this sunday, presidential plans. >> we will move forward. >> vice president kamala harris

begins to outline and clarify her positions on key issues ahead of the two-month sprint to election day. >> my values have not changed. >> are there enough details in the harris agenda to win over undecided voters? i'll talk to democratic congressman ro khanna of california. plus, trump's promises. donald trump appears to try and moderate his position on women's health as the election nears promising the government will pay for fertility treatments. >> the government is going to pay for it or we'll mandate your insurance company to pay for it. >> i'll talk to republican senator tom cotton of arkansas and devastating discovery. the bodies of six hostages including israeli-american hirsch goldberg are recovered in gaza just days after his parent addressed the democratic convention. >> hirsch if you can hear us, we

love you. stay strong. survive. >> how will this impact negotiations for i seesefire. joining me for insight and analysis are david roude. the wall street journal senior political cresses, lahnee bell, and maria teresa kumar, president of voter latino. welcome to sunday. it's "meet the press". >> this is "meet the press" with kristen welker. good sunday morning. former president donald trump and vice president kamala harris will face off in their first debate next week as new polling shows just how competitive the race is with just over two months until election day. nationally, harris is leading trump 48-47% in a wall street journal poll of registered

voters. a quinnipiac poll shows harris two points among likely voters, 49% to 47%. in the battleground state according to a set of bloomberg polls, harris and trump are tied in arizona and north carolina. harris is narrowly ahead in michigan and pennsylvania and outside the margin of error in wisconsin. this morning the vice president sat down for the first interview since becoming the nominee. to immigration since she first ran for president back in 2019. >> i think the most important and most significant aspect of my policy perspective and decisions is my values have not changed. >> and this morning there are new signs the issue of abortion is front and center in this race. as a growing share of voters and particularly women rank abortion

second after the economy and give harris an edge on the issue. for former president trump it's posing political land mines and he was presseded by dasha burns over whether he would support an amendment over his home state of florida six-week abortion ban. >> there's an abortion-related amendment to overturn the six-week ban in florida, how will you vote on that? >> i think the six week is too short, and it needs more time. >> you are voting in favor of the amendment? >> we need more than six weeks. >> after a backlash of anti-abortion advocates mr. trump said he couldn't back the amendment? >> are you voting yes or more on the amendment in florida? >> six weeks, i think you need more time. i disagreed with it from the early primaries. i disagreed with it. at the same time the democrats

are radical because the nine months is just a ridiculous situation. you can do an abortion in the ninth month. some of the states like minnesota and other states have it where you can execute the baby after birth and all of that stuff is unacceptable. so i'll be voting no for that reason. >> now less than 1% of abortions happen at 21 weeks or later and usually because of catastrophic health risks or lethal fetal abnormalities and infanticide is illegal in all 50 state. we will have more on that in a moment, but first, a devastating turn in the israel-gaza war. israeli forces have recovered the bodies of six hostages in gaza including israeli-american hersh goldberg after his parents spoke at the democratic convention last month. >> anyone who is a parent or has had a parent can try to imagine

the anguish and misery that jon and i and all the hostage families are enduring. >> bring them home! >>. >> the israeli defense forces said the bodies were recovered on saturday in the city of rafah in an operation by the idf saying all six had been killed shortly before they were to be rescued by israeli forces. in a statement vice president kamala harris said hamas is an evil terror of the organization. with these murders hamas has even more american blood on his hands. president biden spoke on saturday night. >> it's time this war ended. they should end this war. i think we're on a vrj of having an agreement and it's time to end it. >> joining me now is senator tom cotton of arkansas. welcome back to "meet the press

