prescription drugs. for everything else covered by medicare, a doctor's visit that negotiates and will pay no more than this much for a doctor's visit, so the doctors don't want to take any medicare patients, they don't have to, but if they have a medicare patient, which are millions of them, they cannot charge more than a certain amount. we limit the amount of money they can pay for crutches. but -- but medicare can negotiate everything except drug prices. the only outfit that can't do that. my plan is going to allow medicare to negotiate the prices they're prepared to pay for each individual drug. if the company says i'm not going to sell it for that price, fine, but they're going to lose millions of customers, millions of customers. what we're proposing is that we negotiate fair prices, one that reflects the cost of research and development and the need for

significant profit but still is affordable and has some relationship to the costs that the drug company had. >> we've been listening to president biden speaking on the issue of health care there, in particular prescription drugs. he's in cull pepper, virginia, a key swing district democrats are trying to defend in november. we'll keep it here on the president for any developments. "meet the press daily" starts right now. "meet the press daily" starts right now. welcome to "meet the press daily." i'm chuck todd. the wave of democratic governors rolling back covid mandates continues. in just a few moments we expect to hear from the governor of nevada, steve sisolak. he's expected to announce the lifting of his state's mask mandate. he'll join democratic governors in new york, new jersey, rhode island, connecticut, delaware, washington state.

they've all announced some easing of covid mandates just in the last few days. massachusetts has as well. but of course that's the only state on that list with a republican governor. the wave of loosening restrictions comes as the worst of the omicron surge appears to be behind us. cases are declining everywhere, but my word, there are still a whole lot of new cases and deaths every day across the country. the seven-day average is still above 200,000 infections a day, higher than what we saw at the peak of the delta surge, meaning our peak right now is above, and we're supposedly in a better place, still above where we were. and of course deaths are above peak delta levels as well averaging more than 2,500 a day. the message for the administration is they believe it is too soon to declare victory. >> at this time, we continue to recommend masking in areas of high and substantial travns mission. that's much of the public right

now in public indoor settings. our hospitalizations are still high, our death rates are still high, so as we work towards that and as we are encouraged by the current trends, we are not there yet. >> given that the cdc guideline still remains that masking is recommended in schools, if you are a parent, a teacher, a student living in a state where that is no longer recommended, should you still follow the cdc guideline? >> yes. this is where we would advise any american to follow the cdc guidelines. >> of course it was the cdc head that quickly said take your mask off after those vaccinations back before delta, so maybe they are once bitten twice shy. all of this, though, raises the thorny and very complicated question for democratic governors, are they actually following the science on these mandates or following the souring political environment on mandates? yesterday statements from democratic governors on easing restrictions seemed to have them caught a bit in the middle. >> new yorkers, this is what

we've waited for, tremendous progress after two long years, and we're not done, but this is trending in a very, very good direction. and that is why we are now approaching a new phase in this pandemic. >> vaccines work. masks work. as a result of them and the tremendous commitment of our state's residents, we are on track to come out on the other side of this latest covid storm in better shape than even the doctors expected. >> we have to learn how to manage covid as we move from a pandemic to an endemic stage of the virus. it's all about having flexibility to adapt and emphasizing personal responsibility. >> we have not changed, but the virus has changed. so now we are entering a transition period and we're here to talk about how to make that transition going forward

starting today. >> it's a thorny and perhaps very complicated question for democrats politically because keeping covid mandates in place, even if it is the right move from a public health standpoint, there are potential political consequences. those images out of canada where truckers have shut down parts of ottawa and a bridge into the united states might be weighing on these governors' minds as well. but you have to wonder if we have another surge how these democratic governors will feel about this decision. mike memoli has the latest from the white house. cal perry has the latest on the protest blocking the canadian and u.s. border on michigan. i'm joined by the medical chief commissioner as their state lifts their mandate. and a chair of the health policy institute of virginia and someone who has been advocating i guess a re-establishing of a new response, if you will. mike, let me start with you. you know, it's not hard to see

