KRISTEN WELKER:
This Sunday: energized.
FMR. FIRST LADY MICHELLE OBAMA:
Don’t just sit around and complain. Do something.
FMR. PRES. BARACK OBAMA:
Let’s get to work.
FMR. PRES. BILL CLINTON:
Aren’t you proud to be a Democrat?
OPRAH WINFREY:
We’re not going back.
GOV. TIM WALZ:
When we fight –
CROWD:
We win!
KRISTEN WELKER:
With just 10 weeks until Election Day, Democrats rally behind their new nominee in a show of party unity after President Biden’s exit from the race.
VICE PRES. KAMALA HARRIS:
I promise to be a president for all Americans.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Vice President Kamala Harris makes history as just the second woman and first woman of color to top a major-party presidential ticket. Did the party do enough to win over voters who had soured on Biden? I’ll speak with Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. Plus: the GOP rebuttal.
SEN. JD VANCE:
The federal government ought to be focused on getting food prices down, getting housing prices down. Issues, of course, where Kamala Harris has been a total disaster.
KRISTEN WELKER:
My exclusive interview with Senator JD Vance of Ohio, the Republican vice-presidential nominee. And: exit stage right. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. suspends his campaign and endorses Donald Trump. What does his departure mean for the race? Joining me for insight and analysis are:
Amna Nawaz, co-anchor of PBS Newshour; Democratic pollster Cornell Belcher; Amy Walter, editor-in-chief of the Cook Political Report; and Marc Short, former chief of staff to Vice President Mike Pence. 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 Kristen Welker.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Good Sunday morning. The 2024 campaign is now in its final sprint to election day with just 72 days to go. And this week, Vice President Kamala Harris made history, becoming the first woman of color to accept a major party's presidential nomination.
[BEGIN TAPE]
VICE PRES. KAMALA HARRIS:
On behalf of Americans like the people I grew up with – people who work hard, chase their dreams and look out for one another – on behalf of everyone whose story could only be written in the greatest nation on Earth, I accept your nomination to be president.
[END TAPE]
KRISTEN WELKER:
On Wednesday, Harris will return to the campaign trail with new momentum, kicking off a battleground state bus tour with running mate Tim Walz in Georgia. This is still an incredibly tight race, and Harris has the burden of being a sitting vice president who will be held responsible for the events happening on the administration's watch. In Chicago, top democrats laid out the election's high stakes.
[BEGIN TAPE]
FMR. PRES. BARACK OBAMA:
The torch has been passed. Now it is up to all of us to fight for the America we believe in. And make no mistake, it will be a fight.
VICE PRES. KAMALA HARRIS:
In many ways, Donald Trump is an unserious man, but the consequences – but the consequences of putting Donald Trump back in the White House are extremely serious.
FMR. FIRST LADY MICHELLE OBAMA:
I want to know, who's going to tell him – Who's going to tell him that the job he's currently seeking might just be one of those Black jobs?
[END TAPE]
KRISTEN WELKER:
Democrats tried to reach out to Republicans and independents, bringing a number of them on stage.
[BEGIN TAPE]
VICE PRES. KAMALA HARRIS:
I know there are people of various political views watching tonight, and I want you to know I promise to be a president for all Americans.
GOV. TIM WALZ:
No matter who you are, Kamala Harris is going to stand up and fight for your freedom to live the life that you want to lead.
FMR. REP. ADAM KINZINGER:
How can a party claim to be patriotic if it idolizes a man who tried to overthrow a free and fair election?
OPRAH WINFREY:
We are all Americans, and together, let's all choose Kamala Harris.
[END TAPE]
KRISTEN WELKER:
Harris and former President Trump are already preparing for their first face off in September. On Friday, former President Trump accepted the endorsem*nt of independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who suspended his campaign. On Saturday, I sat down with Mr. Trump's running mate, Ohio Senator JD Vance in Cincinnati.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Senator JD Vance, welcome back to Meet the Press.
SEN. JD VANCE:
Thank you. Thanks for having me.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Thank you for having us here in Cincinnati. Let's start off with the Democratic National Convention –
SEN. JD VANCE:
Sure.
KRISTEN WELKER:
– some of what we heard this past week. Vice President Kamala Harris in making her case said that the tariff plans that Donald Trump is proposing will hurt the middle class. Here's what she said specifically
[START TAPE]
VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS: He intends to enact what, in effect, is a national sales tax, call it a Trump tax, that would raise prices on middle class families by almost $4,000 a year.
[END TAPE]
SEN. JD VANCE:
Now, the estimates vary, but how do you respond to that charge, that Trump's tariffs would hurt the middle class?
SEN. JD VANCE:
Yes, so if you step back a little bit, Kristen, there's this whole thing that Kamala Harris did at the convention where she made a bunch of claims about what would happen and not enough actually reflection on what already happened, right? Because Donald Trump was already president. He used tariffs to bring manufacturing jobs back to our country, and I think he'll do it again. And he did it while keeping prices extremely low. Because if you go back to the Trump presidency, we had 12,000 factories that were built during Donald Trump's presidency. Inflation never really ticked above two percent his entire administration. In fact, was sort of, you know, around one and a half percent most of the time that he was president. So when Kamala Harris says, "If we do the thing that Trump already did, it's going to be way worse than it was last time," I just don't think that makes a lot of sense.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Well, let's talk about Trump's record during his first term.
SEN. JD VANCE:
Please.
KRISTEN WELKER:
He did impose rounds of tariffs, and it cost Americans nearly $80 billion in new taxes. Do you acknowledge that imposing more tariffs will ultimately cost consumers?
