instagram, and follow the show online. thank you for the privilege of your time. katy tur picks up with more news right now. good to be with you. i am katy tur. it's 11:00 a.m. eastern, 8:00 a.m. pacific, and right now we have our eyes on the white house. president biden was supposed to speak about 15 minutes ago, so we could probably hear from him any second now watching that podium. nbc news was the first to report that he will ask congress to fund a new supplemental aid package for ukraine intended to last for the next five months, and in the last 30 minutes that comes with a $33 billion price tag. it all comes as russian president vladimir putin warns of, quote, lightning fast retaliation against any countries that interfere in ukraine. and russia is ramping up its

attacks, and the ukrainian people remain determined. >> translator: our equipment is worst than theirs, he says, but the strength is not in the tank, the strength is in the people. and moderna just asked the fda to extend the vaccine to children 6 months to 5 years old. when can we start to see kids get vaccinated? and on capitol hill, the elephant in the room, or the gop caucus room, i should say, and the recordings of the leader from mccarthy having new tensions. let us start with the war in ukraine. joining me now is mike memoli who is at the white house and

the co director of foreign relations and international security programs at a kyiv-based think tank. we are waiting to hear from president biden. what will we hear? >> well, katy, obviously you mentioned the headline number in terms of what the request is he will send to congress, $33 billion for ukraine. that's a significant increase when you consider it was just about two months ago that congress authorized about $14 billion for ukraine. it's even more significant when you dive into the details of this request, because in that $14 billion that was passed in march, about 3.4 billion of that was for military assistance, and this represents a far greater percentage of what the president is seeking to keep weapons and ammunition flowing. we heard from the president just last week, in fact, about how

the supplies that we are now bringing and sharing with ukrainians really can't go out fast enough and the administration talked about efforts to speed up that delivery. and within the numbers, there's 500 million not going to ukraine, but for domestic food production here at home because of some of the ripple affects of what we are seeing in ukraine in terms of the global food supply the president is addressing here. what we expect to hear from the president, he will acknowledge that this is a significant funding request, a significant ask of the american people on behalf of the ukrainians, and he will make the point that the cost of failing to stand up the aggression in europe is far greater than failing to do so, and he will underline the fact that our nato partners will also offer a significant contribution as well. >> is he trying to ask for this alongside a covid funding bill?

>> yeah, the president will reiterate his request for $22 billion in covid relief funding and ask congress to work on both of these together, and it's tricky because title 42, there's a number of republicans to make sure the lifting of that immigration tied to the pandemic in order to prevent the administration from doing so and this will kick the football to the capitol and we will see if democrats and republicans can navigate the tricky politics and keep it together. >> $20 billion in military and other assistance, and 33 billion total for this aid. i am curious, lieutenant colonel, what will this mean and do for the ukrainians fighting off the russians? >> it's absolutely significant for ukraine not to fail, because

as you would see, the distribution of this financial package, it's not only assistance for ukraine but you see the different types of assistance and actually this is the fact of the -- the affect of this conflict, not just on ukraine but on the whole war especially with the energy security, and we can see the direct affect of the russian aggression against ukraine. but also you called mr. putin in the beginning, and support for ukraine is essential for another purpose, because currently the only way to stop the russian aggression is the ukrainian military and supporting the ukrainian military is to support avoiding the worst-case scenario, and it's the food

security and instability and democracy. >> what you are seeing is last-minute checks at the podium, and getting it all set to go before the president comes in. should be a few more minutes now, at the least. courtney kube, when you look at the bill, can you tell us what sort of military aid will be sent? >> we know there's $5 billion out of the massive 33 billion supplemental. 5 million is marked for drawdown authority. that's money that will specifically be providing weapons to ukraine. the u.s. has already spent more than $3.5 billion sending weapons and equipment to the ukrainian military. there's still a small amount of the previous presidential drawdown authority, and it's somewhere like $250 million. we should expect to hear the last of that used in the last week or so.

