for people with skin. ♪♪ welcome to friday. it's "meet the press daily." i'm kasie hunt in for chuck todd. at any moment, president biden will award his first medal of honor as commander in chief to arm colonel ralph puckett, a korean war hero. his family will be attendance at will moon jae-in. we will take you to the white house when that ceremony begins. it's just an incredible story. let's continue here with the news. president biden turns his focus towards diplomacy with south korea. he is dealing with the fallout of the tenuous cease-fire

between israel and hamas. a cease-fire that's not even 24 hours old. so far, it has been welcomed by both sides. although, tensions remain high with israeli police clashing with palestinian protesters in jerusalem today. images appear to show officers using stun grenades and tear gas on protesters who were throwing rocks and stones at police. officers say molotov cocktails were thrown at them. our reporting indicates that president biden's approach to the conflict and the cease-fire was driven by a singular goal. end the violence as soon as possible so he could shift his focus back to his domestic agenda. that approach included numerous coronaviruses with benjamin netanyahu who thanked the president earlier today. >> i want to thank president joe biden, a friend of many years, who stood by israel throughout this conflict. he expressed clearly america's

support for israel's right of self-defense. >> the white house's effort to keep tensions from boiling over in the region is going to continue next week with secretary of state blinken expected to travel to the mideast. president biden expressed optimism about a lasting cease-fire yesterday. watch. >> i believe the palestinians and israelis equally deserve to live safely and securely and enjoy equal measures of freedom, prosperity and democracy. my administration will continue our quiet, relentless diplomacy toward that end. i believe we have a genuine opportunity to make progress. i have committed to working for it. >> we have an all star team to get us started. i'm joined by white house reporter shannon pettypiece, chief foreign affairs correspondent and chief washington correspondent and the host of "andrea mitchell reports," andrea mitchell who

stuck around. we have natan sacks. first to gaza, richard engel. richard, thanks for being with us. you have made your way to gaza. what have you seen on the ground there? how durable is this cease-fire? >> reporter: how durable is a tough question, because how long are we talking about? are we talking about days, weeks, months, years? nobody thinks very long. maybe a year. maybe six months. you don't get the sense when you are driving around gaza or walking around gaza as i have been today -- it's the first day have i been able to get in here -- that hamas is bracing to launch more rockets. they have been celebrating. victory celebrations last night. people were out looking around on the streets trying to see -- how much damage had been done, seeing if they could move back into their homes. about 100,000 were living in

schools as shelters. what seems to be happening is hamas is trying to take what it sees as a victory and build on it. you should watch what's happening in jerusalem very closely. that is how this round began. it was a demonstration in jerusalem. people praying in the mosque. disputed events what caused the israeli police to invade. the police did move in. there was a very powerful series of videos that came out during ramadan of the israeli security forces disbursing people. now, once again, just hours after the cease-fire, we see a similar kind of imagery coming out of jerusalem. there was some other imagery that isn't getting as much attention. what it was was it looked like hamas supporters shouting down other palestinian leaders because they weren't talking about gaza enough.

it seems like hamas right now wants to take this conflict forward in a different way. not necessarily firing rockets into israel, which provoked a military response that is very destructive. but using what it feels like is the momentum from this conflict to become the leading voice among palestinians, to push aside other palestinian leaders and to take ownership of the palestinian cause, particularly when it comes to jerusalem. i don't think this is over. it's very provocative. you don't get a sense that they are in the mood to fire more rockets and see more retaliatory strikes. there was a lot of damage done here. >> at least there's that. andrea, i watched with great interest your interview with the deputy national security advisor. one of the things he was talking about with you was this idea that they are trying to bring the palestinian authority back into the conversation here in a way that they weren't during the trump administration.

