CHUCK TODD:
This Sunday: Putin's brutal war.
PRES. VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY:
The Russian war crimes machine should be denied its capacity to act.
CHUCK TODD:
Some 50 dead, many more wounded, in a Russian attack aimed at women and children hoping to escape harm.
ALEXANDER KAMYSHIN:
This case shows that they tried to kill civilians.
CHUCK TODD:
This as more atrocities come to light in areas the Russians have evacuated.
UKRAINIAN MAN:
I didn't expect that they are so heartless.
CHUCK TODD:
Ukraine's foreign minister says his agenda is simple.
DMYTRO KULEBA:
It has only three items on it. It's weapons, weapons and weapons.
CHUCK TODD:
How much more help will Ukraine get from western allies? I'll talk to Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and to National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan. Plus –
KETANJI BROWN JACKSON:
We've made it.
CHUCK TODD:
Ketanji Brown Jackson confirmed as America's first Black female Supreme Court justice.
KETANJI BROWN JACKSON:
In my family it took just one generation to go from segregation to the Supreme Court of the United States.
CHUCK TODD:
Jackson winning three Republican votes after a parade of Republican attacks.
PRES. JOE BIDEN:
In the face of it all, Judge Jackson showed the incredible character and integrity she possesses.
CHUCK TODD:
Also inflation fears.
NEW JERSEY MAN:
It's kind of scary to think about it’s going to get worse. It's pretty bad already.
CHUCK TODD:
I'll talk to someone who predicted inflation was coming and now says a recession is likely next year, former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers. Joining me for insight and analysis are: Anna Palmer, co-founder of Punchbowl News, former Republican Congressman Carlos Curbelo, Kimberly Atkins Stohr, senior opinion writer for The Boston Globe and NBC News correspondent Josh Lederman. Welcome to Sunday. It's Meet the Press.
ANNOUNCER:
From NBC News in Washington, the longest-running show in television history. This is Meet the Press with Chuck Todd.
CHUCK TODD:
Good Sunday morning. It's difficult to put into words the extent of Russia's calculated cruelty, but perhaps the Russians have done it for us. On Friday, near that train station where the Russians bombed civilians who were simply trying to flee the war from Ukraine's east, was a missile fragment with lettering reading, "For the children." Was that a signal from the Russians? It's not clear. What is clear is that some 50 people were killed, civilians trying to escape the war, and Russia making sure the war found them anyway. Ukraine's President Zelenskyy called this an evil that has no limits as he begged, cajoled, and demanded that western allies do more to stop this slaughter. Yesterday, Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson met with Zelenskyy in Kyiv, as Britain and Slovakia announced new military aid for Ukraine. Even as Russian troops have pulled back from the north, Zelenskyy says the Russian horrors that shocked the world in the town of Bucha are worse yet in other towns now reoccupied by Ukrainian forces. In a moment, I'm going to talk to Ukraine's foreign minister and I'll ask National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan whether the United States needs to do more now to help stop the slaughter. But we're going to begin with NBC News foreign correspondent Molly Hunter. She is in Kyiv, where life has begun to return to, I guess, a new normal. So, Molly, describe Kyiv right now and watching the prime minister from Britain walk the city streets with Zelenskyy. What are you seeing in Kyiv?
MOLLY HUNTER:
Chuck, good morning. Look, an extraordinary video to watch President Zelenskyy and the British prime minister walk through the streets of Kyiv. There is a little bit of normalcy. There are some cafés reopening. There are some bars reopening. But certainly the city does not look anything like it did two months ago. Two quick points about that Boris Johnson visit, I think it makes the big point, first, Kyiv is safe. This is a capital city that, just a few weeks ago, many predicted would fall into Russian hands. Well, here's the British prime minister walking the streets with Zelenskyy, not wearing body armor. And the second really is that Zelenskyy is doing what he has been doing so well, Chuck, is in bringing the Western attention to this country, keeping Ukraine at the top of the agenda. And having a prime minister, like Boris Johnson, walking around the streets of Kyiv does just that.
CHUCK TODD:
It's important to keep the West engaged in all of this, no doubt. This new Russian general that's been appointed, who oversaw their forces in Syria, this seems to point to a more brutal Russian attack in the East. What more can you tell us, Molly?
MOLLY HUNTER:
That's exactly right. This is news that kind of broke overnight. Alexander Dvornikov. He is apparently one of Putin's favorites. He was in charge in Syria. And really, Chuck, what we know is that he was the one who called in many of the airstrikes and is accused of calling in many of the airstrikes on residential buildings in Syria, on hospitals, accused of atrocities, of carrying out Russia's scorched earth policies. This happens, and we are told, this really fills a power vacuum, that apparently Russia has been missing a key battlefield commander. And this comes as this shift focuses to the east of the country. Now, what we are hearing from U.K. defense officials though is that part of this push to the East, Russia still doesn't have as many troops as they actually need on the ground, Chuck. So, a lot of the troops that pulled back from the north and the northwest, where I am around Kyiv, they're not ready to go back in. So, we're told this morning by U.K. defense officials, that they are literally recruiting people that have been discharged in the last ten years, in addition to troops from neighboring countries. So, a lot of the success in the East is going to depend on whether Russia can really show up with the number of people that they actually need.