now another $5 billion. what the ukrainians continue to need is more ammunition, and it's not just for the small arms but for the artillery, and we have heard so much about artillery, and that's going to be the weapon that we see used in the fight for the donbas, and we will hear about more flowing not just from the u.s. but from the u.n., and we have heard about the howit surz. they are moving more in on a very freak and daily basis, katy. in addition to that the u.s. provided the ukrainians with the

counter radar, and when artillery is fired at them and the radar hones in on where it's fired from and can take out that artillery. it's moving very slowly. defense officials are saying it's literally a day-to-day back and forth between the ukrainians taking a little bit of ground, and the russians taking a little ground, and nobody is really owning this battle so far for the donbas, but at the same time the russians have put all of the power back into ukraine, so it could step up in the coming days and weeks, katy. >> we have matt bradley, and matt with the warning president biden might come out and i might need to interrupt you, and i am curious about what it's like on the ground there, and the eastern front and what the ukrainians are expecting? >> reporter: yeah, courtney just summed it all up, it's a gradual

fight in the donbas region, and that's not far from where i am now. it looks like the russians may have learned some lessons from their humiliating setbacks near the capital of kyiv where they withdrew several weeks ago. looks like they are not moving their army down single lines like they were. that shows that the russians are actually putting some of their, you know, failures to good use, learning lessons from them. but that doesn't mean that they are using that to win any ground. so far, as courtney was saying, they have not won anything really significant in the eastern donbas region, but they have been using quite a bit of artillery and that's why the u.s. and allies are bringing so

many long-range lethal weapons to fight the russians, and giving that to the ukrainians, and we will see that picking up a lot in the next few weeks and days, and the weapons will make their way all the way to where i am here on the extreme eastern end of the country. meanwhile, we have been watching what is going on in places where the russians have been occupying for weeks, and hair shawn, it's the only significant city that has been taken in any real way by the russians and actually occupied. now it looks like they will be introducing the rupple as a currency. that's something that we can look forward to if the russians start to take more major cities and more real ground in this country. but, again, i have to tell you, katy, this war is being fought

with the major casualties being civilians, and all not necessarily dying, and some being children, and their stories are heartbreaking. they look fine and act fine and they are smiling and playing, but the stories they tell show their childhoods have been made into casualties of war. here's one boy i spoke with here. what is it like being in the shelter? >> translator: i remember the smell in the shelter. i remember the white stuff on my face when the ceiling was falling down on me. >> reporter: when you scared when you saw the ceiling falling down on top of you. >> translator: i was never afraid. >> does it make you afraid when the adults are afraid? >> i feel afraid about the rockets and shelling. >> as you can see, this little boy comes from mariupol where he spent weeks and weeks underground waiting to be rescued. he's finally safe, and a lot of

his friends and other family members, their stories are just tragic, katy. >> it's awful to hear. matt, war crimes, there's intelligence suggesting that russians have fired on ukrainians who have surrendered. >> reporter: we have been seeing that time and time again, ukrainians who surrendered, and ukrainians who are driving in established convoys believing they are going to be spared the worst because they have been allowed to flee. cars that have been shot from behind, vehicles that have white flags hanging from them, or that have the word "children" written on them, and we see them battered with artillery fire, and blood splattered all over them, and this is a war where the russians are taking no prisoners. >> vladimir putin is talking about lightning-fast strikes against any country that threatens russia.

does the biden administration have an idea of exactly what he's talking about when he says threats? do they know where the line is? >> what they are hearing from the russian president from other senior russian officials, and throughout the process especially in the early days when there was talk about the nuclear posture of russia, and what we are also expecting to hear from the president today is further efforts beyond the military assistance, is to expand the president's executive authority as it relates to sanctions, to find other levers to pressure the government -- as we see there's the president. let's listen to him now. >> i just signed a request from congress for a critical economic assistance to help ukraine at a pivotal moment.

our eu partners and allies will pay their fair share, and we have to do our part as well in meeting the alliance. the cost of the fight is not cheap, and caving to the aggression will be more costly if we allow it to happen. we can stand by as the russians continue their atrocities and aggression in ukraine. every day the ukrainians are paying with their lives for this fight, and we are need to contribute the economic support to make their courage and sacrifice have purpose so they can continue this fight and do what they are doing. it's critical this funding gets approved and approved as quickly as possible. long before russia launches this brutal invasion, i made clear how the united states would respond, predicted they would invade and they surely did. we said we would not send u.s.

