this sunday, a challenge to putin. president biden issues a warning to russia. >> don't even think about taking one single inch of nato territory. >> then he said vladimir putin has to go. >> for god's sake, this man cannot remain in power. >> this as ukraine continues to push russian forces back. >> between the light of goodness and evil. >> and leading russia to

announce it's scaling back its military goals, even as the civilian death toll climbs. >> the most traumatic aggression for my kids. >> i'll talk to oksana markarova. plus, ketanji brown jackson. >> i hope you'll see how much i love my country. >> facing repeated public attacks. >> why did you settle for half the amount? >> can you provide a definition for the word "woman"? >> and comes out with her confidence still apparently assured. cory booker of new jersey, senator of ohio, rob portman. what americans think of ukraine, the economy at home and president biden. joining me for an inside analysis are yamiche alcindor,

homeland secretary jeh johnson, bureau chief susan page, and susan hayes, editor of "the dispatch." welcome to sunday. it's "meet the press." >> announcer: nbc news in washington. for the longest running show in history, this is "meet the press" with chuck todd. good sunday morning. the biggest message president biden said yesterday was at the very end of a well-received speech. just as he was wrapping things up in warsaw, mr. biden made a startling statement about vladimir putin. for god's sake, this man cannot but they tried to clarify his ad lib. his point was he cannot continue his power over ukraine, it was not that he should not continue

in russia. perhaps, but we'll see how he sees it. let's start with ukraine. by a fairly large 28% margin, americans say they do not have a lot of confidence in president biden's ability to respond to this war. 57% say we are already at war with russia or will be within a year, a very pessimistic view. 34% disagree. what's more, 68% would prefer mr. biden make the economy his top priority, compared with just 29% who want him to focus on ending this war. overall, president's job approval stands at 45% with 55% disapproval. this is his worst showing yet in our poll since he became president. meanwhile, ukranian forces have pushed back russian troops, apparently to have russia claim they're going to push back their military goals and focus solely on taking the territory in the east.

richard engel is in ukraine now. richard, we know what the russians say, right, but right after they say it, all of a sudden missiles hit the west. what is really going on with the russian military strategy? >> reporter: well, the russian military strategy seems to be all over the place. they've been having tremendous battlefield failures, and i think this claim by the russian military command was a way to claim some success out of obvious failure, saying that their real focus is in the east. the east happens to be the only place where they've made some consolidated gains, particularly around the port city of mariupol. so the one area that they are holding territory, they say that was their intention all along. but it is not clear at all that vladimir putin has given up on his overall war plan, which is to topple the government of ukraine to get rid of zelenskyy, and i think that strike in lviv showed that clearly.

it may have also been a strike aimed at president biden, a bit of an insult to say we're going to strike right near the polish border while you're in poland making some bold claims and making some insults at vladimir putin, calling him a butcher, among other things. >> richard, i'm curious. how did the presidential ad lib that my go down in world history, how did that go over with president zelenskyy? >> reporter: well, i don't think president zelenskyy was overly impressed. president zelenskyy spoke this morning and effectively accused western leaders, he didn't mention president biden by name, of being all talk. and i'll read you just a translation of his comments from a short while ago. he was talking about mariupol, a city which is surrounded, it has been under attack, yet it is still not collapsed. he said, i've spoken to the

defenders of mariupol, i'm in constant contact with them. their determination, heroism and firmness are astonishing. then he went on to say, if only those who have been thinking for 31 days on how to hand over dozens of jets and tanks had 1% of their courage. so he's saying that that meeting in nato which promised a lot of support still isn't yielding the kind of results that ukrainians want. >> richard engel who is in eastern ukraine right now. richard, thank you. joining me now is oksana markarova. she is ukraine's ambassador to the united states. ambassador, welcome to "meet the press." >> thank you for having me. >> let me start with the president's remarks yesterday, and i'm curious what you thought of the ad lib remark which he said, my gosh, mr. putin cannot remain in power. how did you receive that? >> we heard president biden loud

and clear that, yes, we'll be with you in ukraine for this fight. we clearly understand in ukraine that anyone who is a war criminal, who attacks neighboring countries, who is doing all this atrocity together with all in russia involved definitely cannot stay in power in a civilized world. it's up to all of us to stop putin while it's still in ukraine, because this war is not all about ukraine, and this brutal aggression that has gone on for 33 days now in every city of ukraine, and especially in cities like mariupol and kyiv and others, it's a brutal genocide, attempt to eliminate or exterminate ukranian nation, but also to attack on democracy, attack on anyone who wants to live peacefully in their own country. >> president zelenskyy seemed to say, hey, words are nice, but we