as richard underscores, this seems to in some ways have strengthened hamas' hand and netanyahu's hand. two groups farther out on the edges of where this conflict could be. where do you think we go from here? >> that's exactly the point. both the harder line people in israel have been strengthened. netanyahu, he was on the ropes. he was basically out of office because under their system the president of israel had asked one of his competitors, one of his adversaries to form a new government because he failed to form a government in 30 days after the election when he didn't win a majority. now he is strengthened. 70% or 80% of israelis think there shouldn't be a cease-fire. that's what he was navigating. that's what president biden was sensitive to, to let him get there, achieve his goals. it was a very popular conflict in israel for the suffering.

the other piece of it is that the social media, there's been a real engagement by arab-israelis with their neighbors. they have been living side by side for generations. now they were in conflict. there were open clashes, people fighting in the streets. that's a different element. that's something they will have to contend with. hamas has been, as you say, strengthened against the corrupt and weak palestinian authority in the west bank. hamas has got a lot more muscle and is going to exert it and is supported by iran. israel is in a much more hard line position. plus domestic turmoil. that's not a good scenario going forward. >> what do you think it means for the palestinians going forward that hamas has -- seemed to have been strengthened in this way? >> exactly as was said, if this

were another round, then the cease-fire would be great news. it is, of course, anyway. a cease-fire means that the immediate destruction ends. this was not just another round. this was a round that came after weeks of unrest in jerusalem, that broad in palestinians in east jerusalem and in the west bank and as andrea said in israel itself, with clashes between jewish israelis and arab israelis. the israelis will try to understand how they rebuild co-existence, beset with inequalities inside israel. the palestinians find themselves in a very precarious political situation. elections were supposed to take place. they were canceled by the palestinian president in part because he feared hamas might do very well in the ballot box. hamas responded by trying to take over the events in jerusalem and become the champion of the palestinian cause but also the jerusalem cause with the rockets that we

saw. this leaves everyone without rockets. that's excellent, especially for people in gaza and southern israel. it doesn't solve any of the major issues. i will point in one in particular. events in jerusalem started with clashes over potential evictions in east jerusalem. they are still pending. they may come in a matter of weeks. we could be back to step one. >> it's a bit of a depressing but important point. shannon pettypiece, to that point, how does white house grapple with this going forward? obviously, president biden was deeply involved personally in making phone calls to benjamin netanyahu who he has known for many years, as well as to the palestinians and the egyptians. they have been wanting to turn the focus back to what's going on here at home where we still have a lengthy recovery post pandemic in front of us. what is white house's sense of how long this may lost and how much breathing room they will

have? >> reporter: absolutely. people involved in this negotiation process told nbc news that one of the president's key priorities was getting this resolved quickly so the president could move back to his foreign policy agenda. of course, as you mentioned there -- i'm sorry, his domestic policy agenda. there's the foreign policy agenda that he hopes to get back to when it comes to china and southeast asia and this meeting with the south korean president today. those are the items that the white house has been wanting to focus on since day one. the foreign policy focus has been more on china than the middle east. of course, this conflict has made the middle east unavoidable. they can't ignore it anymore. as richard and andrea's reporting indicate, it's questionable how durable this is going to be. there are questions ahead to look for. one is, who the administration is going to appoint to be an ambassador to israel. they did not have a high ranking diplomat in the country throughout this process. that's still on the table. we see the secretary of state is going to be traveling there to

elevate this issue within the administration. there's the question about what the administration is going to do longer term to help rebuild gaza and to help with the palestinians as well and how those relationships with the other arab countries are going to evolve. certainly, all items that will remain on the table. clear indications from the white house that they are hoping now to be able to focus on infrastructure, domestic policy, police reform and, of course, china. case in point, today as they move forward. >> richard engel, one of the things that's been driving some, at least, of the administration's actions has been the domestic political situation here in the united states where not just progressive democrats but even more mainstream democrats have been pressing for a cease-fire for quite a while. there has been something of a shift in terms of the general sense of israel's standing with the broader democratic party. that's clearly not the case with joe biden.

