i will be back next guidance on the i-70 am eastern. you can also catch an oversight on the msnbc hub on peacock every thursday and friday. velshi starts now. ♪ ♪ ♪ morning to you, i am ali velshi. it is sunday may the 22nd. president biden has pivoted to asia, at least for the time being. as we speak, he's in the middle of his first diplomatic trip to the region. since taking office. he landed in japan a few hours ago after a three-day visit to south korea. working more closely with asian allies in the face of a strengthening china has been a long sought foreign policy bill for the biden administration. which must of been stymied by other crises, like the war in ukraine, and the coronavirus pandemic. the administration's attention from the region. but asia maintains a big priority. one of his goals is to reassert america's commitment to its allies in the region. to make it clear that it is a priority. he is also delivering a message

similar to the one that the u.s. has been predicting in a full fledged support of ukraine in its war against russia. that is, the u.s. remains a force that can unify nations to stand up against the worlds of socrates, whether in the west are in the east. one of the aggressors in america wants to contain is north korea, which has been flaunting its nuclear arsenal recently. the country has performed 16 missile tests so far this year, including a test of long-range intercontinental ballistic missiles, that would be capable of reaching the u.s. mainland. senior u.s. officials are warning that north korea could perform another weapons test, while biden is in the region. so, far that has not happen. as serious as the north korean threat, is its potential trouble comes from china, from north korea's strongest closest allies. the other goal of president biden's visit to asia this week, including his physical presence there, is to counter china's growing economic and military and diplomatic power.

although joe biden has not verbalized this. china has still received the message. even before president biden departed washington for south korea, on thursday, china's top diplomat issued a warning during a call with white house national security adviser jake sullivan. we'll, if the u.s. side persists in playing the taiwan card, then goes further down the wrong path, it will surely but the situation in serious jeopardy. and quote. one is the taiwan card? why does the united states have anything to do with it? back in 1949, when the chinese civil war ended, the communist took control of the mainland, while the losing side, the nationalists, were treated to the island of taiwan. located roughly hundred miles off the eastern coast of the mainland. initially, many countries developed a relationship with taiwan, which china has never recognized as a country. including the united states, which had never seen taiwan until the 1970s. but as china grew in power and developed new relations with the international community, many countries have drawn to

the way from taiwan and developed formal diplomatic relationships with china instead. those countries also included the united states, which closed its embassy in taiwan in 1979. , now, america continued informal relations with taiwan. and that same year, america passed the taiwan relations act, which affirmed that the united states will give continue support to taiwan, and helping to defend itself. in these occasions, then americas continue to sell arms to taiwan. and that is where things get complicated. china continues to believe that the island of taiwan is a breakaway province of china, that belongs to china. last october, china's president for xi jinping so the reunification of mainland china and taiwan must, quote, be fulfilled. since then, china has shown increased signs of aggression. flying its planes into taiwanese airspace. sometimes dozens at once. sometimes several times a week. if this is starting to sound

familiar, or money you the situation between ukraine and russia, you are not far off because there are close parallels between them. china recognizes those similarities to. back in march, china's vice foreign minister invoked the war in ukraine with this warning, saying quote, to pursue the indo-pacific strategy is as dangerous as doing the nato strategy of eastward expansion in europe. and quote. parroting vladimir putin's terms. if china does attack taiwan, however, biden has said that the u.s. would be willing to intervene. during a town hall last october just a couple of weeks after she jinping made his comments about reunification, biden said yes, america has made a commitment to protect taiwan. there is no doubt that china's been carefully watching what's transpired between russia and eastern europe and all of the countries that rallied against russia, which remains an ally of china. and perhaps troubling for china, it was not just western countries that came to ukraine's aid. in the pacific countries

