good evening, and welcome t politicsnation tonight s lead, rights versu might. it has been a whirlwind political week, with republicans from the state house to the courthouse, tryin to force their ultraconservative agenda o americans who have repeatedl rejected their platform at the ballot box but trump appointed federa judge yesterday suspended th fda s longtime approval of ach abortion drug, the latest blow to reproductive rights which have been under assault sinc the overturn of roe v. wad last summer. meanwhile in tennessee republican state lawmakers voted to expel two black representatives for speaking out against gun violence invoking rules used only twice before since the civil war a fair lawmaker who barely escaped this himself joins u live in just a moment. and of course, there s forme president donald trump, defyin in the face of an unprecedente criminal indictment. his house gop allies are rushing to his defense targeting the democratically elected africa
up because of what the russians and saudis just did. i ll speak with don bacon and elizabeth slot kin. plus presidential portrait. maggie haberman has an in-depth look at his rise to power, including changing views on abortion, reversing the position he once made right here on this program. i m very pro-choice. yamiche alcindor and brendan buck. welcome to sunday, it s meet the press. announcer: this is meet the press with chuck todd. good sunday morning. i m kristin welker in for chuck to do. election day is just 30 days away. ronald reagan worried jimmy carter would engineer a last-minute release of u.s. hostages. carter, of course, did not, but the term stuck. there s at least three stories unfolding. first the nuclear threat from russia. then there are rising gas prices, now averaging just under $4 a gallon, which democrats worry there will be a sign to voters that there is a true. but the october surprise of the week, it could determine control of senat
american governments. recently unsealed court documents also revealed that the department of justice is looking into donald trump s potential violations of the presidential records act. the espionage act. and of obstruction of justice. but what happens now? will donald trump be prosecuted? should he be prosecuted? and if it, is one of the consequences of that? even though but half of the 38-page affidavit that was unsealed on friday was redacted, there was even redacted information in there to generate serious discussion about a prosecution. that brings up some hard questions and scenarios, with which the justice department and all of us have to grapple. for one thing, there is no doubt that if he is indicted, the trump loyalist faction of the republican party will seek some sort of retribution. a number of them have already been quick to echo the former presidents baseless accusations that he is being politically persecuted. the potential for violence has to be taken serious
And pregnant people are left i limbo when it comes to accessing basic health care. and i say basic health care on purpose because abortion i basic health care. and i think this ruling out of texas just shows that thes trump appointed gop judges, wh have long histories of being antiabortion, are going to d their efforts to make it illegal to have any type o access to abortion across th country. and i think this competing ruling out of washington state puts us on a path to the supreme court, which we also know is salivating at th opportunity to take additional rights from these conservative justices that republicans have went to court with so, it puts it in a precarious position yet again but i do appreciate, rev, like you pointed out, abortion an protecting basic access to health care and abortion right is a winning political issue for democrats. and i m thrilled to see that democratic governors across th country are already stepping u to continue that fight, to mak
One of his mistakes. it sounds like you still have questions. i think be candid, be honest, but in the end this is about policy position. he s one of the those liberal people he wants abortion on demand until birth. let me get a we or two in on this. senator warnock has his own allegations, there s allegations of spousal abuse out there. so i hope the media focuses on these allegations and what warnock s ex-wife said. i hope you re showing some equal opportunity there. and those are allegations he, of course, has denied as well. let mess ask you more broadly me, does this undercut the republican party s broader message of being antiabortion, when you have these conflicting