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kits. in ukraine, secretary of state blinken met with ukraine's president. the u.s. is warning that putin could invade at any moment. >> one nation can't simply change the borders of another by force. one nation can't simply dictate to another its choices. and cannot invade spheres of interest to subjugate neighbors of will. we will open a very large pandora's box. >> i'll speak to senator mark warren on the threshold, and updates ahead of votes this evening. and big new developments from the new york attorney general's overnight. leticia james saying she has, quote, significant evidence that former president president trump, his son don junior and daughter ivanka fraudulently with the property of the brand.

james sweeting the office is seeking to compel the president and former family members as part of the civil investigation. joining me now, the nbc investigations tom windt, nbc capitol hill correspondent garrett haake. joyce vance and pulitzer prize winning investigative reporter suzanne craig. tom, you've been working all morning on this, i know. thanks to you for keeping this all straight. we should note that leticia james has not reached a final decision that this merits legal action. with that said, take us through what you have learned from the court documents. there's a lot. >> dave: data in here. >> right, andrea, the key thing, there's 150 pages part of a supplemental filing, with the ongoing fight that president trump, his son don jr. and ivanka will have to provide testimony as part of the civil investigation the james' office is leading.

there's a criminal parallel investigation being done in conjunction and spearheaded by the manhattan's da da's office led by melvin bragg. what the attorney general's office said they were allowed to respond full floated because the trump attorneys opened the door where they started to fight the subpoena. that they were able to go to the court and say, look, this is what we've got. this is somewhat we have in the course of our investigation, and this is why we haven't. andrea, there are several hundred exhibits that are filed under seal which they say substantiate a lot of the things we're talking about. and what are we talking about? we're talking about a number of different things that you alluded to that trumps allegedly inflated the value of their properties. this even involved a irs filing according to court documents written there were certain things depreciated in the trump los angeles, as well as the

seven springs property. which they said to quote millions in tax benefits for the former president. ivanka herself is directly references there are fraudulent documents passed along to deutsche banc, a relationship that they allege she managed. the trumps and their spokesperson have responded, andrea. essentially calling the allegations baseless and saying they will be vigorously will be defended. they've raised something they raised previously in this particular litigation and in the lawsuit against the new york attorney general. it was her promise during the course of her candidacy, to go back to trump, that they say, shows or proves at least that she has a tainted approach here. now, look, suzanne craig and a number of other others have dutifully covered the president's financials and have pointed out prior inconsistencies in what he's done. but this is the first accounting at least if we're to believe what james' office has put

forward here, really several years leading up to when trump got into the white house of misstatements with his financial institutions, as well as his insurance institutions. and perhaps as well in preparation of his taxes. andrea. >> tom, that's so great you just keyed up suzanne craig. you've been covering this, you broke a lot of the news with your team from "the new york times" about the former president's finances for years and years. trump is suing both you and the "times" over your award-winning reporting. so, what do you think about the substance and time? >> off the top, it feels awfully close that the charges could be coming bringing the principals that are the subject of the conversation. that's significant. a few things jumped out at me that give a road map at potentially the charges. i'll zero one for complicity. for these sort of cases where there's valuations, you often say, well, i relied on the

advice of professionals. you do the same with taxes. that's a powerful defense in these situations. in this filing from last night, we're now seeing that the attorney general is saying, well, hang on, actually, the trumps themselves, they did a lot of the preparation. and they provided a lot of the advice. they're trying to break down -- you know, particular events. i'm just going to read, if that's okay. >> yes. >> some that's fascinating. it says here, you know, this is from allen weisselberg, the chief financial officer of the company who is also under investigation are in manhattan and it says here that allen weisselberg testified that it's certainly possible that he reviewed the statement of financials from the trump administration for a particular year. when pressed if mr. trump had approved of a particular statement or financial condition before their issueness, mr. weisselberg repeatedly invoked the fifth amendment. so, they've got right now,

testimony from allen weisselberg, and other executives that suggest that donald trump was involved. they've got some documents. and what i found fascinating is, apparently there's a filing cabinet at the trump organization that has a lot of written notes from donald trump. he famously does not email or text. but they've got a filing cabinet there that the attorney general has not been able to see because the trump organization has determined, quote, the attorney general that mr. trump was not involved in the preparation of his own financial statements so the documents in there simply aren't responsive, according to the trump organization but we can rest assured that the a.g. is going to try to get into that filing cabinet. >> so, joyce, we know that the a.g. is also with the manhattan d.a. if there were charges outside of this civil case that we're now talking about, would it come from that d.a.? the a.g.?

