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tv   Meet the Press  MSNBC  March 13, 2023 1:00am-2:00am PDT

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>> i had decided long before then that james henrikson wa crazy. i didn't know he was that kind of crazy >> henrikson will leave prison only in a box having receive two consecutive life sentences he's chosen not to appeal. and here in the vast north dakota grasslands, k.c clarke's friends and family ar still searching, vowing to sta with it until they find him. >> you just want to, all right james, you son of a bitch, we're going to get him ourselves. we're going to bring him hom and finally get closure fo everybody here >> and elberta >> sometimes grief overwhelm me, i'm just in a pile of tears, and i have not lived alone ever >> takes some figuring out >> it takes some figuring out. >> sarah, thoroughly investigated was held blameless, not involved in james'violen conspiracies, though in th community, and among some in law enforcement, suspicion lingers. in june 2017, she pleade guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud sarah was sentenced to three years of probation, and ordere to pay over $340,000 i restitution. >> so as you look at all o these events and you think gosh, what sin did i commit to during this spot, what would you say? >> i trusted a con artist. i trusted a sociopath. since i married the monster, some people think i should b one too. but i'm not. >> wreckage, lots of it, onc upon a time, in a flat and gracious land where tough me wrestle for oil, murderous ambition bubbled up with the crude, and made a play as ol as human kind. stunnin this sunday, a stunning à collapse the second largest bank failure in u.s. history rattles the tech world and raises fears the panic
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could spread. >> when banks experience govern to take it over so quickly and financial losses, it is around should be a gnatter of concern >> why did the government have to take it over so quickly and are other banks at risk. >> i'll ask sheila bair, the former chair of the fdic about the last banking crisis. >> legal troubles. donald trump faces potential criminal charges in new york where he's been invited to testify before the grand jury this week. >> our country has become the investigation capital of the world. >> while his biggest challenger visits iowa for the first time. >> we will never, ever surrender to the woke mob. >> will the republican primary voters even care if trump is indicted and the art of deception house speaker kevin mccarthy hands over january 6th footage to tucker carlson who claims the insurrection was mostly peaceful and it serves to divide republicans on capitol hill. >> i think it's bull [ bleep ]. >> bob menendez of new jersey, ,
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senator and chairman of the foreign relations committee. and joining me for insight and analysis are mariana sotomayor of the washington post, jonathan of politico and republican strategist brendan buck. welcome to sunday. it's "meet the press." from nbc news in washington, the longest running show in television history this is "meet the press" with chuck todd and a good sunday morning. >> it was a week, to borrow a phrase, of everything everywhere all at once. global instability and threats to democracy at home and it ended in the second largest bank collapse in u.s. history, all of it adds to the uncertainty many americans have been feeling for a few years now. around the world, iran and saudi arabia agreed to restore ties in the middle east, and a dea brokered not by the united states, but by china and it happened just as our nation's
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top intelligence leaders testified that china is, quote, the most consequential threat to u.s. national security on our southern border, the kidnapping of four u.s. citizens in mexico and murder of two of them just over our border raised tensions on the charged issue of border security, prompting calls for president biden to crack down on cartels and the real question whether the mexican government can be a partner in this and then there's the threat to democracy at home and the republican divide on the capitol attack broke open again after tuck callerson presented an alternative insurrection, describing it as a mostly peaceful chaos and republican senators called the broadcast normalizing the attack on the state dangerous an they defended the d broadcast. the biggest political story of the year kicked off in iowadisgd
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skple active, and many house republicans, they defended the broadcast. the biggest political story of the year kicked off in iowa as the co-front-runners for the republican nomination took their campaign there for the first time and ron desantis and donald trump in davenport, iowa tomorrow and the manhattan district attorney's office has held a day for donald trump to be in front of the district attorney's office has held a day for donald trump to be in front of the grand jury there where criminal charges for trump's role in the payment of hush money for porn star stormy daniels could be coming any day now. and how will voters and mr. trump's supporters respond to the former label if he is, in indeed, indicted and the d.a. does move forward with those charges. we'll turn our attention to the bank failure silicon valley bank became the second largest bank in u.s. history and the first since the financial crisis in 2008 to fail the bank is small by comparison to the nation's largest bank and it held $209 billion in assets compared to $3 billion in j.p. morgan chase it did set off concern not just about the banking sector, but
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about how venture capital firms behave in silicon valley, and that sent some stocks tumbling the biden administration tried to remain calm about all of this on friday. >> when banks experience financial losses, it is and should be a matter of concern. >> with the reforms of the global financial crisis of 2007 and 2008, we've put in place stress tests and other tools that our regulators have to provide more resilience to our banking system >> joining me now is sheila bair, the former chair of banking and steve liesman. steve, let me start with you what will happen tomorrow morning? >> we are waiting to see what the federal reserve says do they do anything? do they calm the market through a statement or programs? we don't know if that's the case at this point. big, big questio