president biden, his team has been very emphatic they are in that same place they always have as a defender of israel and underscoring israel's right to defend itself. from where you sit, where you stand on the ground, what is your sense of how the world community has looked at israel through this, how they look at u.s. power in the context of this conflict? whether or not that ultimately puts israel in jeopardy, puts them -- makes it more difficult for them going forward. >> reporter: i think this conflict in many ways was transformative. not because of the death toll, not because of the fire power used. i'm not trying to make light of it. but there were about 240 plus palestinians killed in this, 65 of them children, 13 israelis killed. in the last conflict, you had 2,000 palestinians killed. this was more transformative because this happened in the age

of social media. it means that palestinians were able to share in the experience and share it with the other palestinian communities and share it with the world in a way that has not been possible before. that brought the palestinian people, who live in three separate areas -- it's important for people to know the geography. if you are in gaza, you are palestinian but separated from the west bank. you are separated from jerusalem. you are separated from the palestinians who live inside of israel. these three communities physically cannot meet up. what hamas did by embracing that strike or the clashes that took place and launching a rocket campaign in its name was to try to take ownership of the entire palestinian cause. people outside the arab world were able to engage directly in social media with this cause in a much more close and personal way than has happened before. the fact that arab-israelis,

palestinian-israels came out on the street and clashed and the fact that jewish-israelis and arab-israelis, that's something hamas takes ownership it was able to create divisions within israeli society. it wants to push on that. the fact that this took place in the age of social media, i think, was a big lesson for hamas. now hamas has been using tiktok. this was briefed to me that they watch how -- in his view hamas skillfully using tiktok. this is a way to break out of the gaza strip. it's a prison. the hamas fighters and people can't leave. with social media, they can reach to jerusalem, they can reach to the west bank, they can reach to israeli-arabs and reach out to a younger generation in the united states and elsewhere. i have spoken to many people anecdotally that tell me that

there are more people talking about the palestinian issue and free palestine. that's vogue again to be pro-palestinian in a way that didn't happen several years ago. >> i may have to get on tiktok. i avoided it so far. andrea, let me bring you in. forget me if we have to put this on pause to go to the president. i want to talk about what we are seeing from him today. they are in many ways turning back to asia, with the visit -- from the south koreans. what's the significance of them being here today? >> it's very significant. the first was japan. this is solidifying the importance of the peninsula against north korea. what you are seeing is the first honoring of a veteran with the medal of honor in this administration. the first time a foreign leader has been present. the first time this is happening in this administration, at least

the awarding of a medal of honor. that's also, of course, a very moving story. in terms of north korea, there have been no responses that we know of by kim jong-un, no positive responses to diplomatic overtures from president biden. they see a hardening from kim jong-un diplomatically as well as a vast expansion of his arsenal in the last four years under the trump policy. they have got real concerns. what they are trying to do is cement the alliances with south korea and japan on the same page in advance of any future negotiations, but certainly militarily and politically. >> yet another way in which we see this administration clearly take public steps to distance themselves from where former president trump was. we will keep an eye here on the president. let's listen. >> welcome to the white house. president moon, as it an honor to have you here participating

in the ceremony today. the strength and alliance between the united states, the republic of korea, was born out of the courage, determination, sacrifice of the korean troops fighting shoulder to shoulder with american troops. having you here today is an important recognition of all that our nation has achieved together. both of them in the decades since. i'm joined by my wife jill who is as excited about this event as i am. the vice president and the second gentleman are here as well. our secretary of defense, officials of the united states army as well as several members of congress. representatives ferguson, crow and senator ernst. we are hosting a true american hero. awarding an honor that's long overdue. more than 70 years overdue. 70 years ago on a frozen hilltop deep in what is north korea, a

young first lieutenant bravely, barely out of west point, acted with bravery that earned him the distinguished service cross, military's second highest honor. today after more than a decade of effort, including support from my good friend john mccain, god rest his soul, shortly before he passed away, i'm incredibly proud to give colonel ralph puckett's act of valor the full recognition it has always deserved. colonel, i'm humbled to have you here today. i really am. along with your loving family. to award you the medal of honor. though i understand that your first response to us hosting this event was to ask, why all the fuss? why all the fuss? can't they just mail it to me? i was going to make a joke about the post office. but i decided not to do that.

