this sunday, year two reset. >> there is a lot of frustration. >> president biden acknowledging first year setbacks on covid. >> should we have done more testing early? yes. but we're doing more now. >> and on inflation. >> if pricing increases are what you're worried about, the best answer is my build back better plan. >> taking aim at republicans. >> what are republicans for? what are they for? >> this morning we kick off our "meet the midterms" coverage.

>> i think we should go back and look at how he can't pick. >> i'll talk to bernie sanders and moderate representative slot kin. what democrats need to do next. plus, no breakthroughs with russia. with russia poised to invade, the british government now says moscow is plotting to install a pro-russian leader in ukraine. my guest this morning, the secretary of state antony blinken. also covid peaks and plateaus. >> my hope is this is the beginning of the end. >> hospitalizations are down in the northeast but rising in other places. >> we've definitely seen an increase in our critical care patients. >> the question now, who do americans trust for information about covid? joining me for inside analysis are nbc chief correspondent kristin welker, carlos krr or

-- corbella. it's sunday morning and it's "meet the press." >> announcer: this is "meet the press" with chuck todd. a good sunday morning. president biden's news conference on wednesday was designed to kick off a second year reset of his presidency, recaptures political identity, if you will. it is suggested that he doesn't need a reset because he is no longer seen as competent or effective, no longer seen as competitor in chief. just 5% of adults say president biden ha performed better than expected as president, the lowest and fewest of our poll. as we reach into the midterms in

november, it's based on previous selection cycles. there's basically three poll numbers you need to know best. i start with the direction of the president's job approval rating sitting at 43%. if you look at history, history shows that kind of presidential approval rating needs to a shelacking for the party in power. how about the mood in the nation? the nation's on the wrong track number sitting at 72%. this is only the third time in our poll's history we've had two tracks that off. that, again, would put you in shelacking territory for democratic power. but one place they're holding up okay is which party should hold congress. basically a dead heat, but democrats would tell you they should be up four or five due to redistricting in order to actually hold the house here, so

that puts it in the middle. but as you can see, two of our three most important indexes is sitting in shelacking territory right now. this is a dangerous place for the president to be at the one-year mark of his presidency. >> the whole world is just a mess. >> with the coming midterms likely a referendum on president biden, voters are in a sour mood. this week i traveled to georgia, the state that clinched control for democrats. >> i think we're in a divide. >> we're kind of in a dipping point of polarization. >> i just wish we could shut up and agree and listen to each other. >> voters used the words divided, negative, lost, bad and downhill. >> i think we all just want to live that american dream. >> i know there is a lot of frustration and fatigue in this country. we know why. covid-19.

>> in a news conference on wednesday, president biden promised a reset, saying he would engage more directly with americans, but he was also defensive. >> i don't believe the polls. >> though the two parties are deadlocked on who should control congress, democrats have a double disadvantage on interest in the election itself. disparities like that led to big one-party waves in 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2018. there has been a significant drop in interest of democrats' core voting groups since october. young voters, down 17, african-americans down 21 points. >> you seem to be a little disappointed. >> i am. the majority of his voting bloc, i feel like he's ignoring us. >> do you feel president biden has fought hard enough for the priority of the black voters? >> i do not. >> president biden is walking a tightrope. he faces eroding support among

independents. in atlanta, i sat down with several biden voters who did not vote democrat in 2016. >> leaning into the argument about elections and election fairness in either direction turns me off. >> what could biden do right now to make you feel less like a reluctant biden supporter? >> we have a lot of problems. we have high inflation, supply chain issues. >> the economy and jobs is the top issue for voters. replacing covid. republicans have a 30-point advantage. while inflation is up and employment is down, they complain about the high cost of living. >> it costs so much to go grocery shopping. it's insane. >> republicans can no longer face the major issues facing this country. that's up a whopping 40% from a decade ago. just 40% say biden has done a good job uniting the country.

