if it's monday rgs the secretaries of state and defense meet with president zelenskyy in kyiv vowing more aid and the return of american diplomats as the u.s. faces questions about its objective to weaken russia. plus lawmakers return to the hill where they face questions about the fate of president biden's stalled domestic agenda we'll talk to a top democrat as the president begins a busy week tackling covid funding and the fact of title 42. and trump's election lies take center stage in the first republican debate in georgia's governors race. as the former president rallies supporters in ohio. we have the latest on what it means for republicans and for

the midterms ahead. welcome to "meet the press dally." for the first time since the war this ukraine began, two biden administration officials have set foot in kyiv. secretary of state antony blinken and defense secretary lloyd austin met with president zelenskyy over the weekend in ukraine's capital city pledging military aid and diplomatic support. that includes reopening the u.s. embassy in kyiv and the the nomination of a new u.s. ambassador. this morning from poland, secretaries blinken and austin spoke to reporters about their visit and their assessment of the conflict. >> we're seeing that when it comes to russia, russia is failing. ukraine is succeeding. russia has sought as its

principle lane to totally sub jet indicate ukraine to take away its independence. that has failed. >> what those comments suggest about the u.s.'s wartime policy a major question as defense secretary austin spoke about the administrative's objectives. >> honestly, ukraine remain a sovereign country, democratic country able to protect its sovereign territory. we want to see russia weakened to the degree that it did do the kinds of things that it has done in invading ukraine. so it is already lost a lot of military capability and a lot of its troops, quite frankly. and we want to see them not have the capability to very quickly reproduce that capability. >> meanwhile, russia continues its offensive in eastern ukraine and has targeted several railway

stations in central and western ukraine as well. in the south, the associated press is reporting that russian forces continued to attack that steel plant in mariupol, where troops as well as civilians are holed up. despite the promise for a cease-fire to allow those civilians to evacuate. for more on all this, i'm join ed by josh letterman at the white house, matt bradley and i'm also joined by are tired general steph twit y, the former commander of the european command and now an nbc news military analyst. so josh, i'll start with you. what's the white house saying so far about secretaries blinken and austin's meeting in kyiv? and does this press a possible visit by president biden or what happens next? >> we're hearing from president biden, who said that the meeting went well. he says he spoke with both blinken and austin as they were on their way to poland as they were preparing to go into ukraine. he's expected to get briefed by

them now that austin is on his way to germany where he's doing other meetings and blink is now back in the united states. but the real point of this trip was to make the trup. so by that standard, they feel they got in and got out safely. they got the headlines they wanted to which is a strong show of support for the ukraiians. as far as biden potentially visiting, he has made clear he wants to go as soon as possible. he obviously visited many times as a senator and vice president. as of now shs the white house does not feel like the security situation on the ground there makes that possible, but it's certainly something that president biden hopes to do as soon as possible. and speaking to the fact that the security is improving, the u.s. denouncing this visit by blinken and austin that they are returning diplomats to ukraine for the fist time since they had to pull them out many weeks ago and ultimately within the coming weeks hope to reopen the embassy

in kyiv as well. >> we haeshd the secretaries describe their trip in by train from polan that's not typically how the president of the united states rolls. how big of a deal is it to now get this new nominee to be the ambassador of ukraine? what do we know about what this says the u.s. believes the state of the war really is right now. >> it is a big deal. it's been a priority for the ukrainians as well. and it's been something of a diplomatic black eye for the united states that it has had no ambassador sitting in ukraine or even working on the ukraine issue since the crisis started. this hasn't been a senate confirmed full-time u.s. ambassador in ukraine since 2019 when former president trump fired the ambassador. that was a glaring absence as the ukraine war emerged as the top global crisis that the u.s.

