this is "andrea mitchell reports" in washington where president biden is warning ukraine's president zelensky that russia could invade in a matter of weeks. but zelensky saying he's tlr president of ukraine and knows the situation better. telling his public there is no need to panic. but the u.s. and nato say vladimir putin is conducting live fire exercise and ukraine's defense minister says the number of troops has now grown to 130,000 with even more russian troops expected to mobilize for further military exercises in belarus on ukraine's southern border. and lavrov telling viewers that russia does not want war with ukraine but will defend its interests. and slamming the western response saying nato's expansion and weapons deployment is unacceptable.

and france's president macron speaking with vladimir putin with an understanding there would be no military action while talks with the europeans continue over the next two weeks. according to diplomatic sources, macron will be briefing ukraine's president on that conversation tonight. and on the road again. just hours after a bridge in pittsburgh collapsed but fortunately with no fatalities, president biden is heading to pittsburgh at this hour. critical to the swing state of pennsylvania on a previously scheduled to do tout his build back better bill. we do not know whether the collapsed bridge in pittsburgh, sited in the past for being in poor condition, was one of those to be repaired. and a monster blizzard expect to hit the entire coast beginning overnight from virginia to maine with boston

getting the biggest snow storm ever. they're talking 24 inches. nbc news chief correspondent, richard engel nire the frontlines. there seems to be a disconnect between president zelensky who talked to president biden about the threat level and timing of an invasion from russia. >> reporter: there's also a big difference about what the two countries are -- have the capacity to do about it. yes, there is a totally different messaging. president biden is telling the world, the ukrainian president biden according to white house that this threat is real, that it could come at any moment, that the biggest risk is for an invasion to come some time in february. nato officials have been opening talking about the build up of troops and how they see a possible imminent invasion from russia. and we've seen all of the

actions that have been taken so far with nato countries moving forces east. moving ships into the black sea and the ukrainian president has been all along and most clearly today telling his people that what russia is doing is not much different than what they've done at least twice before when it's held military exercises. that this is effectively a show of force from russia trying to extract demands from the west to try extract demands from nato and the united states. and he fears that his country is suffering in this tug of war between the united states and russia. he also said it was a mistake for the u.s. and other countries to pull back nonessential diplomatic personnel and urge their citizens to leave this country. so, he very clearly today said we've seen this before. there is a risk. but people should remain calm.

and what i said initially is you have to also wonder what he could possibly do about it. if he mobilized forces in mass to the east, which he has not done, russia could see that as a provocation and you feed its own narrative to invade. if he suddenly started using bell coast language against russia, russia could use that against him. he's trying to stair down vladimir putin, show he's not afraid but it's in a position where some ukrainians and some outside the country may think he doesn't fully appreciate the situation and overly underplaying it. >> richard, there's also, of course, a real threat. the brits were the first to release it but based on american intelligence, as we understand. the russians were potentially using a false flag operation and doing other things to try to

undermine zelensky. a chance they could try to topple him and install someone that would be favorable and invite russia in. >> reporter: he did specifically talk about that threat. so, he sees -- zelensky sees that more of a realistic possibility. that because russia has so much force positioned around its border, that there could either be an accidental start of a war or that there could be a provocation, a deliberate provocation launched by pro-russian separatists, sab tours. an attempt to topple his government or give russia a reason to launch an invasion. partial or complete. on the one hand he's saying he doesn't expect a full invasion. but on the other hand, he does say with so much force round the country, there is this risk there could be an attempt to

undermine him in some other way. >> richard engel, thank you so much for eastern ukraine. joining us now is chief national correspondent. i think you heard richard's reporting that there's a clear disconnect between what president zelensky is saying and nato allies are saying about the potential of an imminent invasion or some other aggressive action from vladimir putin. is he wrong? >> i actually don't see this as a disconnect. the presidents spoke yesterday. they had a very detailed conversation. he's sharing information about how we see the situation unfolding, how ukraines see the situation unfoilding. this is the first time they've spoken in recent weeks. we speak at great lengths with our ukrainian counterparts to