CHUCK TODD:
Perhaps they're more vulnerable than anybody realizes. Molly Hunter, in Kyiv for us. Molly, thanks. And joining me now from Kyiv is Ukraine's foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba. Foreign Minister Kuleba, welcome to Meet the Press, sir.
DMYTRO KULEBA:
The pleasure is mine.
CHUCK TODD:
Let me start with yesterday's visit by the British prime minister, Boris Johnson. The symbolic walk through the center of town, the importance of the symbolism, but also what promises were made that you hope are carried out.
DMYTRO KULEBA:
Well, I would say it's not only about symbolism. It's also about sending a message of confidence in Ukraine, in Ukrainian leadership, and in the Ukrainian Army that is capable of defending the capital. And it's true to say that Ukraine won the battle for Kyiv. Now, another battle is coming, the battle for Donbas. And of course we are preparing to it, working with our partners to get all necessary weapons and really basically everything that one needs to win a battle. And the United Kingdom has been taking the lead in working with us on the issues which we need the most, such as armored vehicles or shore to vessel weapons to contain the Black Sea fleet of the Russian Federation.
CHUCK TODD:
You know, earlier when this war began, the United States made a distinction between defensive weapons and offensive weapons. And you yourself even said you didn't understand the difference, "We're defending our country. Any weapons here is being used to defend." But now that our Pentagon is saying, "Ukraine can win this war," what weapons do you need that we're not sending to help you win this war?
DMYTRO KULEBA:
I don't think this difference that you mentioned still works for the United States. The United States has done more than any other country in the world to provide us with necessary weapons. However, some countries in Europe, like Germany, they still think in terms of defensive/offensive. So we have to work with them more on this. The problem with supplying weapons to Ukraine is that sometimes it comes too late. If we didn't waste a lot of time on discussing the issue of defensive against offensive, and what Ukraine needs and what Ukraine doesn't, then we would have had – we would have been in a different position now, a much stronger position. So another issue that we have is the timeline, the timeline of supplies. And when I met with Secretary Blinken in Brussels a couple of days ago, I made that point clear. I appreciate and we, Ukraine, appreciate everything you are doing. But the timeline is crucial. Every day matters. And things must be supplied on a daily basis to strengthen our defense capabilities. We're working with the United States on a range of issues, including things like heavy air-defense systems. And, the supply of – and also, I would like to mention that the United States are helping us in our relations with third countries to get weapons from them, weapons which we need. So this is a mutually beneficial cooperation.
CHUCK TODD:
Do you think your military alone, with all of these military supplies, can defeat the Russians? Or if you are a member of NATO you'd be asking for more NATO troops?
DMYTRO KULEBA:
Well, if we were a member of NATO, this war wouldn't take place. The strategic mistake that was made in 2008 by Germany and France, who rejected the efforts of the United States and other allies to bring Ukraine in, is something that we are paying for. It's not Germany or France that are paying the costs for this mistake, it's Ukraine. So the reality is that we know how to fight. We are capable. I believe it will not be an exaggeration to say that Ukraine proved to have one of the strongest armies in the world, maybe the second strongest after the United States. Not in terms of numbers but in terms of the battle experience and capacity to fight. And – but all we need is state-of-the-art weapons of all kinds supplied to us. So we proposed to the West and to NATO the same deal. You provide us with everything that we need, and we fight so that you don't have to step up in the fight – into the fight when Putin decides to test Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty and attack one of NATO countries.
CHUCK TODD:
The attack on the Kramatorsk train station. When you see what they did, and the targeting of civilians, it begs the question: I know you want peace, the president has talked about peace. Can you sit down and make peace with the Russians?
DMYTRO KULEBA:
It’s – listen, it's extremely difficult to even think about sitting down with people who commit or excuse or find excuses for all these atrocities and war crimes, who have inflicted such horrendous damage on Ukraine. But I understand one thing: If sitting down with the Russians will help me to prevent at least one massacre like in Bucha, or at least another attack in Kramatorsk – like in Kramatorsk, I have to take that opportunity. Whatever I feel, if I have the chance to save a human life or a village, a town from destruction, I will take that chance.
CHUCK TODD:
The Russians apparently are appointing a new general, Aleksandr Dvornikov. And the assumption is he's going to do what he did in Syria, target more civilians, that this is going to be more brutal in the East. What message – what should NATO do to help you in response to this? And does this signal to you that the Russians want to fight you for months, if not years?
