Meet the Press NOW — March 26

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Welcome to Meet the Press.

Now I'm Kristen Welker in Washington as we near the one month mark of the War with

Iran with President Trump striking a triumphant tone about the U.S. military operations which

show no sign of slowing down while claiming Iran is begging to make a deal to end the

war.

All as he faces increased domestic pressure from rising energy prices and shaky public

support for the war.

Today President Trump held his first cabinet meeting since the start of the conflict,

repeating his claims that Iran is being obliterated and U.S. military operations are ahead

of schedule.

The President also highlighting the ongoing indirect talks between the U.S. and Iran.

Here's some of what he said today.

They are begging to make a deal.

I mean, they're begging to make a deal.

And anybody that saw what was happening over there would understand why they want to make

a deal.

I say they're lousy fighters but they're great negotiators and they are begging to work out

a deal.

I don't know if we'll be able to do that, I don't know if we'll be willing to do that.

They now have the chance that is Iran to permanently abandon their nuclear ambitions

and to charge a new path forward, we'll see if they want to do it.

They don't, we're there worst nightmare.

In the meantime, we'll just keep blowing them away, unimpeded, unstopped, there's not

a thing they can do about it.

They can't do anything about it.

They want to make a deal.

The reason they want to make a deal is they have been just peaked.

The President's special envoy, Steve Whitkoff, who is participating in those indirect talks

with the Iranians, along with the President, son-in-law Jared Kushner, also attending that

cabinet meeting today, confirming that the U.S. presented Iran with a 15-point action

list that forms the framework of a peace deal and saying Tehran is looking for an off-ramp.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, however, had a different message for Iran.

Listen.

I can say this.

We will see where things lead and if we can convince Iran that this is the inflection

point with no good alternatives for them, other than more death and destruction.

We have strong signs that if this is a possibility and if a deal happens, it will be great for

the country of Iran, for the entire region and the world at large.

Steve, we appreciate your efforts.

We pray for a deal and we welcome a deal and we have the ultimate deal maker to make

it happen.

But in the meantime, as I said yesterday, the Department of War will continue negotiating

with bombs.

Now, this all comes as the clock appears to be ticking down on the President's five

day reprieve from striking Iran's power plants if it didn't reopen the straight-of-form

moves.

Today, the President dodging questions about whether he will launch those strikes tomorrow

when that deadline expires.

President Trump, however, did tell reporters that Iran's signaled cooperation by allowing

10 oil tankers to transit the straight.

The President calling it a present in a sign that the U.S. is dealing with, quote, the

right people.

Meanwhile, new polling shows the majority of voters oppose the U.S. military action against

Iran.

That number eight, up 8% since the start of the war.

Joining me now to start us all off at NBC News White House correspondent Monica Alba.

And NBC News Senior National Security correspondent Courtney Cuby, thanks to both of you for being

here.

I really appreciate it.

Monica, let me start with you over at the White House.

So what were your key takeaways, Monica, from this extraordinary cabinet meeting, the

first since the war started?

Well, look, Kristen, I think the President continues to talk about this with some mixed messaging

on one hand.

The President is saying that this is winding down and that this is really going to be wrapping

up.

And on the other hand, he says, well, some of the deadlines that I had originally set

potentially for tomorrow could now be sliding back a day more or really indefinitely, really

not wanting to commit to any kind of firm timeline while also saying that the goal was

four to six weeks.

And tomorrow, as you mentioned, will mark about a month.

And so this now does put this in the phase of trying to figure out how there can be an

off-ramp.

But on this other track, you have these negotiations that the President has also said really conflicting

things about.

He has said in recent days that there wasn't anybody left to talk to in Iran.

He has said he didn't want to cease fire today, even.

He said that the Iranians are the ones he claims begging him for a deal and that he's

not even sure he wants to make one while then handing off to his special envoy, Steve

Woodkov, who says, we are in the process of trying to see if some negotiations can get

to the point of a potential peace plan.

So I'm still seeing a lot of different things that are a little bit all over the map.

As we know, there are all of these additional resources and assets that are being sent to

the Middle East also that could indicate this isn't anywhere near winding down, Kristen.

Well, Monica, one of the interesting moments happened when the President was discussing

this apparent gift the President says Iran gave to the U.S.

He said he used this to confirm the U.S. was talking to the right people.

I want to play a little bit of what the President had to say and get your analysis on the other

side.

Look.

They said to show you the fact that we're real and solid and we're there.

We're going to let you have eight votes of oil, eight votes, eight big votes of oil,

which was two days ago, and they'll sail up tomorrow, that was three days ago, and I

didn't think much about it.

And then I watched the news and they said a very good anchor, actually, happy to be Fox.

But I watched it and they said, something's unusual happening.

There are eight votes that are going right up the middle of the Homo Strait.

Eight big tankers are going loaded up with oil right through it, and I said, well, I guess

they were right and they were real, and I think they were Pakistani flagged.

And I said, well, I guess we'll deal with the right people.

So a lot there, Monica, walk us through what you heard there.

Yeah.

So specifically, Iran had already said that there would be passage allowed for what would

be known as non enemy vessels, which potentially Pakistani flag tankers could fall under.

So it is unclear exactly which vessels the president is referring to.

We have tried to confirm that at NBC News and we cannot find evidence of 10 of those so-called

tankers passing through in the last couple of days.