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tomorrow morning, it's a big, big question tomorrow morning, chuck, two things one is does the fdic announce how much un ininsure that would permeate thrd gdepositors will get, and the number could be critical as to the kind of confidence that would permeate through the market and if the market is 80 cents or 90 cents on the dollar, there might be some calm that might pervade the market, and uninsured gotters at other banks will be concerned. that's one the second thing is does the federal reserve work with other agencies to provide anything regarding insurance or some kind of assistance to those sitting in uninsured deposits at other banks. >> sheila bair, you ran the fdic what can we expect tomorrow morning? >> you can expect what the advanced dividend on the uninsured. i want to emphasize that might not be the total number they'll recover. that will be a number that they'll feel confident >> will they do it as a percentage
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>> yes, exactly. any bank which is the closest parallel during the great financial crisis, we announced a 50% dividend any mag bank was in a lot worse shape than this, and it will be significantly higher. >> is that what your successor is doing right now >> i think so. i hope so. that's the smoothest way to handle these and almost all of the bank failures in the financial crisis, and we had 100 of them. we sold failed banks to a healthy bank, and usually the healthy acquirer would also cover the uninsured because they wanted the franchise value of those large depositors often, that's the best outcome and it was a liquidity failure and the bank run they didn't have time to prepare and market the bank and they're playing catch up >> the fact that it was a bank
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run, steve and it was venture capitalists and peter teal's name who became famous in political circles for getting heavily involved in the 2022 elections he pulled his money out and said hey, guys, something doesn't look good here and it started a run doesn't lor does that tell you maybe this is something that could be isolated, or could this happen at other banks >> chuck, you're asking the question that wall street has, i think, 24/7, been debating since this happened. let's put this in context here this is probably the first bank run in the digital age and i don't know if sheila would confirm that, and that means a tweet could cause a bank run i don't know if a tweet ha caused a bank run before and comments like peter teal and others have caused a massive amount of deposits so there are four things that are thought to make this bank unique it had a particular risk in its balance sheet when it came to interest rates it did not seem to hedge that risk
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second, it was highly concentrated in the industry so that all of its -- most of its depositors and borrowers, by the way, were from the same place. third, it had a lot of losses on its books which a bunch of bankn its do, but they're unrealized, and the fourth thing is the uninsured deposits were 87%, we are told, of its deposits were uninsured compared to other banks that were 40% and it's isolated, chuck. the key thing for tomorrow morning is what do regulators do to give people comfort that indeed it was isolated and will remain isolated. >> i want to put up, sheila, a number of companies that people might be familiar with who had deposits in here who all need to make basic payroll runs here does the fdic, can they sort of help ease the payroll issue on their own or are they going to need an act of congress or something? >> well, no. i think -- they only insure deposits and they charge
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premiums for under $250,000 and if there is a systemic risk suggestion to something is very wrong, then it's an extraordinary procedure. they arguably could, but this is a $200 billion bank, and a $23 billion industry, and i think it will be hard to say that this is systemic in any way. for the payroll, i think the advanced dividend will help these companies make that. i know some of the names you put up there, that's not necessarily payroll. i think circle, those are reserves behind the stablecoin that's not their money and they can't use it for payroll they need to differentiate. >> no doubt. >> these are companies that have insured deposits, exactly rate >> steve, you spent a lot of time watching jay powell at the fed. who -- who should be watching out for these banks as they try to deal with the interest rate hikes here is it the fed's responsibility to warn banks that they need to
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be smarter about managing the interest rate hikes, or is this on the banks and was this on silicon valley bank who was just sort of perhaps not realizing that, hey, these interest rate hikes might be here to stay? >> so, again, a question that a lot of folks will be asking tomorrow morning, chuck, let me walk through a little bit of that there? yes, this bank was regulated by the federal reserve. were there enough red flags out there? certainly some of the postmortems that i'm reading suggest that regulators should have seen this problem in this bank on the other hand, chuck, this is still a free market system, despite massive regulations that are out there, and banks are free to fail like we've had over the past several months, and the m most aggressive rate hike cycle the bank and it is u
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some banks' business models will not work anymore whether or not this bank should have taken steps and i think it should have had it been up to the bank and it is up to the regulators in the second instance and that postmortem will look at whether or not the regulator should have seen this coming and whether or not the fed should be cutting interest rates and certainly the market thinks that the fed will be less aggressive now >> i was just going to say, maybe not cut -- >> slow down. >> yeah, slow down and the rate of increase and give banks more time to handle it. >> yeah. >> that's what people are thinking that certainly the market dramatically repriced on thursday and friday, chuck. >> sheila bair, thank you, steve. >> thanks for coming on. let's turn to the border four americans abducted and kidnapped just a mile -- just a mile across the border from brownsville, texas, in matamoros, mexico. four friends from south carolina traveled to mexico where latavia mcgee intended to get cosmetic surgery. in the days that followed they were moved to three different locations by members of the gulf
