♪♪ this sunday, up for debate. >> make my day, pal. >> president biden and donald trump agree to face off on a debate stage next month, the earliest general election debate in history. >> i just want to debate this guy. who will benefit more from the event and could a third party candidate qualify?

plus, courtroom campaign. >>?x(p' you believe i've been i here for five weeks instead of campaigning? >> republican allies and some vice presidential contenders of donald trump flock to the manhattan courthouse in a show of support as the hush money trial is nearing an end. >> it's like psychological torture for donald trump. >> what will the jury decide in the first-ever criminal trial of a former president? my guests this morning, republican senator marco rubio of florida and democratic governor wes moore of maryland and undercurrent. olympic swimmer michael phelps■ opens up about his struggles with depression in our "meet the most" conversation. >> there are times even though i have a rolodex people i can reach out to there are times when i still feel alone. >> still? >> still. >> joining me for insight and analysis are nbc news senior white house correspondent kelly o'donnell. >> symone sanders-townsend, senior chief spokeswoman for

vice president kamala harris and republican strategist brendan buck. welcome to sunday. it's "meet the press." >> from nbc news in washington, the■ç longest-running show in television history. this is "meet the press" with kristen welker." good sunday morning. the political world is gearing up for an historic face-off. president biden and former president trump have agreed to the earliest general election debate in modern history. trump who has been beset by a swirl of legal challenges is hoping he can prove his case that president biden is not up for another four years. biden wants to show why, as he argues, trump is unfit for■ç office. it's also a likely attempt by president biden to shake up the rhys. >> donald trump lost two debates to me in 2020. since then he hasn't shown up for a debate. now he's acting like he wants to debate me again. well make my day, pal. >> if this horrible individual

finishes the debate, which i think he will, if he's standing, if he's standing they'll say it was a brilliant performance. it was a brilliant performance. they've never seen anything like it. >> general election debates are the biggest stage for a presidential■ç candidate. more than 73 million people tuned into the first biden-trump debate in 2020. as for those legal battles, former trump fixer michael cohen will be back on the stand tomorrow as the first criminal trial of a former president draws to a close, but despite it all the state of the race remains stagnant. biden continues to trail former president trump in several key battle ground states, down by double digits in nevada and george a states he won in 2020. in atlanta on saturday the president argued mr. trump presents an unhinged threat to the country$

well, mr. trump -- he doesn't have an opponent, but he lost 120,000 votes in pennsylvania. they didn't vote for him. they voted for a woman who is no longer in the race.■ç >> mean while on friday night at a republican dinner in minnesota, former president trump falsely claimed he won the state in 2016 and 2020. he lost both times. >> i thought we won it in 2016 -- i know we won it in 2020. we've got to be -- we've got to be careful. we've got to watch those votes. >> at the nra convention in dallas on saturday trump again falsely claimed to have won the 2020 election. >> fdr, 16■ç years. 16 years almost full term. >> the president is in the early

stages in the search for a runningmate. among the prominent trump supporters who showed up for court this week in new york. potential runningmates dressed like trump including north dakota governor doug burgum, florida congressman o'donnell and j.d. vance. burgum joined trump in minnesota friday night. >> they just agreed or something to a vice president debated, and i said how could i have a vice president debate. i haven't even picked. i haven't even■ç picked the gm woman yet. a lot of people think that guy right there. who the hell knows? >> he's very good. we have a lot them that would be good, doug, right? we have a lot of good people. >> and joining me now is one of those potential vice presidential picks, florida republican senator marco rubio. senator rubio, welcome back to "meet the press". >> thank you. >> thank you so much for being here. well, let's dive in to the state of the race. the last time you were asked about whether you had spoken

with former president trump about being his■ç running mate u said you hadn't. so can you update us. have you spoken to the former president about potentially being his running mate? >> haven't spoken to the president or anybody in the campaign. the only people that have spoken to me about vice president for the most part is members of the media. that is fine. this is part of the deal and the primaries are over and political reporters have to cover politics and there's only one person on the planet who knows who the vice presidential pick will be and his name is donald trump and he's got time to make that decision and a lot of■ç really good people to pick from, but i've never spoken to anybody on the campaign about it. >> let me ask it this way. we have noticed that you have not been on the campaign trail with the former president in recent days. we haven't seen you show up in court. do you want the job of vice president, senator? >> first of all, i'll do whatever the campaign asked me to do. i've been at events to help