troops to fight russian troops in ukraine but we would provide robust military assistance and try to unify the western world against russia's aggression. i said i would impose powerful sanctions on russia and we would destroy this myth that somehow they could continue to move without the rest of the world, and we would deploy troops to protech the border, and that's what we said we would do and what we did. and the facts are plain for everybody to see. we are not attacking russia, and we are helping ukraine defend itself against russian aggression. and as putin launched this brutal invasion, he could make the choice to end this invasion. russia is the aggressor. no ifs, ands or buts about it.

and this is costing immense human costs. we have seen them leave behind horrifying evidence of their atrocities and war crimes in the areas they try to control, and we will continue to supply military assistance. there's a dinner this weekend to celebrate the press. think of what the american press has done. the courage it has taken to stay in the war zones. the courage it has taken to report every single day. i have always had respect for the press but i can't tell you how much i have watching -- watching them in these zones where they are under fire, risking their own lives to make sure the world hears the truth. imagine if we were not getting that information. it would be a different world. it would be a different circumstance. in the past two months, russia

launched a brutal attack and moved weapons and equipment to ukraine -- we've moved weapons and equipment to ukraine at record speed thanks to the aid we provided, russian forces have been forced to retreat from kyiv. doesn't mean they are not going to try and come back, but they retreated thus far. we sent thousands of helicopters, drones, machine guns, radar systems, rifles, more than 50 million rounds of ammunition. united states alone has provided ten anti-armour systems for every russian tank that is in ukraine. 10 to 1. we are providing ukraine significant timely intelligence to help them defend against the russian onslaught, and we are facilitating a significant flow of weapons and assistance to ukraine along with our allies and partners around the world, and that's moving with unprecedented speed.

much of the new equipment we announced in the past two months -- two weeks has already gotten to ukraine, where it can be put to direct use on the battlefield. however, we have almost exhausted the drawdown authority that congress authorized ukraine in a bipartisan spending bill last month, basically we are out of money, so that's why today in order to sustain ukraine as it continues to fight, i am sending congress a supplemental budget request. it's going to keep weapons and ammunition flowing without interruption to the brave ukrainian fighters and continue to deliver humanitarian assistance. this is going to help the needs of the ukrainian military in the weeks and months ahead. the security systems will continue to deter russian

aggression. this assistance will provide more artillery, armored vehicles, and anti-armour vehicles that have been used thus far by the ukrainian fighters, and food, water, medicine, shelter and other aid to ukrainians displaced by russia's war, and provide aid for those seeking refuge in other countries from ukraine. also it will help schools and hospitals open, and it will allow pensions to be paid to the ukrainian people so they have something in their pocket, and it will address food shortages around the globe. ukraine was one of the world's largest agriculture producers. typically it grows 10% of all the wheat shipped around the world. putin has asserted sanctions are blocking food from ukraine and russia getting on the market, the sanctions we have imposed on

russia, simply not true. putin's war, not sanctions, are impacting the harvest of food and disrupting the movement of that food by land and sea to nations around the globe that need it. this funding is going to help the rising food prices as home as well and abroad caused by russia's war in ukraine. it's going to help support american farmers produce more crops like wheat and oil seed, which is good for rural america and good for the american consumer and good for the world. and this supplemental request will use the defense production act to expand domestic production and reserve a critical material, materials like nickel and lithium that have been disrupted by putin's war in ukraine, and necessary to make everything from defense systems to automobiles. i hope congress will move on this funding quickly. i believe they will. i want to thank congress,

democrats and republicans, for their support for the people of ukraine. next week i will be in alabama to visit a plant that manufactures the javelin anti-tank missiles we have been sending to ukraine. their hard work has played a critical role, and they should know that we know it. in addition to the supplemental funding, i am also sending to congress a comprehensive package that will enhance our underlying effort to accommodate the russian al tkpwaurbgs.

