Meet the Press NOW — Nov. 6

[0:10] welcome to meet the press now i'm kristen welker in washington we begin with breaking news [0:15] and a seismic shake-up inside the trump white house that sets the stage for a major confrontation [0:21] between the president and democrats who are about to take control of both houses of congress [0:26] the president announcing on social media this afternoon that his current chief of staff susie [0:31] wiles is being replaced by his longtime ally and maga firebrand stephen miller a white house [0:37] official telling nbc news wiles gave her resignation last night she posted on social media this [0:42] afternoon that today is her last day while departing the white house for florida the president was asked [0:48] about the shake-up and said it was time to make a change stephen miller will be the new chief of [0:54] staff and susie's going to go over to the political operation run things well i wanted to make a change [1:04] uh i think susie's done a very good job great job but i just wanted to make it steven's been great [1:12] and uh we got to make we got to make moves sometimes sometimes in life you have to make [1:18] well steven's been with me from beginning he he gets it very good politically and he's a very good man [1:24] he'll do a great job great manager but it was just a few weeks ago when president trump said there was [1:30] zero chance he would replace wiles listen [1:49] democratic leaders fresh off their landslide victory in the midterms are now facing the [1:54] possibility of a collision course with the steven miller who has pushed some of the administration's [2:00] most hard-line policies senate minority leader chuck schumer writing on social media quote trump [2:05] couldn't have made a worse choice our democratic majorities will fight him every step of the way [2:11] while house minority leader hakeem jeffries posted quote steven miller is a dangerous xenophobe and [2:16] reckless extremist fire him today joining me now to discuss all of this breaking news is our team of [2:22] reporters nbc news senior white house correspondent gabe gutierrez in west palm beach florida with me on set [2:28] nbc news senior homeland security correspondent julia ainsley and nbc news senior congressional reporter scott [2:34] wong nbc news senior national political reporter sahil kapoor is at the big board thanks to all of [2:39] you for starting us off gabe let me go to you first what are your sources telling you about what's [2:43] behind this decision well chris and that source familiar with suzy wiles thinking tells me that [2:49] the decision to do this actually came after uh the midterm certainly with recover with republicans [2:56] suffering that sweeping election defeat it appears that you know suzy wiles chief of staff the longest [3:01] serving chief of staff for president trump decided that you know she wanted to offer up her resignation [3:08] and the context is important here chris and she's had a very you know difficult year earlier this year [3:13] she had revealed her cancer diagnosis it was just several months ago in september that she said she [3:18] was cancer free and so it uh she made the decision just within the last few days to offer up her [3:26] resignation resignation and gave that resignation to the president late last night now a lot of questions [3:33] about where the administration moves from here you mentioned stephen miller of course a lightning rod [3:38] within this administration and one of the president's longest serving aids the architect of his immigration [3:44] policy and he's made a lot of enemies both on capitol hill and really throughout washington but he is [3:51] seen by the president as an extremely effective uh leader and it should be seen as a sign of the [3:56] president doubling down on some of the policies which you know have received a lot of backlash of course [4:02] uh the the ice raids uh the mass deportations um that was largely uh thanks to stephen miller and [4:09] the president moving in that direction choosing him to be his next chief of staff should be you know really [4:15] seen as uh perhaps you know not just doubling down on this but this idea that it'd be more [4:20] conciliatory towards democrats clearly this is a sign of just the opposite that he is gearing up [4:26] for a potentially contentious last two years of his second term christian well gabe you know it's [4:32] interesting because president trump has said that yes he will work with democrats he's also said he has [4:38] the power of the veto but what does this signal about the possibility that there could be some [4:43] bipartisan legislation over the next two years well look uh as i mentioned chris kristen uh stephen miller [4:51] he was a long time legislative aide on capitol hill he certainly knows the legislative process but [4:57] at the same time he has made a lot of enemies there not just you know within the democratic party but [5:02] also he's rubbed a lot of people within the republican uh party the wrong way just ask uh tom tillis [5:07] for the outgoing uh senator from north carolina uh so it's unclear how willing he will be to [5:12] compromise with democrats here it's certainly at its face not the choice you would think of [5:18] of somebody who would be willing to compromise here in these uh final two years of his administration [5:23] and could there be other shake-up scape what are you watching well look certainly you know there's [5:29] been a lot of discussion over the past few days about defense secretary pete hexeth uh the president [5:35] is still publicly uh defending uh pete hexeth saying he's doing a good job but there are increasing [5:42] calls on capitol hill uh among democrats uh calling for his impeachment among some republicans of [5:47] course thomas massey but also um you know james comer suggesting that he has a lot of questions uh for [5:53] pete hexeth as well um with the potential over the next few days for this uh you know impeachment uh [6:00] process uh to potentially play out on capitol hill as early as uh next week so um that is probably the [6:07] most uh obvious case for a potential shake-up within uh the administration but it's still early [6:13] these uh midterm uh this sweeping election defeat is still sinking in within the administration and [6:19] certainly with uh stephen miller it could be possible that within the white house there could be [6:24] uh you know a changing of staff uh and going in a different direction the president in his comments [6:30] to reporters just a short time ago saying that he wanted uh to go in a different direction so it's [6:35] something that we'll be watching the coming days and weeks yeah it will be fascinating to watch [6:40] those relationships unfold gabe gutierrez thank you so much julia scott let me turn to you and [6:45] julia i'll start with you talk a little bit about the role that stephen miller has played inside the [6:51] administration particularly overseeing the president's immigration and deportation