and other countries were facing. so now being nominated this this position has the benefit of being senate confirmed before. she's now the ambassador to slovakia. she's season with deep experience in eastern europe and working on former soviet union states, so she is likely to face a fairly easy road to confirmation given she's been confirmed before and both parties really agree it's important to have an experienced ambassador serving on the ukraine portfolio during this time of war. >> matt brad lee, before this visit, president zelenskyy told reporters americans better the not show up empty handed. are ukrainians satisfied by this visit? and give us the lay of the land of what's on the ground there over this weekend. >> we heard from president zelenskyy, even before that visit started, he finally kind of changed his tune.

you remember the most of this war he's been going all around the world appearing by video in front of parliaments from japan and south korea, to latin america, begging, asking, scolding foreign dignitaries for not providing enough weapons and material for the ukraines. now really for the first time since this whole thing came off, he said he's satisfied. he says he like what is he sees. there's a number and ferocity, the lethalness of the weapons coming from the united states and other european partners. we just heard just now from the defense minister of ukraine. he was saying that the number of weapons and the amount of weapons has improved buzz ukrainians have shown they are winning this fight. so this visit and the numb of weapons and strength of the weapons really does show that there's confidence from the west it's not just helping in the

fight. it's helping them in their diplomatic efforts as well. all of this coming as you mentioned, you were asking about what else is happening this weekend. there's a blitzkrieg across the country by the russians attacking essentially military production facilities, fwas and oil facilities and railway facilities. as you mentioned earlier, it was by train that those two u.s. officials came in. so they were hitting these railway facilities around the country. essentially saying you're not safe. this seemed to be not toward the cabinet members. also basically saying that when you're bringing weapons in, train is the the best way to get them across the country because the sies so dangerous. they can put the weapons transfers on notice as well. getting those weapons from central europe from the border with poland all the way as cross the country to where i am, that is a logistical nightmare. it is a major part of those weapons journeys.

even beyond just bringing all the way from the states and elsewhere in western europe. so hitting those railway facilities can really knock down the conference of the ukrainian government when it comes to bringing those weapons towards the fight is. but so far, we have bye-bye wait been waiting and waiting for this new offensive to start. we hear it's going to be so ferocious it's going to turn a new page in the war and make an effort to try to destroy the ukrainian military. so far all we have been seeing is shelling along the line of control and eastern front here. we haven't seen a massive ground offensive and we certainly haven't seen any substantial new territory being taken by the russians other than other than just a couple villages. you mentioned easter, a big holiday here. a lot of ukrainians note there's been no reprieve by the russians. even throughout easter. even by their co-religionists.

so for a lot of people that's just sad that the easter sunday was marred by war. >> we're going to come back to this topic of railway stations in the next block. but i want to get to you. secretary austin said we want to see russia weaken that it can't to these kinds of things like invading ukraine in the future. is that the right u.s. policy and it actually a different u.s. policy or is he just stay saving out loud something that's been the goal for awhile. >> it is absolutely correct. we need to weaken them. but we have to understand there's a larger insight at play here with the russians. what will stop the russians if they are successful in ukraine from going on to moldova.

you have to think about the bathic stake states. i'm sure they are sighing relief that we are bringing back our diplomats and so forth. so estonia, latvia, lithuania, those particular countries, what's going to stop them from crossing the border to attack those particular countries. so we need to weaken the russians to ensure that they cannot attack their neighbors, such as what they have done with ukraine. so i totally agree with secretary austin that he definitely had brought the right word to the front. now what i will tell you for those of us that have been in uniform, such as myself, we have always thought about how do we go about weakening russia on the world stage. so to be able to talk about it now, particularly that we see that the ukraines are winning this fight, i think it was the appropriate time to address it. >> you talk about the ukraiians

winning this fight now. one of the things that came out of this weekend, we had secretary blinken say russia had already failed to take kyiv. their original goals were shot. talk us through how we get from if you agree with that assessment. russia failing to ukraine succeeding. those are not necessarily the same things on the battlefield. >> that's correct. if you take a look at where we are today, president putin has said that by 9 may he wants a victory. so we have about 14 days to 9 may and there's been no strategic victory by the russians thus far. in my view, there will not be a strategic victory by the russians. they are trying to claim mariupol as a victory. it is not. we still have ukrainian forces in there fighting. and they haven't been rooted out in the steel plant yet. so it ain't over until it's over. in this case, the ukrainians still are holding on to mariupol