the guys who are the clip talk raw sees. these are bad guys. to seize property linked to russia's clubtocracy. when the assets are sold off, funds can go directly to the harm russia caused and help rebuild ukraine. yesterday russia threatened two of our allies with a cutoff of energy supplies. while america has ended all russian fossil fuel imports because we are able to use our vast supply in our country, and some countries have faced more challenges, and russia has long claimed to be the supply source for the world, and their

customers will always be in shape, and these actions prove that it will be a weapon that we use to deploy against those that stand in the aggression. i want to be clear, we will not let russia intimidate or blackmail their way out of the sanctions, and we will not allow them to use the gas and oil as consequences for their aggression, and we are helping allies threatened by russia with gas blackmail with their energy needs and other ways. aggression will not win. threats will not win. this is just another reminder of the imperative for europe and the world to move more and more of our power needs to clean energy. in the united states, we're doing that right now. last year we developed more solar, wind and battery storage

than any year in our history, and powered 56 million american homes. we have our nuclear generation facilities, and we are just getting started. i look at this as a serious problem and also an enormous opportunity, an opportunity. bottom line, all of these actions we have been taking are about the truth, this truth, investing in ukraine's freedom and security is a small price to pay to punish russian aggression to lesson the risk of future conflicts. throughout our history, we learned when dictators do not pay the price for their aggression, they cause more chaos and more aggression, and they keep moving and the costs of threats to america and the world keep rising. we can't let this happen. our unity at home, and our unity with our allies and partners,

and our unity with the ukrainian people is sending an unmistakable message to putin, you will never succeed in dominating ukraine. finally, we will continue to deliver critical support to ukraine, and we also must not let down our guard in fighting covid at home, and i am asking congress to help the american people protect themselves from covid-19. the reason we were so successful in the past, i was able to order significant quantities ahead of time, getting to the front of line, and we can't preorder the amount of vaccines we need and we risk our spot in line for vaccines that target multiple variants. we are running out of the supply for therapeutics, like the

antiviral pills we need. and we are unable to purchase life-saving treatment for the american people. we donated more vaccines and treatments to the world than all the other nations in the world combined, and if the u.s. won't do it, nobody else will step up and do it. without additional funding the united states will not be able to stop the spread around the world and close off ongoing sources of the supply chain disruptions. look, let's get both of these critical tasks done, no delays, no excuses, just action now, now. thank you all. thank you. >> watch your head. you are going to get hurt. >> mr. president, i wanted to ask what your message is to ukrainian refugees on the southwest border and those trying to flee ukraine from the violence? >> we have made a direct means

by which they can get from europe, from ukraine, directly to the united states without going to the southern border. in the meantime, in the southern border we are trying to work through and make sure that there's an ordinarily process where they are able to get in. just so you know, there's no need to go to the southern border, and we set up a mechanism where they can come directly with a visa. >> the russian comments and the media is painting this conflict as a conflict between nato, the u.s. and russia, and they are painting it in the terms of nuclear weapons, et cetera, and it's already a proxy war, and so are those two things true and do they worry you, those things? >> they are not true, and they do concern me because it shows

the desperation of russia is feeling about their abject failure in being what they set out to do in the first instance. so i think it's more of a reflection, not of the truth but of their failure. so instead of saying that the ukrainians equipped with some capability to resist russian forces are doing this, they have got to say -- tell their people, the united states and all of nato is engaged in taking out russian troops and et cetera. number one, it's an excuse for their failure, and number two, it's also, if they really mean it, it's -- no one should be making idle comments about the use of nuclear weapons or the possibility they need to use that. it's irresponsible. >> mr. president, back on the border, title 42, a number of

your democratic friends are pressuring the white house to maintain that policy. can you give us a straight answer whether you are going to heed that request or get rid of it? >> i can give you a straight answer. we had proposed to eliminate that policy by the end of may. the court has said we can't so far, and what the court says we're going to do. the court could come along and say we cannot do that, and that's it. >> mr. president, would you say this is not a proxy war, but russia disagrees and they say war means war, so how concerned are you they may act accordingly even if you disagree? >> we are prepared for whatever they do. >> are you going to ensure poland has a sufficient supply of gas? >> as you know, poland has a

reserve amount, and we have worked with our allies from japan on to say we may divert our sale of the natural gas to those countries and divert it directly to poland and bulgaria, so you know, that's the best i can tell you right now. >> sir, how concerned are you about a recession given the gdp report showed -- >> i am not concerned about a recession. i mean, you are always concerned about a recession, but the gdp, you know, fell to 1.4%. here's the deal. also last quarter we had consumer spending and investment and residential investment increased for leisure and hard products, number one. number two, our unemployment is the lowest since 1970.