policies [6:57] that's right i've been covering stephen miller and his policies and his thinking for a long time [7:01] he first got into trump's orbit in 2015 when he was working for then senator jeff sessions [7:06] on some very right of center immigration policies that at the time were seen as something that would [7:12] never go through but it caught the president's ear and he got to do that after sessions was the first [7:16] sitting senator to endorse trump and he was behind things like the family separation policy in 2018 that [7:22] systematically separated over 5 000 families at the borders behind the first travel ban things that he [7:28] was telling trump these will be politically advantageous to you if you continue to push [7:33] forward flash forward to just before the 2024 election stephen miller said in the most blanket [7:40] stephen miller statement i've ever heard that really encapsulate him he stood in front of a roaring [7:44] crowd at madison square garden and said america is for americans and americans only and that is [7:49] something the white house actually repeated today on social media just two hours before he was named chief [7:54] of staff he of course is behind the high deportation numbers and even as deputy chief of staff this [8:01] position that he's held in this administration he's continued to have daily calls with the leaders of dhs [8:06] ice and border patrol to tell them to do more get numbers higher people i talked to at dhs say [8:12] basically he's impossible to please because he wants numbers that are so high they're just not realistic [8:17] and they say that if they do have a problem with it or if there's something they want to get to the [8:22] president they always know stephen miller is the closest to the presidency or i know that's something [8:26] that you've tracked as you've gotten to know there as you covered president trump but miller love him [8:32] or hate him people might disagree with him but he is so close to this president and the president has [8:37] listened to him much longer than he's listened to many of his other advisors it's such an important [8:41] point scott wong he's been with the president since the very beginning and this all is developing as [8:47] democrats are just starting to map out how they plan to govern i want to play a little bit of what we [8:51] heard from now minority leader chuck schumer and get your reaction on the other side take a look we [8:57] still have a big job to do yes we have found the right issues cost chaos and corruption but i will [9:03] tell you this if we don't deliver for the american people and they think we're just like uh what trump [9:11] has done we're gone our enemy is not each other our enemy is donald trump and the republican senators who [9:19] just go along with all the sh i'm not allowed to say it on the show that he does that's the focus the [9:26] focus is unity it's it's all of us talking out of the same you know hymn book so to speak and beating [9:33] trump not fighting each other scott how does the appointment of steven miller fit into democrats broader [9:43] goal of trying to actually get results right democrats say they want to hold trump accountable but [9:49] also work with trump on the issues that they think this entire midterm election was about which was [9:55] affordability lowering the cost of living i think this bodes very poorly for democrats being able to [10:02] work with the white house on uh bipartisan issues like affordability uh steven miller's appointment is [10:10] really a signaling of doubling down on the existing trump policies like uh you know immigration mass [10:17] deportation this is sort of in the opposite of direction of what we saw after the 1994 uh you [10:23] know republican revolution bill clinton reaching across the aisle to newt gingrich they had picked up [10:29] an enormous amount of seats they took back the majority those two men gingrich and clinton worked together [10:36] on welfare reform i think we're going to see something very different than post-1994 what a great historical [10:44] reference point to think about as we watch these developments unfold julia let me ask you do you [10:49] think we could see this administration or steven miller who will now oversee the entire domestic [10:55] portfolio of this president could they start to pull back on some of their deportation policies that [11:02] have been sharply criticized as overreach well i'll preview a little reporting that we have coming up on [11:06] nbc news in just a few hours really and that is that miller has told people don't slow down in fact [11:13] they say they still have time they have two years left in this white house nothing is changing in fact [11:19] you can even look at the spending ice just renewed this week their charter plane contract for a billion [11:25] dollars to keep the same pace of deportations they arrested 50 000 people in october that's a record [11:31] high they set in july and they've continued to keep for four months they want that again [11:36] ice officers on the street have not heard a word about changing anything despite the midterms and [11:42] as you look at some of the polling it shows a lot of people even like latinos who wanted a quieter [11:47] border think that this went too far as far as working together what's really confusing is that trump [11:53] has said three times since the midterms he's willing to work with democrats on immigration reform [11:58] but then this move today really throws a lot of that into question sure does well it's just [12:02] extraordinary to hear julia's reporting scott and if you look at what happened on tuesday night so [12:08] many of the latino voters who helped get president trump elected in 2024 left the republican party and moved [12:16] over to vote for democrats could this move of appointing stephen miller to this role actually alienate some [12:22] of those voters i think it could i was down in miami-dade county with hakim jeffries uh something for [12:29] candidates down there in florida just a couple weeks ago and i talked to some trump supporters hispanic [12:35] latino voters who said exactly that they were very disappointed in uh how trump has sort of you know [12:42] prosecuted this mass deportation plan they said he promised to go after criminals and he was deporting [12:49] you know breaking up families obviously we saw the deaths of two american citizens earlier this year [12:55] uh they were very upset and they voted with the democrats i think if you are somebody like mario [13:00] diaz bellart in in miami-dade county uh maria elvira salazar if they survive their election and they're up [13:07] for re-election in two years i think they're going to be very upset with the appointment of stephen miller [13:13] and julia just quickly i mean stephen miller himself he's not necessarily taking into account all of these [13:19] politics for him this is part of his core belief i mean he he again goes back to 2015 with president [13:26] trump as