more than a dozen candidates to fill the supreme court vacancy to deliver a badly needed win. and the former president suggests he'd pardon the january 6th rioters if he won back the white house. >> and russian and u.s. diplomats go back and forth as they weigh sanctions for putin if he invades ukraine. welcome to "meet the press daily. right now democratic party leaders are trying to tamp down on growing turmoil with donors and the rank and file as the party approaches potentially brutal mid-term elections between president biden's stalled agenda and sliding poll

numbers. according to colleagues at the white house, they are trying to reassure their most loyal supporters outlining a strategy to in so many words get help president biden guess his groove back because some feel it may be too late and could weaken the president ahead of a rematch with donald trump in 2024. donors met saying the president would spend more time on the trail and less time here in washington bogged down by congress. nbc spoke with more than two dozen sources describing simmering frustrations at party headquarters and app an isolated dnc chair. harrison warned his democratic critics, quote, if you expect me

to go away or roll into a ball and whimper, you picked the wrong one. you have the mission now get with the program. meanwhile democrats everywhere are hoping that naming a new justice to the supreme court following justice breyer's retirement will stitch up some of the party's political wounds. president biden has pledged to make his pick a black woman before the end of february and his list of potential nominees has grown to more than a dozen a source with knowledge of the process tells nbc news. we begin with josh letterman and natasha, the reporter behind the story. josh, the white house is trying to fight these democratic jitters by focusing on accomplishments, not their failures or the stuff they haven't done yet. that's easier said than done obviously. what's the plan? >> it reminds me of that old song, if you can't be with the one you love, love the one

you're with. the biden administration clearly would like to be running on having gotten build back better through or having passed major voting rights legislation and all these other core components of what president biden as a candidate ran on but ultimately hasn't been able to deliver and likely won't be able to deliver. the white house finds this narrative unfair, not what have you done for me not in your first four years in office but in the first 20 minutes. they say the president isn't getting the credit for the bipartisan infrastructure law and all of that covid stimulus spending that they credit with having the economy be where it is. that said, they're very aware of the political dynamics right now, which is why they so much want to have a few more accomplishments to notch up before the mid terms, this compete act, clearly something that they hoped and they can

also add into their campaign message as well as the supreme court justice which can be a real galvanizing force as far as what president biden has been able to deliver on that he promised as a candidate. so the white house looking for ways that they can put all of that front and center for voters, including, for example, what the president did just a couple of hours ago, taking time out of his schedule to meet with a bipartisan group of governors from across the country, really trying to bring the public's attention to those bread and butter, nuts and bolts, infrastructure spending projects that are now going to get under way because of what president biden has been able to accomplish, even if all of those core priorities that he touted so heavily in the first year of his administration, the die need for the build back better legislation so far from not come to pass. >> that competition bill is going to be a big focus in my day job on capitol hill this week. natasha, you have this great reporting about the divide between the white house and its dnc chairman heading into the mid terms. who exactly is going to be

running the show, running the messaging here? what's the split between the two? >> we talked to democrats across the board and almost universally we heard the same stories. from jamie harris's perspective, the white house is too overbearing, keeping him out of keefe decision making and not giving him messaging and direction of resources. on the other side you hear the white house complaining that jamie harrison is not traveling enough, he's not leaving his hometown enough. part of our reporting showed that this got so frustrating for jamie harrison that at one point he considered leaving before his four-year term was over. so this is something that is really playing out and is of concern but to answer your question, the white house is running the show right now. and that's led to a lot of questions all the way around the democratic party asking what's

the message, who is the messenger, how do we get these numbers back up? >> i spent most of the day yesterday trying to watch some of those football games and i think about the cliche in sports that winning fixes everything. is this a situation that all of fighting going on between chuck schumer or jamie harrison gets better if democrats put more points on the board legislatively? >> certainly if this were making some gains legislatively that could help but arguably people keep talking about if they could only get it across the board, the goal line. well, there are significant accomplishments by the democrats. people don't care or they're not moved by it. i mean, that's the bottom line here. they can say they passed record amount of money for covid relief, they can talk about the infrastructure bill. biden's numbers are still in the tank.