swiftly responded alongside the united states and that is a sign of where things may stand if new conflicts arise in the region. to go deep into the conversation i'm john but my old friend and colleague, nbc news foreign correspondent janet mackie for air, who was in beijing and knows everything i just said very well. put something on those bones for us, janice. >> well, president biden certainly has his work cut out for him on this trip to asia. but to the analysis so far is that really, he has nowhere to go back up, considering the lack of progress has been made by his predecessors. certainly the objective of the trip is to try to shore up alliances with u.s. allies. but there is going to be some convincing that will need to happen, ali, in order for these allies to believe that america is going to be there for them. china looms large here, not

just for security issues but economically. and there are some complicated dynamics at play in this region right now. dynamics that are shifting. china and india have not condemned russia's invasion of ukraine. russia is not condemning the sanctions against north korea, despite the continued testing. and as well, we have a new president in south korea, as well as a fairly new prime minister in japan. and deteriorating relations between those two countries, that president biden is going to have to contend with, all of course tied to the fact that china economically is the powerhouse in this region. and to an extent most countries do rely on china for trade. so president biden is certainly not going to unpack everything on this trip. and there are not any major policy announcement that are expected out of this. but this visit is seen as

important, just to show up. and perhaps to start to give some clarity to u.s. foreign policy rules in the region. which so far is lacking. >> let's talk about showing up. because biden is of a generation of politicians and world leaders in which this diplomacy thing works. they go places, they physically go there. we are seeing this in ukraine with leaders showing up, to say we can have these discussions and other forms. but i am here to send a message of something. what does success look like in terms of what that message actually is right now? >> a lot is going to depend on the discussions. in terms of showing up, the point was made that he was not going to visit the dmz, for example. because there is the sense that you can accomplish more in the room with decision makers and policy makers, then you could standing on the dmz staring in north korea. so there is a sense that there

could be some validation of sorts that we could be seeing by u.s. allies. just by having president biden in the room. he, of course, will also be in the meeting of the qualities that will happen in tokyo, with the new leader of australia as well as modi from india. and india carrying some weight in the discussion to because it has also not condemn russia's invasion of ukraine, because of the indian reliance on russian arms. >> janice, as always, thank you my friend. janice mackie frayer, live in beijing. i want to bring in susan thornton, she is a retired senior u.s. diplomat who spent more than 30 years in the united states state department, working in east asia and eurasia. she is also the director for the forum on asian pacific security, and a nonresident senior fellow at the brookings institute. susan, thank you for being with us.

i want to continue the conversation i had with janice, there are a lot of people, viewers of global affairs, who were concerned that between the pandemic and then the russian invasion of ukraine, and u.s. politics as has been in the last few years, which is been all consuming, that the eye has come off asia and bad things could be happening there. >> yes, ali, you are absolutely right. this trip is really about reminding everybody that the u.s. is still here in asia. so that we are trying to make a shot a priority in u.s. foreign policy. we have been trying to pivot to asia for at least the last two decades. and i have to say the dna show there are starting to be some fatigue, because we keep trying to pull ourselves out of the middle east, out of europe. and we keep getting sucked back in. in the eyes of asians, of course. >> what's does a pivot mean? i ask you this in the context

of, china is a -- if you are a neighbor of trying it is kind of like being a neighbor of russia. you understand that they have a lot of product, you buy their stuff, you've been to pro trade relations. but you also understand it is constant threat. so the u.s. is trying to let other asian countries and know that we are a good friend, we are a good ally. but we are not isolating china. that is not part of the goal here. >> well, it is a little hard. the pivot to china is really about the u.s., or the pivot to asia, the u.s. has a global foreign policy. we have military presence around the world. the monitor shipping lines around the world. and we respond to crises around the world. china does not have that kind of global reach. it is mostly focused inwardly. it is mostly focused on development. it does have a military buildup of very significant one, across the street from taiwan. in particular and around in its