why the administration's being cautious. they declared mission accomplished last july 4th, and i'd argue they paid a political price ever since. but now what is their plan to sort of deal with this? are they comfortable being the bad cop here, if you will? >> reporter: yeah, chuck. when you talk to the white house about this, they're quite defensive about it. they say they have a different job. one official said new york is not the rest of the country and the job of the federal government, the cdc, is to establish broad guidance that could apply to all situations. when you hear the cdc director saying they still recommend masking, there's not a recognition of what she continues to say in areas of where there's higher transmission. we're seeing in new york, you put that map up of where the democratic governors are doing this, they're the coastal cities plus illinois with the chicago as the base of course where omicron surged most initially. and now those are the place where is the rates are coming

down. so we also had seen the politics of this play out where the white house, when they're answering questions about this, are contrasting their approach, which is to say they're setting the national standard but states can adapt based on their unique situations to what we've seen from the new governor of virginia, for instance, or the governor of virginia, republicans who have tried to prevent local governments from adapting the guidance to their circumstances. but they're boxed in by the politics. there are two moments they would like to take back, one, the 4th of july, independence from the virus just before the delta surge. the other is the moment when the cdc was perhaps too quick to say take off the masks. that's why what the administration officials are telling me is they're being deliberate and careful but there is, in fact, a very intense review under way at this moment to sort of plot the path moving forward. and i would point out the state of the union address is a few weeks away. maybe that's the moment where the president can speak about the virus in a new way as

something to live with. he may never use those words, but practically that might be what it is. >> they should use the state of the union in some form on this front. i'm betting zeke emanuel has a lot of comments about that. i'll get to you in a minute. cal perry in port huron, michigan, look, the canadian situation is different than the american situation, but i don't think it's lost on a lot of -- nobody wants to see their capital city with an out-of-control protest, which appears to be what's going on right now. what is the latest? is there a plan to ease this at all? >> reporter: not that i can see. and to be honest with you, the ideology, the idea of snarling, it's spreading. we're hearing reports west of here in emerson that that is a place we are seeing truckers as well. here, this is not supposed to

be -- i'll get out of the way -- this is not supposed to be the main crossing between the united states and canada but it has become so. the main crossing is that ambassador bridge in windsor. it is shut down in both directions. it is a small protest, chuck, in windsor. it is 100 or so people with a dozen or so trucks, smaller than what we see in ottawa, but enough to stop 25% of all trade between u.s. and canada on any given day. here's a little bit of what the mayor of windsor had to say about the situation there and more broadly. take a listen. >> every hour this protest continues, our community hurts. thousands of workers field their families because of the commerce made possible at the ambassador bridge. hundreds of local autoparts companies stay in business because of the movements of goods across the ambassador bridge. our grocery store shelves are stocked with food because of the transport of food across the border. i am very concerned about the lasting and permanent impact that this demonstration and

protest will have on the region's economic competitiveness. >> reporter: chrysler, pacifica, ford, toyota, and gm have had to change the way they do business in plants across the midwest. they are curtailing some of the operations. as we keep an eye on this story, chuck, dhs putting out a bulletin that we can possibly expect some of these type protests maybe to start at the super bowl and end where mike memoli is standing. i think that is going to be key moving forward, whether or not we've seen more and more of this along the border and across the united states. >> there's some fringe political leaders trying to wep news what's going on in ottawa, and thanks to social media and social media companies, they make this a lot easier to come to fruition. i don't know whether dhs has real intelligence or if they're basing it on social media anyway. cal perry, thank you for that. let me start with are we following the science or not? let me ask that question to our two doctors. are we following the science or

following the science as far as you could go with a society you're governing? >> so, i do think it's a combination of both at some level, chuck. thanks for having me on to help discuss this. you know, i think what we recognize is you commented on the number of pieces we have now relative to delta. what we know is that at the time the delta wave was hitting, many of our children were not vaccinated yet. and in connecticut, we have a highly vaccinated population with the omicron variant, which is a less virulent variant than the delta variant. so now we are dealing with a situation where we have a less virulent virus, we have a highly vaccinated population, and we have differences in school districts where some are very highly vaccinated and some are less so vaccinated. with waning cases, improving conditions on the ground, hospitalizations still are high with over 500 people