you say this is really what shapes him yeah it's very different whether it is your dogma [13:33] right whether it's what you believe or whether it's what you believe is politically the best move [13:38] the president i often get the feeling digs in on immigration at times where he might not be winning [13:43] on other things because he thinks it's politically the best move but everything i've seen from stephen [13:47] miller even if you go back to what he did as a college student really shows that this is someone [13:52] who believes at his core that what i said america is for americans and americans only and he will [13:57] really strive to try to throw the the country back into a time where we were a much more homogenous [14:04] looking population and he's not been shy about any of those views all right julia and scott thank you [14:10] so much for your fantastic reporting and context around this we really appreciate it sahil let me turn [14:16] to you now so the shake-up comes as democrats prepare to take over the house and the senate [14:22] talk about how you see some of their biggest challenges as they try to execute their agenda [14:27] well kristen house democrats are about to embark upon quite an adventure because look at this they're [14:31] winning this election beyond their wildest dreams they've already cracked 250 house seats officially our [14:36] estimates put them on pace to get 259 which as you can see here would be the largest house majority [14:41] going all the way back to 1990 before the dawn of modern polarization by contrast 2014 was a high [14:48] watermark for the republicans that ended up with 40 247 seats on their side they've already uh exceeded [14:54] that now with a cushion like this means hakeem jeffries is going to be speaker of the house he's [14:59] going to have plenty of votes to spare his critics can disabuse themselves of the notion that they're [15:02] going to find an alternative to him but it also comes with challenges because the caucus is going to be [15:08] very very diverse ideologically and biographically these are some of the democrats who won states [15:13] that trump carried by double digits in 2024 if you look at some of these names you can be forgiven [15:18] for not recognizing them because even close political observers even democratic leaders did not expect [15:23] some of these people to be able to pull off an election for instance texas ninth district how many [15:29] folks heard of leticia gutierrez she just won by 15 points in a district that trump carried by 20 points [15:35] in 2024 over here in north carolina's ninth district richard ojeda again not a familiar name he just [15:42] took down rich hudson the chair of the nrcc whose job it was to protect the house majority he could [15:46] not even protect his own seat so democrats are going to have um this kind of a caucus to navigate in [15:53] addition to a bunch of left-leaning candidates and democratic socialists who have also gotten [15:57] elected this is going to be quite the kaleidoscope for hakeem jeffries to navigate if he wants to get [16:01] something done and keep these folks on his side it certainly is it's a great way to put it a [16:06] kaleidoscope so you're looking at the house it's a whole different set of challenges on the senate [16:09] side right absolutely it is the senate democratic caucus so far includes these 10 incoming members [16:15] many of them flipped republican seats some of them held on to open democratic seats and this too [16:21] represents the ideological diversity of the senate democratic caucus you've got uh some center [16:26] senators elect like abdul al-sayed and troy jackson who campaign on a progressive platform of medicare for [16:31] all you've got others like annie andrews in south carolina and josh turek in iowa who campaigned as [16:37] moderates and centrists in red states and won those they're going to have a very different vision of [16:42] how to go forward than uh these senators so it's going to be an open question of how senator chuck [16:48] schumer who is probably going to be the next majority leader navigates these divisions in his [16:53] own conference and gets to 60 votes in the senate which is going to require some republican support [16:57] and the big question kristen as we've been talking about so far does president trump have any desire [17:02] to work with the democratic house and senate because he's not shown that in the last two years [17:06] and his appointment of stephen miller as chief of staff tells us these next two years could be a [17:10] bare-knuckle political brawl without much cooperation yeah it's going to be fascinating to watch it all [17:15] unfold sahil kapoor thank you so much for that great breakdown we really appreciate it well coming up [17:21] we'll have much more on the breaking news out of the white house with president trump naming [17:25] stephen miller as his new chief of staff including what it means for the big question facing democrats [17:30] how will they govern we'll speak with a democrat who just flipped one of this cycle's most competitive [17:36] house districts plus it's not just control of congress in washington democrats are about to take [17:41] over a majority of the state house chambers and governorships for the first time in years [17:46] we'll dig into the numbers and the impact stay with us you're watching meet the press now [17:58] welcome back turning now to a key pickup for democrats in this week's election [18:02] nbc news projects that democrat kate connolly a special ops veteran and former national security [18:08] expert has defeated republican congressman mike lawler in new york's battleground 17th congressional [18:14] district joining me now is congresswoman elect kate connolly of new york congratulations on your win [18:21] thank you so much it's still surreal to hear that title i am sure it is i know it was a hard-fought [18:27] battle i do want to start off by asking you about this breaking news out of the white house [18:32] president trump has just appointed stephen miller as his chief of staff house minority leader hakeem [18:38] jeffries has reacted by saying quote his presence in government should be eradicated like a malignant [18:44] tumor do you think that the appointment of stephen miller complicates democrats ability to work with [18:51] president trump no because i think we're still going to continue to put forward things that are good for [18:57] the american people regardless of political affiliation and the white house is still going to feel the [19:01] pressure to support that and help deliver i do think it is incredibly disappointing although not surprising [19:07] that this president instead of listening to american voters all across this country [19:12] and their voice on tuesday saying that they want change and an end to the dysfunction in the oval [19:16] office instead he chose to double down on it and have a man who honestly i believe is guided by hatred [19:22] now guiding white house operations