as well. we take a lock at what they are trying to do in the east, i am a skeptic on whether you're going to see this massive fight that we talked about. you must remember over the past couple weeks, the russians have been plagued with either leadership problems, moral problems, will problems, soldiers don't understand what they are fighting for, and so that's not going to change in a couple weeks here. so we're going to see those problems. and then the last thing i will tell you is the russians are fighting on three ax cease right now. so for them to be able to mask their combat power and to be able to hit the ukrainians at this point with long range fires, and integrate their navy and air force in with the ground forces, i just don't see that happening the way they were on the battlefield. so this is going to take a long

time but i don't see it happening before may 9th with a victory by the vugss. >> that kind of integration you're talking about definitely lacking from the first phase of this campaign. we heard so many analysts talk about it. thank you both. still ahead, once a government official now fight. ukraine's former infrastructure minister joins me next on the fight to defend his country as the u.s. promises still more military aid. and we're following breaking news. a new york judge is holder a former president in contempt for not complying with a subpoena to produce documents. it could cost him $10,000 a day. details, ahead. you're watching "meet the press daily." eet the press daily.

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opportunity to talk to average ukraines. we saw people on the streets of kyiv. evidence of the fact that the battle for kyiv was won. and there is what looks from the surface at least to be normal life in kyiv. but that's in stark contrast to what's going on in other parts of ukraine. >> welcome back. that assessment comes from tony blinken. as the u.s. reprepares to reopen its embassy in kyiv, which we noted at the stop of the show. with life outside of the capital city is drastically different with russia continuing its assault on major cities. joining me now is ukraine's former minister of infrastructure, who enlisted when the war began. thank you for joining us. i want to ask you about something we were discussing in our last block here. this idea that russia seems to be targeting the railway stations. the rail infrastructure, how concerning is that to you? how much does that affect the ability to fight back?

>> good afternoon, the pleasure is mine. thank you for inviting me to your show today. yaush is focused on that. 90% of the military supplies comes with railway. i hope they will be sanctioned and banned from the western of many other things they enjoy. but taking into account the situation in ukraine, it's very simple. it's hitting us, but i believe it was a clear message to the united states that the next time you come to ukraine, we are going to -- to have isolated and fully occupied as the same thing with eastern ukraine. but. >> it will never happen. this seems to cut both ways there was reporting over the weekend that in a lead up to the

invasion, there was railway workers, hackers, dissidents in belarus disrupting the railway lines between russia and ukraine, potentially slowing down the invasion on that front. any reaction to that reporting? does that track with what you have seen? >> yes, it's true. and we have informal contacts with those colleagues and they do what they can. it's a challenging situation for them because as well as ukrainians are killed by russians in ukraine, the same in belarus as we call them. >> the fight seems to have moved away from kyiv and into the suburbs now. what is life like in the city

right now? do you expect to see more fighting in that area before this is all said and done? >> life is very different than it was three weeks ago. when i came back, it was because even surprised life changed so dramatically in such a short period of time. but russia keeps the main idea to hit our forces in eastern ukraine and then try to capture it once again. so right now, our main focus is on the east and north of ukraine. >> what's your assessment of the weapons and the supplies that have been coming into ukraine? do you have a sense of whether or not the country has what you need to fight the war now? and what you'll need to win the war ultimately? >> i will answer you as a military personnel.