4.5 million businesses were created last year. we are in a situation where, you know, we have a very different view than senator scott, a republican, who wants to raise taxes on the middle class families and want to include half of small business owners in that, so i think that we're -- what you are seeing is enormous growth in the country that was affected by everything from covid and the covid blockages that occurred along the way. now, you always have to take a look, and nobody is predicting a recession now, and some are predicting there may be a recession in 2023. i am concerned about it, but i know one thing, that if our republican friends are interested in doing something about dealing with economic growth, they should help us continue to lower the deficit, which we have done last year with $350 billion.

they should be willing to work with us to have a tax code that is actually one that works and everybody pays their fair share, and they should be in a position where you shouldn't be raising taxes on middle class folks, you should be raising taxes on people who everybody acknowledges and the vast majority of the public is not paying their fair share. you have 15 major corporations that made $40 billion last year didn't pay a single penny. nobody under our proposal making under $4 million will see their taxes go up, not a penny. >> do you think the ukraine and covid packages should be sent up together? >> i don't care how they are sent up, as long as they are

both sent. >> can you confirm what you are looking planning to do -- >> you mean my spokesman said that? >> the white house leadership. >> number one, the first thing we did was reform the system that was in place that didn't work for everybody that allowed people to write-off debt if they engaged in public service. almost 785 -- don't hold me to the exact number, and i will get that number, and 7,000 have their debt forgiven for which they qualify, and we continue to make that easier. secondly, i am considering dealing with some debt reduction. i am not considering $50,000 debt reduction, but i am in the process of taking a hard look at whether or not there are -- there will be additional debt forgiveness and i will have an

answer on that in the next couple of weeks. >> how high are you looking? >> thank you. >> thank you. >> thank you, mr. president. president biden announcing that $33 billion supplemental aid fund for ukraine, also taking a bunch of questions from reporters, and one notable one about russia saying that threatening retaliation, and at one point if russia starts seeing this as not a proxy war but a war, and he said we are prepared for whatever they do. also, he spoke about oil and gas. russia has turned off the gas in poland and bulgaria and the president making the point that they are going to do everything they can to get other nations to get supplemental gas to get them off russian oil, and germany is

really worried about that country being next for russia to turn off the oil and gas there. and also saying, hey, listen, this is why we need to move toward clean energy, this is one of the big reasons you have to get off oil so you are not leveraged by foreign leaders. and back with me is mike memoli at the white house. >> i thought a couple things stood out. he detailed the funding request itself as i laid out ahead of time, saying it's a significant expenditure, and we have talked about some of the military spending in this $33 billion request. it was notable, i think some of the economic assistance he talked about essentially helping the ukrainian government continue to function and also building hospitals and dealing with some of the humanitarian issues. the question you asked me before the president walked out led to some of the most interesting exchanges with the reporters, and he talked about the rhetoric

coming from the russian side. we have seen a real emphasis by the biden administration doing everything they can to emphasize this is not the united states acting alone, but in concert with the entire western world. that's why we saw, for instance, secretary lloyd austin in germany with other defense ministers on the actions being taken, and it was notable to say he is concerned about the rhetoric coming from russia, and answering tersley about what the united states would do about it. and title 42, the president said it was his desire to end that program as it relates to the pandemic, and based on the court order, if the court prevents him from doing so he said they would comply. another issue that i know has been a very significant of interest to a number of

americans, forgiving student loan debt. and the president teasing about the majority leader, chuck schumer, who has been pressing the issue and calling him my spokesperson, and they are moving forward of restructuring the student loan programs and not just forgiveness of that. >> a lot of people want forgiveness straight up, and college costs have gotten inflated. is a vaccine for kids under five finally coming? what moderna just asked the fda for. e fda for.