>> he was voted in with a promise to be bipartisan, but it takes two to tango, and i think he's run into a brick wall with that. >> joining me now, senator bernie sanders. welcome back to "meet the press," sir. >> thank you. >> give me your take on why the democratic party is in this critical place right now in the start of his second year. >> i'll tell you why. i think the president and the democratic congress started off very, very strongly. they looked at the economic crisis that was caused by covid, and we passed the american rescue plan that did an enormous amount of revitalizing our economy, put money into the hands of working people, put money into hospitals, and lowered childhood poverty by 40% by putting direct payments in

the hands of working class parents all over this country. we were off to a great start. and we also passed along the way the strongest infrastructure bill that has been passed since dwight d. eisenhower in order to rebuild our crumbling roads and water systems, expand broadband and create hundreds of thousands of good-paying jobs. we were off to a great start, and i will tell you exactly what happened. 50 members of the republican party decided that they were going to be obstructionists, that they were not going to help us address the crises facing working families, not going to deal with the existential threat of climate, not going to be dealing with the high cost of prescription drugs, the need to expand medicare, the need to improve home health care, et cetera, et cetera. then you had two united states senators joining them, mr. manchin and senator sinema. then for five months now, there have been negotiations behind closed doors trying to get these senators, these two democratic

senators, on board. that strategy, in my view, chuck, has failed, and it's failed dismally. we saw it last week in terms of the voting rights act. we now need a new direction, in my view. and that is take it to the republicans to bring in important pieces of legislation that impact the lives of working families on the floor of the senate, and if the republicans want a vote to protect the wealthy and powerful, that's their right. let the american people see what's happening. >> you think this is really a process problem, if you will, tactical problem, not a substance problem. so does this mean you think from the beginning, and i hate even using the word reconciliation for this audience, you know, we don't want to get mired into that congress speak there, but do you think that was sort of a mistake, right, lumping it all in, that there should have been separate votes for everything or now there should be? >> no, no, that is exactly not what i'm saying. what is in the reconciliation

bill, and i know that's inside the beltway, is enormously popular. it was 70%, 80% of the american people. nbc should do a poll, find out if the american people want us to take on the greed to lower the price of prescription drugs, ask if they want to have dental and vision. that is enormously popular, the bill in its entirety, and the president deserves credit for looking at the real problems facing this country. but what we had is obstructionism from 50 republicans, two democrats. what we have got to do now is take the issues to the american people. if the republicans want to vote against lowering the cost of prescription drugs, if they want to continue to give tax breaks to the rich, let them vote that way, let the american people see what's happening, then we can come together after these votes to put together the strongest bill that we can.

>> so i was just going to say, let me play something for you that ro khanna who represents silicon valley, what he said about climate and joe manchin, and i'm curious what you think of this. >> let him come up with something. i think he's going to come up with something that is going to be extraordinarily much better than nothing on climate. >> are you okay with that strategy now, or do you want to go through the votes first and then you're like, okay, if all i can get is what i can get from manchin, i'll take it? >> look, as a tactical issue, you have been around long enough to know that funny things happen when a bill gets to the floor. clearly we have got to deal with the enormous crisis of climate. let's put a strong bill on the floor. if mr. manchin and ms. sinema want to vote against it, republicans want to vote against it, we can go from there. what we can't continue to do is these endless back room

negotiations. the american people have to see where we are, and after that happens, we'll do the best we possibly can. >> do you think it's been healthy for the democratic party to highlight the division in the party? you look at senator sinema, she was censured over what some would look like as a disagreement over tactics. not substance, but over tactics. do you think that was an appropriate action? >> i do. i think that was exactly right. on the issue of voting rights, this is different than anything else. what that is is that right now you have a republican party under trump's leadership that is perpetuating this big lie that trump actually won the election, and, therefore, you have 19 republican states that are moving very aggressively into voter suppression, into extreme gerrymandering, some of these states are doing away with the powers of intellectual officials. they are moving in a very anti,

anti-democratic way. it was absolutely imperative that we change the rules so we could pass voting rights legislation. all republicans voted against us, two democrats voted against us. that was a terrible, terrible vote, and you think what the arizona democratic party did was exactly right. >> let me ask you this. as you know, i'm going to have my next guest, elizabeth slotkin, who would like to see something with the covid issue right now. voters are worried about near term issues right now, and that's what's better for the midterms. what do you say to her? >> i think in a sense that's right. we can chew bubble gum and walk at the same time. my own view, if you want to do things that are important and are politically effective, what you've got to do is talk to