we are grateful to all support by u.s. nation and u.s. president. it was highly impossible to find russia because they fight with numbers. and for us, this system you provide to ukraine is, i would say, saving ukraine right now. but definitely we need more. because we are fighting a big army. and we do understand that russia is trying to turn this war in europe into world wariii. we need to stop them in ukraine. not give them a chance to go further. >> is there a difference between the weapons that you need to not lose this war, i'm talking about the air defense systems that we have heard so much discussion about, and the things that you might need to win it rs to push russia all the way back out of

ukrainian territory if that becomes the goal? >> this war is very much different than we used to have in the past. right now, if we the to win and if we want to make russia lose, which is not the same thing, with need air defense. and we need aircraft. even we see clearly it's very difficult to get people out of the city and make the city free of russia. it's only possible with sophisticate canned military aircraft. >> former infrastructure minister in kyiv, thank you for coming on. stay safe. we have some breaking news now out of new york. a judge has found former president trump in contempt in the civil case over his business dealings. the judge found that trump either didn't hand over documents that new york attorney general requested or that he

didn't conduct a sufficient search for them. tom winner has the late hst on this. break it town for us. why is this judge holding trump in contempt and what kind of impact is this going to have on it? >> the judge making this decision of after the attorney general came forward earlier this month and said and as you pointed out that essentially here the trump organization or the former president himself did not conduct the search that they deemed to be sufficient for documents or did not turn over documents that were previously ordered to be handed over as part of this civil investigation being conducted by the attorney general's office and the judge came to the conclusion that the attorney general's office did, which is that the president has not lived up to his legal obligations and as a result will have to pay $10,000 in court fines to the court for each day that he is not in copliance with this order.

so that's where things go from here. this does not appear to have an immediate impact on the criminal investigation which has had no investigative steps take since the end of last year and have stalled out. although the district attorney in manhattan, who is primaily conducting that investigation, along with a couple members of the a.g.'s office remains ongoing. >> is this the kind of thing that the former president could appeal or counter sue? he likes to tie these things up with more litigation or his options pay or comply. >> he could appeal this. i know that doesn't make a lot of sense, but it is possible that the president could appeal this. however, if in fact it's found out that after the appeals process is gone through, that he was not in contempt, then perhaps these fines could be retroactive. that's one of the things we're trying to figure out. whether or not this is retroactive to the day he was supposed to hand over the

documents or going forward. i'm cheating and looking at my phone. but somebody i just reached out to just text me and said that they were seeking clearification as well. so that's something we'll need to follow up on. >> i know this is all happening in realtime. forgive me one more question. does this mean anything for the other targets, other folk who is might have been swept up in these investigations? is this the kind of decision that might put pressure on other people who are holding back on their disclosures with? >> good question. this is focused on the president himself. fpz and so this is kwarly focused on the president and his specific legal obligations this the court has determined he must live up to. so it's not going to go out any further than this. they may serve notice to anybody else who is thinking of not complying with the judicial order that the judge overseeing this litigation that ruled the

president himself must be deposed along with his daughter and one of his sons that this judge is clearly willing to impose contempt of court fines and pents. >> tom, thank you. up next, a top progressive democrat joins us as senator warren warns the party that time is warning out to deliver for voters ahead of the midterms. you're watching "meet the press daily." daily. and i feel like i can do anything. we've been coming here, since 1868. there's a lot of cushy desk jobs out there, but this is my happy place. there are millions of ways to make the most of your land. learn more at deere.com does daily stress leave you feeling out of sync? new dove men stress-relief body wash... with a plant-based adaptogen, helps alleviate stress on skin. so you can get back in sync.

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at wayfair.com. ♪ wayfair you've got just what i need ♪ welcome back. turning to the congress, it's set to meet with members of the caucus soed today. it's the latest development in a public fight between the president and some members of his party on the issues of immigration, in recent days, voiced their opposition to lift title 42 as border officials warn they don't have the resources in place to address an expectant. the president will be heavily engaged with lawmakers this week on that issue in addition to handling you are jnt agenda items like covid funding and ukraine aid. joining me is california

democratic congressman, the deputy whip in the progressive caucus. so congressman, let's start at the border. the president is talking with the caucus today about immigration. what to you hope comes out of that meeting and would you be okay if away comes out is an extension of title 42? >> i would not. the president made the correct decision. he's overturning the policy. let's be clear what this policy is. it stays you can't come to this country and have basic due process. that's not kinlt with our ideals. i'm open to providing more resources for border enforcement if the president wants to come to congress and say we need more resources to have processing of cases, that's fine. but we owe people due process. >> it may have been steven miller's poicy, but if you have warnock saying this is not the right time and we vice president seen a detailed plan on this, that's nobody's hard core