but we're going to continue to show the american people that [19:27] congress heard them loud and clear and this incoming congress is going to focus on delivering for them [19:32] so you it sounds like are saying see this is a slap to american voters what exactly do you argue there [19:40] yeah i mean look what you saw on tuesday wasn't voters of one political affiliation coming out and [19:45] saying that they disagree with what is happening in washington this was voters from all across the [19:50] political spectrum take my district i could not win this district by just winning democrats alone the [19:55] coalition that we built here in new york 17 was one of democrats independence and republicans who may [20:01] not share a party but share the same values and i do believe that tuesday was a referendum on values [20:07] and not partisan values but patriotic ones americans want this country to get back on track and feel like [20:12] right now it is incredibly off track but instead of listening to that president trump doubled down on his [20:18] own bias perspective and brought in someone to the white house who again has gotten this country into this [20:23] mess and we cannot believe is going to get us out of it but i do have faith in the newly elected members [20:30] of congress our class that's coming in where we're going to focus on delivering for the american people [20:35] and that that is going to make the difference you have said that the democratic party is going to be [20:40] laser focused on lowering costs what is your day one plan to do that i think there's two categories [20:47] to this one we have to undo the harm that the trump administration enabled by this current congress [20:53] has caused that's things like restoring funding to medicaid and to the premium tax credits so we have [20:58] more americans on health care not off we need to do things like undoing the trump tariffs that i'll [21:04] tell you just here in the hudson valley have cost the average family forty two hundred dollars for the [21:08] same goods and has put tremendous pressure on small businesses to the point where some businesses [21:12] in my district are closing we need to undo that harm but we also have to go beyond the harm that's been done and [21:18] look at some of the very serious problems that we're facing like this cost of living crisis this [21:22] housing crisis the energy crisis and come up with solutions that are going to help lower costs and [21:27] provide the foundation for the future of america well let me ask you about another uh potential [21:34] thread that we're following as democrats prepare to take back control of the house vowing major [21:40] investigations into the trump administration and his family as well do you believe there's a risk that being [21:47] too focused on investigations and oversight could derail the efforts to deliver on affordability [21:54] i do believe that's real and we need to balance it we need to understand that our first and foremost [21:59] priority needs to be lowering costs for the american people that is what they elected us to do on tuesday [22:04] but i do believe at the same time we can hold this administration accountable and that means rooting [22:09] out the corruption that has taken hold because that is also what's raising costs for people when you [22:14] look at the bidding that this congress has been doing it's not of the american people but that [22:19] of their billionaire donors and special interests and so i do believe that passing things like banning [22:23] stock trading for members of congress and the white house and political appointees is an essential part [22:28] to stopping that i do believe that oversight and accountability is a foundational responsibility of [22:33] congress and we need to do our job but that cannot come at the cost or expense of us lowering costs for [22:40] working families but i believe we can do both at the same time well you are a special ops veteran and [22:46] you've said that one of your priorities is also to have defense secretary pete hegseth removed from office [22:52] you argue because of the damage that he's caused to the military is that also a day one priority for [22:58] you you want to have him impeached i do believe that that is a case where every day this individual [23:04] continues to sit in that seat american national security has put it further jeopardy i hope that the [23:10] sitting congress does the right thing and gets him out of the department of defense gets him out of [23:15] this position but if he they do not do their job in this congress i am very confident that we will in [23:20] the next and this is again not a partisan thing you know folks who brought this motion to the floor in [23:25] the last congress they were republicans too this is about doing the right thing for this country and [23:30] national security should always come before any partisan politics or any person but pete hegseth has [23:35] shown his only loyalty is to donald trump and our brave men and women in uniform have paid the [23:40] price we've watched them force out some of our most talented and gifted military leaders because [23:46] they remain steadfast in their commitment to this country and refusal to put any party or person before [23:52] it and so i will tell you i believe our brave men and women in uniform deserve support deserve to be [23:58] defended and that's exactly the role that this congress will play do you think that impeachment [24:02] should extend to president trump as well of course he's the boss in charge of pete hegseth like i don't [24:09] think we should ever take anything off the table because you never know what's going to happen [24:13] but i don't think that should be our day one focus at all so you don't take impeachment off the table [24:19] i mean you have no idea what else is going to be done so look we've got two more years of donald [24:25] trump sitting in the oval office and so we need to take every day with what happens but i will tell [24:30] you a day one priority that we must have is going out there and finding solutions to lower costs for [24:36] working people all across this country because they are losing faith that america can actually bring back the [24:42] american dream you know when i was growing up here raised by a mom who's a postal worker raising three [24:47] girls in the hudson valley we had confidence that america was the place where if you worked hard you [24:51] could get ahead that's not the america we have today and we have to fix that and that must be our [24:58] absolute focus on day one i want to pivot here and ask you about another big issue that we heard about [25:05] throughout the course of this campaign in your race and in other races and that's data centers [25:10] you campaigned on a moratorium on data centers despite you did work with an ai company in the [25:15] past the president says slowing down ai growth would ultimately cede the way to china and put us [25:22] national security at risk