But let's say that they did indeed in the last few days, it is really just a small fraction

of what was passing through on a normal day.

Look at that chart right there, Kristen, where you had dozens and dozens more than 100, 150

on any given day.

So it really just points to the continued issue that this would just be a drop in the bucket,

even if it is accurate, as the president says, so he is clearly taking that as a sign of

good faith.

And he did ask his Treasury Secretary and others in the Cabinet meeting to talk about

that.

And they all also indicated that they believe more ships, tankers, and vessels can get

through the straight in the coming days.

But right now it is still just a very, very small number compared to where it was before

the war started.

All right.

Monica Alba is starting us off at the White House.

Monica, thank you so much, Court.

I want to turn to you.

There's been a lot of discussion about the munitions stockpile.

President Trump was asked about that.

Today, I want to play a little bit about that and get your reaction on the other side.

Take a look.

There's been a report that potentially the U.S. was looking at diverting some munitions,

air defenses that were meant for Ukraine to the Middle East.

Is there any accuracy to that?

Is that something that you're concerned about?

Well, I have this.

But we do that all the time.

You know, we have tremendous amounts of ammunition.

We have many other countries like in Germany and all over the year.

We have, you know, we're packed.

And we take sometimes we take from one and we use for another.

What are you hearing about that, Court?

I mean, he's right that their weapons and are diverted from one place to another.

But Ukraine is sort of a different situation here.

Because in this case, it's U.S. allies that are buying these weapons, many of them defensive,

but also offensive weapons, and then providing them to Ukraine.

So in some cases, the allies have already bought these weapons.

And now there is a consideration to direct them or divert them away to the Middle East.

Keep in mind, the U.S. has hit more than 10,000 targets in this just under one month of

this war.

And that's the offensive target they've taken.

That's nothing to say of the hundreds of Iranian ballistic missiles and drones that

they have defended against.

So it wouldn't be surprised if we see this happen.

What I'm really curious about is how much of a delay will that mean for these same systems

to get to Ukraine?

We don't know the answer to that.

Obviously, Ukrainian officials watching all of this really closely as they continue to fight

their own war.

Courtney, you have new reporting about tensions that flared yesterday on Capitol Hill when

top intelligence defense officials were briefing lawmakers about the state of the war.

They didn't feel like they were getting answers, quite frankly.

And what was really remarkable is we spoke with a number of different people who were in

these briefings, this briefing that is on Iran for the Armed Services Committee on the

Hill.

And it was bipartisan in frustration, people saying that one thing that seemed to really

be a point of contention was the idea of U.S. boots on the ground.

The officials who we spoke with said they weren't getting an idea of exactly whether the

president has decided to do that or not, where they would be sent, how many, how long,

what the ultimate goal here was.

I mean, they got zero information and there seemed to be a tremendous amount of frustration

about that.

Some even voiced that afterwards to cameras.

Right, yeah.

And also the question of the strategy and why did the U.S. get it in the first place,

I was surprised by the language people were using when they came out of that briefing

yesterday.

And it raises the question I think about whether we are going to see more public pressure

from Congress in the coming days and weeks if this does stretch out.

The Pentagon also confirmed that Israel apparently took out Iran's top navy commander.

What do you know about that and what are the implications on the battlefield?

Yeah, I mean, this has been Israel's main goal, it seems, throughout this war.

They are sort of going after the Iranian personnel while the U.S. is going after the military

targets and assets.

The one thing about this is, well, the Secretary of Hexeth today and others have been

lauding this, there is the possibility as they take out more and more of these military

commanders.

It could also have a potentially dangerous impact and that is when you don't have someone

telling these more junior people what to do, you always have the potential for what the

military calls the strategic corporal.

So what that is is someone who's much more junior who decides, I've got this little fast

boat, it's got a bunch of explosives, I'm going to drive it up to a ship and I'm going

to blow it up.

Or something like that that they may not have, especially as there's more and more chaos

within the Iranian military and specifically the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, there's

always the possibility that you have more junior people who are taking matters into their

own hands who can cause a huge, have a huge impact on this war with this seemingly small

decision that they make when you have less and less command and control, that's more

likely that can happen.

All right.

Courtney Qubi, thank you so much for being here, really appreciate it.

And joining me now is Iranian political activist Masih Alina Jad, Masih thank you so much

for being here.

We really appreciate it.

It's great to see you, my friend.

Thank you so much for having me back, Christian.

Of course, well, we really appreciate your being back.

The first time we are hearing from you, Masih, since on this program, since the war

began, so we really appreciate your taking the time to be here.

I want to start with the state of play, President Trump, on Monday saying that he was going

to pause attacks on Iran's power plants for five days as negotiations are taking place.

So we are coming up to the end of that deadline.

What do you make of that?

And you've been warning about the implications, the impact of striking Iran's civilian infrastructure,

saying it would be devastating.

Since this is first time being in your show, my sister, I have to allow me to share that

how happy I was when I saw President Trump removed Ali Khamenei, the man who ordered massacre

of more than 32,000 unarmed people of my country, the man who ordered my killing, three

times, removing terrorists is not tragedy, a sign of justice.

But at the same time, I'm not that kind of person who worship politicians.

When President Trump does something right, I admire him.

When he does something wrong, I dare to challenge him.

So that's why, yes, I criticize him about not targeting civilians and power plants because

this infrastructure is not actually targeting that, is not going to help the people of Iran,

unarmed people of Iran.