need more than just words. what more do you want the west to do? what are the asks and not fulfilling these asks, what does this mean to ukraine's ability to fight this war? >> look, let's look at the facts. for 33 days, ukraine has defended itself and defended europe from one of the largest countries, one of the brutalest -- most brutal countries and a nuclear power in an autocratic state. we are already surprised, many, of the fact that we will not surrender, that we are not only motivated to defend our homes, but we will stand our ground and we will defend every inch of our territory. we need tools and we need all kinds of weapons in order to be able to do so. so while we've never asked our friends and partners for boots on the ground, we have the best boots on the ground -- >> you're not asking for american soldiers. >> we are not asking for american soldiers. but we need all the support with

all the weapons, including the anti-air, including the airplanes, everything to stop this brutal destruction. i mean, if you look at everything that happens again, use of bombs, use of missiles, use of prohibited geneva convention weapons everywhere, we need, you know, unstoppable flow of supplies from everyone who is willing to give it to us in order to win. >> earlier this week there was an accusation that russia was using phosphorus bombs. do you have any evidence they've used chemical or biological weapons against ukraine. >> we have confirmed there is no red line for putin and his cronies. they are attacking children, maternity hospitals, they're

destroying schools and theaters. what would stop them? >> what is the state of negotiations with the russians? >> well, you know, as we said from the beginning, we are ready to negotiate, we are ready to negotiate the humanitarian corridors which we are trying to get to save people. we are ready to negotiate always but we are not going to surrender. >> what is on the table? obviously the russians don't want to walk away with nothing. at the same time president zelenskyy has said the sovereignty of this country, we're not surrendering the sovereignty of this country. so what is negotiable, in your view? >> the negotiations does not mean that ukraine is ready to surrender. the negotiations mean there should be a solution and diplomatic pressure to stop russia. so we're not ready to give up our territories, we're not ready to give up our people. we are asking everyone who can

put pressure on putin or who can help us to bring him to the table to stop this war. >> can you imagine ever agreeing to recognize the donbas region as an independent republic? >> well, there is noory of ukraine. russia attacked us in 2014. russia illegally occupied crimea and parts of damask. he waged war on the independent country now, and the question is bigger than that. is there a respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, which is the firm basis for any u.n. or national organization. i don't think we should ask ukraine what we're ready to give up in order for russia to stop this aggression. each of us should be asking,

what are we prepared to do to stop it? if we lose this, it's very important. if ukraine loses it, it's not only ukraine is lost. it means brutality, oligarchy and war criminals prevail on our planet. >> let me go back to almost the thing we started our conversation with, which is, can you live next door to somebody who tried to eliminate you? wit living next door? >> well, look, we have the experience in europe with world war ii. there was another putin or another putin as a hitler who tried to do this, attacked sovereign countries, crossed the border, tried to eliminate, and the first world war ii created a new security system, which is apparently collapsing right now. so unless we together stop putin and create new type of security guarantees, because we are not going to move from that place.

and russia is not. >> let me ask you about our promise to take in 100,000 ukrainians refugees? is that enough? can this happen sooner rather than later? >> we already see more than 3.6 million refugees in europe everywhere. it's mostly women and children, and the majority of them want to go back. so the focus for us is sanctions, weapons so we can stop putin and start rebuilding ukraine. but, of course, we are grateful for everyone, and i'm glad that the u.s. is joining also the group of countries that not only are helping us a lot with weapons and sanctions but also opening the doors for ukrainians. now, if it's going to be enough or not depends on how quickly we all act to stop the war. let's focus on that. let's stop the war so that there will not be more refugees. >> that's a good way to end it, ambassador. let's stop this war. thank you for coming on, and i appreciate it. >> thank you. joining me now is republican

senator rob portman of ohio. he sits on the senate foreign relations committee. he's traveled to the region in the last couple months. senator, you and i have had lots of conversations with ukraine. welcome to "meet the press." >> thanks, chuck. >> it's a question i think i asked you. can this end with putin in power, and what did you make of the president's remarks? >> well, first, i think all of us believe the world would be a better place without vladimir putin. but it plays into the hands of the russian propagandas and plays into the hands of the russian government. the president realizes that and he had to walk back on a couple other comments as well. clarity is incredibly important and we need to make sure we are