"qwest. >> thank you, kristen, for having me on. >> let's start with this devastating news, the discovery of six body, hostages including israeli-american hersh goldberg-poland. everyone, i think, feels heart broken this morning, the entire nation and frankly, the world, mourning these deaths. what is your reaction, senator what will this mean for hostage negotiations? >> it's terribly sad news that hamas murdered, executed these six hostages in cold blood apparently shot in the head shortly before they might have been rescued by israeli defense forces. my heart goes out to all of the families, specially hersh goldberg's family and another american still to be beinged for. that's where joe biden and kamala harris put pressure israel not to enter for months using arms embargo to keep them from entering.

kamala harris said israel shouldn't have entered rafah because they studied the maps. what the biden-harris administration should have done from the begin is not pressure israel on the response, for 11 months joe biden and kamala harris have put more pressure on israel than hamas and iran and other terror proxies. >> there is no arms embargo. it is true that the biden administration did stop one shipment of arms. >> that's not correct. >> it is correct there is no arms embargo. >> for week, for weeks the biden-harris administration put an embargo not just on 2,000-pound bombs, but on things like tank rounds and artillery shells. >> no. it was just one shipment of arms. it was the 2,000-pound -- >> kristen --? it was a large category of

weapon, but they have moved forward with that. it's not an arms embargo. that is a very specific term and it was not an arms embargo. >> this was in place for many weeks specifically to stop israel from entering rafah where the hostages were discovered. if we had backed israel to the hilt this war would probably have been over and there would have been fewer civilian casualties caused by hamas' infliction of civilian casualties, but at every turn joe biden and kamala harris have put more pressure on israel than they have on hamas and iran. >> let's talk about --? kristen it was many more --? kristen, you can do your fact check thing all you want. i'm going to tell you the real facts and it was a large category of weapons far beyond 2,000-pound bombs. >> but it wasn't an arms embargo. that's my point.

it wasn't specifically an arms embargo. let's look at what prime minister netanyahu is facing right now because he's been facing pressure. axios reports that a senior israeli official said, quote, we warned netanyahu and the cabinet ministers about this exact scenario but they wouldn't listen. do you think prime minister netanyahu bears any responsibility for not getting a deal sooner? >> no. i believe hamas bears responsibility for not turning these hostages back over to their families and surrendering. at every turn benjamin netanyahu has tried -- tried to meet the biden administration half way. they continue to move the goalpost. they continue to encourage and embolden hamas. consider what happened just a few week ago when the prime minister was here to speak at the capitol. kamala harris didn't even sit behind him in the session of congress, one of her few duties and she came out of a private

meeting saying we need a cease tyre now. what did you have two days later? you had israeli children blown up in playgrounds because every time kamala harris and joe biden put pressure israel there is more --? you have people protesting in the streets. he is, of course, the leader of israel and that's what i'm asking you about. do you think and would you urge him in this moment, senator, to get a deal given these casualties? >> i would urge him to get hamas which is what kamala harris and joe biden had done from the very beginning. if we had backed israel to the hilt and we hadn't pressured israel to slow and moderate its response hamas would have been broken. the only time hamas has come close to releasing hostages is when they are on the ropes. >> of course, the u.s. has given more aid both military and monetary to israel than any

other country. >> to be exact, we've given hundreds of billions in dollars in relief to iran. >> some of the money, of course, is frozen. let's move on to some domestic issues, if we could. the issue of abortion front and center this week. donald trump has gone from calling himself throughout the arc of time very pro-choice at one point. he's more recently bragged about overturning roe v. wade and now he will vote to keep florida's six-week abortion ban in place something he once described as terrible. how can people trust trump on this issue? >> there's only one candidate in this race who supports a nationwide abortion law is kamala harris because we voted on it. it is a radical extreme and it would require taxpayer funding up to the moment of birth and that's what she stands for.