where the american people -- they want action on covid, that is exactly right. let's do it. they want action on prescription drugs, they want action on home health care, they want action on climate. we have got to revitalize the senate, we've got to bring these bills to the floor. we've got to debate them. and i think at the end of that debate, when we see how things shake out, we can then pass strong legislation which will help all democratic candidates because you have a republican party right now which is playing the obstructionist role. they say nothing except wanting to cut social security, medicare and medicaid. >> perhaps the most leading democratic voice in the coalition, can president biden count on your vote in the senate with almost any compromise he comes up with with manchin? >> absolutely not. you're going to have to look at what that so-called compromise is. if it's strong, if it protects the needs of the american people, if it deals with climate, i'm there. but we have to look at the

details of any proposal. >> senator sanders from vermont, i appreciate you coming on and sharing your perspective. joining me now is the democrat from the moderate party, alyssa slotkin. thank you for coming back to "meet the press." >> thank you. >> you are part of seven republicans representing trump in 2020. i want to show you what we saw on president biden on the issue of compromise. has he been willing, too willing, on balance? a large number of republicans think he has been too willing to compromise. you won, trump won. is this what you're hearing? >> i do. i think people in general are kind of questioning whether government still works for them. so we should be doing a couple of things really, really well and then talking about it over and over again so people know we

did it. as opposed to saying we're going to do everything, promising the world and people leave saying, my government isn't doing anything for me. i think we're in a crisis when it comes to people believing in government and the best thing we can do is govern effectively. >> so what do you want the president to do in the next six weeks? you could argue, because it's an even-numbered year, you know this, we maybe only have until april 1 to truly get some legislation done. what should the focus be? >> i think for me the issues that are always going to resonate, the cost of prescription drugs, right? just allow medicare to negotiate for drug prices. it was in different versions of bills, it's a commonsense thing -- >> and that's something you just heard senator sanders say. this unites the democratic coalition. >> it just makes no sense that america can't negotiate drug prices. so let's do that. i think universal kindergarten

for three-year-olds and four-year-olds. right now you're worried about the economy, we don't have enough people working. you unite a huge number of people if we can get child care. i just came from the school. i'm a cia officer and pentagon official. underpromise and overdeliver. we haven't been doing that. >> there seems to be a lot of public highlighting of democratic division. we were talking earlier, you weren't crazy about having to air some of this dirty laundry, but it's happening. what's happening to senator sinema? is this healthy for the party, having a state party, her own state party censure her -- like i said, most people say it is a disagreement on tactics, not the issue. >> i don't like where you're constantly airing dirty laundry. there are very big divisions in washington right now, period, democratic, republican, within

each party. but i don't believe the way you get back at other people is putting that on air, airing that publicly. i don't love that. i also don't think that if we disagree with someone, that's a normal part of governing. people just want people to be responsible. so i don't love it, but i also -- that's not what people in my district are worried about right now. >> do you question the motives of senators manchin and sinema? >> someone once told me when i started congress, you can question someone's policy choices, don't question their motives, because we're all here, i hope, to do the right thing, or we should be. >> you have a district that actually has got a lot of parts of what i would say is the biden coalition that got him the primary. union folks, he -- working class folks, african-americans. what are you hearing from union members and african-americans about the democratic party these days? >> people don't wake up in my

district like real political people. here in washington, they're probably not watching this show right now. they're waking up and talking about the price of groceries, the price of gas. they're talking about crime, right, and concerns about security. they're talking about whether their kids are going to be able to stay in school. those are the things that people are talking about, and i think that's, in my mind, what the white house should be laser focused on. i get it. there is a big coalition, we have a lot of people interested in a lot of different things. but in my mind, where is the war room on the cost of living? where is the task force on inflation? where is the energy around that, because that's what everyone is talking about when i sit down with them? >> and covid, we know for everybody, is a wet blanket. for different reasons it's the wet blanket. is there anything the administration can do proactively on covid, or the fact they're taking a little step back, is it the right call with the politics of covid?