also clear with our nato allies, because that's how we're stronger. >> president zelenskyy heard all of this, and he heard for him it's just talk. i understand that. he's in the middle of this war. he's watching innocent people get attacked and die. he wants some planes, he wants this ability to do a no-fly zone. any movement in your head on this? >> well, i think president zelenskyy is correct. i thought the president's speech was very strong despite the ad lib at the end and the gaffe at the end. but it was a positive speech that doesn't match the actions, so it was a rhetoric about what we're actually doing. there are additional weapons that they're desperately needing that we are not yet providing, particularly any anti-air systems and more munitions for their own anti-air systems. but also they're asking for anti-tank systems. they're asking for more anti-ship systems which is

really important right now because some of these missiles are coming from the black sea. they've asked for help across the board that is not yet there. that's what president zelenskyy is talking about. we need to do more, we need to do it more quickly. we did send some soviet era anti-aircraft systems, i'm told, recently, at least based on public reporting, or at least it's on its way. there are other systems that are more powerful, the s-300 in particular, that we have not sent. we have that because we acquired it to test it with other own planes and so on. we should do that. we should send these anti-air systems to them. it's been a few weeks now since the secretary of state gave that a green light and somehow that hasn't happened, and the ukrainians insist they need it, they want it, it would be helpful. i think we need to trust them on that. >> you heard the ambassador. is the use of phosphorus bombs

to you, does that cross that line on the use of chemical weapons to change nato's calculus or not? >> well, if we can verify it, i think it is. i think the use of chemical weapons against innocent civilians is something where we have to draw a red line. we need to do now and we need to do it with our nato allies. we did this in syria and did not honor the red line. this time we have to be darn sure what we are doing will be backed up by us, by our nato allies, and i do think that's a red line. any type of biological weapons must be. >> i hear the words "proportionate." define what proportionate in your mind would be. >> well, the president said we would respond in kind, and later that was walked back because it sounded like he was saying, of course, we would respond with chemical weapons which would not be appropriate. we actually signed a treaty saying we would never do that, russia did as well. there are a number of military responses that i could see.

one would be to establish a humanitarian air defense zone in parts of western ukraine. and that could be done from outside of the borders of ukraine. that's an example. in lviv where you have thousands of people who are there with the international relief organizations, lots of reporters, including from nbc, lots of refugees coming through, hundreds of thousands there. yesterday there was a bombing of lviv within a couple miles of the train station where there are so many refugees and so many westerners. so we could, through some means, since we have patriot missiles in poland and romania and slovakia, protect some of that territory. that's an example of something that could be done militarily that would not be offensive, strictly defensive, no boots on the ground, but it would enable us to say use of chemical weapons or biological weapons has consequences and we're going to do something about it. >> let me turn to some domestic issues here, the supreme court. have you made a decision on whether you're going to support

judge ketanji brown jackson's elevation to the supreme court? >> i said all along i'm going to wait until the judiciary committee is done with this action. i think they'll vote a week from monday. but as you know, chuck, less than a year ago i voted against her for the court of appeals, and i did so because i'm concerned about her judicial philosophy. particularly for me on the regulatory front she had a case on the district court level where essentially she elevated from the bench and had to do country origin labeling for meat products, and she did what many of us think is wrong. the statute says one thing, but we're, as judges, going to decide what's best. that's my biggest concern. i've talked to her about it. i also talked to her about the core packing which concerns me. she came out on refusing the core packing, which i don't

understand it, and she should as a nominee be willing to talk about it, and i'm concerned that she's not willing to do that. >> i want to play a clip for some questioning she received from some of your republican colleagues on the committee hearing. here's the clip. >> you say this does not signal a heinous or egregious child pornography offense. help me understand that. >> do you agree with this book that is being taught with kids that babies are racist? >> the ordinary crime was not committed by computer, so the baseline -- >> ers are sort of the venue of choice for child pornogquestioning and the topic sort of off key there. you thou. >> well, her record is fair game, chuck, and this is not attacking her personally. by the way, i found her bright and personable when i met with her.

she's obviously an historic choice for the court. but i don't think it's wrong to go after her record. that's what we should be doing in these hearings. with justice kavanaugh, as you know, it became personal attacks, by the way, uncorroborated attacks. it was not about her record, largely. this is about her record and her sentencing. it's not what i'm going to base my decision on because i think there are judges who have lenient sentencing these days. i think it's time to clean up crime in our cities, that's an issue, and she was below regulations on some things. i think it's fair to ask about that. i think it should be done in a respectful way and i'm glad these are not personal attacks on her, which we've seen in previous confirmations, including judge kavanaugh. >> i'm sure you've heard these text messages that have come out from ginny thomas to the white house chief of staff.