she's the only one in this race calling for a nationwide abortion law something that is wildly unpopular. >> the bill you're talking to requires there will be exceptions of health and not that all abortions be legal in all cases. >> donald trump said he supports exceptions when a woman's health is at risk and when she's the victim of rape and incest. 50 years didn't require taxpayer funding for abortions. >> it is currently illegal under the hyde amendment and abortions 21 weeks and after are extremely rare. >> if they're so rare in the case of a health emergency. >> why won't kamala harris say fine, why not allow them? >> because of the concern for health emergencies. >> if you have those exceptions it will account for those rare health emergencies. so why won't she say. >> that's what it says up to the time of viability with exceptions, states are allowed

to have exceptions. >> kamala harris voted against the born alive victims protection act. >> she did not. >> senator, she vote -- on. >> i was there. she voted against it. >> she voted against advancing the bill twice. >> if these cases are so rare in late-term pregnancy then why won't she say you know what? we should prohibit these with the exceptions for the mother's life, why won't she say that? because she is a radical on abortion. >> she voted against advancing the bill twice. she called it extreme. i interviewed j.d. vance last week. he told me donald trump would veto a federal abortion ban if it came to his desk. now trump is not committing to that. do you think he would sign that veto if it came to his desk? >> kristen, i think it's a hypothetical first off. we both know there will not be 60 votes in the senate any time soon for either parties,

preferred or centrist position on abortion whether it's the radical position that democrats have or the pro-life position that republicans have. what president trump has been consistent is there's not going to be a nationwide abortion law while he's president. he appointed three justices who reversed roe v. wade that even liberal scholars acknowledge it was poorly reasoned and returned it to where it has rested for 170 years which is the american people making choices through their elected representatives at their states. states will have different kinds of laws. donald trump has acknowledged that. >> i hear you saying that former president trump has been consistent, but as we showed he's actually pivoted quite a bit on this issue, but j.d. vance was very clear. he said donald trump would veto a nationwide ban, and i guess the question is why can't trump be clear with people where where he stands? i know you're staying it's a hypothetical, but are you clear about what he would do? ? he has been clear that there

will not be a nationwide abortion law when he is president. he's been perfectly consistent on that. kamala harris has been consistent and not tried her radical position on abortion and it's the only one she hasn't hid in the last six weeks like banning gas cars and banning fracing. >> i'll talk to ro khanna coming up donald trump, his big announcement. he wants to force insurance companies to cover ivf. is that what you support? >> to my knowledge all republicans support ivf. it is expensive for many couples, i understand that, so it's something i'm open to that most republicans will be open to. i think we have to evaluate the fiscal impact and whether the taxpayer can afford to pay for

this and what impact it would have on premiums and in principle supporting couples is something that's not controversial at all. >> you vote against something that would expand ivf access and some coverage would be covered by insurance plans. >> you mean chuck schumer's ridiculous emergency bill that requires men who think they're women? >> it's a bill that would have protection expanded ivf. >> chuck schumer has spent all summer long slapping together ridiculous bills that he thinks will help his liberal incumbent senators face off. >> just very quickly, do you know where this money would come from to cover evf because in 2022 some $8 billion were paid. >> we'd have to evaluate specific legislation -- >> it would not be taxpayer dollars.

>> i would have to evaluate specific legislation. >> you are still undecided where you stand on this plan. >> it's not even a controversial issue in any of the 50 states. >> let me ask you about another one of the big headlines this week. donald trump's visit to arlington national cemetery. you've been talking about this. he attended a wreath-laying ceremony for the 13 service members who were killed from the u.s. withdraw from afghanistan. he was invited by those family members and important to say that. he had campaign staffers, photos and videos were posted on a campaign site. taking campaign voters and videos at grave sites is forbidden under federal law. you of course, served in arlington cemetery in the old guard so i know this is a sacred place for you. bottom line, senator, is it ever appropriate to take campaign

photos at grave sites? >> their children died because of joe biden and kamala harris' incompetence and they invited him to take those photos. when i poke to the parents of taylor hoover who has arkansas ties. they don't get to go to the beach on labor day or have barbecues and this is the one chance to commemorate their service and honor their sacrifice. they wanted donald trump there. joe biden and kamala harris. she was four miles away, ten minutes she could have gone to the cemetery and honored the sacrifice of those young men and women, but she hasn't. she never has spoken to them or taken a meeting. >> they were with them at the dignified transfer. her and joe biden's incompetence those 13 members were killed in afghanistan. >> well, not everyone was