what is the biggest jeopardy for the trumps? >> well, it's a very interesting situation, andrea. and trump so infamously manages to avoid accountability within the legal system. now, he's getting a little taste of his own medicine because now we're seeing the interplay between the civil investigation and the criminal case. you know, the civil case there's significant penalties that can be imposed on a corporation that violates new york law for good practices. and so tich james has a hand to play here if she can bring evidence to bear, that shows, for instance that there was intent or at least knowledge on the part of the trumps. the criminal penalties, of course, are very different in nature. that involves jail time for people who are criminally culpable. it's hard to assess where the investigation is heading. it's been pending for some sometime. there was some thought when cy

vance after stepping down, he would make an announcement in that case but he did not. and. we know that investigate is still going forward as well. lots of potential jeopardy for the trumps here. it's interesting that tish james is trying to get the depositions that signifies she's close to the end of her investigation and is really coming down to playing out the evidence that she's accumulated against the statement of these folks who are operating the business that she is civilly in this case investigates. >> and on another legal front, an investigative front, not legal so much as investigative on capitol hill, garrett, let's talk about this new round of subpoenas for key players in the trump orlando, january 6th, rudy giuliani, sidney powell, jenna ellis and boris epshteyn.

what the responses have been, universally to try to block them and english and demean the work of the committee. >> yeah, andrea, i think you can put these in the legal category because that seems where the subpoenas are going to end up. you've got four attorneys here who were really at the heart of the trump campaign, the trump white house and the public-facing effort to deny or overturn election results. each of these folks were involved in press conferences, testifying before state legislatures. very involved in some cases on social media in pushing out the former president's lies about the election. it's clear that the committee wants to talk to them but all of these folks were attorneys in some capacity working for the former president. in a statement from rudy giuliani's lawyer and boris epshteyn himself it's pretty clear they're going to try to invoke attorney/client privilege to not testify. the committee has run up against several instances folks defying

subpoenas, invoking privilege. but the time line works against them to compel timely testimony from folks who have dug in and don't want to give it. >> and these national archives documents, they are going to come out for the first time, because the president, the former president, lost his battle to try to prevent the archives from turning over his information. we don't know exactly what's in there? >> that's right. this is a tiny fraction of the documents that the committee is seeking, apparently as few as four pages. and to a great disappointment, i'm today, the committee won't immediately make those documents public. if and when they are turned over to the committee, it will be part of their investigative file cabinet but it's not clear when we and the public will get a chance to see them. >> i just want to make another point, i know from an interview last night on msnbc, she said, they themselves, the committee members are taking depositions every day and holding meetings twice a week to go over their strategy and evidence.

so, there are daily depositions and now there are, i think, as many as 400 depositions that have been taken. >> approaching 400 witnesses, andrea. >> yeah, we focus only the rudy giulianis and the mark meadows and people not cooperating but they're getting a lot of information from at least mid-level and higher level people? >> that's exactly right. again, close to 400 interviews conducted so far. more on the calendar ahead. you know, we're sort of in touch with or reaping out to a lot of the people who we think remain on the committee's list of folks they want to talk to. and we know there's efforts going on to schedule interviews even now. so the evidence does continue. we do tend to get parked on the folks who decline to cooperate. they are the big names but the committee's efforts continue. >> garrett, thank you so much, tom windt and joyce vance and suzanne craig. we appreciate it. and "meet the press," the president is set to hold on his

second news conference in the u.s. since taking office a year ago. with crisis abroad and at home, can he hit the reset button? this is "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. is "andrea ml reports" on msnbc. ey look good,. mm, smooth. uh, they are a little tight. like, too tight? might just need to break 'em in a little bit. you don't want 'em too loose. for those who were born to ride there's progressive. with 24/7 roadside assistance. -okay. think i'm gonna wear these home. -excellent choice.