raise money and so forth. we're also in session in washington so i have work there and we have the intelligence committee, but i'll be there■ç be helpful because i want him to win. if joe biden and part of the second answer is i want to serve the country and i'm not presumptuous to tell you i'll be offered anything. he has a lot of people to pick from. if joe biden is elected president the damage to this country in some cases will be generational and some of it will be irreversible and that's how high the stakes are. i can't imagine another four years with joe biden as president and i will do anything to ensure donald trump wins and joe biden does not because we can't afford as a nation to have another four years like the last three and a half. >> to put a fine point on it, you would say■0yes if you were asked to serve as his vice presidential nominee? >> again, that would be presumptuous. anyone offered that job in the second highest office assuming everything else in your life makes sense in that moment, if you're interested in serving the country it's an incredible place

to serve, but i just think this kind of speculation we're getting way ahead ourselves here. as i said, we'll find out soon enough, but i've never spoken to anybody about it so why would i opine about something i've never spoken to the campaign about? >> let's talk about one of the issues of this campaign. the issue of■ç abortion. senator, would you support a federal abortion ban? >> well, i'm pro-life. to me this isn't even a political issue. i understand it is for a lot of people and it's a divisive issue in the country and people share my views on it. i believe human life is worthy of dignity and protection and i support unborn human life. i always have as i've done in the past. when people talk about a federal abortion ban, what they're talking about is a 15-week ban which lindsay graham sponsored and■ç i have sponsored in the past. that law is less restrictive to every country in europe except

for two. the extremists here are the democrats, not once, but twice. they voted in congress to support a law that basically has no meaningful restrictions. they claim it does, but it has no meaningful restrictions, and i think to find -- if we are indeed in this republic which is what we live in in a divisive issue like this where everybody's views have to be taken into account it's very difficult to find if there is such a thing an arrangement at the federal level with people who basically will not vote for any■ç meaningful restrictions o abortion. >> well, of course, the restrictions would be after 21 weeks, but let me ask it to you this way -- >> i'm sorry. that's not accurate. that's not what that bill did. it didn't say anything about doctors. it said practitioners. it didn't have to be a doctor to make this decision. it didn't say anything about harm, it said good faith. even if it's remote and unlikely, and it's not -- by the way, the law that they had is not even about the life of the mother and it's about the health.

it■ç could be a nurse practitior and someone needs to define that and for virtually every reason, but i understand what they claim the bill did, but that bill had no meaningful restrictions and it was in essence a vote, not once, but twice from democrats, to have an abortion at any time for any reason. >> let me note that less than % 1% happen after 21 weeks. >> if they're so rare, why let's just ban them all after 21 weeks. why are they fighting so hard on that? >> usually there is a crisis with the health of the mother.# >> he won't get to sign one because he'll never get to pass it. i never claimed to have 60 votes in the senate and in the house and everything else in between.

see, i don't support those bills because i think they're actually about the past, and i think what trump has actually said is that what he wants to do is negotiate with the democrats. i think he said it■2on this program that he wants to negotiate with the democrats on this in a country where you're trying to save unborn human life, and that's his goal. but that's a statement of fact. he will never get a chance to sign that law because right now we don't have the votes to pass it. that doesn't mean that's not what i believe. it's the reality of the politics. >> he's not talking about whether the votes are there. he has said point-blank he's not signing a national abortion ban. >> because he wants to negotiate with the democrats on the issue is what he said. >> he also said on■ç this progr that a six-week abortion ban that was signed into law in florida in your state is a, quote, terrible thing, a terrible mistake. is he wrong on that point, senator? >> well, again, i am pro-life so i support laws that save unborn human life and other people have

