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0:34

it's Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin and

0:36

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un sign a

0:38

new pact, tightening the

0:40

ties between two of America's top adversaries,

0:42

as the White House faces a deepening

0:45

divide with Israel and the threat of

0:47

a widening war in the Middle East.

0:50

Plus, it's too close to call in a

0:52

bitter primary battle in Virginia, and

0:55

the margin keeps getting tighter as

0:57

the candidate backed by former President

0:59

Trump and former Speaker McCarthy tries

1:01

to oust the powerful chair of

1:03

the House Freedom Caucus. And

1:05

tens of millions of Americans are

1:07

facing excessive heat warnings embracing for

1:09

days of scorching temperatures, as the

1:11

season's first official tropical storm is

1:13

churning in the Gulf of Mexico,

1:16

threatening Texas with heavy rainfall

1:18

and dangerous flooding. Welcome

1:25

to Meet the Press

1:27

Now. I'm Gabe Gutierrez

1:29

in New York, wishing

1:32

everyone a happy Juneteenth on just the fourth time ever

1:34

we're celebrating this day as a federal holiday. The

1:39

National Museum of African American History

1:41

and Culture reminds us that the

1:43

historical legacy of Juneteenth shows the value

1:45

of never giving up hope in uncertain

1:47

times. We'll

1:52

have much more later this hour on the significance

1:54

of the holiday and the

1:56

celebration of freedom that it commemorates. But

1:58

we begin with S.J. Escalating challenges

2:01

abroad as president biden grapples with

2:03

growing rifts in our alliances while

2:05

our adversaries Appeared to be

2:07

in lockstep the biden administration

2:09

has described America's commitment to israel

2:11

as ironclad But there are new

2:13

cracks in that alliance once again

2:15

today with the white house denying

2:17

Reports it canceled a high-level meeting

2:20

with israeli officials a white

2:22

house official tells me that the meeting in

2:24

question was never finalized And so nothing was

2:26

canceled According to a

2:28

report in axiast president biden's top

2:30

advisors were quote enraged after prime

2:32

minister nett. Yahoo released a video

2:34

statement yesterday Accusing the

2:37

administration of withholding weapons in

2:39

ammunition the administration quickly pushed

2:41

back We generally do

2:43

not know what he's talking about We

2:46

just don't we were very clear about there being

2:48

one one shipment that

2:51

we're having continue to have construction

2:53

conversations With israel

2:55

about nothing else has been paused

2:57

There's been no change in our posture which our

3:00

posture is again to make sure that israel has

3:02

what it needs to defend itself across across

3:04

these many threats It

3:07

comes as the concerns of a wider war

3:09

in the mid-east continued escalate prime minister nett.

3:12

Yahoo warning his government today That

3:14

israel is already at war on

3:16

several fronts and the IDF says

3:18

it has approved operational plans for

3:20

a potential offensive into Lebanon and

3:23

The leader of Hezbollah is issuing new

3:26

threats of his own today saying Hezbollah

3:28

will fight with quote No rules should

3:30

the clashes escalate into a broader war

3:33

the concerns of escalating conflicts and the

3:35

burgeoning threat from our adversaries Was

3:37

also on full display in North Korea

3:39

today Where Kim Jong-un rolled

3:42

out a literal red carpet for

3:44

Russia's president Putin and Pyongyang? The

3:46

two leaders signed a new pact vowing to

3:49

come to each other's defense if either country

3:51

were attacked Putin touted

3:53

the agreement calling it a breakthrough document

3:56

US officials are increasingly concerned about the

3:59

deepening relations between between the two countries

4:01

and what it could mean for Ukraine.

4:03

As North Korea continues to provide

4:06

weapons and munitions to Russia as

4:08

their stockpiles dwindle. For more

4:10

on those meetings in North Korea today,

4:12

NBC News International correspondent Janice Mackie-Freyer filed

4:15

this report. Russian

4:18

President Vladimir Putin got a warm

4:20

red carpet welcome from Kim Jong-un.

4:22

There was even a moment of

4:24

awkward debate over who would be

4:26

first to get into Kim's luxury

4:28

car, which incidentally was a gift

4:30

from Putin. Throughout the state visit,

4:32

the two remained side by side,

4:34

projecting unity as they walked past

4:36

soldiers, horses, groups of children. After

4:39

two hours of talks, they signed

4:41

a strategic defense treaty that provides

4:43

mutual assistance in case of aggression

4:46

against either of the two countries.

4:49

Putin said the agreement lifts their ties to

4:51

a new level as they're both looking to

4:53

strengthen their partnership in the face of sanctions

4:55

from the West. Kim pronounced

4:58

North Korea's unwavering support for

5:00

Russia in the war with

5:02

Ukraine, and Putin thanked him

5:04

for that. The question is,

5:06

what comes next? North Korea

5:08

has been accused of providing

5:11

Russia with ammunition and missiles.

5:13

The worry is that more

5:15

deliveries will follow this visit.

5:17

Moscow, in return, can provide

5:19

food, energy, and other aid,

5:21

as well as the sort

5:23

of technology that could help

5:25

North Korea boost its missile

5:27

and nuclear programs. All of

5:29

this is raising alarms for

5:31

the U.S. and the West, because

5:33

this strength and alliance is not

5:36

only fueling the war in Ukraine,

5:38

but instability on the Korean Peninsula.

5:40

The State Department has already said

5:42

that North Korea has shipped 11,000

5:44

containers of

5:47

munitions in recent months to aid

5:49

Russia's war effort, and this visit

5:51

and all its fanfare will do

5:53

little to ease those concerns. White

6:00

House correspondent Monica Alba and NBC News

6:02

International correspondent Matt Bradley in Jerusalem. Thank

6:04

you both so much for joining me.