what do you say to that argument by the president we are america for 250 [25:30] years we have done hard things and i believe we will continue to do hard things and that means that [25:35] we can ensure that any data center development that does occur is a net positive for communities [25:41] and happens with community support where we are not seeing them get exploited but the exact opposite [25:47] where again this is a net positive for them if they are being built but the second part of this is we [25:51] need to understand that we can both regulate ai and data centers and also lead the world in ai [25:57] development and technology and solutions again we are america we can do both but right now what we see [26:04] happening is that these data centers are being built at the expense of local communities exploiting local [26:09] communities and that needs to stop let me ask you because uh congressman lawlor who you defeated has [26:17] been ranked as one of the most bipartisan members of congress is there a piece of legislation that he [26:23] championed that you think you can pass yeah i would uh push back on that description of my predecessor [26:32] and i think this campaign has shown that you know saying that and and being that are two different [26:37] things i think he has voted 100 of the time with donald trump and so in that sense you know i think [26:42] we're going to have some pretty significant differences of opinion uh going forward but yeah when it comes [26:47] to things like you know no no tax on tips and overtime i support those things when you're talking about [26:54] ways where we are helping working people you know get ahead absolutely i support those things but i think [27:00] there's a lot of things where he and i have disagreed that we need to undo the harm going back to the [27:05] medicaid funding going back to the premium tax credits going back to putting working people first [27:10] instead of billionaires who got permanent tax breaks all working people only had temporary ones [27:15] all right congresswoman-elect kate connolly thank you so much for joining us we look forward to it [27:21] thanks for having me appreciate it thank you coming up next we'll dive into the stunning exodus of [27:27] young men away from donald trump and republicans in the midterms new reporting ahead on meet the [27:33] press now welcome back democrats historic victories in these midterms expand far beyond [27:46] here in washington according to the associated press democrats won control of both of arizona's [27:52] legislative chambers giving the party control of the state's house senate and governor's office for [27:58] the first time in 60 years nationwide democrats flipped more than 500 legislative seats according [28:04] to the democratic legislative campaign committee pluribus news reports democrats flipped at least a [28:09] dozen legislative chambers democrats also clinched a majority of governorships for the first time in 16 [28:15] years flipping five governorships including several in traditionally red states with me now is reed wilson [28:22] founder and editor of pluribus news which focuses on state and capitals and legislatures thank you so much for [28:28] being here really appreciate it so let's break down these findings put into perspective how historic [28:34] these wins are so it's been 16 years since democrats held a majority of governorships in america and a [28:39] majority of the state legislative seats around the country you know we say every election this is the [28:43] most important election of our lifetime 2010 really was it dug democrats into a hole that it has taken them [28:48] this long to dig out of and now they've they've won back some trifectas in some of these key states uh where [28:54] they're going to be able to make a lot of policy that has been that has been sort of lacking lagging [28:58] behind some of the other blue states that have had that democratic control we'll flesh out that [29:02] comparison to 2010 a little bit more talk about the parallels right so in in to the 2010 election was [29:10] uh barack obama's first midterm midterm uh we remember the economy was in the tank the shellacking [29:16] that shellacking in his words yep uh and and republicans won back 670 legislative seats around the country that's [29:23] about one-tenth of every legislative seat in america uh that they won back on one night [29:28] and 2010 was also a redistricting year so they were able to use the subsequent redistricting process [29:33] to draw themselves into a majority in the house of representatives that they maintained until 2018. [29:38] so that that was sort of a key piece of timing right there that the republicans were able to use [29:42] to their advantage and lock in their control for a long time now here we are in this time we're a [29:47] little before a redistricting cycle let's see if the democrats try to do what republicans did and [29:52] and redraw some maps in the states that they just won control of with the obvious caveat that the [29:57] republican remapping just didn't work turned out to be turkey exactly no we're fascinated to see where [30:02] that goes what do you think the democrats victories at the state house level will mean i think it's going [30:07] to mean a lot of focus on ai and energy development uh there are a lot of these states that are just [30:12] coming to terms with the the the build out of data centers what it means for a local economy and what [30:18] it means for rate payers at the moment when you know every the word out of every democrat's lips [30:23] is affordability that's a way that's something they can do to really tackle costs is place new uh [30:28] new restrictions on data centers we've already seen it in a number of states uh in new york [30:33] pennsylvania places like that i think we're going to see a lot more moratoriums and we're going to start [30:37] seeing some guardrails around ai interestingly enough you know in congress nothing is happening on [30:42] artificial intelligence regulation it is happening at the state level and in a bipartisan way i think [30:47] lawmakers are really interested in placing those guardrails and what are the implications of all [30:50] of this for 2028 oh i mean i think they're huge democrats now control the governorship in every [30:55] presidential swing state every state that we think of uh as a swing state um i think there are also [31:00] some implications for control of the u.s senate i compared 2026 to the 2006 elections uh which started [31:06] sort of a cycle that remember democrats had a great year in 2006 they had another good year in 08 when [31:12] george bush's approval rating was even lower you have to imagine there's not much president trump is going to be [31:16] able to do to bolster his approval ratings so they democrats may have two good cycles in a row and some [31:21] of the states where they won u.s senate seats this year are up again next year were there any state [31:26] level races that surprised you oh