>> if we could, i would say let's enter a new phase on covid and keep our kids in school, keep our businesses open, focus on keeping our world open. but our hospitals are like war zones right now, right? we don't have enough subs when our teachers get covid, so we can't forget about it, we can't change and say that's not our business when the institutions that hold our communities up -- >> should that be what congress focuses on right now? is covid relief going to be necessary? school bus drivers, but it's not just that, it's across the board here. should congress step in here with more relief? >> honestly, the covid relief, at least in my state that we passed back in march, is sitting in a bank account in the state of michigan. the state of michigan literally has $4 billion. move, get off your duff, get that money out so we can pay more for subs in our schools, so we can get more folks nurses and doctors. i don't know that we need another package because the

money we've spent hasn't been used already on the ground. >> elissa slotkin, democrat from michigan. thanks for coming back. >> thank you. how will the ♪♪ this... is the planning effect. this is how it feels to know you have a wealth plan that covers everything that's important to you. this is what it's like to have a dedicated fidelity advisor looking at your full financial picture. making sure you have the right balance of risk and reward. and helping you plan for future generations. this is "the planning effect" from fidelity. age before beauty? why not both? visibly diminish wrinkled skin in... crepe corrector lotion... only from gold bond. we love our new home. lots of windows, great light-

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welcome back. the british government announced last night that russia is prodding ukraine. the news came the day after secretary of state antony blinken met with his russian counterpart lavrov. they want russia to pull back from eastern europe and that america never join the revolution.

secretary of state, welcome back to meet the press, sir. >> thank you, chuck. hello to you. >> let's talk about the meeting with the british. how reliable is it, as far as you're concerned, and why was it necessary to go public with it? >> well, chuck, i'm not going to comment on specific intelligence reports, but what i can tell you is this. we've been concerned and have been warning about exactly these kinds of tactics for weeks. we talked about that publicly, that russia would try to in some way topple or replace the government. just a few days ago we sanctioned for russians in ukraine. this is an important playbook. it's important people look at the whole rash of things that russia could do in ukraine. >> the u.s. intelligence committee released information that he was trying to create sort of a false flag operation. this is from british intelligence. again, this seems to be an unusual move to make so much of this stuff public. who are you trying to send a

message to, and i'm not going to be subtle here. is this sending a message to our other european allies that this is real and this is serious? >> chuck, it's mostly making clear, first of all, to the russians that we know all of the tactics and techniques that they can bring to bear. they're massing a huge number of forces on ukraine's border. people rightly are very focused on that but there are a whole series of other actions they've taken in the past and are preparing to take potentially in ukraine. it's important they be put on notice. it's also important that people around the world, whether it's in europe, the united states or beyond understand the kinds of things that could be in the offing. false flag operation to try to create a false pretense for going in. it's important that people understand that's in the playbook, too. >> what does an exit ramp for putin look like that allows him to save face and have the united states not compromise ukraine's independence? >> well, look, ultimately you would have to ask that of president putin. but what we're doing is two

things. even as we're building up deterrence, even as we're building up defense for ukraine, we're also engaged in diplomacy and dialogue. i met, as you know, with russian president serge lavrov in geneva a few days ago to try to find out if there is a path forward on diplomacy and dialogue. the russians have put concerns on the table that they say they have about their security. we exchanged some ideas we'll be sharing with the russians in writing, not only our concerns but some ideas for a way forward that could enhance mutual security on a reciprocal basis. look, that is clearly the preferable path forward for everyone. it's the responsible thing to do. we'll pursue it as long as we can, and at the same time we'll try to build up deterrence as necessary. >> why do you think putin is insisting the u.s. response is put into writing? and i'm curious, while you

verbally expressed there are no plans soon to have ukraine join nato, are you willing to say, look, it won't be considered for ten years. are you willing to put a time stamp on that, or is that capitulaing too much? >> there is no question of capitulation. the question is whether we advance security. we meet with people, we put things in writing all the time. in this case we're doing it in full consultation of allies and partners. it's a way of being as clear as you can, putting ideas on the table. but, chuck, one thing that's important to remember as someone who engages in diplomacy. engaging in diplomacy doesn't take the word nyet out of your vocabulary. >> i want to play something the president said in the press conference. this created a bit of a stir. this is what he said. >> i think you will see that russia will be held accountable if it invades and it depends on

what it does. it's one thing if it's mild and encouragement and we end up having a fight about what not to do, what to do, et cetera. >> what did the president say that's not true? >> chuck, we have been clear that, first, in the event there is a renewed encouragement of russian forces going into ukraine, there will be a swift and severe response from the united states. but we were also clear that there are other things that russia could do, short of putting forces in ukraine again, cyberattacks, hybrid means, et cetera, and there we've also been clear. there will be a swift response, a calibrated response, a united response. what we've been doing, and i've been engaged in close confrontations with our allied partners to make sure that across all of these scenarios we have a clear and united response, and we will. >> why does it look like america is more concerned about your security than europe?