DMYTRO KULEBA:
Well, let's go back to the very beginning of the war when Russia's plan was to defeat the entire Ukraine in something like three days. And so now they have – this plan failed, obviously. And now they have another plan. But we have our plans. And history will demonstrate whose plan will prevail. So whatever Russia is planning to do, we have our strategy and this strategy is based on the assumption that, on the confidence that we will win this war and we will liberate our territories. Time is important, but we don't calculate how much time – how much time it will take.
CHUCK TODD:
The national security advisor to President Biden, Jake Sullivan, is listening to our interview right now. He's going to be on this program right after we conclude our talk. Do you have any message or question for him?
DMYTRO KULEBA:
Well, I take the opportunity to send regards to Jake Sullivan, whom – with whom we met in Warsaw a week ago when I was received by President Biden. And we had a meeting with Secretary Blinken and Austin. I think that the level of mutual understanding and the dynamics of our relationship, I mean the United States and Ukraine, can bring a lot of good to the world and to Europe. So I think that we should – I believe that we should open all doors. And Ukraine is ready to be a reliable, strategic partner of the United States. But we need everything that Jake is perfectly aware of as soon as possible to put an end to this war, to restore the country, and to strengthen the Euro-Atlantic security.
CHUCK TODD:
Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba in Kyiv today. Mr. Foreign Minister, appreciate you coming on. Thank you.
DMYTRO KULEBA:
Thank you.
CHUCK TODD:
And as I mentioned, joining me now, who was listening, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. Jake, welcome back to Meet the Press.
JAKE SULLIVAN:
Thanks for having me, Chuck.
CHUCK TODD:
Look, I want to give you a chance right now to respond. Obviously, when a country is at war, the weapons never come fast enough when you've got people coming and a hot shooting war. What can the United States be doing right now to accelerate the process? Because clearly, whether it's President Zelenskyy in his interview with the Associated Press, or what you heard just there from the foreign minister, none of it is coming fast enough for them.
JAKE SULLIVAN:
Well, when you're in the middle of a war where you're being attacked by your neighbor, by Russia, in the brutal and vicious ways that Russia is attacking Ukraine, it only stands to reason that you'd be asking for things to come as rapidly as possible, that they get there yesterday. And we are doing everything we can as the United States, working around the clock to deliver our own weapons. And as the foreign minister just said, organizing and coordinating the delivery of weapons from many other countries so that Ukraine has what it needs. Weapons are arriving every day, including today. And this week, along with Chairman Milley, I spent two hours on the phone with the chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and President Zelenskyy's top aide. And we went through every weapons system that Ukraine is seeking, in priority order. And we have developed plans to deliver those as rapidly as possible. Some have been delivered, others are in the process of being delivered. And we will continue to work aggressively to get Ukraine what it needs to strengthen its hand on the battlefield and to strengthen its hand at the bargaining table.
CHUCK TODD:
A few weeks ago, you made a distinction between defensive weapons and offensive weapons. And it was interesting to hear the foreign minister say that he actually thought the United States was no longer seeing it through that prism. But he did say he thought other members of the alliance were, and he singled out Germany. First of all, is there a distinction anymore in your mind? And if there is, is there a case to be made that it's time to give Ukraine offensive weapons so they can win this war?
JAKE SULLIVAN:
So given the nature of the battle, how things have shifted and adjusted and what the Russians have done, frankly, killing civilians, atrocities, war crimes, we have gotten to a place in the United States, and across many members of the NATO alliance, where the key question is, what does Ukraine need and how can we provide it to them? And that is the work that we are doing every day. And I’d just like to point out, Chuck, something very important, which is that the foreign minister just told you Ukraine won the battle of Kyiv. Kyiv stands despite Russia's effort to take and conquer the capital, and it stands chiefly because of the bravery and skill of the Ukrainian fighters, but it also stands because American weapons and Western weapons were in their hands, stopping tanks, shooting down aircraft and turning back the Russians, and we are proud of that contribution, but we are not resting until we have given them everything that they need to be able to succeed in their aims.
CHUCK TODD:
Is our posture now we're going to do whatever it takes to help Ukraine win this war? Because I say it that way – I would – a month ago I don't think – there was a thought, how do we end the violence and get to the negotiating table? How do we get peace? And I know peace is still a priority here. But if the Russians aren't moving from the East, and this appointment of a more brutal general seems to indicate they're in for the long haul, is our policy unequivocal on this? We're going to do what it takes to help Ukraine win this war and push Russia out of the East?
JAKE SULLIVAN:
Our policy is unequivocal that we will do whatever we can to help Ukraine succeed. And it will be Ukraine, President Zelenskyy and the democratically elected government of Ukraine that determines what that success constitutes, which means that we need to keep giving them weapons so that they can make progress on the battlefield. And we need to keep giving them support -- a military support and strong economic sanctions to improve their position, their posture at the negotiating table. But at the end of the day, what we want to see is a free and independent Ukraine, a weakened and isolated Russia and a stronger, more unified, more determined West. We believe that all three of those objectives are in sight, can be accomplished and we will do what it takes to support the Ukrainians in their effort to help bring those objectives about.