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cartel two of them were dead by the time mexican security forces located them on tuesday morning. the biden administration is in a bind politically, caught between republicans eager to exploit border security as a campaign issue and by democrats angered by the asylum limits in which it's considering bringing back national detentions and do we have a national security crisis just over our southern border. joining me now is a member of the senate foreign relations committee and democratic senator bob menendez senator menendez, let me start with the banking committee obviously i invited you on before all of this happened. have you gotten a briefing over the weekend, and what's your sense of what we can expect tomorrow morning >> well, chuck, i have not gotten a briefing yet, but i think that your previous panel pretty much had it right on. the question will be, number
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one, what are the excesses beyond the insured amounts and the ability to deal with those and the companies in terms of meeting payrolls the broader question will be should the regulators have been on the ball to ensure that this bank could not have had this risk, and what else is out there in this regard as someone who sat in 2000 on the banking committee when we met with that last crisis. the goal is to try to avoid a crisis, not to deal with it arc and that will be questions that will be raised >> in just a simple way, are you more concerned that regulators underreact or overreact here and are you more concerned that government overreacts or underreacts? >> well, what i'm concerned about is that we get it right, right? that it's a it doesn't mean under or overreaction it's a question of getting it right.
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did the regulators get it right, that they allowed this to take place in a way that's to be expected in the market, or should they have been more forward leaning in saying you have to mitigate your risk that's something we have to see in the day ahead >> do you think the fdic should have insured more than $250,000 for deposit? should that ever go up >> it served us well for a long time, and the question is wher are we in the marketplace today and does that make sense of course, that would require additional insurance proceeds in order to cover it. that's a question to look forward in the future, but at the end of the day, depositors s know that they're covered up to $250,000 so they make choices to diversify their deposits as well so that they're less at risk of anything like this >> bottom line, it sounds like
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you're not ready to offer them a bailout. >> oh, i'm not ready to offer them a bailout by any stretch of the imagination. we have to see everything that is impertinent to this specific set of circumstances and to see what else is out there i anything else is out there that we should be thinking about. >> all right let me move to what happened to the four americans this weekend. what did it expose which is the fact that this is an administration in mexico that has chosen a different tact in dealing with the cartels, meaning they don't want to deal with them the way the previous administration did and they don't seem to want to work with the united states and get our help with dealing with the cartels. how do you deal with this when you have a mexican government that may not be on the same page >> this is one of our great challenges president lopez obrador when he talked about kisses and not bullets. that's not working very well the reality is along the border
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communities, it is the cartels that run the border communities, not the government of mexico mexico has a responsibility, first and foremost to its own citizens, to establish safety and security within its ow territory and to those who visit its country as well. so we need to up dramatically in our engagement in mexico. it can't be all about economics. it hs to be about safety and security as well, and i am afraid that we are headed in the wrong direction on that and on democracy questions as well. this is a present danger that we have to deal with, and we have to engage the mexicans in a way that says you have to do a lot more in your security. we can help them and we have intelligence and other information we can share, but we need them to enforce in their own country. >> do you think designating the cartels as a foreign terrorist organization helps or hurts the ability to work with the mexican government
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>> well, slapping a designation isn't in and of itself going to change anything. the question is how do you go after the cartels? how do you dry up their money? how do you go after their leadership how do you put them away how do you deny visas for mexican government officials who ultimately are not engaging in the act of prosecution of the cartels? those are some of the things that you can do that ultimately mean something at the end of the day. >> how would you vote on this? it may come to a vote. would you vote with regard to these terrorist organizations? >> well, that has a certain designation. we've saved that for truly terrorist organizations in the world. cer certainly they are consequential to questions of