colonel puckett, after 70 years, rather than mail it to you, i would have walked it to you. your lifetime of service to our nation i think deserves a little bit of fuss, a little bit of fuss. when i called to tell the colonel i approved this award, i also spoke to judy. that was my mom's name. you have the same eyes. you are too young to be my mom. they have been married for 68 years. we have something else -- we have one thing in common. we both married way up. we both married way up. [ inaudible ] that's exactly right. they met while he was recovering from his wounds. they were married two years to the day after the battle that we

are recognizing him today for his bravery. you can sit down. it just dawned on me. i understand why you are standing. i would be standing, too. it's wonderful to welcome you. i mean that from the bottom of my heart. jill and i know firsthand that it's not just the person who wears the uniform who serves. military families make enormous sacrifices for our nation. let me add our thanks to you and your life of service as well. i told you are earlier that expression. they also serve only stand and wait. you waited a long, long time under many, many circumstances. that goes to the entire family. thomas and partner chip. i don't know whether they are here. i didn't see them. i know the other daughter isn't with us anymore. i wish our son beau were able to

see this. he is not with us either. she's here in spirit and represented by her family. i know she's always in your heart, colonel, and never leaves. i want to recognize master sergeant simpson who fought beside the colonel in korea. where are you? stand up, sir. [ applause ] made the trip to washington to represent all of the fallen brothers from the 8th army ranger company. it's an honor for all their members as well. hill 205 was just 60 miles from the bortd erborder with china.

lieutenant puckett and the rangers had their orders to take that hill. as a young officer, he knew that something wasn't quite right. the intelligence indicated that there were 25,000 chinese troops in the area. outnumbering u.s. and korean forces two to three -- excuse me, three to two. the lieutenant thought the numbers for the attack didn't align with the basic military doctrine. he believed in the fundamentals. it was how he trained his men. that's how he hand picked them. chosen from the ranks of cooks and clerks and mechanics to the first ranger company since world war ii. physical conditioning, tactical training, working as a team. get the basics right, then build from there. he believed in being there for the fight. he volunteered for the army corps enlisted reserve to try to

join to fight in world war ii. he volunteered to go to korea instead of safer in japan. he volunteered for the new ranger company. he prayed. dear god, don't let me get a bunch of guys, good guys killed when he was chosen to command that company. on the morning of november 25the korean enlisted soldiers set out to take hill 205. to make their charge, they had to cross a half a mile of frozen ground under fire. puckett risked his life by running across the area to draw fire that would reveal the location of the nest.

it took three runs intentionally exposing himself to the enemy to pick off the gunner. of course, colonel puckett developed a dangerous hobby. he recounted in his book of challenging himself to run in front of speeding cars when he was 4 years old. self-preservation was never a primary concern of the colonel. when the rangers finally reached the top of hill 205, they found it abandoned. puckett knew the fight wasn't nearly over. s his men created a defensive perimeter. while he was there, load up the ammunition and grenades, basics. shortly after return, the first

onslaught began. the rangers were outnumbered almost ten to one. during the fight, puckett abandoned the relative safety of his fox hole, moving from man to man, encouraging them in the fight, checking that the perimeter was holding. he took a grenade fragment in his left thigh. he refused to be evacuated. he was a ranger. he led his men from the front. over the course of the next several hours, four more waves of assault came. each time, he made his rounds passing out extra ammo and extra encouragement to rally his men. each time, he was able to call in artillery support. sometimes danger close to help break the advance of the chinese soldiers. each time, they held the hill, pushing back with hand to hand fighting.