opinions on what that law should be. that law that you're referring to was passeded by elected legislators in the state of florida and house members have to go back to their voters every two years and senators that have to go back every four years. people have to justify. i am of the belief -- i don't want to impose anything on anyone and i get it these are two rights -- that's my view and i want our laws to represent it. other people have different views, but in our representative democracy people will have to answer to voters in the state of florida who voted for that and voters will now get to take that into account in this election and any future election. >> to put a fine point on it you are agreeing with donald trump in opposition to the six-week plan. >> even within the pro-life movement there's all■ç kinds of disagreement about what it should be -- >> you support the six-week plan? >> i support any bill that

protects unborn human life. other people in the pro-life movement to have a different view to be apostate. we are not like the democrats where unless you are in favor of their bills let's put in fancy language and not meaningful, planned parenthood, for example who supports all these democrats to get their support you have to be for abortion at any time. i don't care■ç what they say an that's the practical impact of their laws. they are radicals on this. >> let's move on to immigration. if reelected, donald trump said he is willing to put migrant detension camps and to deport more 11 million undocumented immigrants and it would be the largest in -- >> 11 million? that was the number ten years ago. we're talking 30 million, and there -- >> to the question.

the number varies big■ç time. another 9 to 10 million people the answer to your question is yes. we cannot absorb, 25, 30 million people who entered this country illegally. what country on earth would tolerate that. we don't even know who most of these people are. they're talking about vetting them? they're coming with nations with that don't have document systems. unfortunately, we'll have to do something dramatic to remove people from this country bhor here illegally especially people we know nothing about, and 10 million, 11 million was the number 15 years ago. today it's upwards of 25, 30 ■ç million, maybe more. >> senator, here's what you said about donald trump's mass deportations in 2016. take a look. >> i don't think it's reasonable that you'll round up and deport people. >> i don't think it's a plan that works. >> i don't think it's a realistic policy. >> why have you changed your mind now? >> because the issue has completely changed. when i said that back in 2013 when i was involved in

immigration reform we had 11, 12 million people that had been here longer than a decade. now we've had almost that number in the last three years alone from all over the world including people that i believe are■ç terrorists and people thai believe will conduct terrorist attacks in the country ask certainly people that were criminals in their own country. this is not immigration. you asked me about immigration. this is mass migration. mass migration. an invasion of the country, and it needs to be dealt with dramatically and by the way, i'm not a big poll follower and most americans agree on this. >> that was an issue under former president trump and there was a bipartisan proposal that was put on the table that would put more funding into border enforcement as well as limiting asylum. republicans walked away fromç that. let me move on to my next question. >> no, we can't move on. that's not what the bill did. that bill created asylum officers who right on the border would be able to give people asylum. you give people asylum on the

border without any appeal, no judge, nothing, they're on a path to citizenship, that's why i oppose that bill. >> your fellow republicans said that was the best deal they'd seen in a long time. >> which fellow republican? >> senator lindsay graham. >> i disagree with lindsay. i'm not with an issue that would issue■ç asylum rulings at the border. >> let me move forward. will you accept the election results in 2024. >> no matter what happens? if it's an unfair election on. >> no matter who wins. >> the democrats are the ones who have opposed every republican victory, every single one. >> hillary clinton conceded, senator. senator -- >> hillary clinton said the election was stolen from her and that kamala harris agreed. >> she conceded the election. -- she said that■ç -- no. she said that trump was

illegitimate. the election had been stolen. kamala harris agreed. there are democrats serving in congress today who in 2004 certified not to certify the ohio electors because they said those machines had been tampered with and they won't certify 2024 because trump is an insurrectionist and inellinible to hold office. have you ever asked a democrat that question on this show? i'll bet you you never asked a democrat that question. >> you voted to certify the 2020 election and here's what you said on that day that you voteç to certify the 2020 election. >> democracy is held together by people's confidence in the election and their willingness to abide by its results. >> so by your own definition, are donald trump's claims undermining americans' confidence in democracy given that he has not conceded the last election and he just said in recent days twice that he won minnesota, senator. >> i think what undermines people's confidence in the