6:06

Monica, let's start in North Korea. How

6:09

is the administration reacting to this new

6:11

defense pact? Well, Gabe,

6:13

they say that they have really

6:15

been warning about this deepening cooperation

6:17

between North Korea and Russia for

6:19

some time. So they're really casting

6:21

this as not surprising, but all the

6:23

while concerning. And they're really saying

6:25

and emphasizing that, of course, the

6:27

U.S. will continue to support Ukraine

6:29

and allies in the Indo-Pacific in the

6:32

face of this. And they really

6:34

are saying that it shouldn't necessarily

6:36

be underestimated, that this is something,

6:38

of course, that people should take seriously,

6:40

but it's something that the White

6:42

House has really been keeping an

6:44

eye on. And they always like

6:46

to really put this in the larger

6:49

concept and context of look at

6:51

who President Putin's allies are, look

6:53

at who Kim Jong-un's allies are,

6:55

and then look at the rest of

6:57

the world and view this as

6:59

they are isolated in what they

7:01

can do together versus the way

7:03

larger international community putting pressure on Russia

7:05

to end its war in Ukraine.

7:07

Gabe. Yeah, Monica, picking up on

7:09

that point, the U.S. already has

7:11

a slew of sanctions on Russia

7:13

and North Korea, as you said. Both

7:16

countries increasingly isolated on the world

7:18

stage. So is there anything the

7:20

administration can really do to try

7:22

and stop this partnership from growing? And

7:24

we've seen in the past that

7:26

sanctions also may not always be

7:28

as effective as they are in

7:30

their messaging for what the U.S. and

7:32

the Biden administration would like to

7:34

convey, but nonetheless, the administration will

7:36

continue to evaluate and says that

7:38

they could be coming down with further

7:41

sanctions and they're always looking to

7:43

those things. But this is really

7:45

about just trying to present these

7:47

very, very differing worldviews and also trying

7:49

to raise this larger question and

7:51

idea that they say that President

7:53

Biden during his term in office

7:55

so far has tried to restore

7:57

some stability to the world's And they

8:00

always put this in the context

8:02

of what could happen if he

8:04

loses reelection and a former President

8:06

Trump who has had at times sympathetic

8:08

words for both President Putin and

8:10

for Kim Jong-un at times what

8:12

that could mean for that and

8:14

they like to They say

8:16

remind Americans of the stakes of that so

8:18

they bring that back into the fold as

8:20

well But that will simply be determined by

8:22

the voters in November Gabe Yeah, and

8:25

Monica, let's turn to Israel where once again, we're

8:27

seeing this rift right between the White House and

8:29

Prime Minister Netanyahu It looks

8:31

like the White House at least publicly it says

8:33

it was caught off guard by this video statement

8:35

from the Prime Minister Yesterday, what do we know

8:38

about this meeting that was reportedly canceled? Yeah,

8:40

and it's rare to have the White

8:42

House say literally bottom line We have

8:44

no idea what the Prime Minister of

8:46

Israel is talking about and saying that

8:48

there was no such meeting scheduled. There

8:50

are normal communications and

8:53

conversations between Israeli and US officials

8:56

Throughout the course of this week and almost

8:58

every single week obviously since the war began

9:00

in six octo since October 7 So the

9:02

White House is saying that there are always

9:04

these sort of back channel communications That shouldn't

9:06

be surprising But it's not like there was

9:09

some major meeting that now needs

9:11

to be rescheduled and the fact that

9:13

really you had secretary Blinken very clear

9:15

in his messaging when he came back

9:17

from that recent trip putting this in

9:19

the context of saying yes There was

9:21

one shipment of weapons that was put

9:24

on hold when President Biden had talked

9:26

about this larger Potential shift in policy

9:28

and threats to withhold military aid but

9:30

that there hadn't been anything since then

9:32

the US has been very clear on

9:34

that saying that they don't know what

9:36

Prime Minister Netanyahu is referring to when

9:39

he's trying to imply in those comments

9:41

that there were more that there has been

9:43

other halting of Shipments or

9:45

aid or weapons that Israel is asking

9:47

for it really just speaks to how

9:49

fraught this relationship is At

9:51

a really critical point in the war where we just don't know

9:53

also What the true status is

9:56

of the hostage talks and potential ceasefire deal,

9:58

okay, and Matt I wanted to I'm

14:00

gonna be what you said we need

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Brought to you by Argenics. Welcome

14:59

back. We're following breaking news. The first tropical

15:01

storm of the season has formed in the

15:03

Gulf of Mexico. Tropical storm

15:05

Alberto formed this morning over the western

15:07

Gulf. The National Hurricane Center says the

15:10

storm could bring heavy rains and flooding

15:12

to parts of Texas and northeastern Mexico

15:14

through tomorrow. This is

15:16

a scene in Galveston, Texas, which is already

15:18

dealing with some of the effects of Alberto.

15:21

Texas Governor Greg Abbott has already ordered

15:23

the state's Division of Emergency Management to

15:25

begin 24-hour operations. NOAA,

15:29

the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,

15:31

has predicted what it calls an

15:33

extraordinary hurricane season, with as many

15:35

as get this 25 named storms. MC's

15:39

Guad Guad,

15:44

what are you seeing out there? Gabe,

15:48

we've had the rain come and go.

15:50

Heavy rain that started at about noon.

15:52

We've seen the water level rise here

15:54

in the Corpus Christi Bay.

15:56

Now, this is the most protected part of

15:58

the city. the seawall

16:01

here that protects the downtown area. But

16:03

the marina to my right has roadways

16:05

that connect downtown to the marina. Those

16:07

roadways, I mean, you can't even see

16:09

it behind me, but behind those boats,

16:11

there is a street and that's been

16:13

closed down for a few hours. Of

16:16

course, vehicles can no longer go over

16:18

to the other side. There's also some flooding on

16:21

the north end and the North Beach area of

16:24

Corpus Christi. And of course, there's

16:26

that flood watch in effect for

16:28

the entire area. Again, the heavy

16:30

rain will hit for about half

16:32

an hour and then it'll come back

16:34

20 minutes later. It's coming in waves

16:36

as we know that the storm is

16:38

in this direction down east of Mexico.