2:30 a.m., after more than four hours of fighting, the sixth wave began. by this time, the rangers -- many had been killed. those who were left were exhausted, out numbers and short of ammunition and grenades. the lieutenant sustained a second round, in his left shoulder. he distributed all the ammo to his men, keeping eight bullets and a bayonet for himself. he called in artillery support. only to be told the guns were supporting other units. then two mortar rounds landed in his fox hole, tearing through his feet and his back side and his left arm and shoulder. his rangers had been overwhelmed. he himself was badly wounded. he ordered one of his men who found him to leave him behind. that's not the ranger creed.

a private ran for help. soon, two other rangers charged back up the hill, fighting off advancing chinese soldiers, retrieving their commander. they had to drag him down the hill. the lieutenant reminding him and themselves that he could take the pain. quote, i'm a ranger. before his men loaded him on a tank to evacuate, the called for one final barrage on hill 205. they unloaded artillery. they did not hold the hill, but they extracted a high price. korea is sometimes called the forgotten war. those men who were there under his command, they will never forget his bravery. they never forget that he was right by their side throughout every minute of it.

the people of the republic of korea haven't forgotten as evidence that the prime minister is here for this ceremony. i doubt this has happened before. i can't say that for certain. i doubt it's happened before. all americans like ralph puckett joined in their fight. while the enduring partnership between our two nations began a war, it has flourished through peace, it's testament i think of the extraordinary strength of our alliance. we are joined today as i said by president moon. i can't tell you how happy i am he is able to be here. if i may, i would like to invite president moon to say a few words, if that is okay. president moon?

[ speaking foreign language ] >> translator: mr. president, thank you for your words. i find it meaningful to join the medal of honor presentation ceremony upon president biden's invitation. i learned that i'm the first foreign leader to attend a ceremony as such kind. as president of the public of korea, it's a great honor and pleasure. [ speaking foreign language ]

>> translator: he is a true hero of the korean war. with extraordinary valor and leadership, he completed missions until the very end. defending hill 205 and fighting many more battles requiring equal valiance. freedom and democracy, we enjoy today, couldn't have blossomed in korea without that. [ speaking foreign language ]

>> translator: earlier, the colonel told me when he was in korea during the war, it was absolutely destroyed. that was true. from the ashes of the korean war we came back. that was thanks to the korean war veterans who fought for peace and freedom. now thanks to their support and efforts, we are enjoying prosperity. [ speaking foreign language ]

>> translator: on behalf of the korean people, i express deep gratitude and respect. the korean people saw a great soul of america that marches toward freedom and peace. their sacrifice and friendship will forever be remembered. [ speaking foreign language ] >> translator: the alliance forged in blood of heros is a linchpin of peace and prosperity on the korean peninsula and beyond. they are a link that binds the u.s. and korea together. i pray they stay with us in good

health for a long time. thank you very much. [ applause ] >> thank you, president moon. now i would be remiss if i didn't note that ralph's service to our nation did not end in the korean war. it did not end after service in the vietnam war where he earned a second distinguished service cross, two silver stars, two brown stars with v for valor. add to that during his service, five purple hearts for injuries suffered in combat. it didn't end. after his retirement from active

duty, his induction into the ranger hall of fame, it didn't end there either. when he served as honorary colonel for the 75th ranger regiment where he helped a new generation of rangers during training missions. even now, even now you can find him out at fort benning cheering on the rangers and letting him know he is there with them. over his career, he mentored countless young people. he has always believed that all that mattered to be a ranger was you had the guts and the brains. the standard he applied when he picked his first ranger unit in korea. an army that recently had been integrated, he chose with his team included a black, latino, asian-american members. my mother would say, god love you, man. in 2015, during the obama/biden