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rights faces a dead end in the senate and biden's signature build back better remains in limbo. joining me nbc news chief correspondent and weekend today peter alexander, press secretary robert gibbs. health policy adviser dr. kavita patel. and stephanie young, executive director of when we all vote. peter, first to you, this will be only the second solo press conference of the president since he took office. he's had five overseas and three joint ones with other officials which are different in tenor and the number of questions that can be asked. and it's coming amidst some setbacks from the white house? >> yeah, andrea, i think that's exactly right. this will be the tenth total news conference the president's held. there are certainly a number of issues for him to address today. he came in the office with this message of effectiveness and competence. there are questions of

effectiveness of this white house and competence, after series of failings, departure, exit from afghanistan overseas was problematic. covid still exists for an issue that the president said he would try to defeat. among the challenges for the president today will be to do a better job, officials here say, of communicating that it is a work in progress. so in the progress they've made and the work they are still doing right now. discussing the fact that they already achieved the covid relief bill early on without a single republican vote. that they were able to bring republicans more a more than trillion infrastructure plan being implemented throughout the country. but there are the setbacks talked about over the last several weeks and months, most notably on voting rights today. that's expected to hit a brick wall with two democrats, kyrsten sinema and joe manchin with their unwilling tons change the senate rules related to the filibuster to allow democrats to do that alone. obviously on build back better the president's social spending

plan was legislative priority and that is facing real challenges as well. so, how does the president try to reposition going forward today, andrea? >> and the big overhanging everything else on the agenda is covid. it's been the most significant factor in the poll decline, dr. patel. for this white house, they're rolling out free masks and tests now. what does the white house say for conversation and messaging, for the last three months, delta and then omicron. he has had the challenge of the unpredictability of variants that one can't expect but have to be prepared for, as far as the public's concerned. >> yeah, andrea, i think he has to communicate kind of how he will help kind of be the chief messenger. i know he's done an amazing job being transparent, letting the scientists lead. and it's come to confusion, actually a lot of confusion over the last several months how can

we have him return to the joe biden that really does strike a chord from all americans when he speaks to his heart but packages all of the science and complex terms into a way for americans to understand how to feel confident in him during a time of uncertainty. even post-omicron, we're dealing with uncertainty. i'd love to see him directly after talking about how his presidential budget your upcoming covid aid package might deal with the gap in education, as well as the critical health crisis that we've had now spanning on decades but most obvious to people in the last two years. >> he and the first lady has, it strikes me, done anything you could expect in terms of messaging in terms of getting the vaccine. so, do you think, dr. patel, there's any way to get past this terrible number, compared to our europe mean allies of the vaccination? because of the political divide, he inherited the politicization

of vaccination, and you even see donald trump changing his tune on it? >> right, he did. what's heart, doctors, nurses, respiratory therapists who don't feel that vaccine makes a different i still have omicron. how this will be one priority that he will make sure he and his cabinet focus on so we're not receiving mixed messages. he has to pull together this perception, the fda says one thing, the cdc says another, at the end of the day, misinformation is reigning supreme. so, i'd like to see him extend that vaccinations work but only if you keep it up to date. and only if we do these other things learning from the ground. he doesn't need to speak science from us, he needs to speak from the heart and admit that he's been wrong until how he handled it in some ways because i think

that humility is a classic biden voice but he will also correct more confidence that he knows how to correct the missteps that the administration has made. they're not big ones but enough to have the support that he could lose faith in some of this administration's actions. >> and robert gibbs, if you were sitting in the white house right now, the president's approval rating, his numbers are below his predecessors, obama and clinton, at this point in the presidency. he inherited covid. that's difficult, of course, the unprecedented refusal to concede by his predecessor and all of the political anger that that created. what else can he do? how can he change the direction as we head into the midterm year? >> well, i think he has to be careful not to try to do this entire reset in a 45-minute press conference, right? that's asking a lot of 45 minutes with anybody standing in front of that camera. i agree a lot with what