hospitalized from covid in connecticut, but in the right direction. so i think we are following the science that things are moving in the right direction, but we still have a ways to go. >> dr. emmanuel, i'm curious. you were part of a group of folks that were parent of the covid transition team that said, look, there's got to be sort of a reboot, if you will, of what the covid federal response is. it turned out democratic governors and states are taking matters into their own hands. what would you like to hear from the president by march 1st? >> so, first of all, chuck, we're all for getting through covid. i'm like everyone else, totally fatigued of the isolation, the masking, improving indoor ventilation. i'd like to rip that mask off. but we also said in those series of articles we're not there yet. when up, as the commissioner said, 200,000-plus deaths -- cases, up 2,500 deaths per day,

which gets you very close to the number of deaths we have each year from cancer, we are far from the new normal. i think if we were a little more patient, another week, two, three weeks and get really far down, improving is not sufficiently low. and let me draw an analogy for your viewers. you know, denmark got rid of the restrictions indoor. last week on one day, 1% of the whole country tested positive. hospitals are overwhelmed. they have a higher death rate. and they've plateaued on their decline. what i'm really worried about is these states we're having very nice declines in number of cases and deaths are going to plateau. and that would be a problem. we've done this before where we prematurely stopped and then we saw a plateau and then an increase. we need to have a full-scale lowering of the number of cases even if it's less virulent, omicron is still persistent.

>> commissioner, i don't want to presume what happened in a meeting you may have had with the politicians, right, who are ultimately making these calls, but, you know, i assume you made the argument, hey, let's slow down here, we're close, is there a way to -- i know you want to do this, let's use some -- this metric or this metric. is there just fatigue among the politicians you're dealing with? >> so, a couple things i would say. first of all, the date we've put out is february 28th. and so that is still several weeks away, giving us some time to plan, some time to continue to see the trajectory in which our cases go. secondly, i think we are looking to target this date because it's after much of the holidays when kids might be going away presidents' day weekend and hopefully have an opportunity to, again, see cases come down. third, we're working to help

screen people and keep kids out who may be affected symptomatically should schools choose to go to mask choice. i think we have a number of different optics in place to optimize the situation as best as possible. as dr. emanuel said, we do have a ways to go, we are trying to give people caution, and, you know, schools do are have the option to keep the masks on a few weeks longer should they choose to want to. >> zeke, is it too much to ask the federal government to basically do this, which is in a regional way and say, okay, look, we're not mandating anything, but, boy, this is just the same way the weather person says you probably ought to bring an umbrella today, hey, this week it's a mask week. we're not telling you you have to, but this week it's a mask week because the numbers are up. why has that been -- is that asking too much? why can't we have a forecast like that? hey, in the southeast it's here, in the northeast it's here.

why not? why has that been difficult? >> chuck, you're 100% right. that's what we do need. we need a set of metrics, and they have to be simple. are hospitals being overwhelmed and are deaths too high, and then we'll look at them, and then are we coming down or going up. if we look at these metrics, those metrics apply to the country, they apply to states and to localities. and i think one of the things we have to do is say here's what we're looking at, here's our three-element dashboard and when these numbers come below these thresholds, we can ease up getting rid of the mask outdoors and indoors. we also have to put in some safe guards, i think, behind the scenes that people don't have to take initiative on. for example, improving indoor air quality can help a lot so people don't have to mask. if we knew everywhere that the indoor air quality was really good at getting out viruses or every room had a hepa filter,

that would change i think our attitude a lot. if we had a good therapeutic, another thing we need, a good therapeutic that's a multidrug cocktail so you don't get viral resistance, that would also ease people. so if you got an infection with the virus, you wouldn't actually be hospitalized and risk that. those are the kinds of things we need in place to really get past the current situation and get to a normal. >> commissioner, let me ask a very selfless question this way. itch not gotten covid. i don't want to risk long covid. i'm well vaccinated and boosted. i know it's not going to kill me. but i've enjoyed not getting the flu either. i'm going to make a personal decision, i think in flu season i'll wear a mask in crowded places. is there a way to get that kind of public health guidance? if you're vaccinated, it won't kill you, but if you're worried about long covid, you should wear a mask in these circumstances.