pleased with this, again, the law says memorial services at army and military ceremonies will not include partisan. >> it was posted on a campaign side, on his site. >> he didn't wear a maga hat. >> just like joe biden has posted content of himself in the cemetery. he wasn't with campaign staffers. >> they're all american citizens. they have a right to go there and to honor the sacrifice of those 13 americans who joe biden and kamala harris sent to their death. >> let me ask you what we're hearing from another family. the family of master sergeant andrew marchesano. he was a green beret. his family is concerned that his grave was posted on a picture that was on social media. we hope that those visiting this sacred site understand that these were real people that

sacrificed our freedom and were honored and respecting a appropriately? those families wanted the photos. they told me yesterday they specifically asked president trump for the photos. obviously headstones at arlington are close to each other. what about the marchesano's? >> when you take a photo, it's disappointing that "the new york times" went and found a family whose headstone was featured in the photograph and went to them to try to embarrass the gold star families who wanted president trump there. >> very quickly, have you had any conversations about donald trump if he does win? >> we'll begin some of the damage that joe biden and kamala harris have caused. >> senator tom cotton, thank you for joining us on this labor day. hope you get time with family.

we appreciate it. coming up, is vice president harris doing enough to clearly explain her agenda and how her views have evolved. democratic congressman ro khanna democratic congressman ro khanna joins me next. ♪♪ did you know that 96% of customers recommend the hartford? boy that's higher than most movie ratings. and those who switched to the aarp auto insurance program from the hartford? they saved hundreds. for the savings, benefits and best in class claims experience you deserve. make the switch today. to get your free quote call or click today. the buck's got your back. (vo) you've got your sunday obsession call or click today. and we got you now with verizon, get nfl sunday ticket from youtube tv on us... and a great deal on galaxy z fold6... for a total value of twelve hundred and fifty dollars. only on verizon. (jalen hurts) see you sunday! ga, the advanced form of dry age-related macular degeneration,

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every moment counts—act now to slow ga with syfovre. ask your retina specialist about syfovre. welcome back. how much will vice president harris draw a distinction between president biden's record and what she will do if elected? in her first joint interview as democratic nominee harris defended some of her policy shifts since she ran for the white house in 2019. joining me to discuss all of this is democratic congressman ro khanna of california. welcome back to "meet the press". >> thank you for having me on. >> thank you very much for being here. i have to start with this devastating and tragic news, the revelation that six hostages have been killed by hamas including israeli-american hersh

goldberg-pollin. what is your reaction and what do you think this means for hostage negotiations? >> my heartbreaks for the family of hersh goldberg-pollin. they spoke about his love for life and planning to travel the world and it's a devastating murder by hamas, but what we need now is an end to the war and we need to continue to pressure hamas to unconditionally release the hostages, but the hostage families themselves are saying that netanyahu needs to actually be in the negotiation. gallant, his own defense minister has criticized netanyahu in the cabinet for saying the corridor that netanyahu's not willing to withdraw troops there as egypt and the united states want. so i hope there will be pressure hamas and netanyahu to end this war and release the hostages. >> let me ask you big picture

according to "the washington post" that vice president harris would conduct a full review if elected of the u.s.-israel policy and could be open to imposing conditions to israel. i know that's something that you have supported. have you been pushing her directly to support conditioned aid to israel? >> i've been pushing her to enforce the enforcement of u.s. law. that is what the enforcement of the leahy law and the security laws require that we don't have unconditional aid. kristen, this isn't unprecedented. in 1982 after the massacres in lebanon president reagan called up israel and said we will not give aid in a way that's going to cause humanitarian crises. we need to have pressure on both sides and i'm glad it is open in a new direction. >> has she expressed to open aid to you in your conversations? >> what her team has expressed is to a new direction and look, anyone looking at this policy,