>> i don't think that's the case. i think in my own engagements with my european counterparts that have been intensive and extensive over the last couple months, i think there is a deep-seated concern across the board. by the way, this is a concern that should extend not only to europe and the united states, but in a sense it should concern the entire world. because what's at stake here is not simply the relationship between ukraine and russia or even between europe and russia or the united states and russia. what's at stake here, chuck, are very basic principles of international relations that have kept peace and security since the last world wars and the cold war, the fact that they can't dictate to that country the choice of whom they will associate, that they will not subjugate the nation to its will. >> i want to bring up germany specifically because the head of their navy had a response when

he said in the conference, essentially, that putin deserves more respect. there is no way that crimea is ever going to go back to ukraine. he resigned, but it seemed to simply put a spotlight on what everybody seems to know: germany is the sticking point here of a united, tough response against putin. is there something we can do to alleviate those economic concerns that germany has to get them on board? >> first, chuck, that's simply not my assessment. i sat with chancellor schultz just last week for an hour and listened very carefully to him. i've been on the phone and saw my own german counterpart, former minister bierbach. and i can tell you the germans very much share our concerns and are resolute in being determined to respond and respond quickly, effectively and in a united way. i have no doubts about that. >> the diplomacy -- the

consistent calls for meetings right now that the russians are doing, do you think they're genuine about diplomacy, or do you think they're just essentially playing out the calendar here because he's not going to upset xi in the olympics, and essentially we're making it look more legitimate by negotiating? are you worried he's playing us a little bit? >> look, it is certainly possible that the diplomacy that russia is engaged in is simply going through the motions and it won't affect their ultimate decision about whether to invade or in some other way intervene or not in ukraine. but we have a responsibility to see the diplomacy through as far and as long as we can go because it's the more responsible way to bring this to closure. but, chuck, we are not sitting still, even as we're engaged in diplomacy. even as we're engaged in dialogue, we're building up defense, we're building up deterrence. we have provided to ukraine more

security assistance this year than the previous year, we have rallied our partners around the world, we are preparing mass consequences against russia if it invades ukraine again. you have to do both at the same time. you build up your defense and deterrence on the other, you engage in diplomacy and dialogue on the other. that's the way that i think makes the most sense to carry this forward. ultimately we've given russia two paths. it has to choose. >> there's been reports that ou requests to send non-essential personnel home now, begin that process. have you approved that request yet, and if not, what are you waiting for? >> chuck, this is something that we look at every single day. i have no higher responsibility than the safety and well-being of the folks who work for the state department and who are under my care, in a sense. so we're tracking this very, very closely. we're looking at it on really a daily basis, and if we need to make a determination that we

should draw down some of the folks at the embassy, we'll do that based on the security needs. >> but right now you feel like kiev appears safe, at least in the near term? >> this is something, again, we're tracking intensely hour by hour and certainly day by day. >> secretary blinken, really appreciate you taking some time and sharing. >> thanks, chuck. when we come back, one of when we come back, one of the biggest reasons preside ok, let's talk about those changes to your financial plan. bill, mary? hey... it's our former broker carl. carl, say hi to nina, our schwab financial consultant. hm... i know how difficult these calls can be. not with schwab. it changes when our goals change. planning can't be that easy. actually, it can be, carl. look forward to planning with schwab. schwab! ♪♪

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to do something different, he was able to do a lot of things, good, bad and ugly. are you saying the longer you're a politician, the less you can get done? >> that was one of the disappointed georgia voters we met last week. former chief spokeswoman for kamala harris and soon to be a host on nbc, welcome. chief correspondent kristen welker and chief correspondent baker and carlos curbelo. i'm going to put up the breakdown of the president's approval rating. everyone in the coalition is not happy, from bernie sanders to john kasich, right? everybody in between here. with independents, he fell 25 points, with after americans,