And it actually will give a gift to the Islamic Republic because they are always looking

for the foreign government to blame.

And that's why I am worried.

To be honest, the moment when I heard that, I was getting almost heart attack.

But at the same time, I want to call President Trump that this is the situation in Iran.

People are waiting for real help.

And real help is to stand with the people of Iran and target their killers, not their

infrastructure or unarmed people.

Well, Masih to that point, I want to get your response to where things stand right now.

From the battlefield, President Trump says the Iranian regime has been, quote, defeated.

Do you think the people of Iran see it that way?

And do they feel empowered to stand up to rise up in this moment?

You know, this is a war.

War is not, you know, beautiful.

War is ugly.

War is not clean.

My people inside Iran are living in a total blackout, my sister.

Just think about it.

In the middle of a war, they shot down the internet, one war crime.

Second war crimes, they in the middle of the war, the Islamic Republic, instead of giving

them cell phones, shelter, warning, no, they actually manage to execute people.

You know, let me just actually tell you how they massacred people and they arrested innocent

unarmed people for simply demanding freedom.

And now in the middle of the war, they're going to their cell met, they go to the prison

and they tell innocent prisoners, just listen to this carefully.

18 years old prisoner, whose crime was just simply taking to the street in January and

demanding freedom, was forced by interrogator to come in front of TV and they told him

that, you know, you are a moharab.

He was a child.

He didn't know what moharab means.

And he asked, what is moharab means?

Tell me.

And the interrogator said, one word, execution.

That breaks my heart.

Shervin is only 18 years old.

So last week, they managed to hang a 19-year-old wrestler, Saleh Mohamedi and five other innocent

protesters and now hundreds of them are in the death row in an absolute digital blackout.

So this is the situation.

Five people are happy when they see their killers, their executors, their barbaric official

IRGC commanders are being removed.

But at the same time, they are concerned.

They are worried because they don't want to be left alone by a wounded regime because,

you know, replacing Ali Khamenei with another Khamenei is not going to guarantee global

security.

Not going to guarantee peace and security in Iran, in the region, across the globe.

And that's why I am concerned as well.

I don't even know whether my brother, my family members, my fellow freedom fighters, the

woman who joined my campaign to remove their job, they are alive or not because of internet

blackout, my sister.

I can't imagine how difficult this is.

And you don't even, you don't even, let me actually tell you, you don't even hear about

this.

You don't even hear this about this in the media, but that is beyond sad because when

you turn on the media, it's like a debate between Republicans and Democrats.

And I'm really lost that how come people cannot put aside their political differences

and think about people being massacred and put your hate because a lot of people I see

that in America, no experience of living under war, no experience of living under Islamic

Republican executions, no experience of having their loved ones right now in the war zone

and lecturing us Iranians about war and telling us that, wow, you really expect President

Trump to help you.

And I'm telling myself that how Democrats help us, they abandoned women of Afghanistan.

And now it has been five years, the women of Afghanistan being kicked out from schools

in 21st century.

So that's why I'm calling Republicans and Democrats again and again and again, it's

not about you, it's about freedom, it's about democracy, it's about dignity and it's

about the safety and security of Americans.

For the first time, get united when it comes to end terrorism and believe me, in Iran,

without Islamic Republic will benefit America as well.

I hear people in America say that this Islamic Republic was not an imminent threat to Americans.

Really?

Really, Ali Khamenei was the one who wanted to kill President Trump.

President Trump killed him before getting killed by Ayatollahs.

He was the one who targeted American based in the region everywhere.

Ali Khamenei was the one who actually ordered my killing, I'm an American citizen and

I love America and I know that when they say death to America, they really mean it.

And us Iranians for democracy.

Well, Masi, your call for Democrats and Republicans and everyone to come together to work on this

is a powerful one and I hope it resonates.

While we've been having this conversation, Masi, there's breaking news, the President

posted something, I'm going to read it to you, I want to get your reaction on the other

side.

He says, as per Iranian government request, please let this statement serve to represent

that I am pausing the period of energy plant destruction by 10 days.

To Monday, April 6th, 2026 at 8 PM Eastern, talks are ongoing.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

He of course says some things about the media as well.

But my question for you is, one, your reaction, two, do you think that negotiations are

possible in this climate, can negotiations bring an end to this war?

You know, I have mixed feeling because President Trump is the one that I never, never

judge him by his tweet and his words.

I am very clear because I've judged him with his actions and he is the one who actually

killed Qasem Soleimani, who was the killer of millions of people in the region, thousands

of people in the region.

He was the one, actually, instead of handing out billions of dollars to Iranians, he said

that he will stand with the protesters.

He said that he will help the people of Iran and he did by removing the, you know, Alil

Arijani, Shamhani, Ali Khamenei and the killers who ordered Masikers.

So that's why I wait for his action.

But if you ask my opinion, no, there is no one in the Islamic Republic who understand

language of diplomacy because the Islamic Republic understand only language of force and this

regime cannot be reformed and President Trump, President Trump gave them actually time for

negotiation.

So for me and millions of Iranians and people in the region, it's very clear that they

should be gone and that is the only solution that we can have, peaceful Middle East and

global security.

So I wanted to ask President Trump for the last time, President Trump, you promised people

of Iran that you were going to help them negotiating with the Islamic Republic, getting a deal

is not helping the people of Iran, will not help the people in America.