so something has to change and getting back to the dnc, you know, that's what jamie harrison wanted to have influence over. hey, something has got to give here, let me have a little more say in the direction of messaging and directing of resources and, you know, that is the clash right now with the white house. >> josh, democrats across the spectrum i think see this impending supreme court nomination battle if it is indeed a battle as an opportunity to reset, get the party all back on the same page. we know the white house is considering apparently a growing list of names. what's the latest there? >> nbc news is now reporting, myself and my colleague carol lee that president biden's list of potential nominees has now grown to more than a dozen and that the president has not yet called a short list of candidates. he's in the part of the process looking at their resumés and

backgrounds and will talk to lawyers about whether these people get confirmed among a smaller list of nominees. they are trying to undermine this budding republican narrative that there's something unseemly about the president creating a race and gender litmus test for a nominee saying we're going to nominate a black woman somehow suggests he's lowering the bar. they want to make it clear the president has an extremely long list of qualified black women, most who have resumés that look like sitting supreme court justices that he can choose from. it play as big role in the lives and careers of these people just to be pensioned. it doesn't cost the white house at this point to keep a really broad view, a wide search, make sure that people know the kinds of people they're looking at before the president ahead of this end of february dead line that he set for himself, creates

a smaller list and ultimately decides which of these candidates he's going to pick, garrett. >> that's such a good point to elevate people you might want for other jobs or other opportunities down the line. josh and natasha, thank you both. joining me is south carolina congressman jim clyburn, someone who has been quite outspoken about this process. you had dick durbin on this program saying he thinks the process will be fair, deliberate and timely. i wonder how much you think the white house should weigh the speed factor, the importance of moving someone quickly into this new role. >> well, thank you very much. i think you know that i adhere to the notion that haste makes waste. there's no reason to be hasty and there's no reason to prolong

this discussion. there are people there who are being mentioned who have been vetted for other positions, who have gone for confirmation hearings. the young lady that i have been supporting has been vetted. she got a unanimous vote of the senate to be a district judge. she's been officer ostensibly vetted and she has a hearing tomorrow. >> you're talking about michelle childs of course. would you like to see that hearing happen anyway for the d.c. circuit job for which she's already up or are you okay with kind of postponing that under the possibility that she may get the nod for the bigger chair? >> i'm very okay with them postponing it. as i said, there's no need to be hasty about this.

let's be thorough. let's just do this the way we're always doing it. the second circuit is not going to be ruined. the gentleman who would be replaced by the next appointment is still there and he says he will stay there until someone is named to replace him. so what's the hurry? >> i think the counterargument you hear from some is a 50-vote majority in the u.s. senate can be a very fragile thing and you don't want to let this opportunity potentially slip away. >> that's true but that's always going to be the case. and i think that what we ought to do is just go forward the way we're going, not get pushed into anything, not get bum rushed and that's what a lot of people are trying to do. that's what a lot of this debate is about here, calling this lady unqualified. i wish she would put her resumé up against anybody's currently sitting on the supreme court and see what their resumés were at

the time -- at this time in their careers. and there are others in this group the same way. i told people when they were talking about seven people. i said could be 70. i know more than seven people, african-american women, with resumés as equal to any sitting on the court. >> we know any resumé coming from your office to this white house is going to get a pretty close inspection. i was struck by what you said you liked about judge childs' background is that she has a public school education, for her higher education. how important is that kind of diversity to you on the supreme court and if she's not chosen, do you think that's the kind of resumé item that president biden should potentially look for in his next pick should he get one?