SEN. JD VANCE:
Well, what it really does is it penalizes importers from bringing goods outside the country, into the country. And I think that's just a necessary thing. We know that China and a number of other countries are using, effectively, slave labor to undercut the wages of American workers. Donald Trump thinks that has to stop. And again, what Kamala Harris is saying, Kristen, is that if you do this, you're somehow going to cause skyrocketing inflation. In reality, Donald Trump already did it. He brought a lot of jobs back, and it didn't cause inflation.
KRISTEN WELKER:
But it caused consumers to pay more. They paid more in taxes, $80 billion worth. Do you acknowledge that consumers ultimately will pay more if there are more tariffs imposed?
SEN. JD VANCE:
So, economists actually --
KRISTEN WELKER:
Do you just acknowledge that?
SEN. JD VANCE:
No, I don't, Kristen. Because I think economists really disagree about the effects of tariffs. Because there can be a dynamic effect, right? So what some economists will say is what you just said, that it will actually raise costs for consumers. But what other people say, and I think the record supports this other view, is that it causes this dynamic effect where more jobs come into the country. Anything that you lose on the tariff from the perspective of the consumer, you gain in higher wages, so you're ultimately much better off. You have more take-home pay, you have better jobs. And also we have more reliance. Because one of the things we learned during Covid – and I don't, by the way, blame Democrats for this. But one of the things we learned during Covid, Kristen, is that if our supply chains are really brittle, if we depend on the Chinese to make too much of our stuff, then prices can skyrocket at a time of crisis. The economists just say that tariffs are bad. They don't take that into account. And we've all learned it the hard way.
KRISTEN WELKER:
And it is economists across the board, really. I mean, the Wall Street Journal says, "Economic data showed that Donald Trump's trade war with China did not achieve its objective of reversing the declines in U.S. manufacturing or re-shoring factory jobs." I hear what you're saying, it's a complicated picture. But just on that bottom line point, you can't guarantee that Americans won't wind up paying a penny more, can you?
SEN. JD VANCE:
Well, I think that what you can guarantee is that if you don't bring more manufacturing jobs back into this country, you don't make our supply chains more stable, you're going to cause higher prices over the long-term. I think that is what is absolutely true. And I think that what Trump’s --
KRISTEN WELKER:
But you acknowledge they could wind up paying more?
SEN. JD VANCE:
What I acknowledge, Kristen, is that unless we bring more manufacturing jobs back to this country, we are going to end up paying more in the long-term. Remember the whole promise, again, this was a bipartisan thing. My own party was as wrong about it as Democrats were, and Donald Trump was right about it. What they said is that if you shift all of our manufacturing to East Asia and to Mexico, Americans would pay lower prices. Well, here we are now, and Americans are paying higher prices. And just one more thing on this, Kristen, because it's really important to go at what Kamala Harris actually said in her convention speech. She says that she wants to stand up to China on behalf of American workers. If you're not willing to impose tariffs on companies that are manufacturing in China, using slave labor in China, you're not standing up to the Chinese, and Americans are really going to suffer.
KRISTEN WELKER:
And on pricing and prices right now, inflation obviously at its lowest level since 2021. But let's move on. Robert F. Kennedy, the big news yesterday.
SEN. JD VANCE:
Very big news.
KRISTEN WELKER:
He suspended his campaign, announced he's endorsing Donald Trump. He is also known as someone who has blamed vaccines for autism, antidepressants for school shootings, and recently said, quote, he "won't take sides" on what happened on 9/11. Do you have any hesitation about accepting his endorsem*nt?
SEN. JD VANCE:
No, Kristen, I don't. Because we're going to disagree on issues, right? There are things that Robert Kennedy has said that I disagree with. I'm sure there are things that he’s said – or that I've said, excuse me – that he's going to disagree with. But I think what his endorsem*nt represents is that Donald J. Trump's Republican Party is a big tent party. I was raised by two grandparents who were sort of classic Blue Dog Democrats. They believed in having a border, they believed that, you know, you shouldn't have censorship in the United States of America. They believed in common sense economic policies. They may have disagreed with Donald Trump about tax policy, but they believed in some fundamental American values. And I think what RFK's endorsem*nt really shows is that the Kennedy Democrats are actually more at home in the Republican Party of Donald Trump. And unfortunately, Kamala Harris' party, higher prices, doing nothing to fight back against the Chinese, to say nothing of a wide open border, that is not JFK's Democratic Party, it's not RFK's Democratic Party. We're thrilled to have the Kennedy Democrats where they belong.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Well, and some of the Kennedy family have stepped forward to say that they sharply disagree with this endorsem*nt. But let's just go back very quickly. He says he isn't taking sides on 9/11. Do you agree with that statement?
SEN. JD VANCE:
Well, of course I don't agree with that, Kristen. Now, to be clear, I don't know what RFK actually said there. Maybe there was additional context. Of course, you actually have to see what people say before you agree or disagree with it. I certainly have taken sides in 9/11. I'm the pro-America side. I don't think that we should've been attacked, and I certainly think hitting back against the terrorists was justified. I don't know what RFK said there. But what I do know that is that RFK said a lot of very interesting and important things – that the Democratic Party has become too pro-censorship. That the Democratic Party, especially in the wake of Covid, became really anti-freedom and anti-child. I mean, you had Democrats saying that we should be masking toddlers in their schools, even though we knew it caused developmental disabilities. I agree with RFK that that was crazy.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Well, to be fair, there was a lot of information that scientists were grappling with as it came in, and masks were perceived to stop the spread of the disease.
SEN. JD VANCE:
Kristen, totally --
KRISTEN WELKER:
Let's move on, though --
SEN. JD VANCE:
Totally – totally fair.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Yeah.