19, with 18-year-olds, 10. how is the white house handling this moment? >> i think the clip that you played, chuck, really illuminates what's happening across the country and how the white house, and i would argue the democratic apparatus is doing it as a whole. there is a disconnect, to state the obvious, between what voters and the american people think their elected leaders have done and what the elected leaders have actually done. i'm sure that's very frustrating and scary for the white house and the democratic party apparatus. because the first year of the biden/harris administration was designed to say that the government can work for the american people. president biden talks about it all the time, vice president harris has talked about it, and you can see that in the 2 million vaccinated, the passage of the rescue plan that allowed for the monthly ctc payments and

lower health care premiums and sometimes eliminated them for folks across the country, but there is a disconnect. the white house has to figure out a way to bridge that gap, and that's what you'll continue to see from him, i think. >> do you agree it's a message problem and not a substance problem? >> president biden is someone who worked with democrats. when he was vice president, president obama would have him negotiate with mitch mcconnell. they pulled him back sometimes because he was too eager to negotiate. all of a sudden he became the face of this policy in a generation. the same joe biden who ran in the primaries as the mainstream or moderate candidate, the same joe biden who told independence, and we see that big drop that he was going to help heal this country, that he was going to be the president of democrats,

republicans and independents. i think a lot of voters have found him to be a partisan, and that was a surprise because he was supposed to be different than donald trump. donald trump was divisive, joe biden was supposed to bring us together and to heal us. >> peter, it did strike me that the president was aware that he lost his political identity. when he brought bernie sanders to say -- remember, he's the so capitalist. >> he is struggling as the anti-trump and the coalition was unified by this one thing, they all hated trump, they wanted him gone, but that didn't mean they had agreed on a lot of important issues and they hadn't settled those just because they elected joe biden. they elected him in a 50-50 senate and the house. they didn't give him the wherewithall to accomplish some of the biggest things they wanted to see here. even senator sanders said let's find a way to break down the package and see what will pass

and won't pass. that's a big change. >> kristen, you've done a lot of reporting. what is next? is it the electoral account act, the universal pre-k? what does he do next? >> they are going to work on the electoral account act, but i do think there will be a scaling back on the build back better package. i think they'll go where they can find bipartisan support, like lowering the cost of child care, expanding health care. prescription drugs will be a big piece of that as well, but there is also going to be a reset in messaging. that's one thing the president can control. i'm told he'll be at shovel ready projects, talk about his infrastructure law, what he's already done, he'll be at schools working on broadband, so

there will be more policy. >> obviously covid has a lot to do with it. i look back, you guys got to go through a campaign where you really didn't go across the country. how much did that hurt that you can't really calculate? >> i think a lot. during the campaign, biden wanted to go around the country. he loves making his case directly to them, being in the beauty shops, the barber shops, taking their questions. he has largely that due to covid. it hasn't really been explored by tables like these in a very fulsome way. if the president or his staff gets covid, they are down for ten days. that is a fact. we have to go with the facts. so a lot of things that are

happening are happening under the umbrella of, okay, what can we do to make sure it's still safe. >> 76%, three and four of everyone we surveyed, said our democracy is under threat. but look at the differences why. that was basically republicans and democrats agreeing with this statement now. republicans say it's because of democrats and liberals and it's socialism and they're going too far to the left. you don't see the election fraud even come up. democrats basically agree on one reason why they think democracy is under threat. it is donald trump. but this is, peter baker, a pretty concerning overall -- the rationales may not matter if everybody agrees that our democracy is crumbling. >> we're in a moment in our society i don't think a lot of us ever expected to be. we're questioning the very foundations of things we took for granted for decades, for generations. i don't think we ever thought growing up -- i didn't,

anyway -- that we would ever at risk, not the fundamental nature of who america is would be in question. i think a lot of people are questioning that today from different idealogical points of view and different angles, but it's a different moment than we've seen. >> it's a bit scary especially because it isn't for the same reasons, and that's what makes it even harder. >> no consensus on what to do about it. whom do people trust when it comes to covid informatio (naj) at fisher investments, our clients know we have their backs. (other money manager) how do your clients know that? (naj) because as a fiduciary, it's our responsibility to always put clients first. (other money manager) so you do it because you have to? (naj) no, we do it because it's the right thing to do. we help clients enjoy a comfortable retirement. (other money manager) sounds like a big responsibility. (naj) one that we don't take lightly. it's why our fees are structured so we do better when our clients do better. fisher investments is clearly different.