>> i think she has the kind of resumé that ought to be taken to account. what she did not mention was the fact that she was raised by a single mother or father, a former police officers who was killed in the line of duty. when she was 13 years old, her mother moved her to south carolina and she had a very public education, she had a very interactive relationship with the african-american community here. she's married, she's a mother and her husband is an african-american gastroenterologist, one of the three or four in this state. they've got the resumé to make them ideal people. and so i do believe very strongly that she has the kind of background. and, by the way, she's had trial court experience at both the state -- she was state circuit trial judge and she has been a

federal duct trial judge for the last 11 years. she's got it all. >> congressman, everyone should be so lucky as to have you recommending them for a job. i mean, your commitment here is very impressive. i want to ask you about a different topic on pure politics. last segment we were reporting on the relationship between the white house and d.c. chair jamie harrison, who was supposed to represent the big diverse coalition that got president biden elected. i wonder if you think the white house is giving him the freedom he needs to run the dnc the way he sees fit. >> when i saw these reports about two days ago. i planned to talk to jamie this evening or maybe tomorrow to find out his side of the story. but let me say this. i've been around for a long time with the dnc, with the white house. i have never, ever seen it when there was not friction between

the white house and the dnc. i remember wasserman schultz, i remember don fowler, terry mcauliffe. these people have always had friction because there are people out there raising money -- by the way, i just saw this morning that last month we had the highest -- broke a record last month for fund-raising. last year highest ever in a non-election year. does jamie get any credit for that? all i'm saying is jamie i believe is right in that generational gap that we need to be running the dnc. he has the experiences, he's been out there, he's run for office, he knows what it's like to lose and pick himself up. he was raised by his

grandparents. he was the one that got the scholarship to go to an ivy league school and came back to his high school to teach. he has everything we need for this party. i would hope that we just come together and start talking about this president's accomplishments, which have been great. >> congressman, i time for a lightning round question for you. i have to ask you the former president said over the weekend. he said mike pence could have overturned the last election and is pushing against the electoral reform act. i know that was a high priority for you. knowing what we know from thor president, should that move up the priority list for the democratic party? >> yes, it should. the electoral should be a broader definition than just

overturning a presidential election. when you see these states passing nullification laws to overturn state elections, overturn congressional elections. we need to have a very broad, updated electoral count pact that covers the president as well as local elections. it's right there in federal court papers 59 what we ought to be doing and we should go forward with it. >> congressman jim clyburn, thank you very much for coming on. up next, former president trump's iron grip on the gop seems to be slipping. what that means for the mid terms as he firmly admits he wanted vp pence to, quote, overturn the election. and it's shaping up to be one of the most interesting and closely contested primaries of the season and it's just a few weeks

away. we have the latest on the ground in my home state of texas. in my home state of texas. fill your medicare prescriptions with walgreens and save. riders, the lone wolves of the great highway. fill your medicare pr all they need is a bikens 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. he gets touchy when you talk about his lack of friends. can you help me out here? no matter why you ride, progressive has you covered with protection starting at $79 a year. well, we're new friends. to be fair. eh, still.

if i run and if i win, we will treat those people from january 6th fairly. we will treat them fairly. and if it requires pardons, we will give them pardons because they are being treated so unfairly. welcome back. as democrats try to get their house in order ahead of the mid terms, cracks are deepening on the other side of the aisle as republicans weigh the best path to victory in november while navigating comments like that from the former president. after that rally, trump then basically admitted he was trying to overthrow the election. and his statement about potential reforms to the electoral count act, he said "what they are saying is that mike pence did have the right to change the outcome and they now

want to that i can that right away. unfortunately he didn't exercise that power. he could have overturned the election. "he could have overturned the election," right there. and mitch mcconnell seems confident enough that republicans can win back power simply by not being democrats. we go to capitol hill where republicans will be asked to comment once again on donald trump. leann, so republicans now have two questions as they try to figure out the future of their party, how they want to approach the mid terms, like what do they want to be for and do they break themselves away from donald trump when he keeps saying stuff like this about what happened in 2020 and beyond? what do we know about how that tension's playing out in the party? >> well, garrett, a clean break