so, let me ask you, where would you wear a mas and in what circumstances? >> your question is right on target in the sense of what i'm trying to help people understand is that we're hoping, can't say for sure, but hoping that covid will take the traditional pattern that respiratory viruses do, which is that they start surging in the early or late fall and last with us through the winter, particularly in the northeast. we know that that has been the case consistently. and so we ramp up and ramp down our interventions with that seasonal variation. now, delta threw us a curveball last summer where we had a surge in a time period we weren't expecting it. however, as more and more of our society is immunized either through vaccination or vaccination and infection, and we've had more and more immunity built up, what i'm hoping is that we will end up in a pattern that fall and winter is where we see covid along with other

respiratory viruses surge. and so then people can say, you know what, maybe i'm not going to take all these restrictions in the same way during the good months and i can look forward to that. but if i don't have a big problem wearing a mask and decide to slap it on before i go out into indoor public settings and it makes viruses, then why not? so this is where the issue of accountability comes forward. and i think there are some that are going to take that more seriously than others. >> zeke, really quick, is the federal government out of the vaccine mandate business because of the politics of it at this point? >> oh i think that is probably true. i mean, if they haven't instituted a mandate for air travel, they're not -- don't seem to be rushing to institute a mandate for other employers. that's probably true. the other place that could come into the mandate world are school districts for students to start school, and i think

that'll probably depend upon the fda actually proving vaccine for children. but that would be very help to feel reduce -- to make sure schools are as safe as possible for students as well as for the teachers and staff. and that's someplace i think if i were running a school district, that's something i would do. >> yeah. i'll be very, very curious in the fall of '22 how many states and school districts will mandate the covid vaccine if it is fully approved. that will be fascinating to watch. dr. juthani from connecticut, dr. zeke emanuel, thanks for being here. >> thanks for having me. >> mike memoli and cal perry reporting from the ground. still to come, while continuing to insist they're not escalating tensions, russia launches massive provocative military exercises with their close ally, belarus, which is stoking tensions on the border of ukraine. it's just one of the ways that vladimir putin is holding the world hostage. and later, the nfl's race problem, the league again says it's not doing enough and again

says it needs to do better. will this time be any different? will this time be any different? hey, bud. thanks for coming out to cheer me on. dad, i'm -- i'm always here. i'm al here for you, too. okay. go, dad. [ chuckles ] thanks. no, everyone's passing you in the race. oh. you got it, coach! switch to progressive, and you can save hundreds. you know, like the sign says. [ sighs ] this is the sound of nature breathing. and this is the sound of better breathing. fasenra is a different kind of asthma medication. it's not a steroid or inhaler. fasenra is an add-on treatment for asthma driven by eosinophils. it's one maintenance dose every 8 weeks. it helps prevent asthma attacks, improve breathing,

and lower use of oral steroids. nearly 7 out of 10 adults with asthma may have elevated eosinophils. fasenra is designed to target and remove them. fasenra is not a rescue medication or for other eosinophilic conditions. fasenra may cause allergic reactions. get help right away if you have swelling of your face, mouth, and tongue, or trouble breathing. don't stop your asthma treatments unless your doctor tells you to. tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection or your asthma worsens. headache and sore throat may occur. this is the sound of fasenra. ask your doctor about fasenra. inner voice (furniture maker): i'm constantly nodding... ...because i know everything about furniture ...but with the business side... ...i'm feeling a little lost. quickbooks can help. an easy way to get paid, pay your staff, and know where your business stands. new business? no problem. success starts with intuit quickbooks. we're hoping things will pick up by q3. yeah...uhhh... [children laughing] doug? [ding] never settle with power e*trade.

it has easy-to-use tools and some of the lowest prices. get e*trade and start trading today.

both russia and ukraine are conducting military exercises. while the u.s. and nato allies continue to wait and anticipate vladimir putin's next move, this ongoing standoff and the frantic diplomatic effort indicate the russian leader is having on foreign policy of the u.s. and remains at odds over ukraine, the russians need cooperation on a potential nuclear deal with iran. the overwhelm general just warned a russian invasion of ukraine could create instability in the east, including in syria.

xi jinping met with putin last week. could he take his cue from russia regarding his next move on taiwan? gregory meeks is the chair of the foreign relations committee on the house side. he's led a recent bipartisan delegation to ukraine last no mo. congressman, you know, i remember president obama one time referring to putin as sort of a regional -- sort of a fading regional leader if you will. and we know that's his great fear, that he's not one of the great powers anymore, though he has a nuclear arsenal. but he is gumming up the works of american putting together a new foreign policy with a fit it to asia, working on the middle east. you tell me, how much is putin's antics right now holding off our ability to deal with other problems? >> well i think what putin is doing is actually uniting us so we're stronger together.