administration, when the military was considering opening all combat positions to women, including rangers, he let it be known he thought women could meet the standards and said, i want to see them do it. he leads from the front. he leads by example. he leads with his heart. he is a ranger. that's how rangers lead. that's how you lead. now, it is my great honor to ask for the citation to be read and to award colonel puckett with the medal of honor. >> the president of the united states of america authorized by act of congress has awarded in

the name of congress the medal of honor to first lieutenant ralph puckett, junior, united states army. for gallantry at the risk of his life. he distinguished himself above and beyond the call of duty while serving as commander, 8th u.s. army ranger company, during 25 november, 1950, through 26 november, 1950 in korea. the enemy directed mortar, machine gun and small arms fire against the force. to obtain fire, he mounted the closest tank, exposing himself to the deadly enemy fire. leaping from the tank, he shouted words of encouragement to his men and led in the attack. almost immediately, enemy fire threatened the success of the attack by pinning down one platoon.

leaving the safety of his position with full knowledge of the danger, he intentionally ran across an open area three times to draw enemy fire. allowing the rangers to locate and destroy the enemy positions and to seize hill 205. during the night, the enemy launched an attack that lasted four hours. over the course of the attack, the rangers were inspired and motivated by the extraordinary leadership and courageous example exhibited by the lieutenant. as a result, five human wave attacks by an enemy element were repulsed. during the first attack, he was wounded by grenade fragments but refused to leave. he made his way from fox hole to fox hole to check the company's perimeter and to distribute ammunition amongst the rangers. when the enemy launched a sixth

attack, it became clear the position was not safe. he had wounds which limited his mobility. knowing his men were in a precarious position, he commanded them to leave him behind and evacuate. feeling a sense of duty to aid him, the rangers refused and staged an effort to retrieve him from the fox hole while still under fire from the enemy. ultimately, the rangers succeeded in retrieving him and they moved to the bottom of the hill where he called for devastating artillery fire on the top of the enemy-controlled hill. his extraordinary heroism and selflessness above and beyond the call of duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit and the united states army.

[ applause ] >> let me invite the family up. get the family up here. all of you, including the grandkids.

[ inaudible ] >> we are watching the medal of honor ceremony for colonel ralph puckett, whose story was just very movingly told here at white house. this is president biden's first awarding of a medal of honor in his role as president. he has invited his family up to surround the colonel. they are smiling. we will keep listening to this event, watching alongside with me is our nbc correspondent who covers the pentagon and who has been reporting on the story extensively. we have shannon pettypiece,

senior white house reporter for nbc news covering this as well. you can see the president there seeming to talk with the colonel and take photos. let me have you recap a little bit of what we heard, this absolutely moving tribute, while they take photos. forgive me, if i interrupt because we have to go back for more remarks. what an incredible story. >> it's hard when they read the citations to understand what it was that happened that he is being recognized for. to put it plainly, he was a ranger commander back in november of 1950 during the korean war. he had 60 men serving under him. they were told to take a hill and to hold it. the chinese had it. they were able to take the hill. it was a daylight mission, which is particularly dangerous. it was cold. they were out in the open when they were trying to take the hill. they took casualties.

they were under overwhelming fire from the chinese. those 60 men faced hundreds of chinese fighters. it lasted more than a day. during that time, he ran out in front of the chinese fire on three separate occasions to draw the fire to himself so they could fix the artillery fire on the chinese. he was wounded several times throughout the battle. by the next day, after they were nearly out of ammo and they had taken casualties and had wounded, the said, retreat. leave me behind. i'm wounded. don't waste your time with me. save yourselves. his men said, no. they literally dragged him to safety. his men thought so much of him, they cared so much for him that they would not leave him behind. a tremendous story of valor and a selfless man being honored today at the white house. >> they are stopping now for a