History is watching you.

So far you made a good decision and do not let them be, you know, take revenge of Iranian

people.

They know how to buy time to rebuild the revolution in Gaza and their machinery weapons

to take revenge of Iranians, people in the Middle East and American citizens.

So that's why please listen to the voice of Iranians and finish the job, help us to end

the Islamic Republic.

Thank you for paying attention to this matter, President Trump.

Nassia Linajad, we always appreciate your perspective.

Thank you, thank you for coming on and please come back soon.

Thank you so much for having me, my sister, appreciate it.

Thank you for being here, we are so grateful, we're so honored, good to see you.

Coming up, signs of momentum fade on Capitol Hill leaving DHS and thousands of federal

employees in limbo as frustrations on both sides of the political aisle soar.

This terminal chaos, you're looking at live pictures of long lines in Houston's George

Bush in Reconinental Airport, I'll get the response from the president and CEO of the

top trade association for America's biggest airlines as crippling dysfunction grips Congress

with sweeping impacts on airports and passengers stay with us, you're watching Meet the Press

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It's choosing Democrats as moving the goalposts on negotiations earlier today.

Republicans have bent over backward to negotiate with Democrats.

Now Democrats need to get serious about funding the Department of Homeland Security.

The Democrats cared about TSA officers, if they cared about Coast Guard employees, if

they cared about the vital work of the Department of Homeland Security, then they would be getting

serious about closing a deal, not ceaselessly offering up the same unchanging list of demands

like a broken record or a particularly nightmarish version of Groundhog Day.

Democratic leadership insists they've had the same demands on ice reform from the beginning.

And a Democratic source tells NBC News their offer included pieces the White House already

agreed to, but to Republican sources say it also included provisions the White House

had rejected.

Now this standoff comes as lawmakers are set to leave for a two week recess tomorrow.

Leader Thune hasn't ruled out canceling it.

As the most visible impact of the shutdown plays out at the nation's airports with long

lines and delays caused by TSA officers calling out as they continue to work without pay.

The acting head of TSA says these are the highest wait times in the agency's history.

President Trump meanwhile is once again urging his party to terminate the filibuster, something

that does not have support from Senate Republicans as he continues to blame Democrats for the

partial shutdown.

We're now on day 41 of the disgraceful Democrat shutdown of Mark Wayne's Department.

Congratulations.

We can't be too much Republican shutdown because shutdown by the radical Democrats.

But Democrats are really punishing the American people, so they need to end the shutdown immediately

or we'll have to take some very drastic measures.

Joining me now from Capitol Hill is NBC's Melanie Zanone, a male thanks for being here.

So recess is imminent.

What is the mood on Capitol Hill?

Is it possible they could get a deal before tomorrow?

Well, Kristen, I will say the vibes have improved slightly.

Only slightly over the last few hours, I don't want to overstate the optimism here.

But Republicans did offer a counter-proposal to Democrats.

It still includes funding for almost all of DHS with the exception of ICE's immigration

enforcement in deportation operations.

But this new offer we're told also includes some clarifying language, really designed to

help ease some Democrats' concerns that funding from other parts of DHS could essentially

be moved around to fund ICE, which they do not want to fund.

So far, though, Democrats being really tight-lipped, they said they're still reviewing this

offer.

But I will say the lead Republican and Democratic negotiators who've been involved

in this process are at least leaving the door open to finding a deal.

Just listen.

Do you think there's more of a sense of what is in this final offer?

No, I'm going to respect my Democratic colleagues in this back and forth right now.

But I hope that we put people over politics, that's certainly what I am here to do.

But what do you see to your Republican colleagues who have said you've gotten everything

you've asked for, a funding package that strips out ICE and funds everything else already?

Well, again, I don't know if that's exactly what's before us right now.

I don't want to get into the details of it, but we've got to have a...

Let's take a look at what the actual details are.

It's more complex than what's being presented.

And so there is a lot of motivation to get a deal, at least in principle as soon as possible.

Not only because, as you mentioned, Kristen, Republicans and Democrats are set to go on

a two-week recess break, sorry, tomorrow, but also because this chaos at airports is really

becoming an untenable situation.

Well, Mel, there are reports that the White House is actually considering bypassing Congress

and invoking a national emergency to unilaterally fund TSA.

But impact, could that have on all of this and on the talks?

So this is an idea that is being discussed, we're told, GOP leaders, they aren't necessarily

advocating for it or pitching it, but they did convey to Republican lawmakers during

a closer lunch today that this is something in the mix.

Another idea being potentially discussed and floated is this idea of Congress passing

a standalone bill to just fund the TSA, that's something Democrat support, and we've also

seen an increasing number of Republicans, particularly some of those Republicans who represent

states that have some of the airports with the longest lines like Texas and Louisiana.

They are increasingly supporting that idea as well, but the White House says at this point

there are no active contingency plans underway and that the best way to get out of this

mess and to fund the TSA ultimately is to reach a deal on DHS funding.

All right, Mel, as you've been talking, we've been looking at live images of the Houston

Intercontinental Airport.

Thank you so much for that reporting.

We appreciate it.

Now is the president and CEO of Airlines for America, Chris Senunu.

He is also the former governor of New Hampshire, Governor Senunu.

Thank you so much for being here.

We appreciate it.

You bet.