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there's a better way to keep san francisco safe. recall chesa boudin now. this morning a bit of relief could be on the way for millions of parents of small kids. moderna has just asked the fda for emergency use authorization for its vaccine for children between 6 months and 5 years old. this would be the first time the shots are available for the very

young kids in that age group. the news comes as the cdc reports by february 3rd -- by february, excuse me, three out of every four kids has already contracted covid. joining me now is nbc news stephanie gosk, and walk us through this, and this is exciting for parents like me with young kids that can't get vaccinated, and who already had covid. >> a year and a half ago, the vaccine was approved for adults, and we still don't have a vaccine authorized for this age group, and now moderna says we got one, and the dose is two shots, and it's 25% of the dose given to adults. when you see the numbers, parents might question it a little bit. the younger part of the age group, the effectiveness of

preventing covid is 50%, and then 2 to 6-year-olds, and it drops down to 37%. the company says, yes, but it limits the severity of covid when you catch it, so that's an argument to get it. right now if you look at the 5 to 11-year-olds where they have an approved vaccine, an authorized vaccine, i should say, and less than 30% have two doses. you have to wonder how many parents would get it if it gets authorized? >> doctor, let's talk about that. as the cdc just said 3 out of 4 kids had covid, and my kids had covid, and we will start with the vaccine for the younger kids, is it actually worth it? >> what is interesting, katy, is when we look at the data it's promising, we see a robust antibody response on par with the 18 to 25s, and with the

elevated antibody response, we are thinking it would protect against severe outcomes. the goal of vaccination is to prevent severe outcomes but not symptomatic disease, and in that case it's very big news. >> let's be specific here. when we are looking at kids in general, they don't tend to have severe outcomes from covid and they have to have an underlying condition. when you are considering your own child, and everybody should talk to their own doctor, but what are you looking for if your own child that would make you say, listen, this is absolutely worth it, i do need to go and get my kid this shot? >> katy, i am a doctor and mom of kids in this age group, so it's a really important issue for me.

i will be first in line when -- as will many of my physician colleagues when this vaccine is authorized. we really moved into the individual decision-making phase of the pandemic, and the fda should approve this vaccine. >> when you talk to parents -- i know you have been doing this story for so long and you have spoke to parents who have gotten the vaccine for their kids and those who have not gotten the vaccine, and what you have heard from those who decided to hold off. >> it's a mix. i will talk about my own family. my sister has a baby and she's eager to get the vaccination from him, and others will say i am not that concerned about my child getting a severe case of covid. you also have right now the atmosphere in the country, and you have dr. anthony fauci saying the pandemic phase of this is over -- >> sort of walked that back a little bit.

>> he said not for the world but for the country we are in the closed phase, and everything is opening up. you see people kind of calibrating the risk and deciding whether or not they want their kids to get two shots or not, and pfizer is looking potentially to get authorization for a three-shot dose of the vaccine for this age group, and it's mixed. i think those numbers speak volumes that you have less than one-third of children ages 5 to 11 who are vaccinated, and that tells you where parents' mind-sets are right now. >> if you don't think the urgency is there for their kid because they don't feel there will be a severe outcome. i am curious, if i am looking at my child, what sort of things should i be watching out to say, hey, my kid might be the one who might have a severe outcome? >> so the american academy of

pediatrics put out a report several days ago to show the cases have risen over the past week 43% increase in cases. i believe as a physician and public health expert that every child should be vaccinated. we vaccinate against other illnesses to prevent severe outcomes, and the covid vaccine should be no different. they are for adults and kids alike. >> thank you. right now with major changes potentially coming at the southern border, homeland security secretary mayorkas is in front of the house judiciary, and what lawmakers wanted to know. wanted to know

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right now, homeland secretary -- security secretary alejandro mayorkas is being questioned by the house judiciary committee. yesterday, a federal judge blocked the biden administration from ending title 42, the policy established in the trump era to stop the covid spread, also to shut down the border. the administration planned to end it next month. a source familiar with the

matter tells nbc news that white house officials are discussing their next moves. you just heard president biden say that they are not going to try to override the judge. they will listen to the court ruling. garrett haake joins me with the latest. there's also a bipartisan huddle among democrats. tell me all about it. >> reporter: on the hearing front, mayorkas is on his second day of being grilled by two different house committees, primarily over title 42 and over the administration's immigration priorities more broadly. he has tried to defend the administration's response and set the table saying he understands the scope of the problem and the scope of how things could get worse if title 42 is ultimately removed. here is a little bit of what he told the committee just this morning. >> the number of individuals displaced from their home countries is greater now than it ever has been.