conservative, the ref lend senator warnock. what do you make of the challenge of guesting this tone? >> i guess the question is when is the right time? title 42 was a policy that was designed to prevent covid spread. it can't be a band-aid to immigration policy. the reality is that we need to have due process in this country. if we want to talk about how we secure the border, enforce better, let's do that. and the president should propose something to congress and let's get 60 senators and congress to strengthen border security. >> you're talking about passing legislation. i love that topic. i want to play for you something elizabeth warren said yesterday. take a listen. >> we have nearly 200 days left between now and the election. and there are families who are trying to make the decision at the checkout line which

groceries to send back because they can't afford them. democrats ran and always run on trying to make government work for working people. fpz we've got nearly 200 days left. that's what we need to put our energy on. >> the senator said democrats need to deliver more by november to have a case to make the voters in the midterms. it sounds like you would agree with that assessment. >> absolutely. i was back home and i met a teacher outside a grocery store. he said he's had three eggs every morning and now he's only having two eggs. this is something that's hurting working class families even in districts like mine. we need to deliver. there are a few things we can do right away. the president should forgive student loans. that is such an obvious policy. we like to have a tax on the big oil companies in providing a a check from that revenue to working and middle-class families. that's two things that would provide immediate releet. >> what do you say to those who

worry about the student loan forgiveness program that that would lead to pouring more money into the economy at a time when inflation voters keep saying is one of, if not their top concern. >> i don't think it would be inflationary because the students aren't paying it back right now any way. this would be formalizing they don't have to live with this debt. to the extent there is an inflationary impact, raise tax on billionaires and that would offset the cost. that's another policy the president should do. people aren't paying their fair share. they want to see they see the billionaires taxed appropriately. >> raising taxes on the wealthiest is not been as easy as democrats would like. you and i remember quite cincinnati na's opposition. now that congress is back, there's a lot more discussion about reviving some of that

agenda. joe manchin, the other part of that senate duo that has made this so complicated for democrats, want wants a bill that says tax reform, prescription drug reform, all of the above energy plan. is that the kind of thing that could potentially move in the timeframe we're talking about now? >> yeah, it's our only shot. we have to get 51 votes in the senate and senator manchin has been open to prescription drug reform, lowering the cost. he's been open to a moon shot on renewable energy. i understand that he wants some short-term increase in production and i think we have to discuss that to see if we can come up with a compromise that meets the needs of the moment. >> you only have about 12 legislative weeks i think left until the august recess. you can check my math if it's wrong. are you satisfied that leadership in both chambers feels the urgency sufficiently to get this done? before it's too late to matter for politically for democrats?

fbz. >> first, we're going to get the competes act through. not enough the voters are talking about it. it's putting $20 billion into ohio creating manufacturing construction jobs. we can tell the story of economic renewal. we can also get this climate bill to the president's desk then i think senator warren is right. there's a lot of things this president can do through executive order including capping some of the high costs on prescription drugs the president should take three to four bold actions that show the american public he's.com everything to lower prices. that was part of fdr's success. he took action, bold, persistent action. we need to be a government in motion addressing people's concerns. >> that's the prescription for 2022. i want to ask you about 2024. one of his top adviser says he's not ruling out a bid. do you think bernie sanders

should run in 2024 if president biden doesn't? and would you support him again? you were one of his national co-chairs. >> good for bernie. he's the most popular politician in the country. he is advocating policies that are popular. medicare for all, free public college, not having student loans. i would support him if he uns. that is his decision. and he said he would only run if the president does not run. >> we have an older generation of democrats who have been running is fair to say here. should perhaps a younger progressive from california like yourself consider running in 2024? is that something that would cross your mind if there's an open primary? >> absolutely not. i don't think 2024 is the year people are looking for that. there's a lot of instability right now. someone like senator sanders or other progressives would be great. and if the president runs, he would have my support. i do think the president needs