putin's actions have made us even closer in working with european allies and the e.u. and in nato. and in talking to our other allies in asia, other than china. we are talking in a consistent bases. before i visited kyiv, i stopped off in brussels just to have dialogue and conversation with them. they are more appreciative ha we are back at the table and working and negotiating with them than ever. so what i have found putin's actions, other than with china, but with democratic countries across the globe, it has united us. >> it's united us if he does the worst-case scenario. but where are we if he decides, oh, okay, i don't want to unite europe against me, maybe germany and france aren't going to be as interested in punishing me as

hard if i just continue to terrorize ukraine without trying to invade it. how do we manage that? >> i think as the president said, we hope that different si works and those things putin has said to president biden about its security interests, it can only take place if he removes his troops from the borders of ukraine. and i think that we will stay there in that area, which is the exact opposite of what putin wants in my belief. putin would love to divide the united states and france and germany and our baltic states, but that's not going to happen. we know that short term and long term we've got to keep our eyes on what's going on in regards to russia's aggression. at no point was the west the one that was aggressive against russia. it's russia aggressive against ukraine and some of the western

baltic countries. >> this brings me to the issue of sanctions. there's a multilayered question that i have for you. number one, should he be punished yet? should we be punishing putin for his actions already? he's essentially taken a country hostage. i know we haven't done that yet. but the second thing is, are you convinced that sanctions are effective anymore? >> i am if they are multilateral. got if it's the u.s. alone. that was policy of the past, administrations said it's america by ourselves, america alone. we don't need to listen to anyone else. but a multilateral sanctions, sanctions that would be absolutely critical and crushing is and can be successful. and that is the deterrent right now. that's why it needs to be

postinvasion, not pre. unlike from here, where we did not have the sanctions in line and we moved organized forward. russia would pay a -- if it decides to invade the ukraine. and we had a bill, both the senate and the house, that laid out some of these crushing sanctions that would be put in place that was not utilized in crimea previously. and it is united. that's what i think is really important because every person, every country that i talk to in brussels was locked in, the uk, locked in. >> but it has to be -- but it's reactive, not proactive yet. that's how you get everybody locked in. >> we say locked in because we've got a clear definition.

the president made the clear definition op what crosses the line. >> gotcha. >> and it is clear that, you know, if we have a diplomatic -- we're trying to put diplomacy first, and there's what i think that the biden administration, secretary blinken are doing perfectly, because we should always put diplomacy first. >> right. >> but we have something and ready should diplomacy not work, and what is proactive, the united states has given over $650 million of defensive military equipment to ukraine. now it may be up to $800,000 -- $800 million rather, because there was another 250 the president just sent up. so we are doing that offensively to give ukrainians what they need to protect themselves to make sure that the russians know that there still would be a price to pay if, in fact, they invade.

right now -- >> are we able to have a working relationship with russia in these iran negotiations? and two, if we got them back into the nuclear deal, would we be doing it in time before they develop the bomb? time is of the essence. i understand we are two or three weeks away from a decision on whether or not we get back -- or iran agrees to get back into the agreement. two to three weeks. >> okay. >> and i believe that thus far russia has been helpful in trying to convince iran to get back into the agreement because there's no question, if you talk to all of our partners, they will tell you we were much better off and iran was about 12 months away from getting the material that's necessary to produce a nuclear weapon, and

now they are weeks away. so therefore we had our eyes on what was taking place and now we don't. so, we were much better off in that imperfect agreement than we were not being in agreement at all. -- so and i think that, again, working collectively with our allies in the p5+1, that unity, that message is being give on the iran. but there's a new government now in iran, hard line, and so the decision is going to be theirs as to whether or not they're going to decide to give into -- or reenter the jcpoa. >> congressman greg meeks, chair of the house foreign relations committee, appreciate you coming on and sharing that perspective, particularly that update on iran. really does put -- president trump overruled all his advisers who said it would be a huge mistake to pull out of that agreement and we are seeing that mistake now. up next, new pessimism on