you have hostages who still aren't released. you have a war that has lasted almost 11 months. you have over 40,000 people in gaza dying. we need a new direction of policy to bring the war to an end. let me ask you about another foreign policy issue and you heard senator cotton sharply critical of president biden and vice president harris for the botched withdraw from afghanistan. vice president harris has said that she was the last one in the room for that decision about that withdrawal. do you think she bears some responsibility for the way that that withdrawal was carried out? >> first of all, it was donald trump who wanted us to get out of afghanistan and was never able to do it. i give president biden and vice president harris for finally ending the war after 20 years and my heart goes out to the gold star families of the 13 marines we lost. i have tremendous admiration for the service of those who were lost, but i think the war had to

end and there needs to be a review of why those victims were there, our marines and of course, the administration needs to explain that, but the big issue here was that president biden ended a war that donald trump said he wanted to end. >> there were recommendations that troops should still be stationed there. do you believe she bears some of the responsibility for some of those key decisions that were made that did lead to that withdrawal which we all witnessed which by all accounts including biden administration acknowledged was botched? >> i think she is proud of the biden-harris record. she deserves credit for ending the war and to the extent that there were mistakes made, of course, she is part of that administration, but you know the difference, kristen? no one is perfect in government and president biden's team himself has acknowledged certain mistakes, but leaders take responsibility and they're open and they're honest and yes, there were certain mistakes made, but the war was ended and

that was the big decision that she strategic petroleum reserves and deserves credit for. >> she talked about some of those policy reversals that have been in the spotlight. she previously supported medicare for all, she now doesn't. she favored a ban on being fraing, she now doesn't. she now says, quote, there should have to be consequences. she said when she defended he's policy positionses that her values have not changed even though her policies have. why should people believe who she says now? >> i think she came off with confidence. i agree with your predecessor chuck todd that she should go on these weekly shows. she's very competent and running for president have her views out there and take the hard questions and let's go issue by issue on frackiing. president biden ran in 2020 on a position that there would be no

new fracing leases on federal land. our federal land was sacred and that we were going to protect that and he did not say that we were going to ban fracing in private lands in states like pennsylvania most of the fracing is of private lands and vice president harris ran on that position and in the vice presidential debate joe biden said they would not end fracking on private land. my assumption is this is the same position and she'll be fine with fracing as a transition of private, and that is what they led on in 2020. >> another one more specifically. her initial support and now position to a single-payer health care system. you support that. >> i do. >> let's play something bernie sanders told politico last month. >> we need review, and i think i'm right and they're wrong, but what am i going to do? >> are you disappointed that vice president harris is not

running on an agenda that includes medicare for all? >> strongly support medicare for all. i support getting people on medicare, dental, vision, hearing and those are basics, and i believe people should not have to go bankrupt because of medical debt, and i hope that we can get to medicare for all, but if vice president harris is going to take incremental approaches to improve health care for families to expand medicaid and to expand the affordable care act and that's better than going backward and having donald trump who wants to repeal the affordable care act. >> zooming out, what do you say to progressives who feel abandoned by vice president harris on some of these key issues? >> i say look at the progress we have made. you have bernie sanders having a progressive agenda that influenced president biden that led to the american rescue plan, that had the child care tax credit, that had massive investment and manufacturing in schools and vice president harris has taken some bold, progressive positions and she's

calling for building more housing and called for expanding the child tax credit and called for capping rents that are outrageous. so progress isn't made in one fell swoop, but we're moving in the right direction. >> do you think she would consider herself to be a proud progressive? how would she label herself? >> i'll let her do that, but i think of her as a progressive who is pragmatic to meet the needs, but this idea that she hasn't been consistent. what about donald trump's flip-flops? what about his flip-flops on abortion? >> i asked senator cotton about that. >> i think the vice president is consistent on the position on fracing. it's exactly how joe biden ran. i think on medicare for all, i ran against her as a co-chair of bernie sanders' campaign and she was not for medicare for all in the 2020 primary. that is part of the difference. is she as progressive as me and burdeny sanders? no. she's moving in a progression for the party. >> congressman ro khanna, thank