make sure we're coordinating. i think the president has been very clear in public and private about what we see unfolding. significant russian troop build up recently in belarus. we're saying it could happen at any point and we need to be prepared for that, as the ukrainians do and we're preparing together for that possibility. >> but president zelensky was very clearly disagreeing with the american characterization as well as saying the draw down from the embassy was a mistake. they feel that undermines confidence in their ability to defend themselves or their ability to at least protect their own people. >> reporter: i want to be clear about what's happening and isn't in kyiv. the u.s. embassy is reducing personnel. the secretary of state made that

decision based on what they believed was the best interest of the united states and safety and security of the personnel. but our embassy remains fully functional, fully up and running and will continue to be. all this decision making was done in full coordination and consultation with the ukrainians. we explained to them our trag rational and we're going to continue to provide support with our diplomats that remain in the field. >> do you have a read out yet of the conversation between president macron and vladimir putin today? because what we're understanding is there was an agreement that there would be no military action for at least two weeks while diplomacy continues. >> i would leave it to the french and russians to read out a conversation between their two leaders. because we have been in such close consultation, not just with the french but all of our european partners and allies is president macron, i'm sure,

conveyed a similar message that president biden did, which is we're prepared to deescalate this situation. but we're also preparing to impose severe costs on russia should they want to go another way. we have prepared some responses and raised concerns of our own with the russians in writing during the course of this week. and we'll see how the russians respond. but the united states and allies are ready. >> have you had any direct response from the russians to the letter delivered by our ambassador in moscow? >> reporter: we've seen some of the comments they've made publicly. some indicating the russians need more time to study the proposal, which we think is appropriate and we look forward to hearing from them more formally when they have a response to provide. >> we heard reactions publicly that our rejection of their demands, of vladimir putin's demands that they change

deployments and the like and that ukraine be permanently banned from ever joining nato, that that is a nonstarter. apparently they are responding, at least publicly, to some of the arms control proposals. >> we've been pretty clear since the russians first published their so-called draft treaty documents. that our strong sense of working negotiations like these is the highest likelihood of finding a path forward takes place when you don't negotiate on television and in public but behind closed doors. they've chosen a different tact. we've been quite clear we're not going to put lout of our positions publicly. we're ready to discuss the issues they've raised and we've raised more formally and diplomatically but not on television. >> could you read their response, in general, to be the fact that they keep building up

their -- >> reporter: absolutely. >> i was just going to ask about belarus in particular. they've moved into belarus to the north has to be particularly alarming. >> your making an important point and one we share. which is whatever the russians are saying in television and print and the press, we're making assessments based on what they're actually doing. what they're doing on the ground is a continued build up. yes, we have significant concerns about their force posture in belarus. they'll say it's related to exercises that have been long planned. and we know part of the russian playbook has been to start out in a poster of military exercises and use those forces for actual military actions. that's something we have to be ready for. we're also very much prepared for them to escalate in the region of ukraine where they have taken military action in the past. and where we believe they are already in the process of spreading disinformation and

potentially preparing to create some sort of provocation that they'll claim they have to respond to. we know how they've done things in the past. we have information on what they're planning. we're trying to make clear publicly that will not fly. they will not be able to manufacture something to take military action. if they take military action, it will be because they've chosen to do so. >> they have the war ships now, belarus to the north. they have troops on three sides. he's got so many options. he could parachute into kyiv. from belarus, he could be in kyiv in a matter of hours. the tanks could move. he has missiles, s 400s in belarus, air power, control of the airspace. >> reporter: you're correct and every one you've described is

one we've been contemplating at well. the russians will do what they decide to do. and it's our job and our allies job and ukrainians job to make sure this is not cost free for russia if they choose to go down this path. present them with a diplomatic option to avoid conflict. but if they choose conflict, make sure it's costly for them. costly in terms of sanctions and of the security assistance the united states is continuing to provide and certainly costly in a number of other ways that will unfold over time if russia makes the mistake of doing this. >> and if eu and others just so he can have everything in place and have the maximum immact. and when he gets back from beijing and the olympics, strike.