16:40

So for now, authorities here are vigilant.

16:42

Now they've shut down a lot of

16:44

the streets asking people to stay away

16:46

from those flooded areas, especially in their

16:48

vehicles because of the danger of driving

16:50

through those areas. You never know how

16:52

deep it can be. Even walking around

16:54

some of these areas, I'm on the

16:56

steps in the seawall here, but there's

16:58

more steps. You take one step

17:01

and it just gets really deep and it's the

17:03

same on streets. So it's difficult to tell how

17:05

deep areas are as this

17:07

storm comes through. Now you mentioned the

17:09

resources that have been set aside by

17:11

the governor of the Texas Division of

17:13

Emergency Management. They have about 20 agencies

17:15

that are ready to help the cities

17:18

and the counties, including the National Guard,

17:20

depending on what happens in the next few

17:23

hours and overnight when the storm comes through

17:25

here, Gabe. Guadamangas Live for

17:27

us in Corpus Christi, Texas. Guad, thank you.

17:29

Now tens of millions of Americans are

17:31

also dealing with dangerous and potentially deadly

17:33

heat. More than 70 million

17:35

people are under some form of heat advisory

17:38

or warning today. In about half of the

17:40

country is experiencing temperatures in the 90s. Ahead

17:44

of the official start of summer,

17:46

tomorrow dozens of environmental and healthcare

17:48

groups are urging FEMA to recognize

17:50

extreme heat and wildfire smoke as

17:53

major disasters. That designation would

17:55

allow FEMA to provide additional funding to communities

17:57

to help cope with the effects of the

17:59

virus. I'm joined now

18:02

by Jean Su. She's a senior attorney

18:04

with the Center for Biological Diversity and

18:06

lead author of that petition to FEMA

18:09

to recognize heat as a major disaster.

18:11

Thank you so much for joining us.

18:15

So how would the

18:17

funding for heat-related emergencies even be

18:19

allocated? Yeah.

18:22

So funding for heat is,

18:25

it has to be allocated according

18:27

to states that actually ask for

18:30

the disaster declarations. And

18:32

what we actually saw in the COVID

18:34

context is that presidents Biden and Trump

18:36

actually declared emergencies for COVID and then

18:39

invited all states to apply for COVID

18:41

funding. And that's exactly what we're trying

18:43

to ask for with these extreme heat

18:45

issues as well. As you've already said,

18:48

there are, it's 82%

18:50

of the US population right now

18:52

is experiencing a surge of over 90

18:54

degrees Fahrenheit. And we are just at

18:56

the beginning of the summer. So I

18:58

think many states will be in a

19:00

position to ask for that extreme heat

19:02

and have that financial help accordingly. So

19:05

Jean, who would determine what constitutes

19:07

a heat-related emergency? Because as you

19:09

know, 100 degree temperatures in

19:12

say New York City is a lot

19:14

different than 100 degrees in Phoenix. Absolutely.

19:17

So FEMA currently defines extreme heat

19:19

as 90 degrees under the heat

19:22

index. And so what that

19:24

is as a heat index is a mixture

19:26

of both temperature as well as humidity. So

19:28

that's one of the first thresholds to cross.

19:31

But on top of that, you have to

19:33

look at what communities are now and how

19:36

they can cope with it. So

19:38

there are communities, particularly in the Northeast

19:40

right now, who are not accustomed to

19:42

this heat and who have no air

19:45

conditioning whatsoever. They're going to be different

19:47

from another state that has had heat

19:49

for a little bit longer and that

19:51

have those cooling needs. So

19:53

every single jurisdiction has to

19:56

be evaluated in terms of

19:58

what needs they have. from

20:00

the federal government, what needs that their

20:02

state can actually supply and what more

20:04

they need from the federal government for

20:06

help. So Jean, the

20:09

wheels of government don't always turn

20:11

so quickly. Has FEMA indicated whether

20:13

it's receptive to your petition? So

20:17

FEMA has indicated that they are

20:19

open to our legal interpretation, which

20:21

is that the Stafford Act, which

20:23

is the animating statute of FEMA,

20:26

doesn't prevent extreme heat, major disaster

20:28

declarations from happening. Having said that

20:30

though, we're in a second

20:32

year of record-breaking heat. And last year,

20:35

there was also a huge push from

20:37

Congress folks in different states who have

20:39

all asked FEMA for this type of

20:42

help. So we've made

20:44

this new effort again to hopefully

20:46

get emergency help this season

20:49

right now, and

20:51

hopefully start erecting the type of

20:53

cooling centers, air filtration systems, rooftop

20:56

and community solar that will allow

20:58

electricity to keep running during rolling

21:00

blackouts due to grid infrastructure breaking

21:03

down for extreme heat. These are

21:05

the types of infrastructure that will

21:07

actually save lives, and if built

21:10

now, can give us many, many

21:12

years of return. And

21:14

Jean, is your petition a sort of

21:16

concession that it's time to focus more

21:19

on mitigating the effects of

21:21

climate change and less on actually combating

21:23

climate change? So

21:25

it is both. Actually mitigation, one

21:27

of the main aspects

21:30

of that is getting rooftop

21:32

and community solar and storage on

21:35

homes and on low-income buildings and

21:37

public buildings as well. That

21:40

is for two reasons. One is because

21:42

it's actually resilient. As I said before,

21:44

our grid is breaking down due to

21:46

extreme heat right now, leading to tons

21:48

of rolling backouts and utility shutoffs. So

21:51

that type of electricity keeps the lights

21:53

on, the electricity on for cooling and

21:55

air filtration systems. And at

21:58

the same time, it's combating climate. change

22:00

because we're switching off of

22:02

fossil fuel sources to renewable

22:04

energy. So those

22:06

are all part of the puzzle of

22:09

our necessary energy transition. We

22:12

have to get off of fossil

22:14

fuels. That's still the number one

22:16

point of intervention to stop the

22:18

climate change from raging even more.