CHUCK TODD:
Are we now going to do what it takes to get them fighter jets if that's something they need? I know that had been up in the air before. Has that changed?
JAKE SULLIVAN:
So the only thing the United States has expressed reservations about is sending fighter jets from a U.S. air base in Germany into contested airspace over Ukraine, flying them from point A to point B. If a country in Eastern Europe wants to supply MIG-29s or other forms of Soviet aircraft, we have said that is their sovereign decision. The only thing we have said we would not do is make that transfer from Germany. From our perspective though, the weapons that the Ukrainians are really focused on right now, that the chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces walked through with us, are weapons that, if they’re not in American stocks, and many of them aren't, we are working very hard to acquire them, source them from other countries, get them delivered and into the hands of Ukrainian fighters. That’s an ongoing process, day by day. And the whole of the U.S. government, under the direction of President Biden, is working overtime to make that happen as rapidly as possible because we agree with the Ukrainian foreign minister, time is of the essence. And we are in a race against time and we intend to win that race.
CHUCK TODD:
On the punishment front of the Russians: 19 different countries this week expelled diplomats of one flavor or another. We have not. By some estimates, there's some 400 Russian diplomats circulating in this country. I know that there are some that are concerned that maybe these folks will be helping with a cyber-attack or helping with other ways to punish the West or to retaliate against the West. Why haven't we sent some of these folks out of the country and expelled them?
JAKE SULLIVAN:
Well, first of all -- first of all, Chuck and sorry for not letting you finish the question. We have, in fact, expelled 12 Russian diplomats, and many of these countries that announced actions this week were catching up to the previous American announcement of expulsions. Now, of course, we're always on the lookout for anyone connected to espionage or spy services and we will not hesitate to take further action to declare persona non grata, to expel, to kick out further Russian quote unquote diplomats if we determine they’re spies. But, but we did actually take an expulsion action just a few weeks ago.
CHUCK TODD:
Sure, 12 is not 400.
JAKE SULLIVAN:
No. I mean, if you look at the way that we do this, every year, we take an assessment of who we believe is operating undercover of one of the Russian spy services. If we make a determination that someone's here, not as a diplomat, but as a spy, we kick them out, and we'll continue to do that.
CHUCK TODD:
It was quite the symbol to see Prime Minister Boris Johnson walking the streets of Kyiv with President Zelenskyy. It raises the question, are we going to see President Biden in Kyiv?
JAKE SULLIVAN:
President Biden doesn't currently have any plans to travel to Kyiv. But what I will tell you is he sits in the Oval Office and in the Situation Room on a daily basis, organizing and coordinating the world when it comes to the delivery of weapons. And you heard from the Ukrainian foreign minister, no one has given more than the United States. And the United States is at the center of the effort to deliver from other countries. And organizing and coordinating the world to take actions like the one last week, to kick Russia out of the Human Rights Council. So President Biden will stay focused on that and make sure that he is showing his support and solidarity to the Ukrainian people through those kinds of decisive actions.
CHUCK TODD:
Would you rule it out? If there was a reason to go, he would get there?
JAKE SULLIVAN:
President Biden has been to Kyiv before. He looks forward to going to Kyiv again. But we're not currently planning a trip.
CHUCK TODD:
Jake Sullivan, the national security advisor, appreciate you coming on and sharing the administration's perspective. When we come back, we're going to switch gears. Larry Summers predicted inflation was coming, and here it is. Now the former treasury secretary is saying, "Look out for a recession next year." I'll talk to Larry Summers next.
CHUCK TODD:
Welcome back, it's likely that if on Inauguration Day someone had told President Biden that more than a year later he'd have unemployment at 3.6% and dropping, wages and the stock market on the way up, and the housing market humming, he probably would've taken that deal. But there was the fine print: inflation. It's at a four-decade high, and that has Americans sour about the economy overall. On our latest NBC News poll, adults disapprove of President Biden's handling of the economy by a nearly two-to-one margin, and it only has continued to grow. One person who saw inflation coming is former Clinton Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, who is now also predicting the U.S. is likely to fall into a recession next year if things don't change quickly. And Larry Summers joins me now. Mr. Summers, it's good to see you. Thanks for coming on.
LARRY SUMMERS:
Good to be with you.
CHUCK TODD:
Let me start with what did you see that so many others missed? You know, we've seen predictions of inflation over the last 40 years. You're the one that seems to have gotten the timing of this hit right. What did you see?