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national security. i am more interested in doing something that ultimately seeks to destroy the cartels than to just name them you name them a foreign terrorist organization and that in and of itself means nothing you ultimately go after their leadership you jail them. you ultimately go after their money. you dry it up. you ultimately go after those who are supposed to be enforcing the law. and now you have a real consequence. >> you have been critical of the new changes in border policies that secretary mayorkas has done at dhs what's the alternative, and what's your level of confidence in secretary mayorkas? >> well, look, this is not about secretary mayorkas this is about the administration the best part of the administration's immigration policy over the first two years is that they ended family detention, which proved to be failure under both the obama and trump administrations as a way to deter individuals from coming what we need is a comprehensive
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plan to deal with the border and what are the elements, the push and pull factors, that bring people to this country we need to have a surge at the border that deals with asylum officers, uses border security, that ultimately can process those who have a legitimate claim for asylum and to deport those who have no legitimate claim for asylum we need to find legal pathways so that people don't surge to the border because they are fleeing because if my situation is i am in a country where staying means where i will certainly die, see my daughter raped or my son into a gang, we need to flee we need to understand that and deal with it we need to work with central
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america and the mexican government to also be a part of the solution and lastly, we need to look at the question of a temporary protective status in a way that ultimately helps us meet the challenges. countries, the way, the three biggest countries, by the way, chuck, coming to the border now are cuba, venezuela and nicaragua. there are dictatorships and people fleeing those dictatorships and when the administration opened up a legal pathway to those fleeing, it dramatically saw a reduction it's just an example of what you can do that is good for the border and preserves our nation as a nation that preserves asylum, but if not, if the administration does go down this path, i am afraid that the president will become the asylum >> well, senator >> well, senator menendez, democrat of new jersey, as i said, boy, we had a week and so did you with all of the different things that are on your plate and your responsibilities i appreciate the time. thanks for sharing your perspective. >> thank you when we come back, donald trump is facing the possibility of running for president while being charged with multiple
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crimes will it even matter? is there a gop alternative republican senator kevin cramer of north dakota who is also a member of the banking committee joins me next. viewers age 50 to. have you thought about getting life insurance to help your family with funeral expenses, but worried it would cost too much or that you wouldn't qualify? at colonial penn, we talk to men and women like you every day. and today i'd like to share three questions they often ask about our guaranteed whole life insurance. i worry about the cost. can i get this coverage on a fixed income? (jonathan) can you get this coverage on a fixed income? yes, you can. options start at $9.95 a month. that's less than 35 cents a day. and the good news is they won't ever increase. a lifetime rate lock guarantees it. i'm not in perfect health. can i get this coverage? (jonathan) can you get this coverage if you're not in perfect health? yes, you can. the truth is, you cannot be turned down for any reason. your acceptance is 100% guaranteed. at colonial penn, we believe your health is your business,
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welcome back two divides played out in the republican party this week on capitol hill senate and house republicans split on rewriting the capitol insurrection with criticizing tucker carlson for falsely portraying the attack as peaceful and many defended the portraying the attack as peaceful and many broadcast, calling it a must-watch >> i don't take any part in whitewashing january 6th it wasn't a stroll through the capitol. >> it's awful what some people are willing to do to get eyeballs and get extra money >> i think it's bull [ bleep ] >> the front-runners for the republican nomination are kicking off their campaign, ron desantis who is not an official candidate and donald trump with the possible indictment looming in new york perhaps as early as
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this month appears there tomorrow night >> our country has become the investigation capital of the world. actually, that's all we do >> the one thing i can say if you talk to floridians, there's no drama in our administration there's no palace intrigue they basically just sit back and say, okay, what's the governor going to do next, and we roll out and we executein >> joining mu know is republican senator kernan cramer of north dakota and also a member of the senate banking committee, and welcome back to "meet the press. >> great to be with you, thank you. >> as i said to senator menendez, we thank you for joining us during this collapse, and what have you learned over the last 48 hours? what do you expect to happen tomorrow morning >> yeah. well, first of all, when you hear from steve liesman, you almost don't need to ask anybody else because he is the guy in the know and the smart thinker and all of these things, and so
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i would probably call him for advice and i actually think he covered it very well, and my sense of it, chuck, my sense is that it is a fairly localized issue. the problem is that we live in a very emotional time where markets are emotional and the reference to -- to social media as being an accelerator, if you will, of some of that emotion. i think can be problematic, but i hope that with the weekend came some calm and certainly some strategy, as well. >> yeah. >> but there are so many unique things about silicon valley that aren't necessarily applicable systemically so my hope is that it is very localized and we can address it that way is that it is very >> in 2018 you remember the house. you were the co-sponsor and part of the repeal of dodd/frank that loosened regulations on some small banks, and there are some who are pointing to those to help banks from putting themselves in this position.