22:21

But for the meantime, as we adapt to

22:23

it, we actually need those clean energy sources

22:25

as well to keep people alive. Gene,

22:28

obviously it's easy to talk about this now

22:30

when so many people around the country are

22:32

facing heat alerts. But do you worry that

22:35

the urgency of this petition will dissipate when

22:37

fall and winter come? That

22:40

is always a political issue and a concern.

22:44

But I think what we're trying to make

22:46

the point of is you can't just allow

22:48

these huge seasons of death and

22:50

unprecedented death to run their course and not

22:53

do anything about it. FEMA actually has a

22:55

saying that every dollar for mitigation. It gives

22:57

you six dollars in return if you're going

22:59

to put it into into money terms. And

23:02

what we're saying right now is we need

23:04

to address this now. People are dying at

23:06

an unprecedented rate now. So

23:08

we're hoping that this type of pressure can

23:10

actually lead to actual change now

23:12

for infrastructure that can really last

23:14

several years and save lives. Gene,

23:18

Sue, the lead author of that petition. Thank

23:20

you so much. Thanks. And

23:22

up next. Up

23:24

next, it's not looking good for

23:27

Bob Good. The Republican incumbent congressman is

23:29

locked in a dead heat with his

23:31

Trump back primary challenger with a current

23:34

margin of just over 300 votes. Well,

23:38

the latest on that nail biter and the

23:40

potential political fallout. Next, you're watching Meet the

23:42

Press Now. Stay with us. Welcome

23:52

back. If it's Wednesday, voters voted

23:54

somewhere yesterday, which means today we

23:56

have some results and one key race is

23:58

still too close to. In

24:01

Oklahoma, the Republican chair of the

24:03

powerful House Appropriations Committee, Tom Cole,

24:05

fended off a self-funded challenger, the

24:07

Associated Press projects. And

24:10

in Virginia, NBC News projects

24:12

Eugene Vindman, a key figure

24:14

in Donald Trump's first impeachment

24:16

as the winner of the

24:18

Democratic primary for the seat

24:20

vacated by Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger,

24:22

who is running for governor next year.

24:25

But last night's most closely watched

24:27

race was in Virginia's fifth district,

24:29

where incumbent Republican Bob Goode faced

24:31

a challenge from Trump-backed state senator

24:33

John McGuire. And

24:36

as at this hour, NBC News has

24:38

still not projected a winner in that

24:40

close primary, with the latest numbers show

24:42

McGuire and Goode less than a percentage

24:44

point apart. Joining me now

24:47

live is NBC's Ally Vitali, who's been following

24:49

this race closely for us. And

24:51

Ally, we knew this race was going to

24:53

be interesting, given both Donald Trump and former

24:55

Speaker McCarthy's involvement, but we'll be expecting it

24:57

to be so close. Definitely

25:00

not. And in my conversations, Gabe, with sources

25:02

before I went to the district last weekend

25:04

and then since, this is really a surprise.

25:07

They expected to see, at least in the

25:09

loose polling that we saw, the polling that

25:11

was being done by the campaigns, the expectation

25:13

was that McGuire would win and would do

25:16

so early in the night and by a

25:18

pretty sizable margin. Instead, you're looking at it

25:20

there right on the screen, a 313 vote

25:22

difference. It's

25:25

only changed by a few dozen votes, narrowing the

25:27

margin over the course of the day. And

25:30

even last night, as I was sitting

25:32

at home and watching these results come

25:34

in, like I'm sure all the other

25:36

cool kids watching this program, just watching

25:38

this margin continue to stay so tight

25:40

and so close, it really was a

25:42

surprise. Again, you're right. Even though we

25:44

knew it was going to be interesting,

25:46

this margin tells a different story,

25:48

I think, than the one that we

25:50

thought we were going to be talking

25:52

about today, which is McGuire specifically getting

25:54

Trump's endorsement. It should have

25:56

been that that swayed a large swath

25:58

of conservative voters in this Ruby Red District,

26:01

that's the way that Trump likes to

26:03

see his endorsement play out. Instead, we're

26:05

basically watching a Trump endorsement put him

26:07

in a statistical tie and

26:09

a race that's not yet been called. Well,

26:12

Ali, you're definitely a cool kid to me.

26:14

So if it remains this close, if

26:17

it's still this close, do we expect

26:19

the losing candidate to just request a

26:21

recount? Probably, especially

26:23

because the rules here are not that it

26:25

goes automatically to a recount, but if it's

26:27

within one percentage point, they can request a

26:29

recount. And that's one of the things that

26:31

we're watching here. Bob Goode, for his part,

26:33

even though he's only trailing by 300 votes,

26:36

is effectively saying let's have patience. We're

26:39

waiting for mail-in ballots to be counted.

26:42

Let's see if we can still have a

26:44

chance here. McGuire, though, last night at his

26:46

election night party, all but declared victory. Again,

26:48

that's not what our results have. This is

26:50

still a race that's too close to be

26:52

called. But it's interesting to see

26:54

that, you know, in an instance where both of

26:56

these folks have denied the results of the past

26:58

elections, in this one they're saying, all right, let's

27:00

pull our jets, let's count all the votes. And

27:03

Ali, this is getting a lot of national attention,

27:05

obviously, because the question is, what does this say

27:08

about Trump's influence? You've been down there in Virginia.

27:10

Is there a chance that his endorsement is what,

27:12

at least at the moment, pulled McGuire over the

27:14

edge? It could be.

27:16

McGuire thinks that he was meeting people who

27:18

said, well, I don't know who you are,

27:20

but if Trump likes you, I will vote

27:23

for you. That might have been what put

27:25

McGuire within striking distance here. But then you

27:27

talk to Bob Goode and he thinks that

27:29

the local vibe on the ground, his stance

27:32

and his position as an incumbent is enough

27:34

to put him over the edge. I think

27:36

that what we're seeing here is that

27:38

it is really hard to knock off an

27:41

incumbent. That's always been the reality. And you

27:43

hear it from challengers all the time.