it's not against the law to believe in conspiratorial things, but i'm curious, given the president that loretta lynch, attorney general, when she recused herself after a tarmac course against president clinton, and then against hillary clinton. is that something the judge should recuse himself on those cases? >> i respect his opinion on that. i don't know if he'll have the specific issue come before him about those records. that might be one where he'll consider that. he has a lot of integrity, and i think he'll make that decision. i don't think what your spouse says should recuse you, whether it's in the legislative branch or the judicial branch. that would be a new precedent. but i do think that if a case comes before you and it's exactly on point, again, as to probably records and whether they should be made available, that that might be an issue where he would think about it. he's going to make that decision

and he has the right to do it. >> senator rob portman, republican from ohio, i always appreciate you coming on and sharing your perspective. thank you. >> thank you, chuck. thanks for having me. i'm going to talk about i'm going to talk about this is frank. he runs a sustainable camping supply business. he's smiling because fedex is growing it's fleet of electric vehicles. and these, are the camper scouts. earning their eco badge. they're sharing this news to their global scout community. which, unexpectedly, has made frank quite popular. so it's a good thing frank uses fedex to help him expand his reach and make earth a priority. fedex. where now meets next. what could the father of the bride possibly be doing on his phone? checking in with his merrill advisor to see if he's on track to do this again... and again. did i mention she made the guest list? digital tools so impressive, you just can't stop. what would you like the power to do?

(swords clashing) digital tools so impressive, you just can't stop. -had enough? -no... arthritis. here. aspercreme arthritis. full prescription-strength? reduces inflammation? thank the gods. don't thank them too soon. kick pain in the aspercreme.

you'd think the sax player would be getting ready for his solo... but no. he's currently checkin' his investments. you gotta have a plan outside the band, man. digital tools so impressive, you just can't stop. what would you like the power to do? welcome back. supreme court confirmation hearings have become the eyes and souls of our political parties and they're also part of campaigns. they tried to rattle ketanji brown jackson, especially with child pornography cases. all of this from cory booker. >> don't worry. god is good. how do i know that?

because you're here and i know what it's taken for you to sit in that seat. >> and senator booker joins me now. senator, welcome back to "meet the press." >> thank you. thanks for having me again. >> look, i want to talk about the confirmation hearings, but i want to ask you first about the president's remarks yesterday. there apparently was an ad lib remark that vladimir putin just can't remain in power. how does this end with putin in power so the president, in many ways, may be speaking what we're all thinking, but those remarks, should he have said them? >> well, look, i think the administration has made it clear that the goal of the united states is not regime change in russia, it's defending the extraordinary people of ukraine and helping them in their what i think is an existentially critical battle not just for their country but for free dmok

-- democracies around the world. i'm happy to see the number of people rally to this cause. i think that's what's important right now. >> let me ask you the other question. how does this end with putin in power? >> i don't know. obviously my colleagues and i have been sitting with this and speaking with personnel. i've heard it from top diplomatic leaders that this is a very hard ending for putin to be, quote, unquote, victorious in power in this. this will be a short conflict but we're already seeing an awful potential for this to drag on. i don't see a victory for him. his country is suffering extraordinarily. he is depleting critical resources from his own nation for this awful war. so i just don't see how this ends well for him. >> let me move to how you spent most of your week in the

confirmation hearings for judge ketanji brown jackson. what did the american public learn this week? >> i think that they saw an extraordinarily magnificent judge who showed what her temperament is, her grit, obviously her endurance of mind and body and soul. but i think they really golt a chance, especially under a lot of democratic questioning, and some republicans, about her mastery of the law and how she is more than qualified for this position. >> you seem to leave out the circus life stuff that they turned into a little bit. it does feel as though this process is broken. every time we wonder can these hearings get more partisan, they get more partisan. and i'll see the finger pointing, this party started it, this party started it. whatever it is, this system seems broken.