SEN. JD VANCE:
But the one thing before we move on that I would say on that is there were important leaders – Donald Trump was among them, RFK was among them – who were saying, "Some of this stuff is crazy." And if we had listened to them, I think our kids would've been much better off in the wake of the pandemic.
KRISTEN WELKER:
I mean, scientists did show that masks helped to stop the spread of the disease. Let's talk about another big issue --
SEN. JD VANCE:
They also caused developmental disabilities for toddlers, right? We have to be able to balance this stuff. And I think the way that RFK struck that balance was much smarter, unfortunately, than the way that Kamala Harris did.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Let's talk about another big issue. It was talked about at the Democratic National Convention, it's being talked about on the campaign trail: abortion. Democrats made the case this week and beyond this week that Donald Trump, if elected, will impose a federal ban on abortion if he wins. Now, Donald Trump says he won't. But can you commit, Senator, sitting right here with me today, that if you and Donald Trump are elected that you will not impose a federal ban on abortion?
SEN. JD VANCE:
I can absolutely commit that, Kristen. And Donald Trump has been as clear about that as possible. I -- I think it's important to step back and say, "What has Donald Trump actually said on the abortion question, and how is it different from what Kamala Harris and the Democrats have said?" Donald Trump wants to end this culture war over this particular topic. If Kamala, excuse me, if California wants to have a different abortion policy from Ohio, then Ohio has to respect California, and California has to respect Ohio. Donald Trump's view is that we want the individual states, and their individual cultures, and their unique political sensibilities to make these decisions because we don't want to have a nonstop federal conflict over this issue. The federal government ought to be focused on getting food prices down, getting housing prices down. Issues, of course, where Kamala Harris has been a total disaster. So I think Donald Trump is right. We want the federal government to focus on these big economic and immigration questions. Let the states figure out their own abortion policies.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Let me just follow up with you a little bit on that point. Because I've been talking to Republicans, including Senator Lindsey Graham just last week, who have made it very clear that if Donald Trump is elected, if you are elected, they will continue to press this point. Senator Graham said to me, "I'm going to keep saying that there should be a federal ban." If such a piece of legislation landed on Donald Trump's desk, would he veto it?
SEN. JD VANCE:
Well, I think it would be very clear he would not support it. I mean, he's said that explicitly --
KRISTEN WELKER:
But would he veto it?
SEN. JD VANCE:
Yes, I mean, if you're not supporting it as the President of the United States, you fundamentally have to veto it --
KRISTEN WELKER:
So he would veto a federal abortion ban?
SEN. JD VANCE:
I think he would. He's said that explicitly that he would. And again, Lindsey --
KRISTEN WELKER:
I don't think he's ever said explicitly that he would. He's said that to you?
SEN. JD VANCE:
Lindsey Graham, Kristen, I would be surprised – I mean again, I need to see the context on what Lindsey Graham said. Because Lindsey Graham himself has not advocated a federal abortion ban. Lindsey Graham has advocated --
KRISTEN WELKER:
A 15-week federal abortion ban --
SEN. JD VANCE:
– a federal minimum standard. Now, to be clear, that is not Donald Trump's view. Donald Trump disagrees with Lindsey Graham on this. But no Republican, at least no Republican with any reasonable power, is saying that we should have a complete national abortion ban. I haven't heard that from any of my colleagues. And to be clear, Donald Trump I think has staked his position and made it very explicit. He wants this to be a state decision, states are going to make this determination themselves.
KRISTEN WELKER:
All right. Let's talk about women voters more broadly. The Census Bureau estimates there are 22 million women between the ages of 20 and 40 who, for whatever reason, do not have children. What do you say to those women who hear some of your comments, including "childless cat lady" comments, which you've been asked about, but who feel as though you won't represent them?
SEN. JD VANCE:
Well, I'd say, first of all, I will represent you. I want to be the vice president for the whole country, and I want to represent everybody. And yes, I made a sarcastic comment years ago that I think that a lot of Democrats have willfully misinterpreted. But what I’ve simply said is that I think that it's really a profound change that's happened in our country, where we've become anti-family. And I would like to change that. And I think if you talk to young women, whether they have children or don't want to have children, what you consistently hear is that a lot of young women feel like they don't have options. I saw this with my own wife, who's a working mother, who's a very, very accomplished litigator. She has three beautiful kids and always felt like she was having to balance being a good mom with being the kind of litigator that she wanted to be. I just want women to have more choices. I've seen that very personally in my own family, and I think it's something that is broken about our country.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Let me zoom out a little bit then. You're calling it a sarcastic comment, and yet some women – and you got the feedback in real time – felt like it was a gut punch to them personally. Do you regret making that comment?
SEN. JD VANCE:
Look, I regret certainly that a lot of people took it the wrong way, and I certainly regret the DNC and Kamala Harris lied about it.
KRISTEN WELKER:
But do you regret what you said, Senator?
SEN. JD VANCE:
Look, Kristen, I'm going to say things from time to time that people disagree with. I'm a real person. I'm going to make jokes, I'm going to say things sarcastically. And I think that what's important is that we focus on the policy. There are certainly going to be things that I say if I'm elected vice president that people are going to say, "Well, I wish he had said that differently." I think it's most important to actually be the person I actually am, and to say those sarcastic comments were made in the service of a real substantive point. This country has become too anti-family. It's too expensive to afford a house. It's too expensive to afford groceries. Donald Trump and I want to change that. And unless we get better leadership, we're not going to.
KRISTEN WELKER:
But again, just very quickly, given that people have told you directly, have spoken out, have said that they were offended, they were hurt by those comments, do you wish you never made those "childless cat lady" comments?