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do you think the smaller banks need more regulation or less >> yeah, i don't -- they certainly don't need any more regulation that doesn't mean you can be mismanaged we have it throw in the obvious and i think you talked about it in the first segment, and that is we have seen a rather sharp increase in interest rates, which have put some smaller banks at odds with their own balance sheet. now, of course, we have a federal reserve trying to change its balance sheet at the same time, and perhaps we need to do a little more review of all of that, but i don't think smaller banks need more oversight and more regulation. maybe better oversight, but certainly not regulation >> with all of this volatility right now, is this the time to have a debt ceiling fight? >> no, it's a great point. we are living in a pretty much a debt crisis right now and it's not just about america's -- the government's debt ceiling, but many individuals have hit their
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own ceiling and their government's debt ceiling, but many individuals have hit their own ceiling and their savings to have a fight on the accounts are being drained and we have kind of a crisis, if you will on our hands that requires lots of things and we don't need to have a fight on the debt ceiling and this is why i think it's fooling for the president to say i'm not going to negotiate on the debt ceiling -- >> isn't it though isn't it better to worry about the debt ceiling and not worry about the debt ceiling and put out a budget and have two bunts and not have a debt ceiling? >> the problem with the old-fashioned way is it's been eluding us for a decade. i've been in for a decade and i've never seen the orders i agree with you, we need to get back to that and i think the debt ceiling situation is one of the opportunities to demand that we all get together and work with one another. >> let me turn to a couple of political issues do you think the former president -- you were an early supporter of the former president. you haven't endorsed him yet for 2024 you said you would like to see
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somebody like him, and you haven't ruled out endorsing him, but if he is indicted, regardless of whether it's manhattan, atlanta, or washington, do you think it's healthy for the party for him to keep running or do you think he should step aside? if he's indicted t >> first of all, donald trump won't take advice from the party or me. if he's indicted that becomes one of the factors on whether he wins primaries or not. the other factor is who else is in the race and who can make the best case? obviously, you've highlighted governor desantis who has certainly earned the right to be at the head of the class not just through his political rhetoric, but through his successful governing of a very large state, and i think, you know, you've seen him out on the stump more can doing the things that potential presidential candidates do, and i think we'l help that debate along the challenge becomes if there are too many people in the race, and there are other good ones -- mike pence, mike pompeo, and my
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friend rick scott would be good candidates who understand the trump doctrine who have a demeanor that's more suit tobl the swing voter, and at the en the party because we're in desperate need of new leadership. >> so you think of the day what's most important for primary voters to think about is not just who they love the most, but who can win for the country and who can win for the party because we're in desperate need of new leadership. >> so you think electability should matter more than it does? >> it should matter for a primary. humbly. i would rather see a humble there's no glory in losing spectacularly than losing humbly i would rather see a humble victory. >> there were two different reactions to what we saw this week tucker carlson said on his air about january 6th that a small percentage of them are hooligans and they committed vandalism and the overwhelming majority weren't. they were peaceful, orderly and meek they were sight seers. and mike pence at the gridiron dinner make no mistake about it what happened that day was a disgrace and it mocks decency to
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portray it any other way on tucker carlson's side or mike pence's side? >> both sides can be right rhetorically, a four-hour where do you come down on tucker carlson's side or mike pence's side >> both sides can be right rhetorically, a four-hour stroll through the capitol marred by a half hour of rioting doesn't make it a peaceful protest there's not a single person who is completely innocent of wrongdoing, but not anyone that is at the level of crime 518, by the way, have confessed to committing crimes that day and 420 have been prosecuting and and sentenced, so clearly it wasn't a peaceful protest. that's not to say the vast majority of them don't have regret or didn't understand the severity of what they were doing or what some other people were doing. i do think it's unfair to put them all in the same bucket. i've never felt like democracy is actually in trouble me
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we survived a civil war and we will survive this, as well what frustrates me as much as anything, chuck, is that we're talking about it again here we the january 6th commission wrap up its work and mostly people not caring or paying attention it was very partisan, to say the least, and here we were moving forward and we should be talking about the southern border and china and the challenge it possesses and talking about inflation and a budget that drives up deficits forever and those are winning arguments for republicans, not re-litigating january 6, 2020 or 2021. >> you're a regular guest on fox news you've seen all the internal investigations has it given you pause about how they conduct themselves with you? >> i don't confuse my job at fox news least of all the entertainers at prime timeon with b i don't confuse tucker carlson