what do we do? >> well, look, i'm not going to surrender to that conclusion in the sense of having gone through amy coney barrett's nomination as well as gorsuch's. i think there is a lot of frustration among democrats, clearly, for what happened with merrick garland. i think we've seen sort of the legitimacy of the court really suffer, partly as a result of the tactics that we've seen going on in the senate. but having gone through amy coney barrett and justice gorsuch, i don't think that's a simple conclusion. there were extraordinary realities in the kavanaugh hearings that i think demanded for that to be as contentious as it was and not just allowing it to go through without these extraordinary sort of realities coming to the fore and being investigated. so what we saw, though, this week was, to me, outrageous and beyond the pale and very

different than what i've witnessed in my short time in the senate, seeing three different confirmation hearings. and i think that what some of my colleagues did was just sad, frankly, but again, you had a justice there, a judge there that dealt with it in an extraordinary way and showed america who she is, despite the outrageousness of the question. >> considering that she's gone through confirmation hearings before before that very committee, the only difference was the tv cameras. that's the only thing i can come up with. >> i think you make one of the best points that pointed to the absurdity of it for me, which was, she was already appointed to the d.c. circuit court which many people call the second most powerful court in our land, and none of this came out. none of this behavior could be believed given law enforcement,

victims' rights groups and others, really cast a shadow over the ridiculous line of questioning many of my colleagues did. it's just outrageous that they didn't bring this up less than a year ago when she was going through a confirmation hearing. she is a bipartisan-supported judge multiple times through the senate, and i think people should keep that understanding clear. >> the other issue in the supreme court this week are the ginny thomas texts. there are a lot of calls saying justice thomas needs to recuse himself. we saw it when bill clinton met lynch on the tarmac. we saw it when they were looking into something with hillary clinton. they were outrageous on the right of recusal and the attorney general recused herself. is this a similar situation? should justice thomas follow the loretta lynch precedent? >> let's go to the kagan precedent. she got on the court in 2010 or 2011 out of 70-some cases.

she recused herself over 20 times, not necessarily because she was conflicted but because she understood that even the appearance of impropriety would legitimize the court. clearly judge thomas should have recused himself. i think we also need a thorough investigation to better understand what exactly happened with the judge's wife. >> is there anything congress can do, or is that a separation of powers issue? >> i think we have a lot of problems with separation of power issues. i have a lot of frustrations with the supreme court as a whole that they have not taken better measures to police themselves. there are ethics rules they hold lower courts responsible for. i don't think they understand that i should be a justice and give a paid speech to a group that has a direct matter in front of the supreme court or has amicus briefs in front of

the supreme court. there are a lot of ethics rules they haven't put on themselves, they're just common sense, and they legitimize the supreme court. i think they should use this thomas affair as an opportunity to change their ethics rules. >> senator cory booker from new jersey, i think we all need to make sure we're wearing black robes, not red or blue robes. when we come back, we have a lot to discuss. ukraine, judge ketanji brown jackson. jackson. hose text ♪ ♪ hey, i get it, commitment can be scary. but not when you're saving up to 15% with subscribe and save at amazon. you get free repeat delivery on your favorite items and if things don't work out, you can always cancel. seriously, no one will judge you if you call it off. ok!

learn all the ways to save with amazon. you'd think the sax player would be getting ready for his solo... but no. he's currently checkin' his investments. you gotta have a plan outside the band, man. digital tools so impressive, you just can't stop. what would you like the power to do? (swords clashing) you just can't stop. -had enough? -no... arthritis. here. aspercreme arthritis. full prescription-strength? reduces inflammation? thank the gods. don't thank them too soon. kick pain in the aspercreme. thanks for coming. now when it comes to a financial plan this broker is your man. let's open your binders to page 188... uh carl, are there different planning options in here? options? plans we can build on our own, or with help from a financial consultant? like schwab does. uhhh... could we adjust our plan... ...yeah, like if we buy a new house? mmmm... and our son just started working. oh! do you offer a complimentary retirement plan for him? as in free? just like schwab.

schwab! look forward to planning with schwab. as a struggling actor, i need all the breaks that i can get. at liberty butchemel— cut. liberty biberty— cut. liberty mutual customizes your car insurance so you only pay for whatchya... line? need. action. cut. you can't say that. [phone rings] sorry. is this where they're gonna put the statue of liberty? liberty... are we married to mutual? cut. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ what could the father of the bride possibly be doing on his phone? checking in with his merrill advisor to see if he's on track to do this again... and again. did i mention she made the guest list?

digital tools so impressive, you just can't stop. what would you like the power to do? welcome back. our panelists are here, yamiche alcindor, jeh johnson, stephen hayes, editor of "the dispatch" and wash bureau chief susan page. susan, the comment, the ad lib herd around the world, literally. walking it back, saying it, everybody seems to agree, was not the right thing to say at the moment, but everyone is thinking it. >> true.