SEN. JD VANCE:
I think that it's much more important for me to just be a normal human being who sometimes says things --
KRISTEN WELKER:
So no regrets?
SEN. JD VANCE:
– people disagree with. I have a lot of regrets, Kristen, but making a joke three years ago is not at the top ten of the list.
KRISTEN WELKER:
All right, another big topic in this race is immigration. There has been a lot of discussion about Donald Trump's plans for mass deportation. According to one estimate, more than 11 million U.S. citizens live in households with mixed immigration status, including more than five million children. If you and former President Trump were elected, would you separate families as a part of your mass deportation effort?
SEN. JD VANCE:
Well, we have to start with the foundational issue here, which is we have 25 million illegal aliens in this country right now because Kamala Harris has refused to do her job.
KRISTEN WELKER:
I have, very quickly, DHS says it's much lower, it's closer to eight million. Where do you get the 25 million from?
SEN. JD VANCE:
Well, I think the 25 million are the people that should've been deported that maybe weren't deported, plus you add another 12 to 15 million that have come in since Kamala Harris. Look, whatever the number is --
KRISTEN WELKER:
DHS disputes that number, for the record. They say it's closer to eight to ten million, but please continue.
SEN. JD VANCE:
Fair, but I think there are reasons to think that DHS is underestimating. Whatever the real number is, it's way too high, right? It's millions upon millions of illegal immigrants that have come in just since Kamala Harris became the border czar a few years ago. The first thing --
KRISTEN WELKER:
She was put in charge of the root causes of migration. Go ahead.
SEN. JD VANCE:
Well, the root causes of migration, I would say, Kristen, is that Kamala Harris refuses to do her job as border czar. And let's just start there. I want to answer your question, but I think it's important to sort of sequence this the right way. So if you want to get control of the illegal immigration problem, you have to stop the bleeding. You have to stop so many people from coming here illegally in the first place. And that means undoing everything that Kamala Harris did, practically on day one of the administration. You have to reimpose deportations, you have to stop catch and release, stop granting asylum to every single person who comes in here and says that they need asylum, and stop granting mass parole. These policies are why we have the immigration crisis that we have. So I think focus on fixing the problem. Before we even fix the problem we have to stop the problem from getting worse.
KRISTEN WELKER:
And as you know, President Biden passed a series of executive actions, and illegal border crossings are now at their lowest levels in about five years. So much so that Greg Abbott is no longer busing people to other cities. But let me ask --
SEN. JD VANCE:
No, no, no --
KRISTEN WELKER:
– this fundamental question, Senator.
SEN. JD VANCE:
Please.
KRISTEN WELKER:
This fundamental question: will families be separated under your mass deportation?
SEN. JD VANCE:
And again, because you made a point here, I do want to answer this question about families and about deportations. But you made this point that border crossings are lower. Border crossings at the southern border are lower because the Harris administration is sending more immigrants through the ports of entry. So instead of coming through the southern border, they're now being flown at taxpayer expense to the ports of entry all over our country. The number of illegal crossings, Kristen, this is a really important point, they're not any lower. They're just shuffling how the people are coming into the country in the first place. And this is very important. Now, about deportation --
KRISTEN WELKER:
They're able to process them more efficiently. But Greg Abbott's not sending them to other states --
SEN. JD VANCE:
But Kristen, I don't want a border czar who makes it more efficient for illegal immigrants to come into this country –
KRISTEN WELKER:
But to this question –
SEN. JD VANCE:
– that's why we have the problem that we have.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Senator, to this question, because so many people want to know the answer to this --
SEN. JD VANCE:
Please.
KRISTEN WELKER:
– will families be separated under your mass deportation policy?
SEN. JD VANCE:
I think that families are currently being separated, and you're certainly going to have to deport some people in this country. Now, I think you start with the --
KRISTEN WELKER:
So, that's a yes?
SEN. JD VANCE:
No, I think it's, you start with the most violent criminals in our country. Those people need to be deported. That's where you focus federal resources. I think you of course have a number of children who are currently living with drug cartel members, not actually their families. We need to, of course, find their families and get them back to their families. But it's very interesting here, because what Kamala Harris says is that Donald Trump wants to separate families. Kamala Harris' policies have led to thousands upon thousands of migrant children living with sex traffickers and drug cartels. That is the consequence of her policies –
KRISTEN WELKER:
But there’s not a policy to separate families.
SEN. JD VANCE:
– some of them were even missing.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Well, but, there's not a policy to separate families. The question is --
SEN. JD VANCE:
Oh, if you know that your policies will lead to family separation you don't get to claim -- Kristen, this is important --
KRISTEN WELKER:
But, hold on --
SEN. JD VANCE:
Kamala Harris cannot claim that she doesn't know that her policies are --
KRISTEN WELKER:
But under the --
SEN. JD VANCE:
– leading to family separation. They are. And everybody knows it. And she has to take responsibility for that. That's what real leadership is.
KRISTEN WELKER:
There are some families who have been separated, as you say, some because their parents are criminals. But of course, under the Trump administration there was a zero tolerance policy, which is an actual policy. But let's move on since we're running out of time --
SEN. JD VANCE:
No, please, can I just make this point, Kristen? Because this is so important.
KRISTEN WELKER:
We are running out of time, but --
SEN. JD VANCE:
I'll give you more time.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Okay.
SEN. JD VANCE:
There was a zero tolerance policy during the Trump administration, and that led to less family separation than under Kamala Harris' border policies. That's what's so striking about this. Actually enforcing our border is the most humane thing, for children and certainly for American citizens.