from the former president seems to be very hard for republicans to do, even though republicans continue to separate themselves from him. last month mike rounds up here in the senate said that with the president's false claims about the election are in fact that, false, and that the party needs to get louder in denouncing them. then just yesterday you had susan collins, who has never been a supporter of the former president say that she is unlikely to support him should he run again in 2024. now, we all expected her to be much stronger on that issue, instead saying just unlikely. so there does seem to be tension of course between republicans and the former president but also completely separating themselves carries a lot of political weight and a lot of political risk that they're not willing to do. now senate minority leader mitch mcconnell has famously said that

he had nothing to do with the former president, wants nothing to do with him ever again. so he refuses to talk to him or talk about him. but sources acknowledge that every single state is different and the president's base does play a role in what sort of positions republicans are going to take, especially if they're running for reelection or running for open seats. and then the house is completely different than the senate, garrett. as you well know, "the new york times" is reporting that leader mccarthy was at mar-a-lago last week. nbc hasn't confirmed this but meeting with the former president, looking forward to the mid-term elections. it still is a mixed bag for republicans who kind of can't live with him and can't live without him. garrett. >> i'm curious of what you make of this evolution in the way that the former president is talking about january 6th and after the fact.

he's been nothing but a grievance factory for the last year in these speeches and rallies, but this did seem to advance the situation pretty significantly in texas over the weekend. >> this appeared to be the first time that trump has dangled pardons for people who rioted on capitol hill in january 6th and certainly raises the stakes in a lot of different ways. i thought my colleague kyle cheney made a really good point when he said this could maybe alter the calculations that some of the people have been charged make when they're talking to law enforcement here. but, you know, trump has criticized the investigation over january 6th, he's railed against what the committee has been doing on capitol hill and he's also been under some pressure from the right to more adamantly defend those who were there on january 6th. some of his supporters don't think that he's done enough to defend people. and when you have republicans like susan collins and lindsey

graham having to come out and comment that he might pardon people complicates things like republicans. overall it seems like the party itself wants to move away from january 6th and when trump is dangling pardons and talking about what happened that day, it doesn't help anyone on capitol hill who has to respond to him. like i said, when asked graham said he thought it was inappropriate and that's somebody who trump is still in close contact with. >> it's worth noting that graham and collins were both reelected so they're a little bit more armored against trump's criticism and yet they offered only the mildest rebukes. i wonder how you think this plays into the january 6th committee.

we saw a tweet from liz cheney, obviously leaning into it. does the president kind of putting the background of the conspiracy, if you think that's what was the case here right out in front change the dynamics of their investigation in any meaningful way? >> it's hard to tell. zoe lofgren was grappling with the idea of calling the former president in by subpoena saying he's very litigious and would take it to court just to drag it out. trump said what the committee was trying to prove. does that change anyone's mind out in the public about what happened on january 6th? they're still trying to fill out the pieces and create some sort of narrative about what happened leading up to that day. so, you know, i think we just don't know if this is going to change anything, although this of course is welcomed news to

them that this is in writing right in front of them and this will definitely go in whatever sort of report or timeline they eventually release. >> meredith, leann talked a little bit about how current members of congress have been dealing with these comments from the former president when he makes them but you've been out and covered some of the rallies and lots of republican congressional candidates, statewide office candidates are with him and parrot some of these talking points. how much have election results denialism engrained themselves in the next generation of republican candidates that we might see in these mid terms? >> i think that's a big feature of so many of the talking points for these upcoming candidates. when you listened to these pre-rally speak that's trump has, all of them say the same thing that trump does, that they feel the election was rigged, that they call trump their

president and they repeat a lot of the same election falsehoods and they track how most republicans feel. in recent polling a majority of republicans think that the election was rigged in 2020. so it's gone beyond being something that former president trump talks about to being a main stream belief of the republican party that there is widespread election fraud and that in some cases they'll say that biden is not -- was not elected president. so it is part of the mainstream thinking here. and when you're at these rallies, it's something that when you talk to supporters are they believe that, too. a lot of them feel personally aggrieved and angry at times that it's biden who's in the white house and not trump. >> we got to keep an eye on this stuff. meredith and leann, thank you both for your reporting.