election is when you have places like wisconsin with over 500 illegal drop box locations and places like georgia where liberal groups are where they charge people $10 per■ç vote. what undermines elections is when nbc news and every major news outlet in america in 2020 censored the biden laptop story which turned out to be too, not russian misinformation, unprecedented you couldn't even talk about it on social media, they would deplatform you. they look at what happened in arizona. >> senator, and it opens the -- senator, you voted to certify the election and -- >> because at that stage in the process you have no option. >> you voted to certify the election. nothing has been censored on this program. hillary clinton did■ç concede - >> did you cover joe biden in 2020. >> he couldn't even talk about it -- >> bottom line, chris krebs -- >> you couldn't talk about it on social media because you were deplatformed and they said it

was russian disinformation. in many cases people didn't hear about it because it was blakd out by the media. >> just to note, that chris krebs, called it the safest and most secure election in recent history. senator rubio, this is not safe about -- >> of course, we are, but i'm telling you if it's unfair we will do the same thing democrats i appreciate your time this morning. >> thank you. when we come back, democratic governor wes moore joins me next. - [narrator] wounded warrior project helped me find the strength to go further than i ever thought possible. - [narrator] i was able to come outta my shell

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welcome back. president biden delivers the commencement address this morning at historically black morehouse college in atlanta. today he will address the naacp event in new york. he will focus on african-american communities and shoring up support among black voters. biden won ■ç87% black voters in 2020. only 71% support him now. no election has won 13% of the black vote. the biden campaign is also concerned about lagging enthusiasm. nbc news correspondent tremane lee sat down with voters in detroit. >> who among you is definitely going to vote? raise your hand if you're definitely voting in this election. so just one. you haven't decided if you'll vote or not? >> i'm undecided as of right now. me and my family, we're democrats. i don't know who i'm going to go for. >> joining■ç me now is governor

wes moore a member of the biden campaign's national advisory board. governor moore, welcome back to "meet the press," thank you for being here. >> let's start off by talking about african-american voters. the polls show there has been this erosion of support amongst black voters as we just mapped out and you heard them there say some of them don't know if they'll go out to vote. why do you think there's this erosion among black supporters? >> i think there's frustration and cynicism and■ç it's longstanding. we have to remember, my grandfather was born in this country and he was a toddler. the ku klux klan ran him out of this country, and i am standing here as his grand son as the 63rd governor in the state of maryland. history does matter and so when

we look at the fact that in maryland there's an 8 to 1 racial wealth gap that's not because one group is working eight times harder and we're looking at drastic differences between unemployment rates and how cannabis was used as a cudgel■ç against black communits for so long in our nation's history. that's a reality. so i think that what the president is showing that when youio see the president doing things like rescheduling candidates from schedule 1 to schedule 3 and having the largest parton for cannabis convictions and black-owned businesses for black men in 30 years we now have a president who is doing something about the systemic challenges we've been pacing. >> yet some black voters feel as though he has not done enough. has not done enough on police reform and voting rights, for example, and you're seeing this show up in the polls where there is this real■ç enthusiasm gap governor. when i talk to democrats they say this is a five-alarm five and this erosion of support and this erosion of enthusiasm among

black supporters. what does president biden have to do? does he have enough time to change the dynamic? we know these challenges have been longstanding and the solutions are not going to come overnight. the thing that i know, though, is i have the right partner that i need in the president. when we think about the work that we are doing, you know, just taken in the state of maryland by having now the lowest unemployment rate that we've seen for african-americans in our state's history, the fact that we've been able to increase wages■ç that have had a disproportionate impact on the african-american community. these are things that really matter. focusing on work, wages and wealth and president biden has been the partner that all of us have needed and all of us have been asking for to have inside this work. >> and of course, the big news this week is that president biden agreed to debate former president trump. right now there are two debates scheduled and they're putting tradition to the side and going around the presidential commission to do it. do you think president biden agreed to this debate format to