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welcome back. the panel is here. nbc news national security editor david roude the author of the book -- molly ball, senior correspondent for the wall street journal. maria teresa kumar, and lahnee chen from stanford university, thanks for being here on this labor day weekend. david, i have to start with you. this devastating news that we all woke up to, the news of the six hostages killed. you, of course, were held by the taliban in afghanistan for seven months. i know that you know this family. i know that you are grieving this morning. the implications of this and where things go in gaza. >> i met the polins in this very studio and lester holt sat down with all of the americans that have been taken hostage.

john and rachel are just extraordinary and the odd thing in my case many years ago, i think he suffered more. his courage. he had his hand blown off by a grenade and still dragged through gaza and his hand appeared to be amputated and that was a video released by hamas in april and his struggle to end this way is heartbreaking and john and rachel are incredible in many ways and i'm a proud nbc national security editor, and i want to be non-partisan, but hostage taking is a very cruel crime. it's a particularly cruel and cowardly for the families. i know john and rachel, my own family, they sit there thinking how can i save my loved one? can i get president biden and prime minister netanyahu to do something and it's just cruel to the families. so this is just heartbreaking, and i am so sorry for hersh and his family and all of the hostages. >> maria teresa, we heard from them at the democratic national convention when they spoke out, and they have been so outspoken.

bring our son home. they have shared their grief, their horror with the world so bravely, and yet here we are. >> i mean, my heart goes out to their families. i do think that what kamala harris has been able to do is we have this idea that we need national security for israel and protections while recognizing there has to be a way to protect the innocent in gaza. this could be an october surprise and going into the election, if that is the case, americans are going to ask who will be the one that should be at that table? that is what we should be watching. the grievance that you expressed, i cannot imagine. >> lahnee? >> it's an all of day, without question. i think the challenge for the harris team is they're trying to

have it both ways and you saw this a little bit in her convention speech. on the one hand she wants to stand with israel and on the other hand she's talking about the need to be respectful or to be understanding of the position of the palestinians and understanding that this is a hamas-driven activity. there is a difference there, to be sure, but i think that there's a little bit of confusion here because this is an issue that divides the democratic's base, as well. >> yeah. >> that's what makes the politics complex for her because she's got to navigate this in order to keep the support of her base and pure palatable to swing voters. >> molly, we started to get to that with congressman khanna, the fact that you have a fair number of voters in the so-called blue wall, to name a few who are deeply driven by this issue. >> and kamala harris was asked about this in her cnn interview and she kept saying we need a deal, we need a deal and we

haven't gotten a deal and months have gone by and president biden has said it's close, it's close, it's close and the u.s. isn't the only one who can want a deal. if hamas doesn't want a deal and israel doesn't want a deal and at times both sides have rejected plans that the u.s. has tried to broker and with every passing day that that deal is not achieved it is a reminder not issue of the issue of arms to israel which kamala harris did not answer in that interview and which does continue to divide the democratic base and there is a significant portion as this we all saw in chicago that is animated by that issue and it is a reminder that this conflict persists in a lot of polls and voters do say that they trust trump more on foreign policy in part because there are these ongoing conflicts overseas in which the u.s. has interest at stake and remains embroiled and the administration has not for whatever reason been able to bring them to a close? >> lahnee, the race could also