27:45

But typically, when a challenger has Trump's

27:47

backing, it makes a huge difference. Here

27:49

it's really interesting to see the fact

27:51

that it might not have. Cool.

27:54

Good. Ali Vitale, thank you so much for joining us.

27:56

Please put that on my car, Ron, going forward. I will. Put

27:58

that on your business card. Thank you, Ali. I

28:00

really appreciate having you on. And joining me now

28:03

is our panel, former Homeland Security

28:05

Secretary Jay Johnson and Susan Depersio, Republican

28:07

strategist and an NBC News blood-quen analyst.

28:09

Thank you both so much for joining

28:11

me here in New York. And Susan,

28:13

I want to start with you. Should

28:16

we view the closeness of this race? What does

28:18

it say? As I was talking about with Ali,

28:20

is this really about the power of a Trump

28:22

endorsement or is Virginia just very hard to predict?

28:24

What do you make of it? I

28:27

do think it's only as close as

28:29

it is because of Donald Trump's endorsement.

28:32

I am willing to guess that Donald

28:34

Trump saw the same polling that Ali

28:36

heard about a few weeks

28:38

ago that showed that McGuire was ahead. Because

28:40

Trump, that's usually how he thinks, his endorsements

28:42

on races he knows nothing about or candidates

28:45

he does not know. He wants to make

28:47

sure no matter what, he's with the winner.

28:49

So my guess is, saw the polling, said,

28:51

all right, and I don't like that good.

28:54

He voted, you know, he wanted Ron DeSantis.

28:56

He went to Ron over me. Yeah,

28:58

pettiness that no good, vengeance

29:01

comes to mind. I will say that

29:03

good is the only person I know

29:05

at this point that can unite Kevin

29:07

McCarthy and Donald Trump. They

29:09

both endorse his opponent, but

29:13

it is close, but never underestimate

29:15

the power of incumbency. Well, Jay,

29:17

if this is a test of Trump's influence,

29:19

is a close race good or bad for

29:21

him? Well, first of all,

29:23

I think Susan is absolutely right. He does

29:26

pick his fights. He's

29:29

not gonna jump in for a long shot. First

29:34

of all, she's right. I mean,

29:36

good made two powerful enemies by

29:39

supporting DeSantis and by going

29:41

against Kevin McCarthy. What

29:44

I find very strange about this, normally

29:46

the Republican in a primary is concerned about

29:48

a challenge from their right and a Democrat

29:50

in a primary is concerned about a challenge

29:52

from their left. Good is

29:54

chairman of the House Freedom Caucus,

29:57

and he's facing a challenge. The fact

29:59

that... as close as it is given

30:02

his position in the House really

30:04

does say something probably about his weakness as

30:06

a candidate. And it's not about having a

30:10

choice between a moderate Republican,

30:12

let's say, that's what we

30:14

usually hear in Republican primers.

30:16

These are two extremists, as

30:18

extreme as they get. But

30:20

so then does this race, is it informative about

30:22

the direction of the Republican Party as a whole,

30:24

or is it just you know one wing of

30:27

the Republican Party? What do you think? Well,

30:30

I mean it's you can't

30:32

chart the Republican Party by

30:34

ideology anymore. It's all you

30:37

know Trump and those

30:39

few left who are less than enthusiastic

30:42

about about Trump. And

30:44

so you know as long as Trump's a force

30:46

he dominates that party. It's as simple as that.

30:49

But I think it shows an electorate that's

30:51

willing to forego tradition, if

30:53

you will, like looking for someone, oh he's

30:56

been my Congress member, he has sway in

30:58

DC, versus like they just

31:00

want to go with in Republican

31:02

politics whoever Trump says. That's actually a very

31:05

good point. Tom Cole, who's

31:07

I think about to become chairman

31:09

of the House Appropriations Committee, that

31:12

is one of the most powerful positions in

31:14

the House Representatives, barely beat

31:16

off an attack. If you're a constituent

31:19

of Tom Cole's, you want to be

31:21

a constituent of the chairman of the

31:23

House Appropriations Committee. So it's

31:26

hard to explain. Jay, I want

31:28

to get your opinion

31:30

or analysis on some new NBC

31:32

News reporting. The election

31:35

denialism of the last cycle was

31:37

in part driven by misinformation and

31:39

disinformation. But that new NBC News

31:41

reporting shows that the Biden administration

31:43

has no firm plans to alert

31:45

the public about deepfakes or other

31:47

false information during the election unless

31:49

it is clearly from foreign actors.

31:52

Is that a mistake? It's

31:56

tough, obviously. Whether it's

31:58

foreign actors or domestic actors,

32:01

we need to call

32:03

out deepfakes, generative

32:06

AI that is

32:08

false in its depiction of candidates

32:11

and what they say. We

32:14

cannot limit ourselves to just foreign

32:16

actors. A

32:18

government does have to be careful about

32:20

trying to regulate speech,

32:22

trying to deem something

32:25

to be fake news. When

32:27

I was in office, I'd always think about how

32:30

an authority might be misused by

32:33

a different administration. And so there's a

32:35

line to be drawn between trying

32:37

to prohibit it or branding it as fake

32:39

news versus informing the

32:41

public, hey, this is deceptive. This

32:43

is a deepfake. This

32:45

is a cheap fake or it's AI at work.

32:49

Well, you just mentioned several things,

32:51

deepfake, deepfake, disinformation. Susan, who decides?

32:53

In some cases, it's really obvious,

32:55

right? In other cases, who

32:58

decides what is true? And

33:01

if the government wades into politics here, I believe

33:04

there's someone quoted in the article saying

33:06

that it's difficult sometimes for the FBI

33:08

to make that determination. How

33:11

do we make that distinction? And it

33:13

is difficult because now we have social media,

33:15

right? So it used to be if there

33:17

was a deepfake that could be proven, then

33:19

the FEC would go over and attack the

33:22

NBC or whatever network was putting it on,

33:24

Fox or whoever, and they would

33:26

have to be pulled from the airwaves

33:28

or face consequences. That doesn't exist anymore.