shake up the race? >> i think he agreed because he's got a record to tell. i think■ç president biden has a story to tell about how he is creating economic momentum and having historically low unemployment rates by being able to break inflation from what we have from historically high rates at least in recent history, and the leadership he's been able to show to create an economy that benefits everybody and i'm looking forward to hear donald trump talk about something other than himself for the first time in a long time. >> let me ask you about something that unfolded this week. prdz to assert the recordings with special■ç council robert h and his handling of classified documents and of course, he wasn't charged with a crime. here's what president biden said about transparency at his very first press conference after taking office. take a look. >> i'm running for three reasons. to restore the soul, dignity, honor, honesty, transparency to

the american political system. >> how is asserting executive privilege over these audiotapes consistent with his promise of transparency? >> i think the doj has already released the full transcripts. the hours of transcripts,■ç of interviews that were done. the gop has everything they need to conduct any investigation should they choose to. the reason they want the audio is a purely political reason and you have the transcripts and that was a historic step to offer the transcripts, as well. >> i hear you saying that, since they released the transcripts, why won't he release the audio, and is that inconsistent with his promise of transparency? >> think the american people hear his voice every single day and the idea that this is being done or this decision is because of a lack■ç of transparency it just doesn't hold water because

the full tran crypts are there. they have everything that they need in order to conduct any investigation that they should choose to do. this is a political -- this is a political game that's being played right now. >> all right. let's talk about the big news in your state, one of the big pieces of news. the senate race, the former governor, the republican governor, your predecessor larry hogan made big news saying he would support codifying abortion rights into law and■ç angela brooks the democrat you support, larry hogan throwing his support codifying roe v. wade could cause angela the election? >> i am excited to have her, and i endorsed her early, and i was proud to. i don't think what the governor said was news because people in our state will be able to distinguish between what he is

saying and trying to get back into politics versus what he did when he was actually in office. this is a person when roe v. wade fell, he■ç vetoed legislatn to increase protections for women. on my first day of office, i released previously unreleased funds because the governor wouldn't do it for political reasons and i think people in our state will be able to note face what he's saying now is not just disingenuous, but frankly, it's the same type of problem with politics that he rails on, he's actually the prime example of what people are so frustrated about. >> i have to ask you about the key bridge. i know that there's going to be a big development tomorrow. talk us to about that and also the criticism from republicans who are■ç saying they do not wa to support federal funding to rebuild the bridge particularly if it is not matched with offsets. >> yeah. you know, i remember that first

morning when the bridge fell people were saying that this thing could take six, nine months to be able to reclear the channel. we have a ship the size of three football fields that's sitting in the middle of the patapsco river. i had four commitments and four directives to support the families of those six marylanders who we lost, to make sure we are supporting the workers and first responders that were impacted■ç by it, to t the key bridge rebuilt and open the federal channel and despite the fact this could take six to nine months, i am proud we're on track that by the end of may we'll have that reopened and within day, we'll have the massive vessel and the dolly out of if federal channel and for people concerned about the cost, my thing is this. the american people will be made whole on this and we have to make sure we get it done fast, on time and on budget. >> thank you very much for being in studio. we really appreciate it.

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welcome back. the panel is here. nbc news senior white house correspondent kelly o'donnell. symone sanders-townsend, co-host of "the weekend kuoette "and former spokeswoman to vice president harris and thank you for being here. >> kelly, set the stage as we are■ç waiting for the event on e big stage. the first debate that will take place in june less than six weeks away. obviously, a lot of big, motions heading into that which you saw in those two interviews there. what's at stake for each candidate? talking with both campaigns they have one bit of commonality and they're happy to have debates and they're happy to have them early and the public will take something from it and voters will be engaged. >> biden voters believe they have a campaign, tablth cal win here that they set the terms for two debates and getting a no-audience scenario where donald trump can't do what he is so good at is working the room. v he'll have to

answer for his record and he'll have to talk about reproductive rights. on the trump side they'll say donald trump is very good in these moments and they believe that joe biden will have to answer for inflation, will have to show his endurance and those kinds of things. on big nights, joe biden comes true. both campaigns are looking forward to it. there are questions will the two debates hold? biden say it will hold and the trump side is looking to expanding the playing field. >> symone, dive in, there's been this erosion of support among black voters and presi@'t biden. the debate, the first one will be held in atlanta. he is delivering the commencement address at morehouse. how important is the debate, both of them, winning back support among key constituencies? >> i think the debate is critical because it allows people to see joe biden in his element for themselves. they hear a lot about him on television and consume clips of