i think there were a ton i mean the texas house flipped to democrats [31:31] the georgia house flipped to democrats two big big uh roles there um the state level the the the [31:39] the extent of state level uh wins by democrats i think really shows just how blue of a wave this was [31:45] there are 17 races in texas that were up for statewide election democrats won all 17. there are 13 [31:51] statewide elected races in georgia nine of those 13 uh candidates who won are black women this is [31:57] this was a sea change across the country and uh and i think the state level really shows that and just to [32:02] for folks who are watching put into context why those state level seats matter so yeah i mean look [32:08] the foundation of federal policy comes from the states think about welfare reform in the 90s a program of [32:13] four republican governors before bill clinton took it over the affordable care act came out of [32:17] massachusetts don't tell mit romney uh and the one big bipartisan thing under president trump's first [32:21] term was criminal justice reform which started out as a program if you can believe it between the [32:27] coke brothers and george soros together in states like kansas and oklahoma and texas so i can't tell [32:31] you who the next president is going to be but his or her signature domestic policy achievement is [32:35] probably being debated on the state legislature's floor right now well it's a great way to think [32:39] about it reid wilson thank you so much for being here thank you really appreciate great to see you [32:43] as always now to a key voting group that helped propel democrats to their big night young men [32:50] nationwide 65 percent of men under the age of 30 voted for democratic candidates according to mbc news [32:55] exit polls that's 17 increase from just two years ago young men were particularly instrumental in [33:02] democrat abdul al-sayed senate victory in michigan the demographic swung from trump to al-sayed by get [33:08] this 55 points nbc news national politics reporter alan smith joins me now so alan do you know why young [33:17] men shifted to democrats in this dramatic way this year i mean chris and it comes down to three words [33:24] costs costs and costs you know cost of living and the economy was the number one issue for voters [33:30] across the board but for young men a higher share of them rated it as the top issue than the electorate [33:35] as a whole in michigan four in five young men eighty percent said inflation had caused them hardship [33:42] and as i was talking to former governor scott walker republican from wisconsin he said any focus [33:48] from republicans on an issue that wasn't related to the cost of living was harming them with this [33:52] electorate in michigan you know mike rogers the republican candidate he really wanted to focus on the [33:57] muslim brotherhood with abdul al-sayed and with trump i mean there were so many focuses that were not about [34:03] affordability not about the cost of living that had really appeared to turn off a lot of these voters [34:08] and alan i just laid out just how extraordinary that swing was from president trump to abdul al-sayed [34:14] i mean it's just remarkable how important were young men to his victory were they fundamental i mean [34:21] kristen it was astonishing a 55 point swing to go from plus 21 in trump's favor in 2024 to more than 30 [34:29] points toward abdul al-sayed this year i mean it's it's pretty shocking and they made up seven percent [34:35] of the electorate in michigan so you know for a candidate who won by seven points they were a [34:38] critical part of his coalition you know you report on al-sayed's decision to sit down with fox news's [34:44] jesse waters for that interview and his approach to that interview and why it was potentially [34:51] significant talk a little bit about that strategy yeah kristen so i was speaking with some advisors to [34:59] abdul al-sayed and they they said you know when he was planning for this interview in august [35:04] advisors on his team were wondering you know what's kind of a populist policy you might be able to open [35:08] the conversation with that you guys have in common and he ended up looking into jesse waters background [35:13] found out they had both played football and lacrosse and he really wanted to lean into that at the [35:17] beginning of the conversation you know abdul's gotten so much attention for obviously his muslim identity [35:21] he's going to be the first muslim senator in u.s history but during the campaign he also really tried [35:26] to lean into his identity as a millennial man and he wanted to start off this interview with jesse [35:31] waters uh kind of being like bro bro to bro um so you can see how especially with being able to win [35:37] over as many young men as he did that played a role but again it was cost of living above all else and and [35:42] as scott walker said look abdul is tenacious in focusing on the cost of living and that really was [35:48] the key issue the young men were worried about well it was extraordinary to hear jesse waters offer some [35:55] praise for him in the wake of that interview question for you do you expect other candidates [36:00] in battleground states to use that strategy that we saw from abdul al-sayed as a blueprint in 2028 [36:06] potentially you know kristen i think after 2024 there's been a lot of conversation among democrats [36:12] especially after seeing uh president trump's strategy going on all the podcasts and and going uh you know [36:17] in in some of these spaces that were non-traditional for political folks to engage in and the thinking is [36:23] look you know democrats need to be more open to being in these spaces more comfortable in these [36:27] spaces abdul al-sayed is very comfortable in these spaces so i mean a lot of it comes down to the [36:32] candidate itself or themselves but look we we don't know what this electorate is going to look like in [36:38] 2028 and we know a midterm electorate looks a little bit different um it depends on what issues [36:43] these folks care about the most in two years um and and whether the president is able to us to to [36:50] kind of solve any of their concerns about the cost of living i think that remains to be seen but i do [36:55] think that folks are going to try to take a page out of out of the abdul playbook and and and apply [36:59] it to to future campaigns here all right alan smith thank you so very much really appreciate it [37:04] coming up after the break will a new congress renew leadership inside the democratic party the panel's [37:09] next this is meet the press now welcome back as the dust settles on tuesday's election both [37:22] democrats and republicans are gearing up for leadership fights in the senate a number of newly [37:27] elected democrats have expressed skepticism or even outright opposition to the idea of voting [37:32] for current minority leader chuck schumer to become a majority leader take a listen