KRISTEN WELKER:
But I don't hear you denying that families will be separated. Let's move onto something that Donald Trump said in North Carolina, and yet again Friday night.
[START TAPE]
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Our primary focus is not to get out the vote. It's to make sure they don't cheat because we have all the votes you need. You can see it.
[END TAPE]
KRISTEN WELKER:
Why is Donald Trump casting doubt on the election before it's even happened?
SEN. JD VANCE:
I don't think that's what Donald Trump is doing Kristen.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Well, that's what he's doing. That's what he says here: "We need to make sure they don't cheat."
SEN. JD VANCE:
I think that what he's saying is that we want to pursue a set of policies in the Republican Party that make it easier for every legal ballot to be cast and counted, but make it harder for illegally cast ballots to be counted. Now, we can disagree about how many of those there are, whether there are a few hundred, a few thousand, maybe more. But just in the last week – okay, so just in the last week, once in Arizona and once in Pennsylvania, there were major court wins that make our ballot process more secure and more effective. I think that's what Donald Trump is talking about, is we have to pursue – sometimes through litigation, sometimes through better policy at the international level – a set of rules that make sure every ballot is legally counted.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Well, it's very different from your message. You said, and I'll quote you back to yourself, "We have to work as hard as possible to persuade Americans to vote for us." Are you on the same page as Donald Trump? Because again, he seems to be casting doubt on the results of the election before it's even happened.
SEN. JD VANCE:
Of course we're on the same page, Kristen. We talk all the time. And I guarantee you, if you sat here and said, "Mr. President, Donald Trump, do you believe that we need to do – that your campaign needs to persuade voters as much as possible?" of course he's going to say yes. That's not inconsistent with thinking that we need to pursue a set of approaches that make sure legal ballots get counted, illegal ballots don't get counted.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Do you have faith that the 2024 election will be free and fair?
SEN. JD VANCE:
I do, Kristen. I do think it's going to be free and fair. And we're going to do everything that we can to make sure that happens. We're going to pursue every pathway to make sure, again, legal ballots get counted. But I feel very good about where we are. I think we're going to win this race, and I think we're going to win it in a very good election.
KRISTEN WELKER:
All right, Senator JD Vance.
SEN. JD VANCE:
Thanks, Kristen.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Thank you so much for your time this afternoon.
SEN. JD VANCE:
Likewise.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Really appreciate it. Thank you.
SEN. JD VANCE:
Yep.
KRISTEN WELKER:
And a note on Senator Vance’s claim about family separation. The numbers show the Trump Administration separated more than 5500 families, most of them under than zero-tolerance policy. The Department of Homeland Security says currently up to a thousand children are separated from their families. The Trump Administration had a policy to systematically separate families. The Biden Administration only does so under extraordinary circ*mstances, like if the parent has a criminal record. And we should also note than when Senator Vance talked about flying migrants into the U.S., he was referencing a policy that allows migrants from a select group of countries to fly into the U.S. legally, only if they have a sponsor here in the United States. That program is currently on pause. And coming up, Democratic senator Elizabeth Warren joins me next.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Welcome back. Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren was visibly emotional in Chicago on Thursday night, wiping away tears as she received a standing ovation before her speech endorsing Kamala Harris. And Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren joins me now. Senator Warren, welcome back to Meet The Press.
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN:
Thank you. Good to be with you.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Well, it is great to have you on a big Sunday. I want to start off by getting your reaction to what you just heard from Senator JD Vance. He says that if legislation banning abortion at the federal level arrived on Donald Trump's desk, if he were to be elected, he believes he would veto it. What's your reaction to that, Senator?
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN:
American women are not stupid, and we are not going to trust the futures of our daughters and granddaughters to two men who have openly bragged about blocking access to abortion for women all across this country. Look, right now, where we are is if Donald Trump and JD Vance take the White House, they have current law, the Comstock Act, which, with the right person that they put into the Department of Justice and one of their extremist judges out in the world, they can actually ban all access to abortion all across this country. And understand when I say, "Ban access to abortion," I don't mean with, "Oh, exceptions for rape or incest or a 16-week ban." I mean ban it for every woman any time she needs it. Because once they take the medications off the market, once they take the surgical instruments off the market, they're not there. And so for any woman who's in the middle of a miscarriage, who goes into an emergency room and discovers there's no medication and no treatment for her because abortion has been banned nationwide, they can thank Donald Trump and JD Vance.
KRISTEN WELKER:
And – and just to follow up, Donald Trump, JD Vance have been asked about the Comstock Act as well, as you say, which could potentially ban the distribution of medication abortion. Again, they both say, "We're not going to use that to try to ban abortion." Sounds like you don't buy it.
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN:
Don't buy it? Just read it. JD Vance actually sent a letter last year to the Department of Justice saying, "Enforce the Comstock Act." And remember, he did that, and then Donald Trump picked him to be his vice president. Take a look at Project 2025. It lays out the roadmap for exactly how to do this. And, frankly, when you've got a pawn in the Department of Justice and pawns in the judiciary, it isn't even hard to accomplish. You know, here I'm going to go with vice presidential nominee Tim Walz, who says, "You don't do a playbook unless you're planning to use it." There's already a plan in place. And, you know, understand this: Today, 30% of all women live in states that effectively ban abortion. Donald Trump and JD Vance in the White House, it won't be 30%, it'll be 100%. The only way that we're going to protect access to abortion is to have a Democratic Congress send a bill to Kamala Harris. She will sign it into law. And then we will restore a right to half the population in this country.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Senator–
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN:
And no longer will a woman have to go into an emergency room and be told she's not near enough death to get the medical treatment that she needs.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Senator, let me ask you about another part of my conversation with Senator Vance. He defended Donald Trump's tariffs plan. President Biden actually kept most of the Trump tariffs in place. He even imposed some new ones. According to some estimates, that cost Americans more than $3 billion. Do you think it was a mistake for President Biden not to roll back Donald Trump's tariffs?