dr. patel just said. joe biden is best when he's humble, when he's empathetic and i think when he's channeling the anxieties and anxiousness that people have in this country particularly around covid. do we have enough tests? do we have enough masks? are my kid's schools going to stay open? are we getting clear guidance? i think acknowledging, the work that's been done briefly but really living where people are in this country which is they understand to get us back to normal economically. to get us back to normal from a health perspective. there's much, much more work to be done and he's focused on getting that work done. i think if he spends too much time talking about what happened in the first three months of the administration, the likelihood he will come off sounding, feeling defensive. i don't think he has to be defensive. i think he has to guide the american people on what the next year is going to look like, less what the last year looked like. >> stephanie, let's talk about

the campaign, where he was a uniter, and he's not been able to unite his own party. to pass voting rights, to get police reform done. people want executive action, at least on police reform. they want action on voting rights. so, how is he going to satisfy black, progressive younger voters? >> well, look, i think everybody wants to hear tonight that defeat is not an option. failure is not an option. our democracy depends on it. and we want to hear that the administration is going to keep fighting for voting rights. i think it's really important to remind people that voting rights is not a black or brown or young people issue. this is an american democracy issue. how strong do we want our democracy to actually be? i think we want to know this administration is going to hold those elected officials accountable who don't stand up for voting rights legislation just as our groups are on the ground. and it's important to remind the american people, what is actually in these bills. we're talking about same-day

voter registration. we're talking about automatic voter registration. we're talking about ending partisan gerrymandering and increasing partisan voting and those incarcerated gaining their rights to vote. and with that, intimidation at the polls. this is common sense. everybody agrees with this. any republican or any democrat who stands up in the way of making it easier for americans to vote is, frankly, undemocratic. and we want to make sure that we're hearing that, we're going to keep the pressure up. this is only the beginning, we're not going to accept defeat, no matter what happens tomorrow or tonight with this vote. we're going to push and move forward and make sure we get the legislation passed. >> thank you all so much. and on the brink, america's top diplomat holding urgent meetings today in ukraine. and he's going to be meeting with the russian foreign minister friday.

former ambassador to ukraine william taylor is joining me next. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports." this is msnbc. this is msnbc. why choose proven quality sleep from sleep number? because every great play starts the night before. my sleep number 360 smart bed tracks my circadian rhythm, average heart rate, and breathing rate so i know how well i'm sleeping. it's also temperature balancing so i stay cool. and it senses my movement and automatically adjusts to help keep me comfortable all night. sleep number takes care of the science so i can focus on other things. the sleep number 360 smart bed is on sale now. only from sleep number.

secretary of state tony

blinken has been meeting with ukraine's president and foreign minister and other officials in kiev today to show america's support and send a message to ukraine the pro-ousted lukashenko has returned just at the time of extreme crisis. >> don't let moscow divide you. that means leaders inside and outside of ukraine's government have to put aside the shared national interests to prepare for what could be difficult days. but in doing that, united states wants you to know this, as you stand up to efforts to divide, intimidate, to threaten, united states stands with you. >> secretary blinken will also be meeting with rush's foreign minister in geneva on friday as more than 100,000 russian troops remain amassed on the ukrainian border. joining me now is the former ambassador to ukraine william taylor. ambassador, thank you very much. first of all, let's talk about

this meeting between blinken and lavrov. only yesterday, they were saying the talks are at an end, there's no point at diplomacy. all of a sudden, they're getting on the phone, now, they're going to be in geneva, i'm going to be there for that. so, is this a way out of the crisis or does russia, does vladimir putin have already so much invested in this that he's got to do something aggressive whether a full-scale invasion or moving into the russian areas of donbas, cyber, or something? >> andrea, you're right, he has given himself a lot of options, one option, however, i believe is suggested by your question, that is, foreign minister lavrov is willing to meet secretary of state blinken on friday. and we're sure that secretary blinken will be encouraging, urging, the foreign minister to

engage in negotiations, to address some of the issues that the foreign minister and the russians, more broadly, have been worried about. have been expressing concern about. and secretary blinken says, look, if there are some conversations to be had, negotiations to be had on missiles, for example, we've got some concerns about russian missiles. they've got concerns about american missiles in nato. that's a conversation to be had. he may be -- president putin may be looking for some option like that. as you say, though, he's got other options that are more violent. and that will cause great damage to people. and that are there are risky, andrea. any invasion, any military action, is just unpredictable and risky. >> how solid are the allies?