33:31

So with social media. So I

33:34

think they'll have to find some type

33:36

of intent other than like one political

33:38

party going in after another if it's

33:40

the FBI investigating versus some

33:43

bad actors who are just trying to

33:45

turn the election upside down. But

33:47

it's really hard to tell because a cheap

33:49

fake, which we saw all over

33:51

the airways in last week, is

33:54

is a really. A cheap

33:56

fake is not false. A cheap fake

33:58

is manipulating. a

34:00

legitimate film of

34:03

something. Or, you know, another

34:05

form of cheap fake, I suppose, is

34:08

I always knew whether a story

34:10

about me, when I was in government, was

34:12

gonna be bad or good, based simply on

34:14

the photograph they used. Okay, so okay, there's

34:16

gonna be a bad story. And

34:19

so, you know. Not just the headline,

34:21

of course, just the foot. Using the

34:23

film of Biden at the D-Day event,

34:27

and making it look like he's lost, that

34:29

was legitimate. It

34:32

was a real film, it was a real video. I

34:34

think it's up to the political

34:36

arena to call that kind of

34:38

thing out. Well, before I let you two go, Jay,

34:40

I'm glad you're here, because I wanted to talk about

34:43

the executive action that President

34:45

Biden announced yesterday at

34:47

the border. This comes

34:49

two weeks after he tightened asylum rules,

34:51

and then yesterday he announced that half

34:54

a million undocumented spouses of

34:56

U.S. citizens could be shielded

34:58

from deportation, thanks to

35:00

this executive action. As a former DHS Secretary,

35:02

what's your reaction to that? I

35:05

think it's worthwhile doing. It's

35:10

gonna be challenged in the courts, and

35:12

the outcome all depends on

35:14

forum shopping. Pro-enforcement

35:16

lawsuits are brought in the Brownsville

35:19

Division of the Southern District of

35:21

Texas, and pro-migrant,

35:23

pro-humanitarian lawsuits are brought in

35:25

San Francisco or federal court

35:28

in Brooklyn. And so it's

35:31

gonna depend on where

35:33

this is brought and how it works its way up through

35:36

the courts. As a policy

35:38

matter, I think it is

35:40

a good idea to protect the spouses of

35:42

U.S. citizens who've been in this country

35:44

10 years, haven't committed any

35:47

crimes. It's a

35:49

mixed family arrangement. Very often the

35:51

children are U.S. citizens, so from

35:53

a policy perspective, it

35:55

makes sense. It emulates DACA,

35:57

which was something we created.

36:01

2012 and it emulates DAPA, which is

36:03

something I created in 2014, which

36:05

was challenged in the courts and

36:07

we lost in the Supreme Court by

36:09

a tie, 4-4, because there was a

36:11

vacancy at the moment. But can you

36:13

appreciate how difficult the politics of this

36:16

has become? Because also executive action could

36:18

be undone after the November election, besides

36:20

what happens in the courts,

36:22

right Susan? Absolutely. I mean that's why

36:24

governance by executive order is the worst

36:26

form of governance. But it's the only

36:28

thing you can do when you

36:31

have a divided house. I will say this,

36:33

I think the Biden rollout of their immigration

36:35

policy has been horrible. I mean it's just

36:38

been scattershot. They should have come out bold,

36:40

state of the union, put

36:42

it all out there, be strong about it. But

36:45

now it looks like they're responding to every constituency

36:48

and that it's not really formulated. Susan

36:50

DePercio, thank you so much. Jay Johnson,

36:52

really appreciate you joining me here in

36:54

New York. And after the break, the

36:56

joy of Juneteenth will dig into the

36:58

history of the holiday and the continued

37:00

fight for freedom and equality. Here's

37:02

a moment from the vice president's remarks, speaking

37:05

on the importance of Juneteenth at the White

37:07

House's celebration. As

37:09

we celebrate Juneteenth, together

37:11

we are reminded of

37:14

the promise of America, a promise

37:17

of freedom, liberty

37:19

and opportunity, not

37:22

for some, but for all.

37:25

In many ways, the story of Juneteenth

37:28

and of our nation is

37:30

a story of our ongoing fight

37:33

to realize that promise. Welcome

37:40

back. Today is Juneteenth, the

37:42

holiday marking the day enslaved African

37:45

Americans in Galveston, Texas learned they'd

37:47

been freed after the end

37:49

of the Civil War and more than two

37:51

years after Abraham Lincoln signed

37:53

the Emancipation Proclamation. 2024

37:56

marks Juneteenth's fourth year as a

37:58

federal holiday and as many... celebrate

38:00

with parades and gatherings, NBC's Zinc

38:02

Le Essamuah has more on how

38:05

it became recognized nationally and the

38:07

remarkable woman who helped make it

38:09

happen. These

38:12

walls in Fort Worth, Texas may look

38:14

like a black history museum, but it's

38:16

actually the home of Opal Lee. And

38:18

Miss Opal Lee, you are 97 years

38:21

old, right? Many consider you

38:23

the grandmother of Juneteenth. How

38:26

does that title sit with you? Hey,

38:28

I don't mind titles. For

38:32

years, Lee advocated for Juneteenth to

38:34

become a federal holiday, inspired by

38:37

her own family celebrations. We

38:39

go to the fairground for

38:41

the Juneteenth celebration. There'd

38:44

be music and food. But

38:47

one year when Lee was 12,

38:49

the annual celebration turned to terror.