LARRY SUMMERS:
I saw that we had a tidal wave of demand between zero interest rates from the Fed, a huge outpouring of saving that people had pent up from the Covid period, and massive fiscal policy from the December bill and then the stimulus bill that was passed. It just seemed to me that demand was going to overheat, we were going to have labor shortages, the bathtub was going to overflow, so to speak, and the inflation rate was going to pick up. And I think that did happen. And then things that I certainly didn't see, and I don't think others could have seen, the Ukraine war and all of the interferences in supply associated with that have created a bit of a perfect storm.
CHUCK TODD:
I'm curious, is it possible that, with Covid and all the disruptions that caused, did we have basically two choices: a recession in the moment or throw money at the problem and risk inflation? Were we sort of stuck between two bad choices here?
LARRY SUMMERS:
I think we had very, very difficult choices. And I think people with good faith made choices, and I think – while I disagreed with them at the time – I think the choices reflected the consensus of many outside economists. I think we were too slow to pick up on how rapidly the economy was recovering. And therefore, we injected more demand into the economy, both in terms of deficits and in terms of monetary policy than looks today to have been the right amount. Some of it was we were buying an insurance policy that we turned out not to have needed, just like I bought life insurance last year, and in a sense, I wasted my premiums. But in a sense, it was necessary to spend that money. But I was concerned last year that we were injecting too much demand into the economy, given all the configurations. And I don't think it was a sound strategy to create as big labor shortages as the labor shortages that we did create.
CHUCK TODD:
So, a recession, is it inevitable or is there a way to avoid it?
LARRY SUMMERS:
Nothing is inevitable or certain in economics, Chuck. The painful fact, though, is that historically when we've had inflation above 4% and we've had unemployment below 4%, essentially always, since World War II, that's been followed by a recession within the next two years. Perhaps we will be fortunate and there will be sufficiently rapid adjustments in commodity prices and other bottlenecks that will make that not happen. Perhaps the Fed will be extraordinarily skillful, but I think the – and lucky. But I think the Fed has a very, very difficult job. I think we can make a contribution by doing things like the strategic petroleum reserve release that holds down where oil prices would otherwise go. I think it's a time when we need to be looking at tariff reduction, because potentially that could take a percentage point off of the CPI. I think we need to look wherever we can at buying things more inexpensively when the federal government is purchasing. We need to look at immigration flows so as to address this labor shortage. But it's not going to be easy, starting from where we are.
CHUCK TODD:
You believe most of the work probably has to be done by the Fed. But if for some magical reason the administration could get something passed with this Congress, and of the agenda, and you've been a supporter of most of the Build Back Better agenda, what should be focused on that actually could reduce inflation and avoid a recession?
LARRY SUMMERS:
I think probably the most important thing, ironically, is some of the revenue increases that the president has talked about. Be very substantial benefits to closing a whole range of tax loopholes. –
CHUCK TODD:
What kind of tax? –
LARRY SUMMERS:
– And enabling Secretary Yellen's --
CHUCK TODD:
– You don't like the billionaire tax. What kind of tax would it be?
LARRY SUMMERS:
You're right, I don't like the billionaire tax. But I do like the provisions that really go after corporations shielding money in the Cayman Islands, shielding money in Ireland. We negotiated a historic agreement to enable the world to tax global corporations, which it was losing the ability to do. And that agreement could fail if we don't do our part to implement the U.S. measures that are part of it. And we sacrifice a lot of revenue and pump up a lot of demand. So I think that is a very important set of steps. I think it's important to remember that over the longer term, the president's infrastructure bill is going to increase the capacity of the economy. And that will be a favorable development. But over the nearer term, I think the concentration on revenue is probably – is probably most important. For other reasons, I'd very much like to see the green investments that the administration is proposing, which, over time, will reduce our dependence on fossil fuels.
CHUCK TODD:
Larry Summers, there's a lot more I would love to be asking you, but I am limited by the amount of time I have today. I really appreciate you coming on, sharing your perspective. In short, the Fed and interest rates, and possibly some taxes, might be the best way to get the soft landing. Mr. Summers, always a pleasure, thank you.
LARRY SUMMERS:
Thank you.
CHUCK TODD:
When we come back, was Ketanji Brown Jackson's Supreme Court confirmation the last big success President Biden is likely to have before the midterms? Panel is next.
CHUCK TODD:
Welcome back, panel is here. Anna Palmer, co-founder of Punchbowl News, NBC News correspondent Josh Lederman, who's just returned from coverage in Eastern Europe, former Republican Congressman Carlos Curbelo, and Kimberly Atkins Stohr, senior opinion writer for the Boston Globe. I believe you have a law degree. Am I right?
KIMBERLY ATKINS STOHR:
I do.
CHUCK TODD:
And I say that, I want to set up what this means, this moment for soon-to-be Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. First let's hear what she had to say about this moment.
(BEGIN VIDEO)
JUDGE KETANJI BROWN JACKSON:
It has taken 232 years and 115 prior appointments for a Black woman to be selected to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States. But we've made it.