turn not just on the issue of foreign policy and everything that is happening in the middle east right now, but on domestic policy and obviously, abortion is front and center in that. we are watching former president donald trump wrestle with in in real time. for example, on thursday he suggested he was going to basically vote against the six-week ban and by friday, he had shifted gears because he was under so much pressure. how do you think this will play out given the polling? >> well, this is another example of the pressure between swing voters and base voters. >> yeah. >> this is in some ways the equivalent in terms of how this issue plays out. i think that republican voters will give donald trump a lot of grace on this issue so i don't tend to believe that there will be a large migration of base voters away from him because his position has been tortured on this issue. i do think it's the case, though, that the energy of the republican base is something that could be affected if this continues to drag out. that's why it was important for his campaign to do as they did

which is to clarify this as quickly as possible because this is one of those things that if you let it linger the energy is the problem and it's not so much that they'll vote for kamala harris and it's not that they'll vote for donald trump. >> it is so fascinating because donald trump is someone who has taken responsibility for roe v. wade and understood that this would be a political liability for him and it has been for republicans. when he comes out and says free ivf for everyone. is that something that makes democrats nervous that maybe we should have proposed that first? >> no, i think first of all, this is real policy. there are women, sadly, that are dying under these bans and so we have to remember that whatever policy decisions we end up with that there are actual harm being caused every single day, the more they delay in addressing this issue, and i do think the democrats realize that he is not growing his base. he needs to grow his base and i think that to your point, she's making a lot of evangelicals

nervous with this flip-flops and that is one of the reasons why he recognizes, wait a second. i have to pull myself back because where are my voters coming from. he wants his maga republicans and evangelicals to come out. he's losing voters from the polling that we're seeing and he has to figure out how do you thread the needle while ensuring that the other side does not come out. >> molly, how do you see this, that women voters increasingly see this as their top issue and tied with second with the economy and we've never seen that before, quite frankly. >> this is an issue where trump has always been caught in a vice and his position from the beginning is that he was proud of the decision overturning roe v. wade because it returned it to the states and the states can do whatever they want. we've seen it's more complicated than that. when arizona tried to dramatic ally tried to restrict abortion,

trump intervened and he's got to say how he would vote on a state's decision and as we've talked about went back and forth because he has to simultaneously reassure his base that he will continue to fight for them, but also speak to swing voters. the other part of his base that he risks with this ivf gambit is pickal conservatives. you heard senator tom cotton not agree to what would be an expansion of obama care and a massive expense for the government if they were to cover ivf. i don't think you would get republican senator going along with something like that and not only for pro-life conservatives, but fiscal conservatives who want limited government and less spending this is a little bit disturbing to see where trump is going on these issues. >> guys, stand by. pause. we'll start the next pan well you, david. when we come back. price controls and the high cost of living have been top of mind for american voters for decades. our "meet the press minute" is next.

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this labor day weekend both

campaigns are leaning into the economy, the top issue for voters. vice president harris' proposal to ban price gouging in the grocery industry has gotten attention and some criticism with former president trump saying she has endorsed, quote, soviet-style price controls and harris' allies arguing that her plan is instead a targeted expansion of existing state powers. back in 1951 here's how the president of the united automobile workers talked about the debate over price controls here on "meet the press". >> we believe that when we fight for effective price control, to really have a law that begins to roll back the cost of living and then control it, we think we're reflecting the desires and the needs of the great majority of american people. we think when we fight for a tax law that begins the place the burden of the cost of defending freedom upon all people based upon their ability to pay we

think we're fighting a battle of the average american. >> and you think that in a democracy in a time of war when some of our sons are in korea and when you walk out the way you did and you're speaking for the plain people of america whose sons are in korea and being drafted. >> what about the g.i. who leaves his children back here with the wife, doesn't rent kohl troll affect her? we're fighting for these things because it helps all americans. >> a debate then, a debate now. when we come back the special counsel revised his indictment against donald trump this week after the supreme court's immunity decision. what role will trump's legal what role will trump's legal battles play ahead of ga, the advanced form of dry age-related macular degeneration, can irreversibly damage your vision. it can progress faster than you think. when ga threatens your eyes, take a stand. slow ga with syfovre. syfovre is an eye injection that was proven