>> the timeline of all of this and the diplomatic conversation is less of a concern than the timeline of their constant and continued deployments of forces. we expect the russians to come back some time early next week to talk about next steps. we expect the diplomatic conversations to continue should they choose to go down that path with us. but we're very much preparing for the possibility that they are, as you say, using this only as a pretext. we're going to be ready for that path too. and given the significant amount of coordination we've done with our allies, we believe we're ready, should they choose to do that, as soon as possible. >> and finally, could there be another conversation between the two presidents, vladimir putin and president biden? >> we believe leader-to-leader

conversations between these two countries is an important part of managing the relationship and potentially the situation that is unfolding. there is no plan on the books for the leaders to discuss but not something we would rule out either. >> thank you so much. i know this is a terribly busy time and thank you for making time for us. appreciate it. and narrowing in. president biden debating who is going to be his supreme court pick as congress gets ready for a conformation battle. a conformation battle. uh, i-i'm actually just going to get an iced coffee. well, she may have a destination this one time, but usually -- no, i-i usually have a destination. yeah, but most of the time, her destination is freedom. nope, just the coffee shop. announcer: no matter why you ride, progressive has you covered with protection starting at $79 a year. voiceover: 'cause she's a biker... please don't follow me in.

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president biden says he will announce his replacement for justice breyer's seat on the supreme court one month from today. the white house is hoping to pick up some republican votes, in fact. have a bipartisan vote. that used to be exactly what would happen. and a handful of republican senators have supported the judicial nominee so far. including one of his likely candidates to replace justice breyer. and joining us is former white house press secretary, gibbs. the plitization of court house nominees historically new. mitch romney saying it reminded me of what senate used to be. to expect party line votes here,

which republicans should democrats try to win over? >> you know, in large measure i think you will see party line votes. i think there will be an effort to get the mitt romney, susan collins, murkowskis of the world, maybe rob portmans to come on board with it, particularly given they voted for his judicial nominees, particularly one being considered for supreme court already. so, that's a good thing. i think the democrats don't need to over think this process. just do it. trust the president on this one. he's going to put forward a highly qualified candidate for the office. of supreme court for the position on the supreme court. and they run through the process the way they need to run through it. i think a lot of this crazy noise about you're going to pick a black woman. well, he said he was just reagan

said he was going to put a woman for a candidate. this is not an unusual effort by the president to carve out his nominee. president trump, for all the folks on the right screaming about this. he had a list of white men that he was going to put on the supreme court and he did that. in large measure. except for coney barrett. she was on the list. so, whether they're on a list or the president puts out a preference, this is all in keeping -- and i think everyone should get ready for a great nomination process. >> and in fact, several of the nomination people he knows in the solicitor general's office -- at least one in the solicitor general office when it was the obama/biden white house. and certainly someone who was nominated by him and got three republican votes on the u.s. court of appeals below the supreme court.

that would obviously be someone that he would already have looked at. judge jackson. so, and then he's got judge childs, who is pending a conformation hearing next week and a south carolina judge strongly supported by jim clyburn. her strongest supporter. this is not some mystery here. he said he was going to do it. and i covered sandra day o'connor conformation when i was covering the reagan white house. get the first woman and this is going to be the first black woman. this is hardly affirmative action. this is, many would say, a long over due recalibration of an all white court. except for clarence thomas. >> absolutely. i think look, the candidate biden pledged to do this and he's carrying through on that promise. we know this is going to be a black woman and we know this person, according to the white

house, is going to be a judge. it's a pretty finite universe of people. i agree with michael too. this is straight forward and doesn't need to be over thought. pick a highly qualified nominee and just get 50 votes. and there's two reasons i think democrats should be optimistic. 42 biden judicial nominations have gone through the senate. and not one democrat has voted against one of those nominees. secondly, joe biden used to be the chairman of the judiciary committee. ron klain, the white house chief of staff, helped usher two in to the white house. i think the table really is set for a highly qualified nominee to be confirmed in fairly short order. >> i was even thinking about lindsey graham, from south carolina, a very large black

population and supported judge jackson for the appeals court as recently as june. >> yeah and look, i think senator graham voted for sotomayor and it will be interesting to see lindsey graham's view on this. he's tended to say his judgment is, is the person who's nominated is qualified? and he's already voted, obviously, in one of the cases. and said that they were highly qualified. i think there's a 52-53 votes you could see and as michael said maybe a mitt romney or rob portman or somebody else who's retiring wants to send a message about the process working differently. we're reminded it wasn't that long ago -- obviously a few decades. but judge scalia was nominated and confirmed 99-0.