because we know that blinken is going between now andgeneva, he's going for win. he's not only meeting with the new german government which may not be as solid as angela merkel was against russia but he's also meeting with the french and brits. they're all going to be gathered there, it's basically a europe mean members of nato meeting. that's all to solidify, i suppose, the support and to go into the lavrov meetings armed with more statements for them? >> more statements for them, but also a reaffirmed consensus. unanimity on what we would like to see, that is, negotiations. and we were talking about the allies that he's going to meet tomorrow in berlin. but also unanimity on what the consequences of a bad decision by president putin to invade. would entail.

and we've been over those over and over. we talk about these a lot. the economical consequences, the military consequences, the political consequences, maybe even andrea, political consequences that president putin will have to address domestically. it's not entirely clear to me that the russian people are eager to see their country invade ukraine. this could be -- this could be destabilizing in some real sense. so there is unanimous agreement among those allies. and in general, broad group of allies, that this is what's going to happen if president putin decides to invade. >> one of the other issues, and this is a really rising threat, we were told yesterday that belarus, that lukashenko has given putin approval to move russian conventional forces and

nuclear missiles into belarus which would create a whole new threat against the north, against ukraine. how concerning is that, that would destroy belarus' historic neutrality in all of this. lukashenko seems to be grabbing advantage and propping him up and doing anything putin wants? >> you're exactly right. belarus has not been neutral for some time. so this is not a new development. the movement of russian troops into belarus, to make russian troops present on all three borders of ukraine, north, east and south, makes it harder for the ukraine military to defend. that's more border that they have to defend against an attack. so this is more stress on the ukrainian military. but, andrea, as you well know,

the ukrainian military has been fighting the russians for eight years. they know how to do this. they're as ready as they've ever been. they're more ready than they've ever been. and this will be again, unpredictable and challenging for the russians. >> and how ready is the u.s. in that president biden has not nominated anyone to be ambassador to ukraine? so there hasn't been an ambassador since you were there. >> actually, there hasn't been a confirmed ambassador since massi was there. and she's a charge -- >> and i'm confirming that ambassador was forced out by donald trump? >> absolutely right. i came in following ivanovic.

she's been the charge since i left, she's doing a fine job. you're exactly right. we do need a confirmed ambassador there. and we're told it's going to be soon. we're told secretary blinken was asked exactly that. and very soon they will name a new ambassador. >> well, we should point out this is not a problem from ted cruz putting a hole. it's the fact that the white house has not nominated anyone. not sitting in the senate. >> thank you. >> bill taylor, thank you very much. >> thank you, andrea. and interference as cell phone companies flip the switch on 5g, pilots are concerned about taking signals to new heights. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports." that's next on msnbc. g "andrea l reports. that's next on msnbc

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for now, there's a partial compromise between the telecom and airline industries over the launch of 5g cell service, "today's take" and verizon struck a late-night deal to temporarily delay or limit their 5g towers near runways. the concern is 5g signals to potentially interfere with the planes' altimeters which tell pilots their precise distance from the ground. joining us all things aviation and a lot of other subjects. tom costello. tom, some are cancelling flights concerned about potential 5g interference where they and their airports, capitals have made other arrangements, they've done the agreements even though there's little to no interference in airports, is that right? >> yes, this is a pandora's box right here to try to explain this. but let me give you the bottom line here. we do have several foreign airlines that have cancelled