a washington gaffe, we say, people say what everyone knows is true. what are we talking about today? not the impassioned sense of democracy but his final words where he's asking for regime change, and we'll find out whether it's dangerous or damaging or causes some reaction from moscow that would not have been coming just from calling putin a butcher or a war criminal. >> quite a walk-back. >> it is quite a walk-back, and you have the white house making sure he just wants regime change. this is after he held refugee children, this is after he hurt all these people, this is after he called putin a dictator, so

the average person thinking, of course he should not be in power. that said, it is distracting because now the white house, you see rob portman calling it a mistake and others saying it was a gaffe. >> i'm going to dissent. i'm not sure i would have walked it back. he's a war criminal. he's slaughtering innocent men, women and children. he illegally invaded ukraine, and he has got command control of nuclear weapons. such a person should not remain in power. >> so he's lost his legitimacy, in your mind? >> more than lost his legitimacy, and at most, i would have modified the statement by saying it's not a statement of our policy, it's just simply a statement of fact. but i'd like to see us at some point get to a place where we're not constantly disclaiming the line over which we will not cross. he said it, presidents every once in a while do say things that ad lib.

>> evil empire, right, rattled their cages. >> the bombing starts in five minutes, remember that? >> yeah. >> it's a statement of fact. virtually everyone agrees, everyone in the western world agrees. >> i think everything the president says about vladimir putin is correct. clearly he shouldn't be in power. it's one thing to say something, true, but it's another to wonder why it was wise to say it. this does, as senator portman calls out, they have long said that nato is a threat to vladimir putin, is a threat to sovereignty. the u.s. says, no, that's not what this is about. this in a sense feeds that. and that's a concern. if you look at the number of times president biden has had to walk back things on this trip, three significant statements on this trip alone, then you go back further and talk about his comment about a minor incursion, he has said things repeatedly

that show the lack of discipline that people had concerns about president biden or joe biden as a candidate. >> that may be why you have that incredible 71% in your new poll that americans do not have confidence in president biden to handle the situation. that includes some of his supporters. that includes a fair number of democrats. and the idea that white house officials, first anonymously and then the secretary of state have to come back and clean something up, i think reinforces the idea, can we trust him to respond in a competent way to this war. >> it never happened during the trump administration. >> it's particularly concerning when you think -- >> we've become numb to it as a public these days, but go ahead. >> the president was going to come with the a-team, he was going to come with all this experience, and now americans are saying we're not confident in your policies. then people said who do we blame

for russia and prices? they are all blaming president biden's policies. that's something that also bothers officials. >> the democrats, for what it's worth, we are sometimes all about our pocketbook. jeh? >> yes. and as my friend, the late andy cohen used to say, when it comes to polls, with all respect to nbc, it depends on how you ask the question. if you ask americans the binary choice of your wallet versus something else, most are goingb. >> i think part of the reason he's struggling on the economy is, one, we're not seeing any improvement, and two, he's not willing to do the kind of things, i think, with respect to the war and the economy that might actually help. if you talk about an all-in energy policy that would address some of the things we're seeing come up out of russia and

potentially forestall some of the inflation, he could make the case but i don't think his base will let him. >> you brought up the poll numbers of president biden. on who do you blame on inflation, i just want to put it out here. the most generous way you can look at it, susan, is, well, only 38% blame president biden and a majority blame something else, but that's about all you can do. what's interesting is only 6% blame the russian invasion of ukraine, and that is a specific thing the president said. >> inflation was becoming a problem before russia invaded ukraine, although it's clearly jacked up gas prices and had some other effects. but this is of great concern to the white house. three of the last four presidents have lost control of the house of representatives in their first midterm election, and we'll see that in november. >> the public is going to look at it, you'll see 46-44, republicans up by two, but

that's a coin flip. this is the first time we've had republicans lead in our polls since september of 2014, eight years ago. there is a little bit of a democratic add because democrats are packed in more districts here. this is a huge red flag. >> it's a red flag, and it's coupled with the idea that people are blaming president biden's policies for inflation. it's coupled with the idea that americans are still very, very concerned about how much they're paying for so many other things, not just gas, and that also is, i think, part of the reason why when you ask people right now, they're essentially saying republicans are the ones who they trust with the economy. that's going to be a hard thing for democrats to overcome and to message about. >> on this gas issue, it's a regressive tax. it impacts people harder down the socioeconomic ladder. we want to remember madeleine albright who died on