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welcome back. so is the president losing his grip on the party? we have this poll question we've been asking, carlos, for some time. anybody who says they're a republican, we ask, are you more a trump supporter than a republican or the other way around? towards the end of the presidency, he had a majority of his party saying they were trumpists before they were

republicans. we have a positively going back to 2006 saying they were more republicans. i had two republicans from emery saying one who was more of a trump republican and less of a trump republican on this issue. >> i like trump, but i'd like to see these more popular republicans taking over the party. >> i'm more in favor of a populist regime for a republican. i think especially with glenn youngkin we can show a republican who values free market principles. >> these are individuals who are still shell-shocked the former president made in basically costing the senate seats, and you can hear the tension in there. do you buy the idea that trump's grip is loosening? >> chuck, as trump has become less visible, the republican party has actually started to grow into what it is next. i think you've seen that in

florida, opposing covid restrictions, opposing government restrictions, big tac, for example. you're starting to see what a young republican party can look like. the question is, when trump comes back, if he does, if he runs again, do we stop talking about all these things and does it once again become exclusively the party of one man? >> chuck, leader mccarthy is very clear, he thinks he needs former president trump in order to win back control of the house. look at all the races the former president is asserting himself into, not just government races but gubernatorial races, as well as you have these governors that are really becoming a dying breed. i think he still very much has a strong grip over the party. it's notable that that voter because glenn youngkin walked a

very fine line. he did not push trump away altogether, he said i'm going to accept his endorsement, i'm going to espouse some of his ideals. at the same time i'm not going to appear with him in public. it's really that tension that republicans are dealing with. by the way, republicans are saying they're bracing for a trump nomination. >> bracing or hoping? >> well, that's a good point. >> even though he's not as visible, republican officials fear him and they have to check with him before they do anything. >> if donald trump were on twitter, joe biden's ratings would be five points higher. do you think his lack of availability has made people forget about the threat? >> no, i don't think so. i think the reality is, and you heard the congresswoman talk about this this morning, that top of mind for people across the country, she says folks in her district probably aren't watching the show. i think they're watching, chuck.

i do think they're watching. the top of mind is inflation, is, in fa pandemic, how they're going to put money in their to talk abou practical ways, and it's notvot congresswoman's district, it's black voters, latino voters, and that's what they want to hear, too. >> by the way, can we talk about the kyrsten sinema news? that will be a big question, whether they support her? >> they don't get involved in the intra-governmental squabbles so they'll let the folks do their thing, but the democrats did propel kyrsten sinema to senator. >> the irony is kyrsten sinema is being attacked for serving

for joe biden, senator john mccain concurrently. >> by the time he ran for president, he said, i'm not going to give you where i'm at on the filibuster. but he held the same position sinema did about three years ago. this is a censoring motion now in the democratic party? >> it used to be a criminal violation, someone who did something to children, someone who did something to a spouse they shouldn't have done. now republicans are voting against infrastructure -- i'm not saying it's not important, i'm just saying the motion -- >> i need a clarification, though, because in arizona if you ask democrats in arizona, they will tell you that this goes back to senator sinema voting against the minimum wage in covid-19, voting against it is things she said she stood for in the party. i think it's a little more complicated, it's not as black and white.

>> nationally it's going to look like, oh, the democrats are kicking up the middle. i get what you're saying but it's what this picture looks like. >> i think you're right, and i think that's why you're not going to see the white house come out and support what happened. at the same time privately, if you talk to administration officials, if you talk to democrats on capitol hill, their frustration with senator sinema, particularly when it comes to those policies they just laid out, they don't know where she stands in the 11th hour. it's very hard to negotiate with her. >> joe manchin at least tells you something. >> right. and whenever we say where is senator sinema on this, they always say, your guess is as good as ours. >> senator sinema would love to be on this show. that is all we have for today. thank you for watching. i wish i were saying go, packers, but now it's time to say go, bills. we're back next week, because if it's sunday, it's "meet the press."

♪ leave now. that is the order to u.s. embassy families, along with travel warnings for anyone in or near ukraine, as tensions escalate with russia march against mandates thousands turned out to y no thanks to covid vaccinations and we've got new nbc news polls. multiple shootings in a number of cities what's being done to protect law enforcement. the high cost of meat at the grocery store and restaurants has almost