flights into the united states for several reasons. number one, boeing is recommending any foreign airlines, any airline, not fly the 777, as you know, that's a major plane used for long haul flights not fly the 777 because of potential vulnerability to 5g. you're right, 5g has been rolled out overseas. why are they not seen interference there? they're worried about it. two reasons, 5g cell towers in the united states are 2 1/2 times more powerful, transmitting that much bigger and heavier a signal than in europe. second of all, the cell sites in the united states are pointed out towards the horizon, whereas in france, for example, they're pointed down at the ground. so these were accommodations that the regulators in europe required. and so there were accommodations made. for those reasons, allegedly, there have not been issues with interference in europe. we are seeing, though, concern about interference here. and even boeing is going, as i said and telling airlines right

now don't fly the 777 into the united states. the faa is working methodically through a list of every airport in the country to determine where were each of these airports and runways is potentially vulnerable or is clear. in other words, would not pose a potential risk once they surgeon on the 5g site. they've got 85, 90 airports that have been cleared including big ones, tampa, new york, salt lake, dallas, l.a.x., san francisco, boston, chicago, the list goes on and on. this is a process that takes time. take a listen to captain dennis tajer from the american airlines pilots union. >> what we can do is continue to push on this, it was great that the white house, president biden came in and gave sanctuaries but they're not at all airports. some airports well, what comfort would you have if i said some of our flights are going to be protected and some of them, we have procedures for. that's the paradox we're in right now, it's not comfortable,

our passages are going to be safe because we have procedures but that's an additional distraction that can happen on the airplane. >> all right. so to be clear, boeing is concerned, the faa is concerned. airlines are concerned. pilots are concerned. the cell service industry says there's nothing to be concerned about. regardless, 5g sites around airports are right now not activated. and it will be some time until the faa clears all of them, as well as the altimeters on board planes to ensure that there is not going to be any sort of interference. andrea. >> and so, the other person who might be concerned, the other people, are passengers, as one who is flying out this afternoon. if it's a 777 should i be worried? or will it not be because of that boeing warning? >> yeah, i don't think you'll be on a 777 because boeing has put out the word don't fly the 777 to u.s. airports. i don't think flying into a country from another country is

any more dangerous than it was yesterday or the week before. this is something that the regulatory agencies are addressing. >> thank you very much. >> fine. >> tom costello as always. doomed to fail the voting rights legislation in the senate seems to be facing a sealed fate. what are democrats going to do? senator mark warner joins me more on that on the line with russia. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. g "andrea mitl reports" on msnbc. ancers even in early stages. early stages. it's for people 45 plus at average risk for colon cancer, not high risk. false positive and negative results may occur. ask your provider if cologuard is right for you. (all) to screening! feeling sluggish or weighed down? it could be a sign that your digestive system isn't working at it's best taking metamucil everyday can help.

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tonight, a showdown on voting rights in the senate with an all predetermined outcome. senators will be ending debate on election reform package and republicans are expected to block the bill with a filibuster. after that democrats will try to pass a change to filibuster rules allowing a talking filibuster and a simple majority vote for this bill exclusively. but then the problems of senators kyrsten sinema and joe manchin still opposed to that

idea. here's what senator manchin said yesterday about his decision on voting rights. >> senator, what would you say to voters who say your inability or obstruction of voting -- >> there's no obstruction whatsoever. >> there are a there saying you it so they're not going to be able to vote in the next election. >> the laws are there. the government will stand behind them and make it so everybody can vote. we have that. >> the government will stand behind you. well, joining me now is senator mark warner, the chairman of the intelligence committee. thank you very much. that was just before senator manchin went into a meeting with all his fellow democrats, senator sinema joining by telephone. and as we understand the people were trying to tell him, john tester from montana and from wisconsin and other states. this change is already taking place in texas and florida. so, you know, maybe they're not taking place in west virginia, but they're taking place already around the country with wisconsin voting in a primary

just in a couple of weeks. how do you feel about this? >> well, let's break this into two pieces. there's discussion about the efforts to undermine voting, which is now taking place in dozens of states, i think mostly driven by the trump big lie about 2020, not because there was anything inappropriate about the 2020 elections. even the trump election officials said that. but there's these change in the individual states and then there's the question around the filibuster. let's talk about voting first. actually joe manchin and kyrsten sinema on the voting rights legislation are both supportive of both the john lewis bill and the freedom to vote bill. so the idea we ought to have some level of minimum standards that states should not roll back voting rights -- >> but, senator warner, he says he's supporting it. how can he support it and say at

