Meet the Press NOW — September 18

We’re back with another episode of “Here’s the Scoop: Supreme Court Edition.” This month, NBC News senior legal correspondent Laura Jarrett is speaking with legal experts and lawyers to discuss the cases being argued this term — and the legal precedents that underpin them. Our second episode is about the transgender student athletes who are challenging laws in West Virginia and Idaho that prevent them from competing on girls’ teams in school sports. The courts of appeals in each district have sided with the student athletes, but Supreme Court watchers agree that the justices are likely to uphold the bans. Former ACLU national legal director David Cole argued Bostock vs. Clayton County (2020), in which a 6-3 majority of justices established transgender people as a protected class under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits employment discrimination. Host Laura Jarrett talks to Cole about his client Aimee Stephens, who was fired from her job after she came out as transgender. He explains how he won over conservative justices on the high court, and why the stakes are different for the transgender athletes in these cases.

Rep. Zach Nunn (R-Iowa) joins Meet the Press NOW to discuss President Trump's trip to China as he returns to the United States. A terrorist commander is indicted on terrorism charges and accused of plotting attacks across the U.S. A former government watchdog calls recent Trump family stock trades "completely unprecedented."

President Trump says that Chinese President Xi Jinping has offered to help the United States reach a deal with Iran. House Select Committee on China Chair Rep. John Moolenaar (R-Mich.) discusses how the China summit may impact larger negotiations on Taiwan’s independence and the war with Iran. South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster (R) is expected to call a special legislative session on redistricting, potentially giving Republicans an advantage in the midterms.

President Trump touches down in Beijing for the start of his summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) explains how she thinks the war with Iran will impact Trump’s negotiations with China. Fmr. Republican Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, who is now running as a Democratic candidate for Georgia governor, discusses how the redistricting battle could impact races across the nation.

As the war with Iran drives up prices, President Trump says Americans’ financial situation is “not even a little bit” motivating him to end the war. Rep. Jennifer McClellan (D) reacts to the latest in the redistricting fight in Virginia. Planned Parenthood President and CEO Alexis McGill Johnson talks maternal health in America after the Supreme Court temporarily extends access to the abortion pill mifepristone.