38:53

My parents had just bought a

38:55

house and my mom had it

38:57

fixed up so nice. But

39:01

people started gathering. What kind of

39:03

people? All kinds. It

39:05

was a white mob. The paper says

39:08

there was 500 of them. And

39:11

my dad came home with a gun and the

39:13

police were there and told

39:15

my dad, if you bust

39:17

a cap, we'll let this mob

39:19

have you. They did

39:22

despicable things. The

39:24

terror did not quell to her resolve. In

39:26

2016, Lee made headlines at 89 years old,

39:30

pledging to walk from Fort Worth to

39:32

Washington, D.C. The journey,

39:34

two and a half miles each day.

39:36

To symbolize the two and a half

39:39

years, Black Texans waited for the message

39:41

of emancipation to reach them. There's

39:43

a little lady in

39:46

tennis shoes who was walking

39:48

from Fort Worth to D.C. 1,400 miles. Somebody

39:52

would take notice. And

39:54

they did. In 2021, the

39:56

White House calling Lee, President

39:58

Joe Biden, making... Juneteenth a

40:00

federal holiday. How

40:03

did you feel? I

40:07

don't know how to express it. I

40:09

was all I was thankful.

40:13

In May, we was awarded the Presidential

40:15

Medal of Freedom. I'm

40:17

struck by how much history

40:20

lives on your walls, but

40:22

also in your stories. What

40:25

do you ultimately want your legacy to be?

40:28

That there was an

40:30

old lady who

40:33

tried to get it over to everybody.

40:36

That we are one people. What

40:40

a remarkable woman, and we thank St. Clay

40:42

Essamoff for that report. Joining

40:45

me now is Keith Mays, professor of

40:47

Black Studies at the University of California

40:49

at Santa Barbara. He's

40:51

also the author of The

40:53

Unteachables, Disability Rights and the

40:55

Invention of Black Special Education. Professor,

40:58

thank you so much for joining us. Thank

41:01

you for having me. Listening

41:04

to St. Clay's reporting there, what do you make of

41:06

the reminder of just how recent this history

41:08

is, beyond the fact that federal

41:11

recognition didn't come until 2021? Absolutely.

41:16

I think when you look at the

41:18

totality of the history of Juneteenth, you

41:21

can't help but to recognize

41:25

openly and all the other

41:27

Black grassroots activists that

41:29

kept the holiday alive at the

41:31

community level. That's important

41:34

because in many ways, the

41:37

recognition of all Black celebrations,

41:39

they live with

41:41

the participation of community folks

41:44

who give life to the holidays every year.

41:47

And then we see the

41:50

recognition by either city

41:52

councils, counties, states

41:54

who begin to embrace the

41:56

holiday after Black communities

41:59

across the country. countries have kept it alive.

42:01

So I think it's a wonderful thing.

42:03

I think most

42:06

I think Texas was the first state to recognize

42:08

that in 1980. Many

42:10

of the state recognitions across the country gave

42:13

really only began in the 21st century. And that

42:16

led up to the federal recognition

42:19

and the signing of the

42:21

June 15th law into law, June 15th law

42:23

by President Biden in 2021. So it's been

42:25

a long history, a long legislative history. And

42:29

so Professor, many people have today off,

42:32

of course, being a federal holiday now and as

42:34

they plan to celebrate, is there

42:36

an appropriate way to celebrate?

42:38

So do you see this more of

42:40

a somber day of commemoration or a

42:42

day of celebration? It's

42:45

both as a day of celebration, it's

42:47

a day of memory, public memory, historical

42:49

memory, understanding the significance of the holiday,

42:52

putting the holiday into its

42:55

appropriate historical context. And

42:57

as your piece, leading piece

43:00

demonstrated, it is

43:03

about the formal ending of

43:05

slavery. But

43:07

we also have to understand that

43:09

Juneteenth should talk about the

43:12

material realities that African Americans face.

43:14

So on the one hand, it's

43:16

great to celebrate the history of

43:19

black America. But we also

43:21

have to at least begin to

43:23

think about how these commemorations, these

43:26

perennial celebrations can address some of

43:28

the longstanding issues that face black

43:30

folks in this country. And, and

43:33

Professor, to that point, we are, of

43:35

course, in an election year, what do

43:37

you see as the importance of this

43:39

holiday in this current political moment, particularly

43:41

given the deep partisan divisions we've seen?

43:45

That's a really good question,

43:47

because, again, Juneteenth is part

43:50

of American history. It

43:52

is central to black American history. And

43:54

so the battles that we are engaged

43:56

in around black

43:59

history in the the teaching

44:01

of it in classrooms. It

44:03

is really important for us to

44:05

understand that Juneteenth is

44:07

appropriate to understand, to embrace, to celebrate,

44:09

and to teach our children

44:11

and the children of this country who

44:14

Black America is and was and should

44:16

be going forward in the future. It

44:19

will become part of the electoral

44:21

process in terms of the partisan

44:23

nature about politics today, but we

44:25

have to insist on Juneteenth

44:28

and other Black celebrations being

44:30

embraced and being part of

44:32

the larger American conversation. Not

44:35

only Black America and its

44:37

political future, but also about

44:39

who we are as a country and

44:42

as American citizens. We must embrace Juneteenth.