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN:
Well, I think of it this way: The difference between what Donald Trump did, which is throw tariffs out there as a matter of peak, and what Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have done is they've said, "Sometimes we should be using tariffs. We should be using tariffs to protect domestic industries. We should be using tariffs to level the playing field for labor so that we're not using overseas labor to undercut our domestic labor." But what Donald Trump is talking about, at least in his campaign rallies, is he's talking about doing wide bans. He's talking about doing tariff bans all across the economy–
KRISTEN WELKER:
So, you're saying some–
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN:
And what–
KRISTEN WELKER:
–tariffs are okay–
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN:
–we know is that's–
KRISTEN WELKER:
–Senator?
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN:
–going to increase prices.
KRISTEN WELKER:
You're saying some tariffs–
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN:
Absolutely.
KRISTEN WELKER:
–are okay?
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN:
Absolutely. It is a tool in the toolbox when it has specific causes in specific areas. We need to protect our domestic manufacturing. We need to bring that back on shore. And Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have done that with the CHIPS and Science Act. So, we're making real investments for the first time in America in onshoring manufacturing. Tammy Baldwin's bill, Buy America, means that we are building up so that we are a nation once again that builds things here. That's what we need to do. And tariffs are a part of how we get that industry up and going once again.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Let me ask you–
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN:
That's what's going to bring down prices, ultimately, for American families.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Let me ask you about what happened overnight, Senator. Israel launched what they're calling a preemptive strike in Lebanon after Hezbollah launched a large-scale attack. You support, of course, conditioning military aid to Israel. What is your reaction to what happened overnight, Senator?
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN:
I am deeply concerned about the violence and chaos spreading throughout the region. This just underscores the emergency. We need to put an end to this war. We need to stop all the bombing, get the hostages back home, spend real resources on humanitarian relief in Gaza, and most of all give a hard shove to both parties in order to keep them at the negotiating table. It's time for a two-state solution, where Palestinians have self-determination, where the Israelis can be guaranteed security and that we have lasting peace going forward.
KRISTEN WELKER:
And, Senator, very quickly, do you believe that Vice President Harris should be conditioning military aid to Israel? Will you counsel her to do that?
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN:
Look, I – I want to be clear. American law already says that we give military aid only to those who are in compliance with international law. What Benjamin Netanyahu has done in creating a humanitarian disaster in Gaza raises questions about compliance with international law. The United States needs to live its values every day.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Senator Elizabeth Warren, I have more questions. We are unfortunately out of time so please come back soon. Thank you so much for being here. Really appreciate it. And when we come back, the 2024 campaign has been reset and both sides are still bracing for an extremely close race. The panel's next.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Welcome back. The panel is here. Amna Nawaz, co-anchor of PBS NewsHour; Amy Walter, editor in chief of the Cook Political Report; Democratic pollster Cornell Belcher; and Marc Short, former chief of staff to Vice President Mike Pence. Amna, let me start with you. Key takeaways from what we just heard from Senator JD Vance – notably, yet again, trying to make the case that if they are elected, they will not move to try to ban abortion nationally, which, as you heard, Elizabeth Warren's not buying it.
AMNA NAWAZ:
Well, I was so glad to see you press him in the way that you did because I think this is still very much a question in a lot of voters' minds, which is to say if you look back at President Trump's record, even when he was running for president, he's really been on every single side of this issue. And so it's not really clear what this ticket stands for and what the Republican Party stands for when it comes to this one issue that we know is going to be an enormous issue moving forward. It had a huge impact on the midterms as well. The other thing I'll take away though from the interview was just how willing Senator Vance is to even dismiss his own party in the service of holding up Donald Trump. To be able to say, "Even my party has gotten it wrong on issues like tariffs. But Donald Trump is the only one who's gotten it right." I think that's doubling down on this issue, we’ve seen, where this is clearly just the party of Trump.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Amy, what's your take? I mean, we're looking at a gender gap that is growing by the day. It's clear Donald Trump knows this better than anyone because he talks to people about it. The fact that he's worried about – he’s worried about this issue.
AMY WALTER:
Right. Well, there are two things I want to say. If this election – if this is what we're talking about going into September, that is a really big problem for the Trump campaign. This is exactly the terrain, of course, that Democrats want to fight on – and they have been. If you look at the down-ballot races. Look at where Senate candidates, who are Democrats, what – what they are running on. Thus far they've run about $13 million in advertising just on abortion, a lot of it hitting the Republican opponent. And we're seeing Republicans playing defense in those states. So, this is an issue where Democrats are certainly getting traction. Now, the gender gap, was – that's an excellent point. The decision by the Trump campaign to double and triple down on the sort of MAGA image, going really with their base rather than trying to win over swing women voters was made by the decision to pick JD Vance. By the decision to really, you know, make – that was a choice that they made. And that is a decision that they are going to have to continue to live with.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Cornell, what do you make of – of what we just heard from Senator Vance, and as – and as Amy says, I mean, these polls that we're tracking?