>> such a good reminder. michael steel, it's also very possible to look at what mitt romney said about steve breyer. i could see a mitt romney supporting a highly qualified candidate. >> oh, sure. >> joe manchin has already said the politics and ideology is not what's important to him in this case. it's temperament, character. >> i agree with you, andrea. i think that's exactly right. i think you will see some republicans move in that direction. i was listening to a reporter report earlier this morning something about all this is going to be a very difficult process. i'm sitting there going no it ain't. name me the democrat who's going to vote against the first black female to the supreme court. name that democrat of the 50 in the senate, name the one who's going to do that. so, this is not going to be a difficult process at all.

i think we need to just bring the temperature down on this. put the hype aside and let biden put his nominee forward and the country applaud that opportunity. >> well, i think the bottom line is that in a 6-3 court, it's not going to change the divisions on the key issues of abortion, guns, the like, affirmative action next year. thank you. have a great weekend and watch out for that snow. wicked warning. boston bracing on record-setting snowfall as the biggest nor'easter in years gets set to make a mess of this weekend for millions. this is "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. d for millions this is "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. ♪[music]♪ at aetna® we're shifting medicare coverage into high gear with benefits

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joining me is nbc news meteorologist, bill karins. so, how do we prepare? >> we have to stay off the roads. as we saw earlier with the storm in virginia this winter. we don't want people stranded and the national guard having to rescue people. it's going to really blossom and exbloed. it's the people in the blizzard warnings that we're most concerned with. that's where you can lose power and the road crews won't be able to keep up. that's coastal maine. all the way down through coastal massachusetts. rhode island. portion of connecticut, long island, jersey shore and everywhere else, you're going to have snow and travel issues. but it's saturday. so, as far as the snow totals go , the highest is from i 95 east in areas of new england. we're going to get snow in d.c. and baltimore but not a huge

event. philadelphia you're going to have to do plowing. everywhere in the southeastern new england. logan airport, there'sall red adozens if hundreds of airlines cancelled. and the other thing is the frigid air is going to be the big story. people in the northeast keep talk about the blig blizzard. this is going to be the coldest florida has been in ten years. some people in boston will say we get a blizzard once every two or three years. florida, this is a once every decade event. >> so, get ready. thinking of all our friends in boston and new england. thank you so much, bill karins. while new covid cases are declining, deaths from the virus that usually lag behind are

still on the rise. and there's a new omicron subvariant in at least 20 states after being detected in 49 countries. it's being called the stealth variant and even harder to detect than omicron. so, joining us an affiliate assistant professor at washington, a pullmanologist and msnbc contributor. how worried do we need to be about the new subvariant? >> good morning. still really early. ait appears to be contagious like the original omicron variant. the vaccines are still doing what they're supposed to be doing. keeping people away from green scrubs. you might inhale this variant in the air. that's okay. that doesn't mean the vaccines don't work.

because all our immune cells are back deployed. that means evil. if you test positive, which is possible, severe illness is what the vaccine is intended to mitigate and what they're doing really well. it's poirmtant to take heart because this won't be the last variant. >> and there's a stud afinding two-thirds of people with omicron have had covid before. so, how common is it to be reinfected? >> it is appearing that k quite common. and this is the new world we live in. i think all omicron has forced us to reckon in the reality that these vaccines, as good as they are, are not intended to prevent positive tests or mild symptoms. they are intended to prevent severe illness. i've been saying this from the beginning. that's why we get the flu shot, the covid shot. it's something we should expect as we move forward to winter 2022. >> dr. van gupta, thank you for

the update. and on alert. pentagon leaders plepairing right now about to preef on the escalating situation along the border of ukraine and russia. so, we're waiting that briefing. also the role the u.s. could be forced to play. former secretary of defense joining me next. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports." on msnbc. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports. on msnbc ying down your copd,... ♪ it's a new dawn, it's a new day,... ♪ ...it's time to make a stand. start a new day with trelegy. ♪...and i'm feelin' good. ♪ no once-daily copd medicine... has the power to treat copd in as many ways as trelegy. with three medicines in one inhaler, trelegy helps people breathe easier and improves lung function. it also helps prevent future flare-ups. trelegy won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition

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thank you for being with us. what is your reaction to what john finer told me today? that they are ready but they are concerned about belarus? they're concerned about the deployments and options. and while diplomacy is continuing, they are prepared if he is just running out the string of diplomacy. that's a paraphrase. >> andrea, there's no question this is a very pivotal moment with regards to the attempt of conflict. the united states and nato allies have made clear, in writing, that what russia wants with regards to nato is not going to happen. and so, putin is really facing the decision between whether he wants to go to war or whether he wants to try and negotiate. some kind of revisions that relate to russian security. that's a good decision.

but there's no question that when we see what's happening in on the ground and the build ups taking place in belarus, as well as other areas along the border, it is wise to take the position that putin may very well invade. and that we have to be prepared for that. that should be true, not just for the united states and nato, but for the ukraine as well. >> if you were sitting in one or two of the chairs you used to occupy, secretary of defense, white house chief of staff and you saw this kind of escalation, would you tell the president he's got no alternative? how does he back down when he's amassed this kind of a force on three sides of ukraine? >> well, this is a moment when the united states and our allies

have to make clear to putin that he's going to pay a price. look, putin, as we know, in the last number of years has had his way. he's gone into georgia. he's gone into crimea. he's gone into syria. he's gone into libya. he's conducted cyber attacks against the united states of america in terms of our election processes. and he hasn't paid a price. he hasn't paid a price. on the issue now is that president biden and nato have made clear that he is going to pay a price. and for that reason, i think that it's extremely important that both the united states and our nato allies are prepared to take action should russia decide to invade. that is absolutely essential. in terms of sending a message, not just to putin but to the rest of the world about the strength of the united states and nato.

how confident are you about the nato allies? france, germany. french president macron talking to vladimir putin today and indications they will have two more weeks of diplomacy before their group of europeans and russia and ukraine get together again. and at the same time, germany not wanting astonia to send artillery to ukraine with german parts. sending instead protective helmets. >> that's -- no. it's always a challenge in dealing with our allies because they are -- they have their own approaches often times for dealing with these challenges. but i think president biden has done a very good job at pulling together on nato allies and having them agree on a set of

steps that are going to take place for putin to decide to attack. and i think our allies will be unified on that. i think we'll be unified in terms of economic sanctions and pulling russia out of the international banking system. i think that they will even be unified if we pause on norstream 2 because that has to be a message to russia if they invade. and i think they're going to be unified in providing military asister -- assistance to the ukraine. so, there are clear steps that have been defined. and we're obligated to take the steps if we're going to make russia pay a price for doing what putin normally does, which is trying to bully his way to getting what he wants. >> how concerned are you about a cyber attack against ukraine?

>> i think that cyber is the weapon of the future. and the weapon of the present. we've already seen how cyber can be used efeckively. that going after, not only our institutions but going after our businesses and corporations and our infrastructure. and i think it's important that we have a cyber capability to respond if necessary. we're pretty good at cyber and we can basically use cyber as well to go after their infrastructure, to go after their command and control, to go after their communications. so, if russia decides to use cyber here, that can work both ways. >> do you have concerns about president zelensky and saying we

don't see the same signs of invasion and even criticizing the u.s. for telling non-essential workers and families to leave on non-essential flights while they could. >> i think they have to be realistic with what they're confronting. and i realize that right now they're trying to hope that in the end putin will -- and they want to keep sending that signal that putin somehow is not going to invade. and they can send that signal, if they wish. but they better be dam well prepared to deal with an invasion. because that very frankly is the likely scenario they're going to have to deal with. >> thank you so much. appreciate your being with us today. and the complete collapse of an interstate bridge in pittsburgh just hours before the president travelled to pennsylvania to push infrastructure investment.

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human chain to rescue the driver and two passengers. all this before president biden was flying to pittsburgh to highlight his $1 trillion infrastructure bill which sent $327 million to pennsylvania for a lot of things, including bridge repair. joining us is the assistant speaker of the house. democrati congresswoman from massachusetts catherine clark. congresswoman, it's good to see you. well, the timing -- >> good to see you, andrea. >> it's great to see you but the politics of this are in the president's court. he was there to proclaim that we did just pass this bipartisan infrastructure bill and now that you see in pittsburgh a bridge collapsing. it's terrible for everyone involved of course and the people injured, but likely the president can highlight this today. >> yes. and let me start here. our hearts and thoughts and prayers are with the people involved in this terrible collapse and also with the