44:45

Professor, I want to play some of what

44:47

Vice President Harris said at a Juneteenth celebration

44:49

in Georgia yesterday. Let's take a listen. Now

44:53

that it is a federal

44:55

holiday, let's also incorporate into

44:57

our tradition, our new traditions,

45:00

that we will think of Juneteenth of

45:02

a day for us to have a

45:04

call to action to register folks to

45:07

vote. Let's think about Juneteenth as a

45:09

way that reaffirms our commitment to

45:12

holding on to our freedoms and

45:14

rights, especially in this environment where

45:16

there is a full-on attempt to

45:19

attack fundamental freedoms and rights. And

45:22

Professor Brevard, let you go. What kind

45:24

of action do you want to see

45:27

from politicians and lawmakers? I

45:30

want to see the action that

45:32

began after the tragic death of

45:35

George Floyd. In many ways, Juneteenth

45:37

is an unfinished revolution

45:40

because one can

45:42

argue that if

45:44

it wasn't for the murder of George Floyd, we

45:46

may not have had a federal holiday that

45:49

was signed by President Biden

45:51

in 2021. But also,

45:54

we have other unresolved legislative

45:56

battles to face. Voting rights

45:58

is one police accountability

46:00

is another. I would like to see these

46:03

holidays galvanize us to action

46:05

and pass some of the

46:07

most important pieces of legislation

46:10

that we have to pass in

46:12

order for us to be the

46:15

country that we've always been. We're

46:17

talking about rollbacks politically and

46:19

if Juneteenth and any other

46:21

black holiday can address these

46:24

issues, can forestall the

46:28

regression of civil rights gains that

46:30

it's worth celebrating, embracing and fighting

46:32

for. This is the year to do it in 2024. Professor

46:36

Keith Mays, thank you so much for

46:38

this important conversation on this day. Thank

46:41

you. And still to

46:44

come, new reporting on how parents

46:46

and teens are reacting to the

46:48

Surgeon General's push to slap warning

46:50

labels onto social media platforms as

46:52

families face mounting challenges online. You're

46:54

watching Meet the Press now. Welcome

47:04

back. The Surgeon General's call this week

47:06

for tobacco-style warning labels on social media

47:09

platforms has led some parents and teens

47:11

to have serious conversations about the effects

47:13

and dangers of social media

47:15

on young people. My colleague Yasmin Vasudian

47:17

met with a group of parents and

47:20

teens to talk about the issue. Here's

47:22

part of their conversation. Do

47:25

you feel like it would be helpful

47:27

if there was this kind of Surgeon

47:29

General warning, as you see, for instance,

47:32

on a box of cigarettes, warning

47:34

on the effects of the

47:36

overuse, for instance, of social

47:38

media? This is a

47:41

great opportunity to look

47:43

at strong

47:45

suggestions, the advice of our

47:47

nation's top doctor, to

47:50

include a label and

47:52

relief to enhance, to

47:54

lift this up for federal legislation. I

47:56

definitely think it would. I think having

47:59

these warning signs more than being

48:01

for the kids. Honestly, I think they're for the

48:03

parents. And they enable the parents to say, look,

48:05

even the top physician in the land says

48:08

this is dangerous. Like, I am going to

48:10

say no. And here, this is a reason,

48:12

this is a justification for it that is

48:14

something that you can understand. I think the

48:16

sooner we can get the warnings out, the

48:19

better for everybody. Miles, do you think it

48:21

would affect your behavior on social media? It

48:25

depends what it says. It would make

48:28

me think more about what I'm doing, which

48:30

could lead me to taking

48:32

different actions. But I don't think directly I'd see that.

48:35

And I'm like, oh, I don't think I'm going to

48:37

watch this because I saw that. But it would probably

48:39

make me watch for shorter. It would make me think

48:41

more about what I'm doing and being aware about what's

48:44

happening. I don't think that it would stop

48:47

me from going into the

48:49

social media app. But I do think that

48:51

it would make me think twice about what

48:53

the effects are. Maybe even

48:57

courses in school could be more helpful, because

48:59

I think that educating

49:01

people on what those effects are would

49:04

be very impactful, rather than just knowing

49:06

there are effects. I do think that

49:08

the label should be implemented. I don't

49:10

think it should be in fine print,

49:13

because nobody reads fine print. But

49:16

yeah, I think it would be. So big across

49:18

the screen. Yes. As

49:20

big as you can get. It's

49:23

an honest conversation. Nobody reads

49:26

a fine print. Yes, exactly. Yasmin joins

49:28

me now. Especially kids. Thanks so much

49:30

for bringing us this important conversation. Do

49:32

you think parents and kids

49:34

are having this conversation independent

49:36

of the Surgeon General's op-ed?

49:38

Or did that op-ed

49:41

kind of turbocharge that conversation?

49:43

I think they've been having the conversation. And

49:46

I found that to be really interesting

49:48

in the conversation I have with these

49:50

three mothers and their children, because they

49:52

had been talking about the use of

49:54

personal devices and social media in the

49:56

lead-up to allowing them access to social

49:59

media. that they talked about the pitfalls,

50:01

the dangers of social media, right? Things

50:03

to do, things not to do, what

50:06

they'll be seeing online, what they have access

50:08

to as well. And also

50:10

about a sense of self. Like in listening

50:12

to these children, a part of me wished

50:15

I had that type of self-awareness at 12

50:17

and 16 years of age

50:19

that these kids had, because they

50:21

could understand the difference between reality,

50:23

right? You and I sitting there at this

50:26

table versus what we see on

50:28

social media. So there's kids who talk to you, they

50:30

seem to get it that there was a problem here

50:33

with regards to mental health. But how much

50:35

pressure are these kids feeling on

50:37

a day-to-day basis to be on social media? A

50:39

lot. And one of the girls that

50:41

I was speaking to talked about how for a long

50:43

time her mom didn't let her get on social media,

50:45

right? So she would be at the lunch table, for

50:47

instance, sitting around with a group of friends, and they

50:49

would be talking about some TikTok that they had watched

50:52

that day. And she felt like she was out of

50:54

the conversation. She had FOMO, as she said. And

50:56

there was a lot of pressure to get on social media. And

50:58

she wasn't shited for it. She wasn't made fun of about it.

51:01

But she felt pressure to get on there because she wanted to

51:03

be a part of the conversation. At the end of

51:05

our talk, I said, what are the good and bad things about

51:07

social media? And one of the things that came out of

51:10

it being positive was community, right?

51:13

And then the bad things, obviously, were

51:15

the mental health tool that they take

51:18

in this comparative culture on social media.

51:20

So many things for parents to consider yesterday. Yeah.

51:23

Missu-gi. Missu-gi. Sorry. There we go. Thank

51:25

you so much for bringing it to us. And we're

51:27

back tomorrow with more Meet the Press now. I'm Gabe

51:30

Gutierrez. The news continues with Halle Jackson right

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