So let's start right there.

You bet.

Tough day.

Yeah.

Yeah, let's start with the fact that it's a tough day.

What we're seeing, the fact that lines are stretched for hours, hundreds of TSA agents

have quit since this shutdown began.

The fallout rates have reached past 30% in some places, Governor, I wonder what is your

biggest fear right now, given these shortages?

The biggest fear is that they walk away and don't have a deal.

I mean, it's all about getting a deal done probably.

As Melanie said, the vibe is definitely changing on Capitol Hill.

And you know, one thing I saw on a few of the different tweets, I know Mark Warner

was, his tweet had a different, more positive tone, Senator Thune was talking about some

wording.

When you start talking about wording and a negotiation, that means you're kind of past

the big, the big problems and you're just trying to ease people's mind on.

And that's usually a pretty good sign, but the clock is really ticking.

You know, they want to go on this recess.

Thursday is always the day when a lot of these deals really get, get hashed out.

So we're cautiously optimistic over the next few hours.

My fear is that if whatever's on the table now doesn't get done in the next 12 hours

or so or by Friday morning, we could be back at square zero.

We really could be.

And again, it's only the American public that's getting penalized, right?

It's the aviation system where they have nothing to do with really the issues at ICE and

the Republicans have offered to kind of put the ICE funding aside to meet them in the

middle.

You know, I go back to when I was governor, you always go in wanting X, Y and Z.

But then as you go through negotiations, you do pair, you keep pairing it back and pairing

it back until you find a way to meet in the middle and you have leadership that's transmitting

what's happening to their members.

So, you know, there's good communication there.

The hope is that they're truly on both sides are willing to pair things back.

I obviously, you know, removing Secretary Nome, Mark Wayne Mullin coming in, he's going

to be tremendously good, Secretary of DHS.

We all have a lot of confidence there.

And he knows the other side.

He knows the senators and the Democrats and the processes.

He's worked with them before.

So just that relationship, a hundred-aided degree, positive change.

We think maybe it's what it took to kind of get things over the line.

But look, if there's anything that Congress wants more than passing a bill, it's going

on recess.

They're like a bunch of kids, you know, don't, they don't want you to take away their

recess.

So sometimes being up against the clock can really work for you.

We know that that ticking clock does wonders for a standstill in negotiations.

Let me ask you though, the traveler's obviously who we've been talking to, yes, complaining

about those long lines, Governor.

But broadly speaking, should they actually be concerned about safety as well at our

nation's airports?

Well, anytime there's pressure on the system, you should be, you know, you have to kind

of up your game.

TSA actually has to up their game, not kind of put people through faster, per se, but

just make sure that they're dotting the eyes and crossing the tees, and that's why there's

long lines.

If there was pressure on the system and there weren't long lines, then I'd be really

concerned that they were just kind of rushing people through security, but they're not.

They take the job very seriously.

So no, the system is very safe.

People should continue booking and traveling.

Obviously, especially if you have a morning flight, you got to give yourself more time.

That's where the real push is because typically mornings, you won't have a pressure on the

system at five or six a.m., but now everyone's showing up at two or three a.m., even for

like a noon or one p.m. flight.

So everything's being compounded, even though half the TSA agents are still there, the lines

are getting four, five, six times longer than they really should be because everyone's

piling in into that morning rush.

But they are to your question.

They are making sure that they bring people through the system appropriately.

Here's the good news.

Is that A, we have more positive stories in the past 12 hours that they could get a deal.

B, there is a long term solution.

I mean, here's the, we had the six months ago.

We have this today.

We're going to see this again in September when we have another appropriations battle going

on.

That's the big fear that Americans are worrying about.

There's a solution today that sits on the doorsteps of Congress that says aviation workers,

whether you're air traffic control or TSA, they're going to get paid in a shutdown.

We're not going to hold the American public hostage over our political games.

That could pass.

And hopefully the pressure of what we're seeing today, the reality is making everyone

in Congress kind of rethink saying, you know what, I think it's about time that we don't

keep going through this or, or we can have our political differences and hold something

up.

But it's the American public that, and the traveling public and the aviation system should

not be the big, you know, ones that are put in the penalty box over.

Yeah.

Well, let me ask you because while we're watching all of this play out, we know that the Trump

administration has deployed ICE agents to more than a dozen airports.

How is that playing out?

Do you think that that has been effective?

Has it made things more complicated?

No, it actually has been effective.

I think a lot of folks were just cautiously optimistic what's this going to look like.

But as has been reported and you guys have done a great job with it, they're doing a lot

of, I don't want to say non-essential, but the jobs that don't require the specialized

training, right?

So it could be the exiting of passengers, making sure folks get into the right lanes.

They do have the ability to just check, you know, the first basic checking of an ID as

you enter the lane, things of that nature.

And then those TSA agents go to the more specialized locations.

So the ICE agents, you know, they haven't really been any issues.

They've really been there.

We've heard stories of them holding people's place in line while they go to the bathroom

and all that kind of stuff because they got away in a four-hour line.

So, yes, any manpower you can add to a situation like this is usually going to help and so

far they really haven't been any issues, nothing but positive things so far.

But look, let's hope that we don't put ourselves in this situation again and hopefully by Monday

morning because there will have to be some votes, right, even after a deal's cut.

The Senate still has to vote, the House still has to get involved.

That could, they're already talks about when and how that would happen.