people of pittsburgh that are affected. and joe biden going to pennsylvania is doing exactly what he does best. he is listening to the american people and creating solutions to help them in this most challenging time. that is how he created the build back better agenda. that is how he created the infrastructure bill, through these conversations with ordinary, hard working americans. so i think it is fitting that he is there today. he is a son of pennsylvania and he is talking about meeting this time of historic challenge with historic progress. and that's exactly what the infrastructure bill does. it creates 2 million jobs a year to add to the 6 million jobs that this president has created in just the first year of his

presidency. and his work to reduce costs by reducing energy costs for people, funding that is in that infrastructure bill, continuing to work to bring down the costs of health care, to help people meet this moment, these are the solutions the american people are looking for. this is what the president and democrats in congress are delivering. >> congresswoman, president biden's speech comes as democrats -- some democrats are opting not to appear with him. some candidates say he has sagging poll numbers, we know that. the attorney general josh shapiro, and lieutenant governor john fetterman declined invitations to appear with the president today. fetterman said he had a conflict and couldn't be there in pittsburgh showed up at the bridge collapse, at the emergency, as lieutenant

governor understandably but said he would not appear at carnegie mellon, the president of the united states, the leader of his party. it seems that was a political excuse frankly not to appear with the president in his home state. >> well, i think that it is absolutely appropriate that the lieutenant governor go to a collapse of his bridge in pennsylvania. >> absolutely. i'm not questioning that. >> i don't think we should read any political drama into that. but here's what's important. are the american people in a place of loss and anxiety caused by two years of living under a pandemic and the economic underpinnings that have been ripped out from under them? absolutely. and what the challenge is is who is going to come and help them? i can tell you this, the gop has the american people in their rear view mirror as they are being driven by their hunger for power away from them. and what we are seeing democrats

in congress with the leadership of president biden is delivering. let's just take cutting the costs of prescription drugs. just yesterday a constituent called me and told me about his wife's prescription that had gone from $30 a month to 300. that is why joe biden has made a priority of cutting prescription drugs. what have the republicans done? not a single one will vote to support. so as we look forward to the mid terms, as we look at meeting this moment for the american people, it is joe biden's leadership with the build back better agenda that is going to help us create great jobs, reduce costs. we have already had the largest tax cut for middle and low-income families in this country. >> i do want to point out for

our viewers -- congresswoman, i just want to point out that we are seeing live pictures of the president arriving in pittsburgh this hour. bob casey, the senator, is greeting him. we're going to see of course what he has to say and what he has to say about this awful bridge collapse. i just wanted to also point out that 29 democrats have now said that they're not seeking reelection or are retiring. so isn't this going to make it harder for your party to keep the majority? some of these are, you know, veteran democrats, committee chairs. >> i am looking forward to the mid terms and putting forth what we have accomplished, what we are doing for the american people on the ballot. let's just look at it again. we have just got an incredible economic numbers that show 6 million jobs created in the

first year, record low unemployment. we haven't seen it this low since the 1960s. we have surged in our economic growth. we haven't seen this since the reagan era. this is what happens when you have a president supported by democrats in congress that are delivering and meeting this moment of great need for the american people. >> well, thank you very much. we're out of time today but this is a conversation we're going to be having all year as the mid terms get closer. that does it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports," follow us online. up next "mtp daily" with chuck todd, who will be speaking with the chief medical director, of course that's dr. anthony fauci. f course that's dr. anthony fauci.

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[limu emu squawks] woo! thirty-four miles per hour! new personal record, limu! [limu emu squawks] he'll be back. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty. ♪ welcome to "meet the press daily." i'm chuck todd. at any moment we're expecting a briefing from lloyd austin and mark milley. they rarely brief reporters so to hear them speak about the situation in ukraine, you know things are getting pretty serious. it also comes as russia continues its build up of tanks, fighter jets and missile

launches along it's border with ukraine. at least 130,000 troops and that number has gone up and they continue to conduct live fire exercises. according to the white house, president biden reaffirmed his support. zelensky said there's no need to panic and he knows the situation better than president biden. according to the kremlin, putin told his french counterpart that the u.s. and nato had not addressed his fundamental concerns about security in the region. joining me from kyiv is my partner matt