capitol hill as the latest round of the iran nuclear deal negotiations are under way. negotiations are under way you need to hire. i need indeed. indeed you do. indeed instant match instantly delivers quality candidates matching your job description. visit indeed.com/hire

my mental health was much better. my mind was in a good place. but my body was telling a different story. i felt all people saw were my uncontrolled movements. some mental health meds can cause tardive dyskinesia, or td, and it's unlikely to improve without treatment. ingrezza is a prescription medicine to treat adults

with td movements in the face and body. it's the only treatment for td that's one pill, once-daily, with or without food. ingrezza 80 mg is proven to reduce td movements in 7 out of 10 people. people taking ingrezza can stay on their current dose of most mental health meds. don't take ingrezza if you're allergic to any of its ingredients. ingrezza may cause serious side effects, including sleepiness. don't drive, operate heavy machinery, or do other dangerous activities until you know how ingrezza affects you. other serious side effects include potential heart rhythm problems and abnormal movements. it's nice people focus more on me. ask your doctor about ingrezza, #1 prescribed for td. learn how you could pay as little as zero dollars at ingrezza.com. welcome back. you heard it a moment ago, iran could be week ace way from the bomb. senators who attended a classified briefing late yesterday on iran's nuclear program walked out of the room seemingly despondent that a

nuclear iran couldn't be avoided. senator chris murphy called the meeting sobering and shocking. former secretary of defense for policy during the obama administration, michele flournoy. this is one of the reasons we wanted to get you on the show and get this topic out there, you know, with all of the other -- with ukraine and russia, i don't think people realized what was going on with iran. here they are, so let me ask you this. what are we negotiating with them now? are we begging them back in the agreement so we can get some eyes on what they're up to? >> we are in a really dangerous situation. you know, under the original iran agreement, we basically put time back on the clock. so we constrained the program, removed material, so iran would have needed more than a year to amass enough material for a single nuclear weapon. now once the trump administration abrogated the treaty and all the constraints came off, you have the breakout

time down to a matter of weeks, which is truly alarming. and so there is a real pressure to see if we can renegotiate our way back into some kind of agreement that would meaningfully constrain the program. and i think that's what the administration is trying to do in this latest round of talks. from what i'm hearing, there's some optimism that there might be a possible deal in the making. that said, you know, given iran's track record, it could all fall apart. we just don't know. >> michele, i mean, what's iran's incentive? why should i make a zeile again when the guy who ripped up the deal the last time could rip it up again in two years? i mean, are we even a good negotiating partner here? >> well, i think that they are looking for two main things. one is removal of as many of the sanctions as possible. remember, trump put in something

like 1,500 designations, different sanctions on iran for everything from nuclear issues to terrorism to other behaviors. iran wants all of that lifted. i don't think that will be acceptable to the biden administration, but they'll try to negotiate some compromise there. the key is for iran economically, they're in dire straits. they need access to international financial institutions and banks, and they need to be able to sell their energy supplies, their oil. and so that's what they're after. but the question is will they be willing to give up and reconstrain their program? that would mean stopping enrichment beyond the lowest possible levels, actually allowing for material to be removed and so forth. you're right, there's a credibility problem because trump broke the deal, and so there have been some discussions of could you put the material that's removed in some kind of

escrow like account, if you will, have it be held somewhere, as long as everybody's complying with the agreement if the treaty were -- or the agreement, it's not a treaty, were abrogated again. then the material would be returned. >> interesting. >> that's one idea being kicked around, because the truth is the biden administration can't promise that future administrations will abide by this. we don't have the bipartisan support to put this through the senate as a treaty, so they each got to think of some creative ways to reassure iran on this point, but also be able to constrain the program. >> what's our leverage over iran? on one hand, yes, we've limited their ability on their economy, and their comply is in dire straits. it didn't stop them from getting the bomb. i mean, it didn't stop them from getting to weeks away. so i'm trying to figure out, you know, what, okay, doing nothing has been a benefit to them, right. that's the struggle here.

