Meet the Press NOW — April 19

Some Republican candidates break with President Trump as they fight headwinds ahead of November's midterm elections. Former Trump White House lawyer Ty Cobb discusses the president’s attempt to impose a ban on certain media outlets. Physicist and professor Max Tegmark joins Meet the Press Now to share his take on AI regulation as Congress weighs new guardrails.

President Trump welcomes Chinese President President Xi Jinping to Washington on the heels of a court-blocked effort to ban media outlets from the White House grounds. Sen. Jon Husted (R-Ohio), former Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), and independent candidates Dan Osborn (Neb.) and Brian Bengs (S.D.) weigh in on the data center backlash shaping their races for U.S. Senate. NBC News’ Ryan Chandler reports on the pushback from cattle ranchers on Trump's beef imports.

More Republican candidates appear to distance themselves from President Donald Trump over a state visit with the Chinese President Xi Jinping and high gas prices impacting voters. Reps. Jay Obernolte (R-Calif.) and Lori Trahan (D-Mass.) discuss their bipartisan AI legislation as part of NBC’s Common Ground series. Sebastien Lai calls for the release of his father Jimmy Lai, a pro-democracy activist and media publisher, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence in Hong Kong.

President Trump says he has a “big decision” to make about Iran in his address to the United Nations General Assembly. Steve Kornacki breaks down NBC News’ latest poll showing Trump’s approval hitting a second-term low. Kamala Harris campaigns with Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) and Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) join Meet the Press NOW to discuss the Congressional Women’s Softball game.

Actor and comedian Hasan Minhaj sits down for a Meet the Moment conversation about his career in comedy and film.