(END VIDEO)
CHUCK TODD:
When you entered law school, did you think this moment was going to happen this fast?
KIMBERLY ATKINS STOHR:
No, absolutely not. I was lucky enough to have the encouragement of my family members, but I didn't have someone like a Justice Jackson to model what might be a future for me in the law. And in fact, Black women in the law and in all professions, but certainly in the law, were such a small percentage. We can go- when I was practicing law, I would go days without seeing any Black person, let alone a Black woman practicing as well. So for a lot of people, this is so important. And not just for Black women and little Black girls, but for all Americans. It's important for all Americans to see that the default of a Supreme Court Justice is not in the mold of a white male. That it can be anybody, and that it should be reflective of the country. So this is an incredible, incredible moment.
CHUCK TODD:
Carlos, on October 1, a majority of the Court is going to not be white now. It's the first time that's ever happened. It's a big deal. Why did half of the United States Senate seem to go out of their way not to help celebrate this moment?
CARLOS CURBELO:
Well, Chuck, identity politics in reverse. So I think Republicans want to make the point that we don't have to emphasize these kinds of issues, even though they are historic. And you heard Marco Rubio say, "Well, when I ran for president I didn't ask anyone to vote for me because I'm a Hispanic." So Republicans in some ways have taken --
CHUCK TODD:
Really? He never did?
CARLOS CURBELO:
Well, that's what --
CHUCK TODD:
He never used his identity in his campaigns ever? You and I both are in Miami, I don't think that's true.
CARLOS CURBELO:
That is what he said. But I will say, Chuck, I think by today's standards this was a smooth, positive confirmation process.
CHUCK TODD:
By today's standards?
CARLOS CURBELO:
Even Republicans who didn't vote for Judge Brown said nice things about her. She had a big role in showing great temperament and restraint and not taking the bait during these hearings. So I do think this was a big win for this administration and a big deal for the country.
CHUCK TODD:
All right, but here's something that we don't see by today's standards, and I'm going to give the control room a second here. Anna Palmer, it was a post-confirmation attack ad sponsored by Lindsey Graham. Let me play a portion of it. We'll get that cued up in a little bit. But he went out and he seemed to be very angry, comparing it to Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, conveniently leaving out the Merrick Garland situation. But what is going on with him in this part of the Senate?
ANNA PALMER:
Yeah, I mean, I think what we're seeing is just an anger here, a reaction to what happened with Justice Kavanaugh. And they want to go bring it back to that. I think the other thing is he didn't get his choice. He wanted Judge J. Michelle Childs, was somebody from South Carolina he really supported. But I think this is really more: look forward. Republicans are not going to support another Biden nomination here if that comes to be.
CHUCK TODD:
Period.
ANNA PALMER:
I mean, you know, his anger I think also foments what you see with Republicans using this as a campaign tactic.
CHUCK TODD:
Well, we have the clip. Let me play it.
(BEGIN VIDEO)
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM:
The game has changed. Remember Amy Coney Barrett, how they came after her? Remember Kavanaugh? I do. To compare that hearing with what happened to Judge Jackson is ridiculous. She wasn't ambushed. I asked her hard questions and she gave bad answers.
(END VIDEO)
CHUCK TODD:
There’s a Congresswoman in North Georgia, that is comparing the three Republicans using the p-word, calling them "pedophiles" for supporting her, it doesn't sort of comport with that ad.
JOSH LEDERMAN:
It doesn't comport with that ad, and it latches on to this narrative against Judge Jackson, soon-to-be Justice Jackson, that I imagine we will probably hear less and less about now that she's actually confirmed. Because at the end of the day, everyone kind of knew that a lot of this was not in good faith, right? Republicans go after liberal justices. Democrats go after Republican justices. The evidence of that is the fact that you had senators like Thom Tillis who were effusively praising her, going up to her parents in breaks and saying, "You did such an amazing job raising your daughter." And then turning around and voting against her. And that's why I think we have folks like Mitch McConnell who are making very clear that the door is open to just simply blocking any future nominees, regardless of a year, two years before the election.
CHUCK TODD:
It's extraordinary that a Democratic Senate confirmed Clarence Thomas. I always try to remind people. And so now up to a point, though, no Senate of the opposite party is going to confirm it, I think.
KIMBERLY ATKINS STOHR:
Times have changed.
CHUCK TODD:
Totally.
KIMBERLY ATKINS STOHR:
I mean, this is just the toxicity of politics right now.
CHUCK TODD:
All right, is this the last big vote that President Biden gets before the midterms, Anna?
ANNA PALMER:
Well, I think you have to give him some credit. American Rescue Plan, infrastructure, omnibus, huge.
CHUCK TODD:
The American Rescue Plan that Larry Summers just said contributed to inflation.