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with bret baier or danielle perino or the msnbc personalities with what you do sunday mornings. i think there is too much entertainment and what i do regret probably as much as anything about the release of 41,000 hours is that it was released to one person in prime time who is rather sensational in his approach and rather than just releasing it to everybody i think transparency absolutely is the best way to go, and kevin mccarthy is right to do it i just wish he had released it to everybody at the same time.de >> neutral transparency. if you really wanted it, that's how you would have done it >> senator cramer from north dakota, i appreciate you coming on and sharing your perspective with us. >> always my pleasure. >> thank you when we come back, donald trump's biggest rival is meeting with voters in iowa. can he steal the spotlight from trump? >> you can't just say let it go because then we're going to be living under an oppressive wokeocracy and we can't let that happen >> the panel is next
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welcome back the panel is here. marianna sotomayor, d mari
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jon jonathan, congressional reporter for "the washington post," brendan buck, former adviser for house speaker ryane and boehner and maria kumar with voter latino i want to get into iowa and presidential stuff, however, i want to start very quickly with the banking crisis mary teresa, you were surprised you haven't seen powell or yellen out more forcefully already. >> if you look at which bank this is. this is the silicon valley bank and the democratic atm bank of all those investors and the fact that you don't have these investors, the fact that you don't have anyone from the administration talking more forceful, what you will see is republicans say you shouldn't bail this out and it will be along political lines., mariana. ar >> what have you heard, mariana? are people wondering why the administration isn't -- and i get it, the other argument is hey, you don't want to come out too forcefully because it might create a new panic.
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>> right a lot of house lawmakers that i know have been briefed on this, but they're still kind of trying to get together all of the facts and what should we do and how should we position ourselves >> yeah. >> think leaders are also starting to get online about thist the issue at hand. >> i think they're all jus there hasn't been anything concrete yet as to even reactions, really, from a number of lawmakers which is significant, right i think they're not only just trying to understand what to say, but the issue at hand >> think they're all just hoping that a big bank takes this bank over and takes all of this off of their hands because i know nobody wants to vote for a bailout. let me turn to politics. we've got a des moines register poll, and what was interesting is everyone looked at it through the prism of what you want to have happen. you can look at it one way and say trump doesn't look as strong as it used to and in 2021 it was a lot bigger than it is now and if you look at the favorable rating and it dropped from 2021 in iowa and it is down from plus 84 to plus 62 and if you look at
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it in a ranking with others that were tested, trump is plus 62 just below desantis. they're not weak numbers to me they're just want as strong as they used to be. trump doesn't look weak. >> no. he's somebody out there and he wouldn't win by 30 he'd win by 15 in a divided race, and that's the key, of course all we want to see is what's the head to head trump versus desantis especially if it's just those two or a group of four or five i think that will be the more revealing number for a race that seems to revolve around donald trump i actually think the next six months will be more about desantis and here's why if he can prove his mettle, and it's clear that he is the alternative to trump -- >> for now >> -- we're going to know that, and if that's the case, this race is going to get a lot more clear. it's more of a head-to-head race, and if he's not that clear
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alternative and it's a more complicated race >> brendan, you're nodding. >> ron desantis is clearly the alternative, and the argument for anyone else is pretty thin at this point, but he is very untested, and there is something that i think every successful candidate for the presidency in recent years has charisma, and we don't know if ron desantis is able to connect with people. he is able to animate the republican base, but when you're running for president and under the spotlight people want to know if you have the emotional appeal, joe biden, barack obama, bill clinton and it is unclear if he does and when donald trump comes swinging at you and you have to bring that up. >> he doesn't pass the beer test, and to some people that matters. >> it's also likability and that's what we're getting at and oftentimes people say that desantis is a strong opponent to the democrats because he is where woke goes to die, and the
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challenge that he doesn't realize is that woke is what got americans aca. woke is what basically wants to make sure people have gay marriage woke is what gives women agency over their bodies and woke is with a child in a classroom, not fearful that they'll lose their life, and that juxtaposed to what the majority of americans actually want. >> it sounds like democrats should take woke rather than ignore the attacks. >> corporations, actually want woke, right? they don't want a desantis regulating what they can and can't say. look at what's happening with disney right now this is an opportunity for them to not only reclaim it, but to recognize that this it is actually their strength. it's what got joe bide on the the white house because it animated not just women and it animated a whole generation of young people
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>> the wok, he's e issue,e to do all these thini the only thing that keeps republicans united >> you ask them what does woke mean and they can't give you a firm answer just because what does woke mean, right? the interesting thing about desantis is he's been able to do all of these things in florida and the closest lesson is the midterms where we saw in michigan and pennsylvania and these swing states and a lot of republicans are republicans that went independent and moderate republicans saying i don't want trump and i don't want someone acting like trump and i just completely reject this extremism and democrats are looking forward to having that debate and framing both of them. >> that's the question i don't know that desantis will be talking to swing voters here's one of the things he said in vegas yesterday take a listen to this. >> we are also the first state in the country to establish every november 10th the day in our schools is earmarked to teach our students at all grade levels about the evils of communist regimes throughout history. we're going to tell the truth about marxism and leninism