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welcome back. the panel is still here and david, i want to start with you and your new book "where tyranny begins," but put it against this backdrop. this week special counsel jack smith filed a new indictment against president trump basic rerestricting his official acts on the supreme court's ruling on immunity and the it relates to your new book particularly when you reflect on former president trump's impact on the legal system. you write, quote, in four years as president and three years as an ex-president trump has successfully used conspiracy

theories, corruption and threats to bend doj and fbi officials to his will. those that dared -- that is not the rule of law, that is not democracy. what else did you find in this book, when researching this book? >> that these tactics worked. i was shocked to see how afraid people were afraid to speak to me on the record and since i finished the book the supreme court came out with this immunity decision which as you said, makes it legal. any official act by a president with the attorney general is allowed anything, and this is unprecedented in american history. it's never hifted before. a concrete example before, recent events on tuesday, donald trump is coming out with a new book, a picture book, and he says if mark zuckerberg, the head of facebook does anything to interfere in the 2024

election zuckerberg will spend the rest of his life in jail. under this immunity ruling, trump can call up his attorney general, tell him to prosecute zuckerberg and if that attorney general refuses to carry that order out he can fire him, and again, under the immunity ruling that is absolute immunity, privileged communication between the president and the attorney general. this did not happen. richard nixon had his attorney general look for, you know, political know mes and look for leaks against the president. this is a whole new era that we're in now. >> lahnee, what is your take both on what david has written in his book and this moment we are in and former president trump is still facing these indictments although it doesn't seem like they'll go to trial before election day. >> i think the political impact of the superseding indictment is minimal unless there's some additional resolution of this case. i think people are pretty dug in

with their points of view. i think they'll be beyond a second trump term, whoever is president next. the decision talks about the value of an energetic executive. this decision basically gives the executive two red bulls and a coffee, right? this is beyond energetic and so the concern one has is that in the future what does this mean for executive power going forward? already we have an executive that's much more active now than in recent american history and it puts at a premium on what executives promise in a campaign, because they then are much more well positioned to engage in executive action to get things done. that's why it matters what they say on the campaign trail now because they have the legal backing to do things with it. >> maria, all of this is taking place against the backdrop. we are nine days out from the first debate between former president trump and vice president kamala harris. what are you watching for as we get closer to that all-important moment? >> one of the things that has

made harris really a household name is that she is playing in a completely different sandbox than donald trump. she does not engage with him and she does it with joy and deflects him and we saw that in the interview, as well. i think what the american people are going to look for is when she engages him is it going to be through this lens, i know who you are buddy, you're the convicted felon and i'm the prosecutor. they may not like donald trump, but what they really don't like is they keep finding these egregious breaking of the law and they are wanting someone to put him in his place and how is she going to do that and how she will define it will be important. >> we have seen her coming out forcefully from the beginning and lean into her background as a prosecutor and tried to as maria teresa was saying make that distinction with former president trump. what does she need to do in the debate and obviously, they're both preparing in very different ways. these two different candidates.

>> right, and i think they are both going to seek to put the other on the defensive and that is going to be the crucial thing that i think we're all watching for. we've seen her be less comfortable when it comes to defending her own positions and explaining her own values as she puts it. is she able to keep trump on the defensive? is she able to keep the focus on him and the case that she wants to make against him and not get bogged down in explaining where she stands because, you know, part of what happened in the june 27th debate, of course, all of the focus was on president biden and his dramatic, sort of collapse, but a lot of voters who watched that debate weren't necessarily in love with what trump was doing either and so the question is, can she continue to do this tightrope walk where she's able to position herself as both, you know, an owner and a defender of the administration that she's been a part of and a candidate who is seeking to represent

change and to turn the page and that is a tricky balancing act and it's interesting to see how she can pull that off. >> you're right about that. the first debate proving how significant debates can be. great conversation. that is all for today. thank you for watching. have a great labor day weekend, we'll be back next week because if it's sunday, it's "meet the press."

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