friday. she grew up to become the u.s. representative of the united nations and the first ever woman secretary of state. she was raised catholic and did not learn until later in life that her family was actually jewish but had to keep that heritage a secret because of the second world war. albright appeared on "meet the press" including this moment from 1957. >> people have asked me if i ever thought this was possible. did i ever think that i, madeleine korbel at that stage, 11 years old, coming to the united states, could ever become secretary of state? i would say absolutely not. i have achieved my ambitions, except for one, and that is to do the very be i am here because they revolutionized immunotherapy. i am here because they saw how cancer adapts to different oxygen levels and starved it. i am here because they switched off egfr gene mutation and stopped the growth of tumor cells. there's a place that's making one advanced cancer discovery

after another for 75 years. i am here... i am here.... because of dana-farber. what we do here changes lives everywhere. i am here. what could the father of the bride possibly be doing on his phone? checking in with his merrill advisor to see if he's on track to do this again... and again. did i mention she made the guest list? digital tools so impressive, you just can't stop. what would you like the power to do? this is the planning effect from fidelity. ben isn't worried about retirement because his plan is backed by the team at fidelity. a group of investment professionals manages ben's ira for him, analyzing market conditions and helping him stay on target.

he gets one-on-one coaching when he wants some advice, and can adjust his plan whenever he needs to. and now he's so prepared for retirement, ben is feeling totally zen. that's the planning effect from fidelity. if you don't repaint every now and then, ben is feeling totally zen. it's like the old you is still hanging around. younger zoe: i'm listening to music. younger zoe: you are a libra and he is a pisces, that is like a cosmic dungeon. older zoe: you know what, can you? younger zoe: cosmically, no. that's why i only date musicians. younger zoe: what are you guys eating? older zoe: it's lasagna. younger zoe: (chewing sounds) younger zoe: i love lasagna, that's you guys. so today, let's paint... ...with behr, america's most trusted paint brand, and make your home, yours. behr. exclusively at the home depot. (swords clashing) -had enough? -no... arthritis. here. aspercreme arthritis. full prescription-strength? reduces inflammation? thank the gods. don't thank them too soon. kick pain in the aspercreme. you'd think the sax player would be getting

ready for his solo... but no. he's currently checkin' his investments. you gotta have a plan outside the band, man. digital tools so impressive, you just can't stop. what would you like the power to do? welcome back. public schools have become a new front in the country's public wars. parents are concerned about how schools managed masking and vaccines during covid. they revised the books, changed curriculum and had a lot of say in their children's education.

youngkin is looking to duplicate success around the country. in the new show "meet the press reports," our senior correspondent, kate snow, traveled to california to see how one community was dealing with this new front in the culture wars. >> reporter: on this night, public comments centered on removing books deemed inappropriate from school libraries. >> just because it's a description of sex doesn't necessarily make it pornographic. >> reporter: chairwoman misty belford opens every meeting asking people to behave. >> you may be detained or arrested depending on the conduct. >> reporter: belford has been on the board for eight years. >> i heard you say in the rules that if we have to, we will arrest people. it's a pretty dramatic thing to say to people at a school board meeting. >> it is, and for a while we had some pretty raucous meetings. >> reporter: you had a meeting

in october where you literally had to kick people out. >> we did. the audience started to get very loud and it was reaching the point of being unsafe. >> reporter: belford is worried about the impact on teachers and administrators. >> i am blessed to be serving a group of 9,000 people that wake up every single day and pour their heart and soul -- sorry. >> reporter: what upsets you? >> our people are getting brought out. and they are the ones we need, frankly. >> reporter: a few weeks later, conservative school board member

was ousted. did you sort of see an opening, like a need? >> absolutely. parental rights constantly get stepped on, stepped on. but the bigger problem was parental neglect. parents were not involved, not checked in. >> the group moms for liberty now has an impact in 36 states. you can see the entire "meet the press reports" episode any time on peacock. binge it now. when we i'd like to invite you to jersey mikes subs day of giving this wednesday march 30th. where 100% of all sales will be donated to the 2022 special olympics usa games. it happens every four years where special athletes come together to compete. it's an opportunity for all of us to be part of helping these athletes raise up to their very best levels. so please, join us wednesday march 30th and make a difference.