doing nothing has been advantage, iran. how do we make doing nothing a disadvantage to them? >> so, i do think that the economic consequences of the sanctions and the pressure have been cumulative and compounding. and i do think they are in very dire straits. so i think they are very seriously interested in getting some relief from those. but the ultimate thing is that -- and president obama when he was negotiating the jcpoa in the first place made this very clear, ultimately, if you don't solve this at the negotiating table and iran crosses a line, you're going to have certain countries, whether israel or the united states or others, see this as something they have to deal with militarily, which would be horrible for region. you're also going to see other states like the gulf states think, wow, if iran has a nuclear weapon, they've attacked me with drones and missiles, do i need to get a nuclear weapon? you can have a significant wave

of nuclear proliferation in the middle east, which would be, again, not in anybody's interests. >> i think we all know the country you're talking about that would be first in line to start that nuclear program in saudi arabia. thanks for your perspective. all right. you're watching "meet the press daily." all right. you're watching "meet the press you're watching "meet the press daily. versus 16 grams in ensure high protein. boost® high protein also has key nutrients for immune support. boost® high protein.

interests. interests. we're hoping things will pick up by q3. yeah...uhhh... [children laughing] doug? [ding] never settle with power e*trade. it has easy-to-use tools and some of the lowest prices. get e*trade and start trading today.

welcome back. the number you need to know is a simple one, 7.5%. this is the year-over-year increase in inflation from january 2021 to january 2022 according to new numbers released from the bureau of labor statistics. while many republicans are quick to pin this number on president biden's policies, we've seen the statements already, it's important to remember where we were as a country a year ago and why be careful of these numbers

until about april or may, because in january of 2021, this country was effectively shut down again. deaths from covid were at an all-time high with a seven-day average of more than 3,000 a day, the vaccine rollout had not yet begin, only elderly people were getting it, a lot of americans were stuck at home. so these numbers are kind of odd, right. some of the biggest drivers are all pandemic related -- used cars, gas, rental cars, hotel. some were priced super low a year ago trying to incentivize people to leave the house. the real place that 7.5% inflation growth could hurt the white house is in the senate in the near term because president biden needs west virginia senator and chief moderate joe manchin on board for any spending bill, and manchin says these numbers make him want to slam on the brakes even harder than perhaps a month ago. but i would wait till april or may and see what it is then

before you start running away and assuming inflation is totally out of control. coming up, just days before the super bowl and days after a class action lawsuit was filed alleging systemic racism in the nfl, commissioner roger goodell did acknowledge there's a problem. he has no idea how to fix it or so he says. so he says woman: i have moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. now, there's skyrizi. ♪ things are getting clearer ♪ ♪ yeah i feel free ♪ ♪ to bare my skin, yeah that's all me. ♪ ♪ nothing and me go hand in hand ♪ ♪ nothing on my skin that's my new plan. ♪ ♪ nothing is everything. ♪ woman: keep your skin clearer with skyrizi. most who achieved 90% clearer skin at 4 months had lasting clearance through 1 year.

in another study, most people had 90% clearer skin at 3 years. and skyrizi is 4 doses a year, after 2 starter doses. ♪ it's my moment so i just gotta say ♪ ♪ nothing is everything. ♪ skyrizi may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. before treatment, your doctor should check you for infections and tuberculosis. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms, such as fevers, sweats, chills, muscle aches, or coughs or if you plan to or recently received a vaccine. ♪ nothing is everything. ♪ woman: talk to your dermatologist about skyrizi. learn how abbvie could help you save.

before you go there, or there... start here. walgreens makes it easy to stay protected wherever you go. schedule your free covid-19 booster today.

welcome back. we're just a few days away from the super bowl, and that means it's one of the only times each year we get to hear from the commissioner of the nfl, and when asked about the discrimination suit, the commissioner had no answer as to why the league fails to hire more coaches of color. >> we have to do a better job. we have to look, is there another thing we can do to attract that best talent and make the league inclusive. if i had the answer i would give it to you and implement it, and what we have to do is continue and find it and look and step back and say we're not doing a good enough job here, we need to find better solutions and better outcomes. >> joining me now with perspective is howard, and the media ought to give goodell a