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pretty bad disappointsments are trying to take down one of the more conservative in the house. in 2020 cisneros lost her first race to cuellar by just a thousand votes. now it's anyone's guess what's going to happen on election day. stretching more than 150 miles from the border city of laredo to southeast san antonio, there's a lot of ground to cover for the candidates in texas' 28th congressional district. with a month to go until election day, an fbi investigation somehow related to a country 7,000 miles away could be the race's deciding factor. >> a member of congress's house

got raided by the fbi. >> the raiding of congress cuellar's home and fbi office were part of an investigation related to azerbaijan. district voters have questions. >> we're a month away. the fbi raided cuellar and nobody still knows why. >> have you heard about this fbi raid? >> yeah. i mean, it's been all over the news. >> cuellar denied our video request. >> i'm committed to ensuring that justice and the law is upheld. there is an ongoing investigation that will show there was no wrong doing on my part. i'm running for reelection and i intend to win. >> reporter: the nine-term incumbent is a texas united states constitution. but progressives see him as too

conservative and out of touch with the modern party, pointing to his being the on democratic vote against the women's health protection act last year. in his 2020 primary, immigration attorney jessica cisneros fell three points short of victory. now she's trying to again. how much of the work you're doing is introducing why are to people? >> a huge part of that is that. we find out what the numbers look like in november. this part of the duct where we're in in san antonio is knew -- new to the district. >> reporter: her biggest advantage may not be what she's for but who she is not. >> it's always been cuellar. i want to give somebody else a chance to see what they can do. >> republicans are eyeing this race closely, too.

they think a cisneros win could make it competitive for the first time in a long time in the fall. for texas voters watching, today is the last day to register to vote in the march 1st primary. you can register as long as the application is post marked today or submit your application at the voters register's office. absentee applications have to be received by february 18th, not just postmarked. go to votetexas/governor to for stats. from a high profile governor's race to the attorney general to even a new leader in

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welcome back. the british parliament and the rest of the world got its first look at the results of the investigation of prime minister boris johnson. it found that, quote, some of the gatherings represent a serious failure to observe not just the high standards expected of those working at the heart of government but also of the standard expected of the entire british population at the time.

the prime minister responded to the findings in parliament just a few hours ago. >> mr. speaker, i get it and i will fix it. and i want to say -- and i want to say to the people of this country i know what the issue is. yes, yes. government can be trusted to deliver and i say, mr. speaker, yes, we can be trusted. yes, we can be trusted to deliver. >> many details were left out of the report because the metropolitan police is conducting a separate investigation into these events. it's unclear if changes will be enough to calm the political waters. the prime minister' own party could trigger a leadership

change if at least 54 conservative party members of parliament submit letters of no confidence. still to come, a showdown at the u.n. today as u.s. and russian diplomats face off over the crisis in ukraine. i'll speak with the congressman just back from ukraine. you're watching "meet the press daily." you're watching "meet the press daily. verizon is going ultra, so your business can too. mission control, we are go for launch. um, she's eating the rocket. ♪♪ lunchables! built to be eaten. thanks to realtor.com's home alerts we were able to see the newest homes on the market, super fast. so we could finally buy our first "big boi house." big boi house. big boi kitchen! big boi waterfall shower! big boi crawl space. big boi sold sign, big boi logo. realtor.com to each their home.

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continues to intensify, the state department said tony blinken will speak to morning with sergei lavrov. a senior u.s. defense official tells nbc news russia has begun moving in supplies of blood to those troops, another sign a military offensive could be imminent. we continue to hope russia chooses the path of diplomacy over the path of conflict in ukraine but we cannot just wait and see. it is crucial that this council address the risk that their aggressive and destabilizing causes across the globe.