him on social media, but a debate is a one-on-one matchup where you have president biden who will be able to make his affirmative case and also go toe to toe with donald trump and do a tete-a-tete. they want to see uncle joe, whenever i end up in the nail shop, that's what i'm hearing, investen, and i think■ç that's going to be critical for him, and campaigning and being out there in the communities and touching the people, again that one-on-one campaigning and retail politics is also crucial for what voters decide to do when they go to the ballot box in less than four months. >> well, brendan, one of the other pieces to this puzzle is the fact that it seems like they're trying to -- if you believe rfk, box him out. box out a third-party candidate by holding this debate early by holding it before, frankly, a lot of the states have met their requirements in terms of being able to be on the ballot. do you think that's fair? >> yeah. i think in this one situation you shgumd believe rfk.

they are trying to box him out. it's not entirely clear who he is hurting or helping the most. there is an argument that he's hurting joe biden with his name i.d. and that he's hurting donald trump with some of his positions are trump-like. there's not going to be a debate where rfk is on the stage. wooe broken free of the commission. neither of these men will allow themselves to get on stage with that person and it's too risky and no reason to. >> kelly, all of this coming a gipst the backdrop of former president trump's criminal trial in manhattan could wrap up this week or next week. it has not really changed the dynamics of this race so far. >> and just to■2ujju on the note of debates, they tell me on the biden side they picked the date they were looking for to try to be past the trial with a real question mark about how will it come out? the trump side says they feel pretty good about the week they've had in court because they believe that the former president's attorneys were able to chip away at michael cohen, a

key witness for the prosecution. at the same time they will acknowledge that this has been frustrating and annoying for the former president to be tied to the courtroom and not being able to campaign. you've heard him talk very publicly about feeling trapped by that and the biden side is saying that this is a way for them to be able to set■ç a big contrast because the president will come back from the g7, for example, the wind of this debate when trump has been in court. >> can i just say this should have been a moment where donald trump was heard. it's been several weeks in the courthouse and we have seen very little evidence that anything has significantly changed. this is a person who will potentially be found guilty of a crime and the president hasn't figured out to take advantage of that and this is the same mistake that a lot of the gop nominees and the contenders did, too. they assumed if you let it hang out there that it would be to their benefit and it just doesn't happen and i think this is a big missed opportunity■ç f

the biden campaign. >> what do you think about that, symone? >> the president will not tie donald trump's anything because some of it 8 be tied to the department of justice and president biden has been very clear given what he feels and about donald trump when he was president. the democrats can and should be more vocal about what donald trump is facing and the contrast has been very clear while donald trump is in court, joe biden is out there campaigning on a day when donald trump could have been campaigning on a wednesday, he wasn't. he was playing golf and then had a dinner and joe biden was in wisconsin at the very place where donald trump promised jobs by foxconn that■ç never, never manifested and microsoft with new jobs that were promiseded there. he makes a good point that it should hurt him and i look at the maryland primary. the fact that donald trump lost by so -- lost 20+ percent of republicans in the primary.

indiana 20+% spells trouble to me. >> the former vp picks as i said to senator rubio, he seems like he wants to be in the game based on everything we heard from him today. >> in the republican everything revolves around donald trump so it's not surprising. there are a lot■ç of people tha for whatever reason want to be his vp. >> in uniform. >> they're all wearing matching outfits. the thing a person should be thinking about is could this person do the job? first and foremost, could they do the job if something happens to me, and secondly, do they expand the map and can they do anything politically healthy for he? this person will back me up and be loyal to me to the end. >> and those people were showing that. >> loyalty is the top. thank you so much. some important lessons from the first-ever televised presidential