So that could be this weekend or Monday morning.

So we're probably really not out of this for at least a few more days.

Still could be a pretty tough weekend if you're traveling, but if you give yourself

time, there's no reason we won't get you where you need to be.

Well, of course, you just raised the possibility that Congress could pay TSA separately by passing

legislation.

We know there are reports, the Trump administration is proposing to sidestep Congress directly

pay TSA officers.

Is that something that you would support?

I think we only want to see that as a real method of last resort because now what you're

saying is because now what's the incentive to negotiate with the incentive to find common

ground and work across the aisle and you're really setting precedent that any time one

side isn't getting what they want, they go to invoke your national emergency.

So that really only has to be in a crisis situation.

Hopefully we're moving in a more positive direction and won't have to go down that path because

it sets a bad precedent.

Just finally, Governor, what is your message to travelers?

I mean, the wait time at Houston has been four hours in some moments.

What would you say to travelers who are frustrated who quite frankly feel let down by the federal

government, by Congress?

They have everything.

So look, I don't want to be too negative, but I always say fire them all, right?

You know, it's incredibly frustrating dealing with Congress, right?

So they should be frustrated.

You should be upset and you should be picking up the phone and weighing in with your representatives

because every one of them has effectively done nothing up until this point to fix the

problem, right?

Only when, you know, we're at the last minute here, only when they get to go on vacation,

do they finally step up and start moving things?

You should absolutely feel frustrated and the answer is be part of the solution to say,

look, when a bill comes across to say we're going to fund TSA and air traffic control agents,

regardless of the next shutdown, say yes.

The everyone needs to get involved and put pressure on the system.

The polls say 90% of America agrees with that.

Have you ever heard of something that 90% of Americans agree with yet on a bipartisan

level, yet Congress refuses to do?

It's crazy.

So you got to provide that pressure to make sure we're not in this situation again.

We'll get out of it.

It's going to be a little tough for the next few days, but hopefully there's a long-term

solution there and we just got to tell all of our elected leaders, regardless of a party

they're from, just say yes.

It always feels better to say yes.

All right.

Governor Kristener, thank you so much for joining us.

We really appreciate it.

Appreciate your perspective.

Coming up next, Venezuela's captured leader Nicolas Maduro back in a federal courtroom

today in New York for a key hearing as his lawyers push for the Trump administration's

criminal case to be thrown out.

We're live outside the courthouse.

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Welcome back for the first time since his arrangement captured Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro

appeared in court.

Maduro and his wife Celia Flores arguing that the drug trafficking indictment against them

should be dismissed because the government is blocking their ability to pay for a defense.

The judge says he will not dismiss the case, but does have questions about whether Maduro

and Flores would be allowed to use money from Venezuela's government to pay for legal

representation.

The judge also considering a request from federal prosecutors to bar Maduro and

Flores from sharing discovery materials with co-defendants who are still on the loose.

Today's hearing comes nearly three months after Maduro and Flores were captured during

a nighttime raid in Caracas by U.S. forces.

NBC News correspondent Sam Brock joins me now from New York, so Sam bring us up to speed

here.

The judge says he will not dismiss this case, but he did seem open to the case.

Maduro and his wife were making, explain their argument and what the judge said about

it.

The explanation, Kristen right now, is effectively the judge feels like he's in legal nomads

lamp.

In the sense that he doesn't want to dismiss the charges against Nicolas Maduro, but by

the same token, he says, this is a fundamental sixth amendment right to counsel and counsel

of your choice.

And so the federal government has said, well, look, they're trying to access a Venezuelan

sovereign wealth fund, effectively what they've called a slush fund for parties or bad actors

that have been involved and accused of narco terrorism and drug trafficking and plundering

in the words of the prosecutors, money from the Venezuelan people.

And you want to dip into that fund to allow Nicolas Maduro and Celia Flores to defend themselves

in court that really undermines the whole point of U.S. sanctions to begin with.

There's been sanctions, Kristen, against Venezuela since 2019 from Maduro since 2020.

And there's good reason for that.

The judge turned around and effectively said, look, you know, we have a different relationship

with Venezuela now that we used to.

Some of those sanctions have been relaxed, and in fact, there's oil revenue that is

flowing in.

We have a different dynamic with the country, so why would we be making that argument?

But again, it's not like all of a sudden there's no human rights violations in Venezuela

and everything is just hunky-dory, but he almost was suggesting that it's so much better

than it used to be.

So these are some of the legally complex questions that are being wrestled with right now, but

the bottom line is he didn't set a date, he didn't make a decision on this, he just said

he's not inclined to dismiss the charges.

What can he actually do because at one point he asked the prosecutors, can I intervene and

ask the federal government to issue a license for Maduro to be able to access this money?

And they're like, no, you can't do that.

So what does that leave us?

That's the million dollar question.

Well, I know you'll be tracking it closely.

I do want to turn to the other matter that was discussed in court today.

Federal prosecutors requesting to block Maduro and his wife from sharing discovery material

with their co-defendants.

What are prosecutors saying and what was the reaction from the judge there?

Yeah.

That was the request of the prosecutors for a protective order to prevent Maduro and

his wife from sharing material evidence that's uncovered and discovery with the four

other people who have yet to be apprehended by the United States for guilty according

to the prosecutors of using violence and witness tampering in our threat to destroy evidence

that they get their hands on this.