to act on some of these key progressive priorities. as a joking matter, i was saying to someone how many presidents do the baby boomers want? they have had a lot of them. we'll see. >> what are you gen x? i guess the go with roe signs go back in the basement for now. use that idea if it happens. thank you. >> great seeing you. coming up, georgia's governor's race takes place this year. why was the 2020 election the focus of last night's republican debate. you're watching "meet the press daily." u'yore watching "meet the press daily. e trails every weekend shinges doesn't care. i grow all my own vegetables shingles doesn't care. we've still got the best moves you've ever seen good for you, but shingles doesn't care. because 1 in 3 people will get shingles, you need protection. but, no matter how healthy you feel, your immune system declines as you age increasing your risk for getting shingles. so, what can protect you? shingrix protects.

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election. while trump was in ohio, his presence was felt in georgia during the first republican primary debate for governor there. that ended up being a lot about the last election. things got heated last night when trump-backed candidate david purdue called brian kemp a weak leader and accused him not fighting in the wake of the 2020 election. >> did you call a special session? did you stop the consent to decree? >> i didn't have anything to do with it. >> that's why you failed. >> you were on the primary ballot after the consent decree was signed. you never said a word about it. >> of course, i did. >> when we were riding on the bus when i was campaigning for you in the runoff -- >> you did not. >> did you ever ask me about having a special session? >> of course, i did. >> no, you did not. >> for hr on where the gop is ahead of the midterm, i'm joined by our man on the trump beat. so von, trump was at one of

these midterm events, and his presence was hanging over this event in georgia. what do you make of these two events in tandem and tell about the positioning going into the midterms? >> the fact that those rode on the campaign bus together is quite something to think about now. >> they won't again. >> that's for sure. >> we should expect one more debate out of georgia. but after last night, it made it clear that this is essentially going to be a real testament to donald trump's strength and the strength of the big lie within the republican paerd. you have brian kemp in georgia who certified to donald trump's chagrin the 2020 lx. now you have david purdue, who started off by the debate last night by saying this was a stolen election here. and what you are coming to in these next 30 days is not only the georgia race with its primary on may 24th, but you

have the ohio primary on may 3rd in which donald trump endorsed jd vance. you have the primary in pennsylvania where donald trump endorsed dr. oz.. what we're going to get to over the next 30 days is really an answer to the question of does donald trump still have that dynamic influence to sway voters to vote for his candidate. >> the thing that unites vance and dr. oz. is they are both the most famous people running in those races. -- it does suggest about his vetting and his process that he found himself backing just at that very surface level just other guys who are famous. does that tell us anything about how seriously he's diving into these races? >> this is the cast of characters that he wants around him. it's so much like any other television show. how you operate on washington, d.c. up on capitol hill is an extension of that here. i was talking with the gentleman

yesterday in ohio about the ohio senate race. he hadn't come up to make his decision in this race. he didn't quite trust vance. but then i asked about mike gibbons, who put $15 million of his own money into television ads as part of this campaign. i don't know much more about him other than he's a businessman and trump. so when these candidates and n these races put so much of their own stock in donald trump and makes an endorsement and you don't know anything besides that candidate besides the fact they like donald trump, it leads voters to throw up their hands and say why not go with vance. that's what donald trump is hoping in this case. >> and i know from following your reporting that the former president didn't mention kevin mccarthy on the stump and some of the trump voters you talked to said they didn't trust him. how do you see the dynamic playing out there between the man who would be speaker and the former president who probably controls his fate. >> there's not a single

individual who told me they trusted kevin mccarthy. just like there were quite a few folk who is said they didn't trust vance here. it speaks to, we talked about here, the grip in which donald trump still haze on this party. if anybody steps outside of those lines, despite this being the year of 2022, there's support around donald trump who will ultimately reject these individuals who they consider republicans and name only here. and that's where you get to these likes of brian kemp just how many of these republicans over the course of these next months are going to make more concerted effort about calling out donald trump being always right. mike gibbons, when i asked about trump endorsing vance, he goes, trump hasn't always made the right decisions about who he surrounded himself by. and it was brian kemp in that