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welcome back. this week president biden and former president trump agreed to debates that will not include a live audience. that hasn't happened since the

first televised presidential debates were held between john f. kennedy and richard nixon in 1960. kennedy famously commanded the television space with nixon appearing sweddy and uncomfortable. the first sign that tv debates would alter campaigns forever. nixon's campaign chair joined this broadcast after the last of the candidates' four■ç debates. >> things would be better off if you hadn't engaged in those debates with kennedy? >> may i say this, there are many things about the first debate particularly, i don't know what happened there myself certainly, if i could take a moment i was in chicago with him at that time, and when i saw the picture of him on television i went back to the hotel, and i was amazed that this healthy-looking fellow in the chair talking to me was the man who had appeared on television. i would say how i'd be looking at the course of the four debates and we'd make surveys

and check with people and i don't think one vote was changed by the four debates. we can't find that■ç they made much difference. >> well, when we come back, olympic swimmer michael phelps olympic swimmer michael phelps opens up about his st ri told myself i was ok with my moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis symptoms. with my psoriatic arthritis symptoms. but just ok isn't ok. and i was done settling. if you still have symptoms after a tnf blocker like humira or enbrel, rinvoq is different and may help. rinvoq is a once-daily pill that can rapidly relieve joint pain, stiffness, and swelling in ra and psa. relieve fatigue for some... and stop joint damage. and in psa, can leave skin clear or almost clear. rinvoq can lower your ability to fight infections, including tb. serious infections and blood clots, some fatal; cancers, including lymphoma and skin; heart attack, stroke, and gi tears occurred. people 50 and older with a heart disease risk factor have an increased risk of death.

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welcome back. michael phelps is the most

decorated olympian of all time with 23 gold medals. the swimming sensation is undoubtedly one of the greatest competitors alive, but that doesn't mean phelps doesn't have his struggleses. in retirement, phelps has been using his■ç voice to speak out about facing depression and anxiety, and advocating for more mental health resources for athletes. with may being mental health awareness month i sat down with phelps near his home in arizona for a "meet the moment" conversation about how he's doing in his own mental health journey and what more needs to be done in the olympic community. >> well, let's talk about your life post your olympic career. you have dedicated so much time to advocating for, to speaking out about mental health, your mental health and the importance of getting help if you are struggling. before we dive into your advocacy, how are you doing right now, ■çmichael? >> i'm good.

obviously, i have my days like everyone does, right? we go through ups and downs and that is life. i feel i have more tools now to prepare me through the bumps and the rollercoasters like i call them that i go through in my life, and yeah, i'm enjoying it. being retired again and being able to talk about mental health which is something that personally, i struggle with almost every single day, and depression and anxiety aren't just going to disappear, right? these are things that i have to adapt, and i have adapted throughout my life and they are a part of my life. they're always going to be a part of my life and it's finding the best way every single day to be the best version of me.■ç >> you just said something very powerful which is something, that you struggle with depression and anxiety. >> there are days when every day it's a struggle, but for me it's what can i control in that moment. throughout my career we have a swimmer and an athlete and a person and someone that has

feelings and emotions. >> i do think it's striking to hear you say you saw yourself as a swimmer. >> sure. >> as an olympian and not necessarily as a person. when did you first realize you were really struggling with depression? >> i would say probably 2004. 2004 was my first taste of so for me 2004 was my first. 2008 was my second taste of post-olympic depression because coming off of that high after doing something you set out to do your whole entire life. my goal was to do something no one else had ever done before. >> did you know it was depression or did you just think i'm feeling a little off? >> i think at that point i'll say as a male athlete i can tell

something was off, but i think i saw it as a sign of weaknq#ák and if i shared anything about it then it would give my competitors an edge, and i'm want trying to do that, right? i don't want to give my competitors an edge. i'm trying to be better than anybody, period, has ever been. so for me, i looked at it as weakness. so for me i had to learn that vulnerability is a good thing, and it was scary at first, but i learned that vulnerability just means change and for me it was a great change. >> i do want to get to that moment in 2014. >> sure. >> when you got a dui, you've spoken about this quite extensively. you say you were effectively locked in a room for four days. >> three or four days. >> you had suicidal thoughts. your family did rally around you. how did■ç you find the strengtho get help in that moment? >> yeah. i mean, i think in that moment for me, there's a lot of shame, and i just didn't really -- i