>> translator: the discussion about a threat of war is provocative in and of itself. you are almost calling for this. you want it, you're waiting for it to happen, as if you want to make your words become a reality. >> for more on all this, i'm joined by matt boughner in moscow. is there any open the u.n.'s involvement will change the calculus here? >> reporter: i would say know. russia has made it clear in its actions that it wants to talk to the united states about a rewriting of the entire european security architecture. they don't if at any time directly talk to ukraine all that often. we're hearing some whispers

there might be an attempt by zelensky to talk to putin but so far they're rejected all the overtures. >> the prospect of pretty severe sanctions has been met, leaked, clearly to get out in front of putin. is that having any impact on putin? >> reporter: we continue not to hear a word from him publicly. the last time he said anything out loud of december 23rd. that was his end of year press conference. during that press conference and in the days, weeks, months before it, he didn't have an awful lot to say about ukraine, about nato, about the west crossing russia's red line. he hasn't engaged on any of

this. putin is leaving himself a lot of breathing room. we're seeing officials fill the void with developments of the talking points that existed going into this. it a big guessing game now and really no one here has any idea where he might take we are seeing some calls from corner's from russia's professional community saying maybe now is the time to go for this and push him on it. the population doesn't really seem ready for that. >> matt bod neuron a snowy night in moscow. thank you. joining me is a democrat from new jersey that just met with officials in kyiv. do you think anything of substance of substance came out of the meeting with the security council today? >> oh, congressman, do we have you? all right. do we still have matt in moscow?

>> i'm here. >> hey, matt, from your perch in moscow, i am wondering what you make of the difference in the way that this crisis is being described by president saw len 63. he has tried to down play the possible -- the possibility that there could be an invasion or any russian action is imminent. what would you attribute that disagreement to? >> reporter: i think there's a few possibilities. one of them could be the united states has a vastly superior intelligence gathering capability, and they could see more than the ukrainians, and that could be it. on the other hand, if you look at their narrative, if their

intention is to invade and you consider how they have to sell that to the russian public, they are looking for a pretext and a reason to blame the ukrainians, and so if it is intenting to launch an operation of the scale that everybody fears. >> is there a sense there's a diplomatic off-ramp that could be still available? dick durbin was here and he said the u.s. would not take membership off the table for ukraine, but if ukraine does take it off the table, that could be something the russians could go for something like that? >> if you take them at their word, you whittle away everything else, and russia wants to see ukraine implement

the cease-fire implement. ukrainians say they signed that agreement basically under sir duress, at the barrel under the gun, and one of the key kind of provisions is a constitutional reform that would essentially reintegrate the regions there as special status members of a broader ukrainian federation, and that is the spoiler, and so in a sense, yes. >> all right, matt, stick around, i want to try and bring tom back in. congressman, if you are there, don't take your laptop with you to ukraine or russia next time you go. we're just going to blame it on that for the purposes of this segment. you are back from kyiv, and you met with ukrainian officials. what is your take on the

possibility that we may yet find a diplomatic off-ramp here that avoids conflict? >> you don't. we have no idea what kyiv is going to do. i hope we found a diplomatic off-ramp -- >> all right, matt, i will bring you back there. the congressman is not meant to be today. in my day job here, we're also covering the possibility that there could be massives sets of sanctions headed russia's way, and one before the invasion and another set that could come potentially afterwards. how is the broader picture of how that could affect the russian economy and the economy of our allies in western europe play into the decision making

here and the diplomatic work the u.s. has to do with allies to stiffen the resolve around this issue? >> one of the really interesting things about this, it exposes the way everybody is interconnected, largely on russian gas and the russian economy still relies on foreign goods. they have, of course, worked in recent years to shore up some of the vulnerabilities, but everybody is connected. one of the things we have been seeing and we also heard here, this talk about possibly pre-emptive sanctions. when they hear that, they turn around and say, there it is, that's the proof this is a rouse. that kind of plays right into their hands, the pre-emptive sanction play. there are elements of the sanctions that could do damage. >> thank you for our unplanned deep dive into russian american

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good to be with you. i am katy tur. we begin with a tense confrontation between the u.s. and russia today. this meeting was called by the u.s. and within moments of its start russia called for it to end. russia accused the united states of whipping up hysteria over ukraine and provoking escalation, but the u.s. ambassador to the u.n. pointed to the build up of 130,000 russian troops at ukraine's border, arguing if russia invades nobody could call it a surprise.