the same time the government is going to stand behind you and there's no interference already? it flies in the face of reality. >> i think we need to do more because we've never seen this kind of unprecedented state after state, the idea you're going to get a ticket or potentially go to jail if you offer somebody water while they're waiting for hours in line to vote. that's crazy. and we're seeing in state after state completely only republicans voting for these changes and voting laws, and frankly business communities in places like texas and georgia who are not normally friendly to democrats necessarily rising up en masse and saying this has gone too far. so i do think the legislation we've got that we'll vote on, all 50 democrats will vote to proceed. makes a lot of sense. i wish we could now come to the second half of the debate, which is how do you change the rules? i mean, i've been here for two terms.

i'm not an expert on the rules but i always thought if you were going to filibuster, you had to stand up and talk. i saw mr. smith goes to washington. but the rules we've got right now, andrea, you can have a hidden filibuster. you can say just quietly i don't want this to go forward and you don't even have to go out in the public and explain your position. what we were putting forward today at least on voting rights if you want to say none of these laws in the state are undermining voting rights, defend that position. and after you've all had a chance to speak twice as long as you want, then we all ought to have a vote 50-50. i wish they would go along with that targeted change because it would bring us back to what americans thought it was about, a talking filibuster, but that may not play out tonight. >> so this is all sound and fury signifying nothing. >> well, i think it's -- this

issue hasn't elevated clearly in american minds as a top priority issue. this was the first day we were even able to debate this bill because, again, these rules get all kind of technical. this bill came over what's called a message from the house and consequently we were able to get on it without a 60-vote margin. but i hope and pray this is going to touch people of goodwill regardless of the party affiliation to say, hey, do we really rant to live in a country where people are cutting back on voting rights? in virginia this year we had the largest turn out in a gubernatorial election ever, about 25%. the republicans won. this should not be about favoring one party over another. it should be about a system that says if you're over 18 you should be able to vote in your country, and we should make it easier to vote. and i remember ronald reagan. i remember both president bushes absolutely being in support of expanding voting rights, and today's republican party,

unfortunately, ruled by donald trump does not. and i just would hope my republican colleagues would get up on the floor and explain why they're not going to follow in the reagan-bush tradition. >> let me ask you about ukraine because we're going to these critical meetings on friday in particular. what should secretary blinken say to lavrov to try to avert this becoming an armed conflict? >> i think this is an area where i think president biden i know he's going to be speaking this afternoon, where i think the administration ought to give a little more credit because biden came in a year ago. nato and trust in america was at an all-time low. we've seen biden and his whole team, secretary blinken as well build back. and it's taken literally months to build back a united nato front. we had with the french with us at first and now the french and the germans and all the other countries are stepping up. and we have a full court

diplomatic press on the russians saying this is going to cost you. you may be able to rollover the ukrainian military over a period of time, but the ukrainians will fight back with an insurgency. we're going to have the most draconian sanctions ever. if you ever think you're going to finish the nordstream 2 pipeline gas and oil flowing into germany, that will be stopped. and i think there's a bit of a pause now. the fact we are frankly flooding the zone constantly meeting with the russians and again our nato allies, the germans were in kiev recently, i think we keep this pressure on. i think it's increasingly becoming aware to putin that he's got to find an exit ramp. but i fear putin may not be hearing what really is happening on the ground, that the ukrainians are united against him as is the west. >> thank you. we have to leave it there. thank you. and that does it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports."

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woo! new personal record, limu! only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty. ♪ if it's wednesday, it is a special meet the mid-terms edition of meet the press daily. at the heart of america's most important swing state for this year's mid-term and beyond. welcome to georgia as i was saying. what florida and ohio was in the first decade is what georgia is now, i think. so welcome to another special edition of "meet the press daily." all this week across all the "meet the press"