debate in which he said that it's, weak leaders blame others for theirs losses. how many republicans are going to try to make or amount some sort of pushback to donald trump. if he's able to get some of these candidates across the finish line, dr. oz. j.d. vance, purdue, he's going to be holding that much more political capital heading into 2023. >> it's interesting to hear about gibbons. the thing i hear most often who those that want to criticize trump is to say he's just getting bad advice. this is the 2022 version of the he's just getting bad advice defense. thank you as always for your reporting. we're going to dig more into the mounting challenges facing both political parties with the panel just after the break. you're watching "meet the press daily." he break you're watching "meet the press daily. riders! let your queries be known. yeah, hi. instead of letting passengers

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welcome back. the struggle is real for both parties right now money many democrats are hoping to get anything done with their majority in congress to keep some of their promises and demonstrate their governing strength ahead of the mid terms. joining me is "boston globe" senior opinion writer and political analyst kiberly atkins store. she's such a good guest, she

qualifies as a panel all by herself. kimberly, what do you think about the messaging divide that democrats are dealing with here? do they need to get something major done by november or should they -- if they don't do they just need to pack it up and go home in august? >> i think it is really imperative. just consider the last election that was in the middle of a pandemic, it was 2020 and there were people who were really concerned about, you know, their schools, about the pandemic itself, about the economic impact of it, about justice and democracy. and so far democrats have tried to get something over the fin ush line on all of those things but they really haven't. and the infrastructure bill is really the clearest bit of good news and they haven't even messaged that well. so i think it is important to get something, whether it be on climate or something just to show, hey, we are listening, we know what the voters want and we are a better alternative to the republicans. the headwinds against the

democrats and so it's really up to them to -- while they have this power to do something with it. >> last week was interesting, one of the president's busiest travel weeks so far, out making three stops, really hammering on the infrastructure bill, trying to get out and sell it across the country. i'm curious what you made of row khanna's comments about the bernie 2024 memo? ats don't seem to want to talk about the next election at all with biden's numbers low, the president still saying he's going to run again. what do you make of the poll tux politics for the next election for the democrats? >> it's imperative. they're the incumbent party. it's unseemly to see how you're going to challenge the person who is already at the top. it would be a better idea for the democrats to come together and have a unified message as opposed to thinking about how one is going to challenge the other. in history we have seen this happen in the past but i don't

think it does -- it certainly doesn't do the president any favors and especially with the democrats, again with their inability to message well about what they have done over the past two years, it just creates another distraction that grabs headlines and makes it harder for them to speak in a unified way. >> one of the messages we are seeing in the mid terms are democrats running without really mentioning that they're democrats. i want to play an ad for you from the senate race in north carolina. >> looking at washington, i think both parties are doing the job wrong. instead of focusing on what people care about, they get caught up in political games. i'm cheri beasley. i approve this message. >> that's cheri beasley, the candidate for the leading senate seat that will be open for north carolina. what do you make of that strategy that talks on both houses strategy? >> especially in some states

like north carolina that are very important but in which democrats may not have done the job on the ground to really try to build that grass roots support that you've seen in other states like georgia or even texas, i don't -- it's surprising that you see candidates trying to run on their own, on their own ideas, on their own approach as opposed to being tied to a party that they think might end up dragging them down, especially in a year where this is the mid terms that generally go against the party in the white house. so they're facing those head winds i was talking about. i think you may be seeing a lot more of this. >> it is a fascinating dynamic to watch. thank you for being with us. >> thank you for watching this hour. chuck will be back tomorrow with more "meet the press daily." nbc coverage continues right after the break. c coverage contt after the break. only eggland's best. ♪♪

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good to be with you. i'm katy tur. it is day 61 of russia's war in union crane. russian missile strikes targeted five railway stations across ukraine earlier today including this one near lviv. according to one of the local governors, these attacks are part of a broader russian campaign to target ukraine's critical infrastructure. in kharkiv, shelling continued today after a brief moment of quiet on orthodox easter sunday.