when you were [37:37] campaigning you said we're not going to vote for chuck schumer for majority leader he's going to have [37:42] a bigger majority now you still have that vote i still very much believe that it's time for a [37:49] generational change on both sides of the aisle will you vote for chuck you know that still stands i i [37:54] really believe we need a majority leader who's going to be standing who's going to bring people [37:58] together and unite people i've already said that i told senator schumer that i'm you know going to [38:03] support somebody else uh so it's no different now leader schumer for his part is brushing off [38:10] concerns he's not right for the job joining me now is our panel mariana sotomayor capitol hill [38:15] correspondent for puck news democratic strategist doug thornell and garrett graves former republican [38:21] congressman from louisiana thanks to all of you for being here great to see you on this friday [38:25] after election day mariana let me start with you we are going to get to the leadership battle in [38:30] just a moment but i have to just get your reaction to president trump appointing stephen [38:34] miller as his new chief of staff how's that going to play on capitol hill i mean it was a shock to [38:39] a number of republicans that i was texting today whether they were lawmakers or aides and and these [38:44] are people who are close to trump as well i mean the one thing that i consistently heard was was [38:48] any lesson learned in terms of what happened because it's when you look at the house republican [38:54] majority in particular it is going to be incredibly small and there have been a number of republicans [39:00] who have been thinking about like where do we go from here do we actually go against the president [39:06] in some form or fashion a lot of people were kind of thinking well let's put the blame on the [39:09] administration but now that he has put stephen miller right there front and center and there have [39:15] been some republicans who have publicly said that he should shoulder the blame for you know latino [39:19] voters losing a number of latino voters i've heard from for example marlon testament he said that this [39:25] is a horrible horrible decision congressman how do you see it and do you think it sends a signal that [39:32] instead of bipartisanship there could be more gridlock look i understand the reaction but the [39:36] reality is the chief of staff is not an external position that's someone who's supposed to be advising [39:40] the president that is on the inside and and i think that the president wants somebody that he's [39:45] comfortable with and he wants somebody who understands capitol hill at the end of the day it's the [39:49] president's decisions and we're gonna i think we've already seen the president talk about his [39:53] willingness to work with congress and and i think that you're gonna see a a significant change in [39:57] the direction of the white house moving forward in regard to its relationships with with congress so [40:01] you still think that they can get stuff done with democrats the president said he's willing to try [40:07] it it takes two as you know and and and i think as long as uh the congressional democrats are [40:12] willing to work together then yes i think that they can get things done doug how do you see this and to that [40:17] point democrats have a mandate to get stuff done so they're gonna have to work with this president [40:24] in this administration if they really want to do that how do you think they're going to approach [40:28] working with stephen miller well i'll get to that but stephen miller is the poster child for failing up [40:33] i mean if you think about what happened in this election two years ago one of the greatest strengths [40:39] of donald trump was his position on immigration he had a he was his numbers versus kamala harris were [40:46] through the roof you could argue that was one of the reasons why you won now when you look at exit [40:50] polling basically both parties are trusted on immigration obviously a lot of the policies of [40:55] stephen miller as it relates to ice and and um and many other things that were were reasons why we [41:02] saw huge hispanic turnout that went against the president so um i think that this sends the wrong [41:09] message if you're the white house the chief of staff is the second most important person in [41:13] washington dc he is an internal but he's also he has to have a lot of these relationships on the hill [41:18] i think most democrats don't like him i don't think he has built any um any sort of relationships with [41:24] democrats you saw the reaction from hakeem jeffries it's a it's a surprising move and for a lot of the [41:30] democrats i talked to who are still in the house and senate they were pretty shocked by it um so if the [41:36] message from trump is look i do want to work with democrats i'm not sure if appointing stephen miller is the [41:42] is the right way to accomplish that all right we'll watch how it's all going to play out let's [41:46] talk about this battle over who's going to be in leadership on the democratic side mariana you saw [41:52] what some of the incoming senators adam hamilton troy jackson had to say about chuck schumer but [41:57] chuck schumer has been pretty defiant that he thinks he's going to be the next uh minority majority [42:03] leader how do you see this battle playing yeah him and his team are very much signaling that [42:08] he is the guy and frankly the one thing that you've heard you do hear privately from a number [42:13] of senate democrats as well as aides is that who is going to be the person that can step up and has [42:19] the experience to do his job and of course this is a secret ballot that happens behind closed doors so [42:25] that will give some of these democrats the opportunity to say i voted for somebody else but [42:30] maybe they do end up putting schumer's name right so that's something that could also happen on the house [42:36] republican side where i'm sure you could hear in the next couple of days a number of republicans saying [42:41] oh i'm going to vote for scalese or i'm going to vote for jordan but really it is a private moment and [42:46] that ends up helping whoever has a natural advantage that's a really good point let's talk about some of [42:51] the other names doug that have been uh thrown about to be the majority leader senator chris van holland [42:58] of maryland arizona senator mark kelly michigan senator alissa slotkin do you think any of them could [43:04] actually gain enough momentum to beat out chuck schumer i love all three of them um let me just [43:12] say that i mean look i think it's a hard fight um because look there's going to be probably 56 senators [43:20] in the democratic caucus mr schumer needs a simple majority so he can afford to probably lose seven [43:28] eight nine ten um now look if there's a public um you know movement then that becomes a different [43:36] issue but like that's hard to do when you just had the type of victory that schumer had two or three [43:42] days ago right and so i just think like i think it's unlikely i think it's unlikely those three [43:49] challenge him they're all great i mean i and there's probably other people but um i just think it's [43:54] unlikely i think the the eight or so democrats that you mentioned can still register they can still [44:00] say they probably wrote in someone else um and make good on that promise but i just think it's [44:05] i think it's really unlikely that there's going to be someone who can mobilize enough support to [44:09] defeat chuck schumer uh congressman grace how do you see it i mean president trump has said he has [44:14] a good relationship with chuck schumer do republicans does president trump at least look at a chuck [44:21] schumer and say we do go way back he might be the best person to leave the democrats look they're [44:25] both from new york i think they do have similar styles we just talked about the polarization of [44:29] steven miller now we're going to chuck schumer who i would argue is is is potentially also a [44:34] polarizing figure but the thing that's interesting in this case is that you have some more conservative [44:39] members like talrico and and hamilton as well as folks like el sayad they're on the far left that [44:44] are saying they're not going to support him i agree with doug i think he's going to have safe [44:47] uh election into the majority leader i think he's got the ability to lose some members but at the end [44:52] of the day what this comes down to i think one of the most important things we need to take away from [44:55] this election we just saw two years ago to wild swing in one direction now we're seeing a wild swing [45:00] in the other i think we really need to look at the incentives in elections and look at open primaries [45:05] and giving voters the ability to to produce candidates that are not as fringe to where you're not going to [45:11] see america whips off from one side to the other this open primary approach is something that makes a lot [45:16] of sense there was a study done by unite america that said that almost 90 percent of house members [45:21] are elected only 10 percent of voters voters that's not democracy and there is a big discussion about [45:25] whether there should be an open primary system mariana let's zoom out to that point i mean voters [45:30] are basically saying we want stuff to get done and when you talk to democrats and i just interviewed [45:37] congresswoman-elect kate connelly she says yes affordability is at the top of her agenda at the same [45:43] time there should be oversight she noted she is concerned about overreach how are democrats telling [45:49] you they're going to balance these two things yeah you know it's really interesting because i'm sure [45:52] you may have even gotten calls before the election where you had progressives and centrists already [45:57] claiming hey our victory is coming because of you know people like me now that it is such a massive [46:04] majority i have heard more okay not one group can just stand up and say i'm going to take this bill [46:11] there is much more collaboration going on and i do think that those messages of affordability [46:17] health care all of that that that the democrats have been advocating for does help them stay united at [46:23] the at the beginning i would give it the first yeah several hours i mean you know when it comes to [46:29] those investigations the one thing i hear from democrats is we have to tie everything back corruption [46:34] back to affordability so voters understand however do we have the discipline do we have the focus [46:41] to actually be able to do that and not be framed as an anti-trump party again doug do you think they [46:47] have the the discipline to be that focused well they demonstrated that they had the discipline on [46:51] the campaign trail to focus their message on costs on corruption on fixing a broken system now when you [46:57] get to washington it's a little bit different deal right you could just get a lot of people pulling [47:00] at you but i do think that um the most important look this first six months of this congress are going [47:07] to be really important voters are going to want to see action i think democrats need to manage some [47:12] expectations here because they don't have the white house right but that shouldn't stop them from [47:16] passing things like banning congressional stock trading or figuring out a way to um pass as something [47:22] for health care premium subsidies or ethics reforms right they should do all of that but um it's [47:28] going to be hard when you don't have the white house uh but i think they just need to show action [47:32] all right great conversation thank you so very much for being here on this friday mariana doug [47:37] and congressman graves appreciate it coming up we are marking a very big milestone for the [47:42] longest running show on television keep it right here on meet the press now welcome back we want [47:57] to take a moment to celebrate an amazing milestone for the longest running show in television history [48:03] on this day 79 years ago november 6 1947 meet the press aired for the very first time the show's [48:12] first moderator martha roundtree brought viewers what nbc called america's press conference of the air [48:20] back in 1947 meet the press was the only show where americans could watch reporters ask government [48:26] officials tough questions holding the country's leaders to account this is an adaptation of a radio [48:33] program begun in 1945 and cited by us with a peabody award in 1946 adding the visual to the auditory [48:43] television extends and strengthens the value of meet the press in public enlightenment subjecting [48:48] the great and the near great to expert questioning by the best reporters this excellent program makes [48:54] news as well as reports it it is in the best tradition of a basic relationship between a free [49:00] press and democracy as long as the press of america is free america will be free and what we have tried [49:05] to do is to bring the press conference the heart of our free press to the whole nation here reporters [49:10] have an opportunity to get at the roots of what the american people ought to know through their [49:15] searching questions through these free exchanges the public gets a better insight into our leaders [49:20] and the course they pursue an informed public means a strong republic and meet the press is dedicated to [49:26] that cause and what an honor to carry that legacy today that does it for us we'll be back on monday [49:33] with more meet the press now and if it's sunday it's meet the press on your local nbc news station [49:39] i'll have interviews with senator-elect adam hamilton and senator bernie sanders plus exclusive [49:44] interviews with governor josh shapiro and governor-elect byron donald it's a jam-packed