moment in prayer, it seems. shannon, let me bring you in. i may have to stop you. this is the first time that president biden has done this. he is someone known for showing his emotion on his sleeve. this was not exception. >> reporter: yeah, absolutely. telling that very moving story. of course, really significant not only the first medal of honor by the president but to have the president of south korea there for this. as far as we can tell, this is the first time a foreign leader has been present for a medal of honor ceremony. not only present, but biden actually called him up to make remarks. he called puckett a hero. he talked about the importance of the relationship between the u.s. and korea. certainly, symbolic on one regard to show the closeness of the relationship and all these years that have passed now between the u.s. and korea. it sounds like the south korean president had an opportunity to

talk to puckett briefly, at least at some point. they exchanged a few words there. this foreign leader visit had been planned for some time. it's hard to tell how all of these pieces came together. they certainly did align nicely today to be able to have this moment with the world leader celebrating this accomplishment. >> shannon, thank you. we watch that moving ceremony. coming up next, we will head to capitol hill where the future of president biden's infrastructure deal and the january 6th commission rests with the senate. riders, the lone wolves of the great highway. all they need is a bike and a full tank of gas. their only friend? the open road. i have friends. [ chuckles ] well, he may have friends, but he rides alone. that's jeremy, right there! we're literally riding together.

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welcome back. let's turn to the action on capitol hill where republicans are awaiting a counteroffer on infrastructure as the two sides

remain apart while some democrats are urging the white house to go it alone. on the january 6th commission, chuck schumer is angling to get the bill on the floor as soon as he can after 35 house republicans joined democrats in passing it this week. with minority leader mitch mcconnell coming out against it, its path to 60 votes is very treacherous. joining me now is my colleague, garrett haake. good to see you. is this book basically shut on the january 6th commission in the senate? >> reporter: it looks that way. we have been surveying senate republicans over the last few days. so far, zero of them, exactly zero have committed to voting for this commission as it is. there are some who haven't read it or are considering it and it's possible. politically speaking, none of them want to reopen the january 6th insurrection attempt, even those of them who voted for the conviction of donald trump. perhaps especially those who voted for the conviction in the second impeachment trial.

they know it's bad news to spend more time talking about what happened on that day. i think perhaps there are some who are hopeful the house will decide the senate's not playing along and they will do this on their own. >> a distinct possibility. let's talk about infrastructure. there's been back and forth today about whether the white house was or wasn't going to talk to republicans. what's your sense of the current status of the negotiations? we are getting close to the memorial day deadline that a lot of democrats set for the bipartisan talks to either happen or not. >> reporter: i was somebody who felt for a long time that this was more likely to get to a deal than not. republicans want significant elements of the infrastructure package to become law. the longer we go without anything that could be realistically described as significant progress, i think the less likely that is. democrats know they have a long, hot summer ahead of them. we see progressives say, let's

get on this, let's get to work. the white house said they want progress. they haven't defined that. that's just a little over a week away. the two sides are even in on agreement on what should go in an infrastructure package, much less are they having serious conversations about to me that's always been the most difficult part of this. the two sides started with completely different sets of ideas about what to pay for. in the last few weeks we've heard a third option, sort of center of the conversation options like increasing tax enforcement or public/private partnerships. all those things are interesting examine creative ideas, but they don't get anywhere near the kinds of figures the biden administration says they want to spend on this. so i think the longer time goes on without some kind of aha public breakthrough, the less and less likely it is we'll have a bipartisan deal and the more likely democrats will have to try to walk that treacherous reconciliation path again where

everything has to go right to get to 50 in the senate. >> garrett, how do you think the fact -- if schumer does bring the january 6 commission to the floor next week and republicans filibuster, it will be the first time that's happened on the floor in the biden administration, and obviously sets a pretty incendiary stage for a fight over the filibuster. how do you think that impacts all of these agenda items? >> i don't think this is the issue on which democrats could rally to blow up the filibuster. i don't see this being the kind of thing that would especially animate joe manchin or kyrsten sinema to feel like they have to jump in and go back on their work on the commission. i think senator republicans are making a calculation, and it may end up being politically astute even if it's unpleasant over the next couple weeks that filibustering this now, as bad as it would look, is better than dealing with the drip, drip,