you'd think the sax player would be getting ready for his solo... but no. he's currently checkin' his investments. you gotta have a plan outside the band, man. digital tools so impressive, you just can't stop. what would you like the power to do? (vo) right now, the big switch is happening across the country. small businesses are fed up with big bills and 5g maps that are mostly gaps— they're switching to t-mobile for business and getting more 5g bars in more places. save over $1,000 when you switch to our ultimate business plan... ...for the lowest price ever. plus, choose from the latest 5g smartphones— like a free samsung galaxy s22. so switch to the network that helps your business do more for less—join the big switch to t-mobile for business today.

what could the father of the bride possibly be doing on his phone? checking in with his merrill advisor to see if he's on track to do this again... and again. did i mention she made the guest list? digital tools so impressive, you just can't stop. what would you like the power to do?

i am here because they revolutionized immunotherapy. digital tools so impressive, you just can't stop. i am here because they saw how cancer adapts to different oxygen levels and starved it. i am here because they switched off egfr gene mutation and stopped the growth of tumor cells. there's a place that's making one advanced cancer discovery after another for 75 years. i am here... i am here.... because of dana-farber.

what we do here changes lives everywhere. i am here. welcome back. while the president was overseas dealing with the war in ukraine, here in washington we were consumed by the confirmation hearings for judge ketanji brown jackson. i want to put up a little analysis we did of key terms that were mentioned in the hearings just by the questioners, not by the respondents. we compared judge jackson with justice kagan on abortion. abortion of roe about guns.

we have none for kagan. what did we see this week? >> what we saw this week if you talk to critics of the republicans was really republicans leaning in on qanon conspiracy theories and leaning on what they thought would land both for their political futures and the camera in the room to try to attack judge jackson on her sentencing. we also saw -- if we back up, we saw 233 years of a black woman sitting being a nominee for supreme court and being poised in answering questions that were not really related to her work as a judge but more of the partisan politics. >> what did you observe? >> chuck, i believe supreme court nomination hearings have become a national embarrassment. i watch these and i'm embarrassed for our country, i'm embarrassed for the nominee. you take a sitting federal judge who is a very serious, intelligent person, and you throw that person in the

middle of a circus. i'm referring both to ketanji brown jackson and amy coney barrett. you can see the look on their face. they're thinking, i can't wait to get across the street with the adults and i'll never do this again. it's become a national embarrassment. >> i don't know if josh hawley was pushing qanon, but it's clear republicans have a problem with conspiracy theories. >> all of us at this table with part of some problem. >> it's clear that the base of the republican party, there is a strain that believes in this stuff. if you go to josh hawley's website right now, he's hawking a mug that has a picture of him raising his fist on january 6 to the protesters before the riot that day. if you look at what he said january 4th when he was asked about whether president trump was going to be remaining

president, he said, we'll have to see what happens on january 6. that's clearly playing to a conspiracy mindset. if you look at things like kevin mccarthy, not going after marjorie taylor greene, leader of the republicans, not going after paul gosar who went to a conference led by an open racist, they fired on liz cheney who are firing the people amplifying these conspiracy theories. i do think it tells you a lot about the problems with the republican party. >> qanon is something entirely different. qanon believes there is a satan-worshipping cult of child pedophiles running the country. that is beyond crazy, and the idea that one out of four republicans say they endorse or believe some of that theory is shocking to me. >> and the idea that you saw 2024 hopefuls leading into that, though, is shocking but also not

surprising because they were -- you could see the political commercials almost being made in realtime. >> quickly, we don't have a lot of time, justice thomas. do you think he'll recuse himself to january 6? >> supreme court justices are very isolated. they make their own choices on these issues. you know, we're approaching the ginny thomas issue like an appearance issue, the appearance of somehow a taint. more significant as a lawyer is the possibility that some of her texts -- i don't know this to be true -- some of those texts could be in that pile from the national archives that justice thomas had to rule on in which case his spouse has a direct interest in the case. >> it is the appearance, though, that is also a problem. we need black robes, folks, not red and blue. that's all we have for today. thank you for watching. in network is rooting for the peacocks, this moderator is rooting fort canes.

i'll see you next week. if it's sunday, it's "meet the

this week, what if we treated schools like a start-up, and their funding like venture capitals. why resumes may tell you more about a candidate than a good old-fashioned quiz. and the growing power of tiktok. that's this week on "press: here." good morning, everyone. a quick morning to parents. this next interview is one you might not want your child to see. not because we're going to use naughty words but because one of the conclusions you could take