponize and capitalize [3:58] on that. You know, and so if we say that the Republican Party had an incredible week, [4:02] the biggest lose over the last two weeks has been American democracy. We've seen an undermining [4:07] of the Voting Rights Act and a systematic attempt, as the senator said, on the part of this [4:12] administration to undermine the economic and political power of black Americans. They're not [4:18] going to stand by and take that. I'm hearing now that there's going to be protests all over the [4:22] countries starting in Selma, Alabama, next weekend on the Edmund Pettus Bridge. And they're going to [4:28] continue to make this point that not only do we need a voter, high voter turnout, but it's going to [4:33] be necessary if we want to reverse these maps at some point. Ashley, I'm going to stick on you [4:38] because I want to ask you about this big debate rolling inside the Democratic Party. Should the DNC release [4:45] its autopsy report? You just heard Senator Cory Booker say yes. Chair Kevin Martin was asked about this [4:52] this week. Here's what he had to say. I'm going to get your reaction on the other side. [4:56] Why not release the full report? What's in the report that you wouldn't want to publicize? [5:01] Yeah, there's no smoking gun in the report, and I know that's what everyone's so eager to learn, [5:06] the smoking gun. Guess what, John? But if there's no smoking gun, why wouldn't you just release it then? [5:11] Because we want to keep the focus on the lessons. No smoking gun, but we want to keep the focus on the [5:17] lessons. A really extraordinary exchange there, Ashley. Do you think Ken Martin and the [5:22] DNC will be pressured into releasing this report? Absolutely. I said on the show about a month ago [5:27] that the DNC should release the autopsy. The vice president, Vice President Harris has amplified that [5:33] call. Here's what I'm being told, Kristen. I'm being told that the Democratic Party is going to [5:38] release the autopsy in a matter of weeks, and it's going to include four things. It's going to include [5:43] one, an assessment of the organizing infrastructure of the party, an assessment of messaging and media [5:48] strategy, as well as fundraising, and how and where the money was spent. And that's going to [5:53] be the most explosive part, because there's speculations that decisions were made by campaign [5:58] leadership to line their pockets rather than actually advance a strategy to win the election. [6:04] That is really the question that's on the table here that I think is causing a lot of people to want [6:09] to discard and brush this under the rug. And I'm also hearing that Ken Martin is suffering a lot [6:16] of pressure. He wants transparency, but there's pressure from within the party, the DNC and [6:20] campaign leadership to bury this report. Jay Mark, weigh in on that. That would be explosive. [6:26] There's no reason to keep hiding this thing, because the stories are going to keep coming out, [6:30] speculating what's in there. Memorial Day weekend, Ken, come on. Friday afternoon, man, [6:34] you can do this. It's prime time, baby. Let's get it out. It's an easy call. You're on the verge of [6:40] having a fantastic cycle. And by the way, I've covered past midterms in which there was unhappiness [6:45] with party chairs. Howard Dean in 2006, Michael Steele in 2010. And guess what? It didn't matter [6:50] because the political environment matters a lot more than who the DNC or the RNC chair is. [6:55] Put the thing out, talk about what happened in 24, and then move on to 2026. I don't know for [7:00] the life of me why they're keeping this debate going, because it's only going to cause more and [7:05] more stories. So I have the moments here. Tyler? Yeah, I mean, I think there is just now become [7:11] this cycle of, are they going to do it or are they not going to do it? And it's just a way [7:15] for Democrats to express their anxiety about the political moment and the opportunity that they [7:19] see ahead. And there's not a whole lot of upside to continuing this cycle. And so, as Jay Mart said, [7:25] the pressure valve is, Cory Booker's calling, Kamala Harris is calling. There's very few Democrats [7:29] saying, don't release this. And so at a certain point, it's just- [7:32] They're not saying it publicly, but they're definitely saying it behind the scenes. [7:37] Because there's a lot of people who are going to be implicated in what actually happened. [7:41] Matt, let me just get you to weigh in on the buzz within the Republican Party, [7:44] which is, will it be Rubio or JD Vance? Here we go. [7:49] There are some structural differences, I think, that people haven't pointed out yet. [7:52] Two people can't be affected by the Hatch Act. One of them can't run. The other is JD Vance. [7:56] So JD can fly around, campaign, raise money, and stay VP. [8:00] Rubio would have to resign, and all of that stuff would have to be paid for by hard campaign dollars, [8:04] dollars that would be disclosed within 100 days to who? [8:07] The White House political operation and the sitting vice president. [8:10] So everybody should keep that in mind as well as you talk about this drama, [8:13] which I think is large part manufactured. [8:15] Matt knows who the stronger nominee would be for his party in 2020. [8:18] But he won't say it on the other side. Come on, Gorman. [8:22] The sitting vice president always has an advantage. [8:24] Well, look, we are going to continue to track all of this very carefully. [8:29] What a great Mother's Day conversation. [8:31] Thanks, everyone. [8:31] Happy Mother's Day. [8:33] Thank you. [8:33] We thank you for watching. [8:35] And remember, stay updated on breaking news and top stories on the NBC News app [8:39] or watch live on our YouTube channel.