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>> it's sort of, like, look, being a floridian i know what he's trying to play there, and all of that, but i would tell him i went to florida public schools and we were taught this and it was called history. it just seems like a weird politicizing, and he's going out of his way to politicize something. >> donald trump is to democrats what wokeism is to the gop and is the singular cohesive, unifying force, okay the backlash to the perceived excess of the left which is basically what wokeism is, is what galvanizes the gop, and it's not any policy agenda it's that, so of course, he is playing into that. i was talking to voters and donors which will help him they want him to be the guy. they are almost grading him on a curve because they want him to work and they want to will this to be the real deal against trump because even if he's not great on the rope line, they still want him. >> i'm curious there was a cocoon of protectors
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around obama when hillary clinton attacked him in '08. >> he is the one person when donald trump swings at him that people are, like, whoa, whoa, whoa if he hits mitch mcconnell and if you hit ron desantis it's like, we don't hit other republicans. since when people are rooting if are him whether that's ultimately a good thing or bad thing for him is an issue. >> real fast, watch for hard liners in the house to come out for desantis and give him some insulation on the right against trump. >> i would say that the only republican voters that really matters on desantis and trump is rupert murdoch, and you actually see fox news pivoting to desantis >> they've tried it before we'll see if they can pull it off. up next, what's the over under as march madness approaches we'll look at how much money is at stake for the growing sports betting in this country and how it's becoming a real funding source for state governments ♪3, 4♪ ♪ ♪hey♪ ♪ ♪are you ready for me♪
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♪♪ ♪♪ welcome back data download time today is selection sunday when the welcome back "data download" time, today is not just any sunday, it is selection sunday the ncaa will name the upcoming teams that will play in the u're contributing to what has now become a basketball tournament and what you may not realize these days is when you throw a couple of bucks in your march madness bracket pool you are contributing to the industry thanks in part to the growing number of states that have made sports betting legal it has been transformational over the last few years. already just on this ncaa tournament, the expectation is
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$10 billion is going to be wagered, just on march madness 52% of folks will be making som time it looks like this year, legal revenue from gambling, $6 billion form of an online wager now, and, by the way, for the first time it looks like this year legal revenue from gambling, $6 billion will outnumber the illegal revenue from gambling.lt why? since 2018 when the supreme court said states could have sports gambling, 36 states have legalized it already, and it is all over country and it is red and it is blue if you look at it and there's been no political trend, if you will the states that don't have legalized betting yet, just about all of them will try to get it maybe utah and hawaii might be the two states in the next decade that don't make a serious attempt at it. and if you want to look at the states who benefitted from it, check this out for the first time in 2022, state tax revenue from sports gambling crossed the billion dollar threshold now, the real question for state
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lawmakers is this going to be revenue that they add to improve schools and roads or is it revenue that they use in order to replace revenue and it doesn't really help the state in the long run, we'll find out and sports gambling has led to gambling on other issues the oscars can actually be something you bet on in a smaller number of statesve a six allow it for tonight, indiana, new jersey, massachusetts and, so if you have a favorite actor, throw a couple of bucks on them, as well speak ofing of hollywood politics and hollywood have often been intertwined donald trump is just the latest celebrity to leverage the power of his fame to launch a successful political career. in 2004, during his first appearance of "meet the press," arnold schwarzenegger talked about how it helped him sell se policies as governor. >> ronald reagan said you can't be a good president without being a good actor >> ronald reagan says you can't be good, if you're not an actor. >> one of the things in acting that you learn is how to sell
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and how to promote things and you always go on the promotion tours and you go sell for moves and all of the things and it is the same thing promote things. and because you go always on those promotion tours and you try to sell tickets for your movies and all those things, so i think it in order for you to get any kind of a program in your state or in your country, you have to go out and you have to communicate with the people the better you can communicate with the people, the more that you can let them know of what you are trying to accomplish in the state, the more you can connect with the people, the better it is and the more they will vote for your program >> when we come back, president biden's new immigration policy is dividing democrats. but are his new rules worth it o, which nucala helps reduce. nucala is a once-monthly add-on injection for severe eosinophilic asthma. nucala is not for sudden breathing problems. allergic reactions can occur. get help right away for swelling of face, mouth, tongue, or trouble breathing. infections that can cause shingles have occurred. don't stop steroids unless told by your doctor.