And Judge Hellerstein said, yeah, no, that makes sense.

We should not be sharing that information, but by the same token, talking about it is

different than sharing it.

And this is where he sort of sympathized with the defense on this because the defense

is arguing whether we apprehend these four people or not, their actions are going to

be presented and talked about in court as part of the case over this narco terrorism

charge.

And so how are we not going to be having any sort of communication over the evidence

at hand?

It's again, a sort of threading of the needle, if you will, but the judge did seem inclined

to say you can't share the actual evidence with people that might destroy it or try to

intimidate witnesses that surround it.

So that was the other big component in court today that was discussed.

Interesting, Sam Brock, we will look for an update when they are next in court, we really

appreciate it.

Coming up after the break, spring awakening as Cherry Blossom's peak here in Washington

President Trump's approval numbers hit a new low, according to a brand new Fox News poll.

The panel digs into the numbers and the blossoming politics of it all stay with us on Meet

the Press now.

Welcome back, President Trump's approval rating has hit a new low in Fox News's most

recent poll with 41% of voters approving of the president's job performance and 59%

disapproving.

As part of his own party and some key voting groups begin to drift away from the president,

that's a drop of eight points from a year ago and the lowest mark for President Trump's

second term in Fox News polling.

I'm joined now by our panel, Nicholas Wu, congressional reporter at SEMIFOR.

Megan Hayes, former special assistant to President Biden and Michael Dubkey, former

Trump White House communications director, thanks to all of you for being here.

Nicholas, let me start with you, let's put these poll numbers up so that everyone can see

them.

So this is a new low for President Trump in this poll, basically showing 41% to prove 59%

disapproved.

What do you make of these numbers?

What are the implications coming against the backdrop of the Iran War?

There's a lot of factors right now that are working against the president, whether it's

increasing gas prices, the war in Iran and so on, the return of inflation.

And for Republicans in Congress, many of whom I talked to you, the big question for them

is what they do about November and whether you start to see folks put any distance between

themselves and the administration.

And they'll feel that most acutely in the coming weeks when Congress takes votes on

anything from a war power resolution to rein in the action in Iran or even voting potentially

on money to fund the war.

There could be a number of Republicans who end up opposing both of those.

Michael, it's a great question and let's take a look at the Republicans specifically.

84% approved, 16% disapproved, that's also a new low for President Trump in this poll.

Not granted.

It's an issue.

And probably within the margin of error, and this is where, when I got the poll, I took

a look at it to see where the base was on this.

And I still make this argument that until that number significantly slips and I think

losing three points is not a significant slip.

I think the White House is going to feel fairly comfortable with the direction that they're

going.

But that number goes from 84 and it gets done in the 70s or the 60s now, he's got a real

problem.

So that's what alarm bells start.

Yes.

And then a lot of polls are now trying to separate mega Republicans from traditional Republicans.

And then we really get back to the midterms because Donald Trump's not going to be on

the ballot.

And where do those voters go or do they stay home?

Yeah.

Megan, weigh in on this.

How do Democrats view these numbers?

How are they planning to capitalize quite frankly?

On this moment is Mike is saying this is not necessarily a alarm bell territory yet because

Republicans still are largely unified, the mega bases unified.

Yeah, I think it's going to depend on how Republicans are looking at their members of Congress,

going into the midterms with Democrats, need to stay focused on the economy, but they

also need to come up with solutions.

You can't just say everything Trump is doing is wrong and then not have solutions.

We already understand that some of his decisions have led to things being higher prices with

gas and groceries.

So I just, you know, Democrats need to focus on plans to get those lower and really convince

people in their own districts that they should vote for them because Republicans in the

district are not Donald Trump.

So they, their constituents may still vote for them regardless of Donald Trump's poll

numbers.

And one of the constituents that we watched so closely in 2024 and that we're watching

to see what happens in the midterms, Nicholas Latinos because they did shift.

They helped President Trump to win a second term in the White House.

Take a look at the approval today, 28% approved, 72% to spread that down from 48% in December.

That's actually a big shift.

I mean, we don't typically see that large of a swing in polling.

This is one of the biggest questions for me with the midterms since what we saw in

the 2024 results was that a lot of the president's gains across the country were driven by

minority voters, mostly Latinos and Asian Americans.

But heading into this cycle, a lot of the assumptions that Republicans have baked into

the congressional map are based on shifts in Texas and Florida, especially with redistricting.

And if everything went according to the way it did in 2024, sure, you might see a lot

of Republicans do pretty well in November.

But if shifts end up being like that, these giant menders that were drawn into place,

or even places that Republicans thought were safer with shifts in Latinos might not be

as safe anymore.

Like President Trump was asked if he had concerns about the Latino vote, take a listen to his

response.

You know, I turned that whole thing around, Hispanics like me and I like them.

And it's interesting with Hispanics, when I built the wall, everybody said, oh, that's

going to ruin us for the Hispanic, it was just the opposite.

They know all about immigration and then all about death and crime and they've smart people

and they have common sense.

What do you make of that?

Well, I think the last part of his comment is spot on.

We've seen that in other polling, that Latinos actually do, especially Latinos that are

here legally really do have the same kind of feeling about the wall as other Americans.

The problem that the President and the White House has is that the other makeup of where

ICE has been not going after necessarily hard and criminals, but in Minneapolis and

other locations, that's problematic.