CORNELL BELCHER:
They can't flip-flop their way out of this, right? It – it – that – that was amazing to me, the way they're trying to now flip-flop and move away from this issue that's hurting them. For how long did Donald Trump brag on national television, on interview after interview that – taking responsibility that he chose the Supreme Court that finally overturned Roe v. Wade? He took personal responsibility and owned it. And now he's trying to move away from it. He can’t – he cannot move away from – he cannot move away from this issue. Women all across this country understand where he is. And I guarantee you, we're going to spend millions of dollars reminding them of where he is on this issue.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Marc, what's so interesting is that for some conservative Republicans, the reaction is the opposite, which is that you're betraying what they would like to see, which is a candidate at the top of the ticket who is fighting for a federal ban on abortion.
MARC SHORT:
Well, Kristen, look, I think that he had a good interview. I think it was particularly strong on the border. But I think it's incredibly disappointing for pro-life advocates to see that there's no real standard bearer for the life position in either party anymore at the top of the ticket. I think that for conservatives and pro-life advocates, you look at the Pain-Capable bill and say, the legislation that outlaws abortion after a child can feel pain is actually supported by about 70% of the public. The legislation of 15 weeks is actually more liberal than most of socialist Europe where the limitation is 12 or 13 weeks. We are on the defensive, and as opposed to having a candidate to actually advocate and say, "The Democratic position is abortion on demand through all nine months of pregnancy." That is the contrast that's appealing for a lot of voters. But there is no standard bearer in our party who's actually making that case. And as well on the economic issues, Kristen, there's nobody making a case for free markets. You basically have Kamala rolling out price controls and – and higher taxes and JD Vance doubling down on why we should have the biggest tax increase on the border since Smoot-Hawley.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Yeah, and just to be clear, I think Democrats wouldn't describe it as abortion on demand for nine months. I think what – part of the argument is, through 24 weeks, and of course if the life of the mother, or if there is a medical emergency. And that happens in very rare cases. Very quickly though, let's zoom out. Let's talk about the convention overall. Cornell, what were your – I mean, do you think Kamala Harris did what she needed to? She re-introduced herself. She came into this convention with a lot of momentum. Do you think that she did what she needed to do to build on that? Will we see it in the polling?
CORNELL BELCHER:
I – I think the contrast between the – the vision of Donald Trump and the – and the – and the vision of Harris couldn't be starker or clearer. I think we have as clear a contrast coming out of these conventions as we've had in our – in our lifetime. And I'm not even being partisan on this. If you listen to – look, go back to – toRonald Reagan's convention speech where he – where he talked about, you know, optimism and he talked about the exceptionalism of America. Even go to Bush where Bush said, "We've got to – we’ve got to seize this moment for the promise of Americans." Whether you're a Democrat or a Republican, there is an optimism that – that American leaders lean into, right, that hasn't been partisan at all. Donald Trump talks about the darkness of America and the division of America. He's someone who literally talked about Hannibal Lecter. So I think – I think she gave a very American, optimistic view of this country. And Donald Trump gave one that quite frankly is outside the continuum of leadership both on the left and the right.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Amy, it was interesting to hear Vice President Harris, so many of the other speakers, really try to have a more positive vision. Really a – a stark difference from what we heard from President Biden, who was warning consistently of the threat of Donald Trump. They're almost trying to minimize, not his threat, but Donald Trump the man.
AMY WALTER:
Yeah, I think the most impressive thing about where Kamala Harris has been for this last month and it sort of culminated at the convention is that she has taken the mantle now of the change candidate even though she is the incumbent party. Now, is that going to continue? This is the job of the campaign. We've got 70-plus more days. But the – the Trump campaign has to be able to try to undercut her ability to make herself change.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Marc, he's struggling, Donald Trump, to figure out exactly how to go after her. And we have about a minute left. I want to get Amna in too, but–
MARC SHORT:
Well, I think, yes, the more policy she rolls out actually provides a better contrast. Like, this week again, rolling out price controls from the 1970s, it makes me think that part of her job as border czar is to import the socialist economies of South America, not try to stop the flow at our border. It – it makes no sense. And that provides a better contrast for Trump if this actually turns into a policy debate. Alas, I don't think it will.
KRISTEN WELKER:
A great point though. I mean, should – should she? Does she need to put more meat on the bones?
AMNA NAWAZ:
This is the big question, right? Going in, I will say the one thing that struck me in her acceptance speech was how much policy there was in there.
KRISTEN WELKER:
She did. Not details, but there were policies.
AMNA NAWAZ:
Not details, but if you had a question about what a Harris presidency looked like, you got some of those answers. She walked the middle ground on issues here and abroad. She talked about prioritizing middle-class values. We know there are thorny issues that still remain, economy and immigration among them, which is why the issues you pressed JD Vance on were so key. Because that's where Republicans have their strongest argument against this candidate and ticket. But right now, those are the headwinds and – and, you know, there's still a lot of questions about how she would be president.
KRISTEN WELKER:
All right. Great conversation, guys. Stick around. We have more when we come back. A look at how Vice President Harris campaigned against Donald Trump the first time around. Our Meet the Press Minute is next.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Vice President Harris will formally face off with former President Trump for the first time at a debate in September. But she's been preparing for this moment for years. During her 2020 primary bid, then Senator Harris talked about her approach to taking on Mr. Trump.
[START TAPE]
KAMALA HARRIS:
Here's the thing: There are people who voted for him for a variety of reasons. And a lot of it has to do with the promises he made which he has not delivered on, because they were false promises. And he betrayed a lot of people. He came in saying he was going to help working families, everyone from farmers to auto workers. We're here in Iowa. There are farmers – a lot of farmers – who are looking at bankruptcy because of his so-called trade policy. He betrayed people. And the American people are smarter than to go for all of the flash that he tweets all the time. And look at the fact that – not only on trade policy, but this tax bill that benefits the top 1% and the biggest corporations of America – that this guy, he betrayed them. And I know that the American people are smarter than to go for the okey-doke.