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from the company that powers more businesses than anyone else. call and start saving today. comcast business. powering possibilities. welcome back this week, welcome back this week, marianna, we have this border debate about
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immigration, and then americans get killed literally a mile over the border, and it's one o those things, i had talked with a senior national security official a few weeks ago who said northern mexico is perhaps the most -- one of the most dangerous places on the globe right now. no different than syria, and there are parts of mexico that are not governed by the mexican government what do we do as america >> that is the question, and i'll be honest i haven't heard republicans or democrats necessarily on capitol hill talk about this specific issue, and a big reason why, i mean, honestly, any house democrat, house republican, senate, they will say that just tackling the border and immigration generally is probably the most politically toxic issue for each partyo repn >> nobody wants it. >> nobody wants it and you do have this new generation of latino republicans who genuinely want to do something i live this every day. i literally want to do something about it and they've gotten so close and this is a different n attempts, how they've gotten so close. and obviously this
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scenario, but i don't think it will add that much pressure on congress to act and do something. >> it's a separate issue, but it is linked, maria teresa. >> this is what's wild i think we sat at this table almost ten years ago when you were talking about the gang of eight. it is the ten-year anniversary of this domestic policy issue of what to do with the 11 million people here who are undocumented, and we allow it to be with the southern border and it's time for the administration to recognize that we have two issues we have 11 million undocumented who are married and who have lived in mixed status households who will vote on this issue and you also have what's happening at the border which is a western hemisphere issue it is time for us to start paying attention to latin america. it's been almost 25 years. you know who's paying attention to latin america russia and china
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russia has invested and has military in nicaragua and the more we look at what's happening in ukraine, we say what is our domestic policy and international democracy building here at home complicating the other complicating factor, brendan, is even if you want to get tough on the cartels, if the mexican government doesn't want to get tough on the cartels, there's nothing much you can do. there's been not much said because you can do the finger hoinlting game the real problem is that waye k bargain. i think we need to realize that's not in the offing anytime soon i think democrats have been a little behind the curve on this politically for a long time. this is an issue that sets independents on fire >> it's a political problem and a policy problem that isn't easy to solve and we've long held off on seriously addressing one of these issues and saying there is a great bargain. it is not in the offing any time soon and you do need to address the border and candidates have been behind the curve for a long time
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this is an issue that absolutely sets independence on fire and we know it sets republicans on fire and they seem to have a blind spot and the border is only getting worse and joe biden is recognizing it now and the problem is so bad it may not be easy to solve. >> by the way, bob menendez -- >> that was tough. >> what did you think of that? >> that was tough because he was -- >> asylum denier in chief. >> he's dangling what the left said to obama that obama was a deporter in chief. >> obama won re-election >> but i think to what -- >> isn't that the -- >> yeah, but i do think that the administration recognizes the ability of latin america and it's one of the reasons why the vice president has invested close to $3.5 billion, but the more important part is we have to divorce these two issues because what we are finding in% of the voter base, it's a top-three issu our poll is that among young latinos who are 35% of the voter base, it's the top three issues. >> and they've separated from the borders. right. absolutely >> the senate tomorrow, you will probably find 60-plus votes for
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a fairly comprehensive bil addressing immigration and you find a gang and the problem is kevin mccarthy is never going to bring up any immigration compromise bill because effectively he would be turning over his speakership >> we all know what will happen in republican primaries. we'll pause it there before we go, my colleague lester holt will be sitting down with the new prime minister of the uk, rishi sunak and it is his first american network interview. get to know him when you tune in on monday night on nightly news with lester holt we'll be back next week. because if it's sunday, it's "meet the press. let me b