raise, because we sat there yesterday and fell on his swaurd sword. he can't bring himself to say i think the league wants to diversify, meaning the people in new york. it's the owners that don't. we can't bring himself to say it, can he? >> no, he can't. it's not his job to say it. his job is to protect the owners, he works for them. i think one of the things you see with this story -- we're here every year, and we will be doing this again next year. >> he, himself, acknowledged this. he said it's the same first question i got a year ago. i thought, man, at least you are somewhat self aware, i'll give you that. >> yeah, what we have here, it just kills me that they treat this as the most vexing and complicated difficult question known to man, why we're doing

everything. they don't want to hire black coaches, it's simple. the owners that run this game, their individual teams, they don't want to hire black coaches. jim trotter, one of the reporters in the press conference yesterday essentially said to goodell, almost half the league has never had a black coach. >> that was a great question. yeah. >> it's a great question. everyone is exhausted by this, and why are we making it seem like it's such a difficult -- we need to dig deep and find solutions. we're not talking about cancer here. i am not asking why we can't solve pancreatic cancer, and i think when you look at the league as a whole and you look at where they are in terms of the scandals they are facing now, and the race norming discovery, they don't want you hear, you are a horse and you

are here to play football. the problem that the nfl has is something similar to what the nba has, and it's really an nfl specific question, is the idea that is 70% black league is going to automatically translate to front office opportunities. it just doesn't. there are plenty of businesses where the workforce is not reflected in upper management. >> right. this is a case, and i'm curious, do we need the players to speak up? i would argue the nba players -- i think there would be a revolt, and i don't see that in the nfl, and some of it is the players don't have as strong of a union, that's one, or is an answer we need a person of color in that ownership meeting. >> what is that guy going to do, he will be a billionaire first

and black second. i feel bad for the brian floress where you have another black professional that has to sacrifice his career that goes far beyond him, and the nba is as close to partership, and the nfl is as far away. every black player in the league, you are brian flores. at some point if you want to have a future in the game when you are done running fast and hitting guys, coaching is where you will want to be and if that job is not available to you, you are finished. >> howard, i would argue that black parents did take matters into their own hands and the coaching staffs at major colleges, they made it clear

that they want their kids not only working for white coaches. >> yeah, colleges in ncaa, they are horrible and you call that progress. >> my point is, at least you saw a pressure. >> yeah. and pressure is always what it takes. yes, it is something that you want pat maholms to do or odell beckham jr. to do? you don't want them to be in that situation but they are in that situation, and they are the ones people respond to. if these players don't do something, they are the visible ones. >> yeah, the players are the ones that will want these coaching jobs tomorrow and i think they want to have that opportunity, too. howard bryant, always good to have your perspective. >> you can watch the super bowl on your local nbc, and that does

it for us, and msnbc coverage continues with katy tur after this break. continues with katy tur after continues wdoug blowsur after several different whistles. [a vulture squawks.] there he is. only pay for what you need. ♪liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty♪ first psoriasis, then psoriatic arthritis. it was really holding me back. standing up... ...even walking was tough. my joints hurt. i was afraid things were going to get worse. i was always hiding, and that's just not me. not being there for my family, that hurt. woooo! i had to do something. i started cosentyx®. i'm feeling good. watch me.

cosentyx helps people with psoriatic arthritis move, look, and feel better. it targets more than just joint pain and treats the multiple symptoms like joint swelling and tenderness, back pain, helps clear skin and helps stop further joint damage. don't use if you're allergic to cosentyx. before starting, get checked for tuberculosis. an increased risk of infections—some serious —and the lowered ability to fight them may occur. tell your doctor about an infection or symptoms or if you've had a vaccine or plan to. tell your doctor if your crohn's disease symptoms develop or worsen. serious allergic reactions may occur. it's good to be moving on. watch me. move, look, and feel better. ask your rheumatologist about cosentyx. i'm mark and i live in movvero beach, florida.tter. my wife and i have three children. ruthann and i like to hike. we eat healthy. we exercise. i noticed i wasn't as sharp as i used to be. my wife introduced me to prevagen and so i said "yeah, i'll try it out." i noticed that i felt sharper, i felt like i was able to respond to things quicker. and i thought, yeah, it works for me.

prevagen. healthier brain. better life.

good to be with you. i am katy tur. there are a whole lot of new headlines this afternoon around trump and the potential mishandling of white house records, including questions about whether the former president broke federal