[END TAPE]
KRISTEN WELKER:
When we come back, RFK Jr. suspends his campaign and endorses Trump. Will it have an impact on the race? The panel returns next.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Welcome back, the panel is still here. Marc, let me start with you on RFK Jr. suspending his campaign, endorsing Donald Trump. You actually have a slightly different perspective than a lot of folks have. Who does it help, who does it hurt?
MARC SHORT:
Yeah, it may be a little bit counterintuitive, but look, if Kennedy's made the decision to get out then you want his endorsem*nt, Kristen. But the reality is that Trump has such a low ceiling that he needs to win a race in the mid-40s. And so you want to dilute the anti-Trump vote as much as possible with many candidates. People forget in 2016 when he won, Gary Johnson got several points in most pivotal states. He needed a third party candidate. And so you want the endorsem*nt if he's getting out, but it doesn't help Trump to have this as a binary race. And so I think that in the end, this actually helps the Harris campaign more come November.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Amy, what do you think?
AMY WALTER:
Yeah, I mean, it is a – it's a very good point. I mean, we had our own polling in battleground states. And if you relocate – reallocate those voters, it gives Trump just a very tiny margin of – of support. But we also know that margins, very tiny margins, are what determined these last two presidential elections.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Yeah. Right.
CORNELL BELCHER:
I think you also have to be careful in the polling on this because it's such a narrow swath of the electorate that you got to be – got to be careful. What – what is that 5% going to go to? I agree with Marc completely on this, is that she benefits from a two-person race. I – I understand what happens in a multi-candidate race because I saw it in 2016. He wins by subtraction, not addition. I think a one-on-one race, most of the battleground states, I think it benefits Harris.
KRISTEN WELKER:
And Amna, just zooming out, the next big data points of this election are going to be, we're anticipating an interview with someone, hopefully this broadcast–
AMNA NAWAZ:
Vice President Harris?
KRISTEN WELKER:
Yes, exactly. With Vice President Harris.
AMNA NAWAZ:
I’m going to quickly put in a plug for PBS NewsHour too.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Thank you. Yes. Every journalist on Earth has put their plug in. But Amna, an interview and then the debate–
AMNA NAWAZ:
The debate. The debate.
KRISTEN WELKER:
–is going to be huge.
AMNA NAWAZ:
Well, no one needs reminding that debates have had the potential to dramatically change the course of this race so far.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Yeah. Right, right.
AMNA NAWAZ:
And look, Harris has proven herself to be a skillful debater in the past. In the Democratic primary process, remember, she had that one line that ended up on t-shirts when she was talking about busing to desegregate and Biden's opposition to that. And she said, "I was that little girl." So she's been on that stage before. The interviews for me, and I am biased, but yes, candidates don't need us as journalists to get their message out. They don't anymore in this ecosystem. But interviews are where candidates face rigor and skepticism and questions about issues that they are not raising on the campaign trail and in monologues. It opens it up to a conversation in a way that is good for voters and good for democracy. And I – I will just say, having been with Vice President Harris in unscripted scenarios, there's policy command there. That can come out in these kinds of interviews.
CORNELL BELCHER:
Can I say – I love you, and I love you – but as a campaign hack, no. She should be talking to the voters and barnstorming–
KRISTEN WELKER:
That's cold. That is cold.
CORNELL BELCHER:
–the way – the – the way they do. Again, I say – I prefaced it with, "I love you all." But I don't want her talking to you all right now. She should be talking directly to the voters and going across the country and doing – and doing that.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Well, there’s – there's risk in talking to us. There's no doubt about that, Amy. And yet, there – you know, she had this soaring speech at the Democratic National Convention. She did talk, as Amna said, about policy. But again, there are still a lot of questions when it comes to will she continue to build on the Biden agenda, or will she lead differently if she's elected?
AMY WALTER:
I think that's – I think that’s exactly right. And look, there are still a lot of questions that voters have about her. I mean, she came into this race, even though she's the vice president, as relatively unknown. She's been able to fill in the gaps in the way she wanted to. The Trump campaign's trying to fill it in the way they want to. Right now, she is ahead of the game on that. But I think there are still voters that are skeptical because they want to hear it directly from her in response to questions. The debate will be the place where you kind of – you can't avoid that.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Yeah, she's going to Georgia this week. We know Trump is going to be hitting the battleground states as well. Marc, Trump is not someone who traditionally prepares for a debate. But this is different. I mean, he – he seems to understand, and in talking to allies, that this is a real race. That he – he's, you know, in some states behind.
MARC SHORT:
Yeah, I – I think he is. I think the reality is that his performance can be overpowering sometimes, but he's probably not going to study the policy as hard. I don't know that that's always been Kamala Harris's strength, though, either. I think she performed well in the Democrat primary debate. I'm not so sure she did as well in the main debate against – against Pence–
CORNELL BELCHER:
Against your guy?
MARC SHORT:
I don’t think – I think that she wasn't as well-prepared. I think a lot of the reporting has been that she wasn't well-prepared when she came into the vice presidency itself. But you know, I think that – I think that, back to y’all’s conversation, it's good for America to hear her put out more of her policy views. I think it's bad for a campaign. Because again, what she did last week I think was – was really far-left, Elizabeth Warren policy. And I think that that, again, if it becomes a policy debate, that benefits Trump if it's on immigration and the economy.
AMY WALTER:
Well, we –
KRISTEN WELKER:
So, Marc and Cornell agree. It's a first. We are unfortunately out of time. I'm sorry, that is all for today. Thank you for watching. We'll be back next week, because if it's Sunday, it's Meet the Press.