we are working in response to a regional challenge with a regional solution, working with our partner countries throughout the region. >> reporter: the administration's desire to get rid of title 42 and democrats' desire to reform the asylum system has added pressure to potentially trying to come up with a legislative solution. it's part of the reason we are seeing the talks on the senate side today. it makes reaching a solution so much harder. republicans have here a political issue that they have used to great effectiveness in the past. immigration more broadly, border surge more specifically. it's going to make coming to a solution that can get 60 votes just as difficult, if not more difficult than it has ever been. john cornyn, one of the people engaged in the talks, told me that immigration is an issue on which congress has never failed to fail. there is desire to come up with something. so we will see these talks continue.

again, as we everything else that congress is trying to do, the clock is ticking. they have 11 legislative weeks left until they go out for august recess. after that, expectations are low for any other legislative achievements. >> you say 11 weeks. that's a lot of time. but in the world of legislation, that's not a lot of time. things move at a glacier pace. is there something they can get over the line? >> reporter: coming up with 60 votes in the senate for anything that would also pass the house is just a huge math problem. house republicans are in lockstep against probably any immigration reform measures that the biden administration would want to take. on the senate side, you may be able to pick a couple of republicans off. the politics cut both ways. you have a number of democratic senators up for re-election, particularly in border states or in heavily latino states where immigration is really a top of mind issue who are going to be

more careful with whatever immigration bills they might sign their name to. the math, politics are just brutal on this issue. >> garrett, either you are very famous, because you have a dude behind you taking a picture of you, or there's a lawmaker around you that might be a bit of a big deal. either way, i think it's you. garrett haake. >> reporter: i will get to the bottom of it. >> thanks for joining us. a little florida in nevada. what governor ron desantis' appearance out west will tell us about his political capital. number one motorcycle insurer. that's right, jamie. but it's not just about savings. it's about the friends we make along the way. you said it, flo. and don't to floss before you brush. your gums will thank you. -that's right, dr. gary. -jamie? sorry, i had another thought so i got back in line. what was it?

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governor ron desantis is in nevada stumping for a fellow republican and former roommate. the former attorney general is running for u.s. senate hoping to unseat incumbent democrat senator catherine cortez.

it does not look like you are in vegas. what's happening? what's going on? >> reporter: we are in the outskirts of las vegas, in the nevada desert. we have been spending a lot of time in nevada to look at the voters here. this is a swing state. ron desantis is an old friend of adam who is looking to secure the seat to win the primary and run against the incumbent. last year, when we were having conversations about adam, people didn't really think he had a chance. fast forward now, ron desantis coming. when ron desantis has gained national attention. we went to the event. hunt they said about 1,000 people attended. hundreds of people were waiting outside, excited. this has supercharged republican efforts in nevada. a lot of the people very excited to go see ron desantis along

with adam who spoke to the voters, talking about the same issues he brought up in florida. all of the issues that resonate with people in florida seem to resonate with the people in nevada. we will play a small port of an interview with a representative for catherine cortez. >> i think we will win the senate back. if we do the job we need to, we will. >> the senate doesn't need political leaders to speak on her behalf. people know she gets results done for them. >> reporter: what i can say is that having desantis in nevada really did help adam. this has been his biggest event so far. people were very excited. he comes across the country and gets all this attention. it's interesting, we saw a lot of people talking about ron

desantis as possibly someone running for president. they were selling hats outside for $20, people were buying hats that said, ron desantis 2024. that's the situation here as adam does this event, trying to run -- trying to win the primary to run against catherine cortez where republicans in nevada are trying to flip that u.s. senate seat. >> it will be a test of his political capital, his political influence, what sort of national figure he is. it's also a test of what sort of figure he is against donald trump, who hasn't been so successful campaigning for some upstarts lately. thank you very much. that is going do it for me. i will be back at 2:00 p.m. eastern. first, "andrea mitchel reports" right now. ♪♪ good day.

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