drip of former headlines related to former president trump and some of the colleagues on capitol hill between now and when the commission finishes their work. >> garrett haake, thank you very much. i really appreciate your time. enjoy your weekend. >> you, too. let's go back to democratic congresswoman judy chu who joins us now. congresswoman, thank you for being with us now. it seems very likely to move in the senate. should the white house set up a special investigative committee to look into the january 6 insurrection? >> first let me say that the january 6 commission is not a partisan issue in and of itself. this is about finding out the truth behind an attack on our u.s. capitol, the first since the war of 1812. we need find out what the government response was, we need

to see what people at top levels of government were saying to each other, we need to see what orders were given and followed or ignored. we need to make sure this never happens again. now, i still hope that this will pass the senate, that there will be ten votes on the republican side to make it happen. nancy pelosi said she felt mitch mcconnell's demands can be worked with, so i feel like there is still room for negotiation. nonetheless, if it doesn't come through, then there is still the idea of the select committee on january 6, but it would have to go forward as a democratic commission. i think it's far better to have a bipartisan commission, so i hope senators do the right thing and vote for it. >> in the event that senators don't, just to stick with this hypothetical for a second, likely hypothetical, i would

say, kevin mccarthy, the republican leader, has said that it's good enough to have congressional committees investigate this. that's happening in-house and in the senate. do you think that's ultimately good enough, or do we need to take some other step to investigate? >> well, a select committee can, indeed, investigate. we certainly saw that, republicans used it many, many times, including on benghazi. but i do think it's important to have the confidence of the american public, and that's why it is so important to have a bipartisan commission that is independent, which this commission would be and, indeed, this commission would have an equal number of republicans and democrats, which would, i think, instill even more confidence by americans that this was, indeed, the truth and that we can follow its recommendations. >> let me ask you about the

supplemental bill that was on the floor yesterday focused on securing the capitol. this has been in talks for quite some time. there were actually concerns that it offered too much money. what is the criticism of this bill? >> there was a study about the needs of the capitol that was presented to all of us, and it was by a very esteemed group of officials, including those who have served in our military, top ranking officials who came up with these recommendations that were very, very important for securing the capitol, such as hardening the windows and having fences that could be certainly more secure than what was there on january 6.

so this appropriations is important for our overall security, for our peace of mind at the u.s. capitol. i believe that the funds for the capitol police were important also because they serve to protect us, and so, yes, it was a very, very close vote, but i felt that ultimately those funds are need ford our peace of mind and the nation's peace of mind so we know it will have the necessary protections. in fact, the capitol police also issued a letter saying this was so important. >> i've spent a lot of time thinking about those officers that protected you, your colleagues on both sides of the aisle and i'm forever grateful

to them. congresswoman chu, thank you for being here. i'll be back monday with more "meet the press daily" and you can see me on "way too early." don't go away. jeff bennet continues right after a quick break. y. jeff bennet continues right after a quick break. i'm so glad you're ok, sgt. houston. this is sam with usaa. do you see the tow truck? yes, thank you, that was fast. sgt. houston never expected this to happen. or that her grandpa's dog tags would be left behind. but that one call got her a tow and rental... ...paid her claim... ...and we even pulled a few strings. making it easy to make things right: that's what we're made for. usaa. what you're made of, we're made for. get a quote today. (vo) ideas exist inside you, usaa. electrify you.de of, we're made for.

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batteries and first aid kit are a good start to learn more, visit safetyactioncenter.pge.com it's good to see you. i'm jeff bennet for president biden. it's a high stakes diplomacy friday. in north korea the world leader is the second leader to meet with president biden. south korea and japan are two of the most critical allies in combatting the rise of china in a nuclear armed north korea. the other act of diplomacy, a ceasefire that seems to be holding now between israel and