had the thought of it was me that was putting my family through all of this stress and all of this, and i was just, like, okay, maybe it's better if i just leave and at the time i was prescribed ambien from our doctors on our team trips and i was happy i only had three pills left. i took them all that night and i woke up the next morning and i didn't eat anything, drink anything for, like, two or three days, and after those two or three days i didn't really want to talk to anybody. i didn't want to see anybody. it was kind of■ç just to the pot where i knew i needed help, right? the thoughts that i was having were too much and they were overwhelming and they were scary. so for me at that point i just checked myself into a treatment center. >> for 45 days? >> for 45 days? what happened in those 45 days that made you stronger? >> i basically got ripped apart. imagine a motherboard of a computer and take everything apart and you kind of rebuild and talk about whether it's my

childhood, things that i'm having difficulty at times with, good things and kind of just piecing it all back together. >> but you emerged stronger not just emotionally, but as a competitor. >> yeah. >> look, lçke, i'm lucky to be here and lucky to have everything i have. i'm going to go down swinging no matter what. i just had a conversation, and i might get choked up here, and i just had a conversation with a buddy of mine the other day -- >> take your time. it's okay. >> so, for me, this is all fresh -- so a friend of mine, he's my mental health buddy and he knows when i'm talking about. i'll just say it. jay glazer and i are mental health■ç buddies. we both struggle and when we're

both having our bad days we go through similar ups and downs and we do similar things when we're down, if that makes sense. >> uh-huh. >> and we both had this conversation the other day because when it happens, for me, i reach out to him. when it happens for him he reaches out to me, and i have a couple of friendships like that where we've been able to form a bond and to what you were saying before, i literally sent a text to him and said i'm never [ bleep ] quitting ever in my life. that's not who i am. >> when you say you're not a quitter. you're not -- >> quitting anything. quitting anything. i will never give up at anything. there are so many■ç goal of min that i have and want to accomplish and no matter how hard it gets, i'm never giving up. there's a reason why i was able to win 23 olympic gold medals, right? i'm determined. i'm stubborn. -- yeah. you could -- a laundry list of things. i just don't give up. >> the u.s. olympic committee

has said that it has made advances, particularly in the wake of your speaking out. other athletes speaking out. how do you assess the changes that the u.s. olympic committee has made? has the committee gone far enough? what do you want to see happen? >> there needs to be more. flat out. the abc■ç organizations have do some steps in the right direction to get help and care that us as athletes need, but they're not doing everything they can and that upsets me. >> what do you want to see them do specifically? >> i want -- i want to see them put the athletes first. that's it. nothing else to say. >> and that means providing better mental health care?

>> it's everything. the athletes need to be first. >> and you didn't feel that way when you were an olympian. >> i walked into training roóm" this is six months before the 2008 olympic games. >> you were denied care? >> i was denied everything. i couldn't get access, no physical trainer would help me. so if that's happening with me it's happening with others, too. so if we're supposed to be these athletes that are representing our country then put the athletes first. >> if one of the representatives of the olympic committee were sitting here instead of me what would you say to them? >> nothing that can be recorded. there's a lot of -- there's just a lot of emotions there. there's■ç so much passion for m and i want what's right. period. that's all. and i won't stop until

everything is done that i think needs to be done. >> and just finally being as we all get ready to watch the olympics, there's so much pain right now all over the world. do you see the olympics as a moment that can help bring people together? >> that was something as a competitor i always saw, right? every four years we have the presidential race, right? and it's always kind of a crazy time, but i always think that no matter what's going on, whether it's in the u.s. or all over the globe, the olympics is something that brings everybody■ç togethe. the spirit of the olympic games, it is so magical and for me it's just something that i can't imagine life without it. >> our thanks to michael phelps. if you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. call or text 988 or chat at 988

lifeline.org and also a reminder to tune into the paris olympics this summer on nbc and also peacock. that is all for today. thank you so much for watching. we'll be back next week because if it's sunday, it's "meet the press."

live. look outside. wow. walnut creek showing off for us this morning. a lot better than all that cloud cover we saw yesterday. thank you so much for starting your beta breaker sunday