ANNA PALMER:
But those are huge bipartisan bills in any administration. I do think you're going to see something on the semiconductors package. I do think you're going to have to fund the government. But a lot of these large-ticket items: climate, child tax credit, I have a hard time seeing coming.
CHUCK TODD:
Student loan debt, prescription drugs. Josh, I mean, these are big-ticket promises that the Democrats have made for a long time.
JOSH LEDERMAN:
Yeah. And you talk to White House officials, and they don't dispute the fact that this might be the last major achievement. They are excited about this Bipartisan Innovation Act. They think they can use that in the midterms to play up –
CHUCK TODD:
That's been sitting there for how many months?
JOSH LEDERMAN:
Sure, but its moving towards the conference and they want to be anti-China, and “look what we're doing for American manufacturing” and whatnot. But nobody in the White House is claiming that they are definitely going to get any of those individual pieces, climate or the prescription drug stuff. They'd like to, but that's not the reality between now and November.
CARLOS CURBELO:
I think there is a window for climate, which would be a big deal for Democrats and their base. And there's actually a growing bipartisan consensus on climate. It's much better than it was just a few years ago.
CHUCK TODD:
Spoken like a Floridian.
CARLOS CURBELO:
So I do think there's a chance there.
CHUCK TODD:
I hope you're right. I haven't seen it. I haven't seen the evidence there yet.
KIMBERLY ATKINS STOHR:
I mean, Democrats have shown time and time again, they talk about the problems that need some sort of policy or legislative solutions. Republicans find issues that they can campaign on and win elections on. And that's exactly what's happening right now. That- that Democrats haven't acted, for example, to get out ahead of Title 42 and pass something in order to deal with this exigent issue, knowing that you had this basically expiration date on this policy and it would have to end sometime, they're just starting that space now. The Republicans are already campaigning against it. Democrats are always two steps behind.
CHUCK TODD:
I'm going to have to pause it here. Before we go to break, we also want to tell you about our latest episode of our single-topic magazine show, Meet the Press Reports. This week, NBC News correspondent Morgan Radford helped us take a look at the explosion of online misinformation plaguing America's Latino community.
[BEGIN TAPE]
MORGAN RADFORD:
Do you think there is misinformation within the Latino community?
FLORIDA MAN:
Absolutely.
DANIELA FERRERA:
Are you kidding me?
FLORIDA MAN:
110%.
DANIELA FERRERA:
Oh my god. I mean, it's everywhere. Not only misinformation, but disinformation targeted specifically Spanish language and the Latino community.
MORGAN RADFORD:
It's a belief backed up by national research, with more than a third of Hispanic Americans saying they see misinformation often online. By a show of hands, how many of you have personally received misinformation? All of you?
ALL:
Yeah.
MORGAN RADFORD:
Where did it come from?
DANIELA FERRERA:
Our tias, our primos, our abuelas.
FLORIDA MAN:
Family.
MORGAN RADFORD:
De todos.
ALL:
Yes. Everybody.
[END TAPE]
CHUCK TODD:
You can see the entire Meet the Press Reports episode on misinformation in the Latino community anytime you want on Peacock or anywhere where you get NBC News Now. Coming up, how the inflation rate we talked about earlier is obscuring all the good news about the economy. And there is a lot of it. Stick with us.
CHUCK TODD:
Welcome back, Data Download time. As Democrats look ahead to November, I see a lot of reasons for war. The top concern, likely the economy. And while measuring the country's economic picture right now, it's complicated. The nation's mood about it? Certainly not. In fact, the consumer sentiment index from the University of Michigan is probably the best thing we have to measure where people think the economy is. When Biden took office, it sat at 79. It went up a little bit in sort of D+ territory when the Covid response improved. It is now sitting at 62.8. That is basically a failing grade, if you want. Just before the pandemic hit, February 2020, this index was sitting at 101. People felt really good about the economy. Now, there are some good signs that the Biden administration will point to when they talk about the economy. The unemployment rate, 6.4 percent when they took office, now extraordinarily low, 3.6 percent. We continue to add jobs from the Covid downturn. Look at the stock market. Stock market's up 11 percent since Biden took office. It's sitting at just over 31,000. As of Friday it was near 35,000. For what it's worth, the Dow is down for this calendar year, from January to now, but up overall. So why is everybody upset about the economy? It's this number: 7.9 percent. When Biden took office, the inflation rate was sitting at 1.4 percent. but as we've been digging out from Covid, all this money thrown into the economy, we see what the inflation rate is doing. The question is, is it going to stop going up? Because this is why folks do not think this is a good economy. When we come back, with the culture wars heating up, does either political party actually have an advantage? Stay with us.