And then to your point, you know, the gerrymander, the mid-season gerrymander was all based

on 2024 numbers.

If that vote isn't there, we got a problem.

Meghan, Democrats don't exactly have glowing numbers.

And their popularity overall is deeply underwater as a party.

So, and I know you're saying, Democrats have to stay focused on affordability on the economy.

What extent do they need to stay focused on?

Here are our plans as opposed to, this is our plan again, this is why we're opposed to

Trump.

Yeah, I think they absolutely have to stay focused on their own plans.

But I think that the Democratic Party is more of a bottom-up organization and so their

local leaders and their communities are winning races.

They've won 28 special elections since election day in 2024.

They, a woman just won a House, the in Maralogos, in Trump's backyard who we won by like 10

or 14 points.

And we saw it in Texas and Tarant County.

We saw a massive swing.

So the people are turning out.

So I think that some of these different constituency groups might stay home where Democrats and

Independents are going to turn out in droves where other people just might stay home.

They might not, its poll numbers might be good in certain areas.

They might not.

Yeah, but she still have a problem with the Democrats.

I mean, just looking at Democrats don't like Democrats.

Yeah.

And that shows up.

And so, I mean, they're underwater with their own party.

And at some point, you know, on the federal level for the office holders, Democratic office

holders who have to deal with Donald Trump, that's going to be a problem.

Oh, absolutely.

And I don't think that Democrats are going to have this like sweeping majority.

I think they will win back the House, but I don't think it's going to be this wide margin.

I think they're going to have a sliver of a margin, but I do think that this is going

to be an incumbent.

This is a referendum on the incumbents.

I don't think it's like work for Democrats.

This is, this is against the incumbent.

I, yes.

I want to take a small turn and talk about these landmark social media cases that came

in this week in New Mexico in California, basically finding these giant social media

companies liable for harming children online.

Nicholas, what do you think the implications are for Congress?

Is there going to be more pressure to pass bipartisan legislation to enhance security?

This could certainly give some more momentum to the different pieces of legislation that

are going through Congress right now.

There's COSA.

There's the Kids Act, both of which now would try to rein in social media companies as

it relates to children.

But now, as with so many other things in Congress right now, there's a big split between

the House and Senate on them.

So, you know, it's up to them to figure out how to reconcile that.

Megan, what do you think?

Do you think that this issue is going to become a bigger issue politically, that it's going

to become something that candidates start to talk about on the campaign trail as much

as any of the other issues we're talking about?

Absolutely.

And I also think the reforms on AI and how you regulate AI is going to become a really

big thing.

And if I was an AI company, I would be taking a look at these lawsuits and I know it's

not apples to apples and how what they can do to get ahead of some of these lawsuits

because they are also impacting teenagers or spend several examples of that.

And I would really take a look at that because they are next to be sued and they are going

to be the next targets for Congress.

Like in so many ways, this is a bipartisan issue.

I mean, this is an issue that parents care about all across the country.

Right.

And you've seen that, though, in Arkansas, the governor Sanders outlawing cell phones

in schools.

So, I mean, on the Republican side and the Democratic side, you've had similar pieces

of legislation.

So, it is a bipartisan issue.

All right, guys.

Really appreciate your being here today.

Thank you very much.

We do want to turn now to our beloved friend and colleague Savannah Guthrie, who is opening

up about the desperate search for her mother and the anguish she is personally battling

every single day in her first interview since her mother Nancy's disappearance nearly two

months ago.

Savannah told NBC's HotaCopy her dear friend about the moment she and her family realized

something was terribly wrong.

In the very early moments, you know, Annie and Tommy were saying, this isn't, this isn't

that case that you are used to where someone wanders off.

She can't wander off.

My mom, her, her, she was in tremendous pain.

Her back was very bad, you know, she was trying to on a good day.

She could walk down to the mailbox and get the mail, but most days not.

So there was no wander off.

And the doors were wrapped open.

Yeah.

And there was blood on the front doors.

And the ring camera had been being dropped.

And so we were saying, this is, do something.

This is not, okay, yeah, this isn't something is very wrong here.

Savannah also says she fears her mother was taken because of her.

She is recounting part of a conversation with her brother that was deeply painful.

I just said, do you think because of me, I said, I'm sorry, sweetie, but yeah, maybe, but

I knew that.

You did.

I hope not.

I mean, we still don't know, honestly, we don't know anything.

We don't know anything.

So I don't know that it's because she's my mom and somebody thought, oh, that girl,

that lady has money.

We can get, make a quick buck.

I mean, that would make sense, but we don't know.

But yeah, that's probably, which is too much to bear.

To think that I brought this to her bedside, that it's because of me, and I'd say I'm so

sorry, mommy.

I'm so sorry.

I'm sorry to my sister and my brother, and my kids, and my nephew, and Tommy, and my

brother.

Just like, like, so sorry, I'm so sorry, if it is me, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry.

And we are all just so heartbroken for Savannah and her whole family, and we are just keeping

all of our prayers for her.

You can see more of HOTA's interview with Savannah tomorrow on the Today Show and on NBC

News Now.

And please, if you have any information about Nancy's disappearance, call the tip line,

the FBI tip line.

You see it right there, 1-800-CALL-FBI, please reach out if you know anything.

We are back tomorrow with more Meet the Press now.

There's more ahead on NBC News Now.

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