CHUCK TODD:
Welcome back. As we said, the culture wars appear to be heating up. And Carlos, our home state of Florida has been sort of ground zero for some of this action with Governor DeSantis almost using the legislature as his primary vehicle, literally, for 2024. But there's now a lot of copycat stuff going on in legislatures. Let me put up some headlines here on what critics have called this "Don't Say Gay" bill about when you can talk about gay parents and things like this in schools. In Alabama, Texas, Ohio. One hallmark of the culture wars in this country is the party that overreaches is who gets punished. Are we at a tipping point here where the right's overreaching?
CARLOS CURBELO:
Well, Chuck, right now Republicans are winning the culture wars in this country. That's just the way it is. You look at "Defund the Police," you look at "Defund ICE." Now in Florida you have this parental empowerment bill. The opponents call it the "Don't Say Gay" bill. Republicans have basically baited Democrats in Florida into taking the position that students in grades K-3, students who are learning to color, and read, and write should be taught about sexuality, about gender identity. So I think Democrats have consistently been, at least perceived to be, on the wrong side of these issues. And Republicans are going to keep going to the well every time. And for Ron DeSantis, if he runs in '24 he's going to run on these issues.
CHUCK TODD:
Kimberly, Carlos makes a good point about how the right's so good at baiting the left to defend a specific, right? And by the way, this bill has basically about 50/50 support. It's not decisive in either direction.
KIMBERLY ATKINS STOHR:
Well, also, the polling's all over the place because it's very difficult to poll in this kind of way.
CHUCK TODD:
How do you ask the question?
KIMBERLY ATKINS STOHR:
But it's right, the Republicans see the win in the gubernatorial race in Virginia. And they say that this is how. They can just take this play book over and over and over again. And Democrats haven't found any way to message. Again, I mean, the first thing was DeSantis facing off with Disney, right? As if the Republicans are railing against cancel culture. If a government penalized someone over what they say, that's anti First Amendment. The Democrats actually legally are on the winning side of this. Yet, you haven't heard that message at all.
CHUCK TODD:
Anna, it's been astonishing to me that the Democrats haven't grabbed onto a libertarian attack on this. Because this is big government telling people what to do. This is government saying they want to know what your kid's gender is. Like, get out of my kid's bedroom.
ANNA PALMER:
But that's time and again what we're seeing Republicans do right now, whether it looks at what's happening in abortion and all these other cases. And I think Democrats are on their heels, particularly when it came to schools, and Covid, and mask requirements. And they have not figured out how to message around this. It seems to me, yeah, there's easy slogans you could push back on. But they have not found an animating slogan to kind of push back and get the public sentiment behind them.
JOSH LEDERMAN:
And time and again, we've seen Democrats allow their messaging to almost be defined by the other side in a way that it's so hard for them to then get out of. The problems with the polling on this mirror the problems that Democrats have in messaging on it. If you were to ask the average parent of a first-grader, "Do you want your kid to be taught about sex in first grade?" Most parents are likely, "Ew, probably not." But if you ask, "Is it okay for your kid to be read a book about Peter the penguin who has two penguin dads?" you're not going to have the same kind of response. But Democrats have sort of seeded the argument on this on so many of these cultural issues.
CARLOS CURBELO:
And this is why Democrats are losing working-class voters, Latino voters. Because they seem so disconnected. A lot of the messaging comes from the progressive base of the Democratic Party. And that messaging does not connect with working-class voters, with Latino voters. So those numbers are going to continue to erode as long as Democrats are perceived to be on this side of those issues.
CHUCK TODD:
You know, Kimberly, it's interesting you see the Times deep dive into the immigration debate inside the White House. And you can see the disagreement inside the White House between those who want to be politically pragmatic and those who say, "But this policy is wrong." And you're like, "Yeah, it's going to get weaponized against you."
KIMBERLY ATKINS STOHR:
Yeah, that's exactly what I said. Democrats focus on the policy and the solutions and Republicans are way out ahead of them, focusing on the politics and how to use it to win elections. Democrats could have solved this problem a while ago, or at the very least been out in front of what the problem is. We were just talking about the need for immigration to get more workers, to help boost the economy. There's so many ways to do it and they just can't seem to figure it out.
CHUCK TODD:
Does a Roe v. Wade decision flip the script on this at all, Anna?
ANNA PALMER:
I don't know. I mean, we haven't been able to see Democrats kind of mobilize on this. I do think if it totally goes away, you're going to see Democrats try to find a way to get their base out to the polls. Right now they have not done anything on voter rights, immigration, all these other things. You know, there's a real issue here for Democrats in the midterms.
CHUCK TODD:
You know, it's interesting. Normally when there's an economic story that's dominating, the culture wars fade. This is one of those rare occasions where both.
CARLOS CURBELO:
We get both.
CHUCK TODD:
We're going to get both in this midterm.
KIMBERLY ATKINS STOHR:
And one feeds another.
CHUCK TODD:
And one does feed another. Anyway, that's all we have for today. Thank you for watching. We'll be back next week, I promise. Because if it's Sunday, it's Meet the Press.