close pacific region. the u.s. is worried about china's global ambitions, though, and whether it is reaching out further. going to establish the basis for the right in the world. threatening the u.s. military presence in other parts of the world. but i think for china's close neighbors, it is on the horns of a dilemma, really. looking to u.s. to provide some kind of balance in the region, i guess the other major powers, especially china security around. but we depend very much on china for economics, and they are the number one trading partner for all of them is china. >> they are our key things that china is involved, in that are of concern to the rest of the world. which may be needed over the last few years because of all the other things going on in the world. obviously its support of north korea. one of the biggest outside influences of anything that goes on in north korea. there are human rights issues going on in western china. there has been a subjugation of hong kong. not a big surprise to anybody,

but it has happened the last few years. this fighter jet that flies over taiwan, sometimes several times a week. where in the hierarchy of things do those issues stand? >> well, well for mainland china taiwan is the most important issue. and actually, taiwan, you went through a little bit of history, this is a history that is left over from the chinese civil war. and it was the issue in the negotiations between the united states and china, over diplomatic normalization back in 1979. in fact, it took us from 1972. nixon just up to 1979. seven years. to settle the issue of how we are going to visit taiwan in a diplomatic scenario. it still has not been resolved since 1979. so taiwan is by far the way the thorniest shoe between the u.s. and china. it is the one that we could go to war over.

all these issues are long-standing. on north korea it is a bit different. in the past, when the u.s. cooperate to try to bring the nuclear program in north korea under control. of course, human rights issues, hong kong, xinjiang, it is a very objectionable. cause a lot of cost for nation around the world. human rights issues in china are also long-standing, but it becomes of course the difference in our systems. >> the last election in the election before, that really, every major candidate had come to the view that america is going to put out the trans-pacific partnership. a lot of pressures on american politicians to do so. there are a lot of people who at the time said, look, trade deals have not always been the right thing for american workers. but this was about having a little bit more influence in the region. do you think that we should be looking at getting back into formalized frayed relationships with other pacific nations?

will that be influential, or is this now solidly in the diplomatic camp to solve these issues? >> yes ali, it is a great question. in 2016 we are dealing with full on black lash to globalization in the united states. but we have got to remember the identity of this country is wrapped up in a free trade, expanding markets. we go abroad, we do things out there in the world. so it is very strange for the united states to be retreating from trade agreements, instead of promoting them. it is understandable that people are upset about it. trade, maybe we have not done the best job of an adjustment in dealing with the consequences for our workers. but that is not a reason to pull back from these agreements. the u.s. has to be a lead on these things. and i think that was something that, unfortunately, under president obama was not made clear enough, and was not driven home. as that, point we were too much

in this kind of backlash against globalization to push it. but we have got to come back to that. i think. >> unfortunately i think we are further down that backlash of globalization. but it is an important matter for us to continue. susan, really helping to make a lot of sense of a series of complicated issues. we appreciate your time this morning. susan thornton is a retired senior usa's diplomat who spent more than 30 years in the state department working in east asia and eurasia. she's director of the foreman asia-pacific security at the national committee on american foreign policy. we've got breaking news now out of ukraine. the polish president andrej duda has just wrapped up the speech that he delivered in front of ukraine's parliament. he is the first foreign leader to speak in person to that body since russian invaded ukraine almost four months ago. he met with ukrainians zelenskyy. poland is a country i was recently in while covering the war. it is taking a more ukrainian refugees, by a very long shot, than any other country, it is taking one of the strongest

stances of ukraine's neighbors in dealing with and pushing back against russia. we are going to have much, more by the way, on biden's trip abroad in the geopolitical effect of the war, including what could spell a summer serious trouble for russia. that is why we are in the show. also coming, up cases of covid-19 are rising, and there are concerns about the possible outbreak of an entirely different virus. we will give you what you need to know, plus it is becoming increasingly clear that during this election season, voters have two choices. authorities believe in democracy, and the party they want to tear down. which is going to be? meets power? you try crazy things... ...because you're crazy... ...and you like it. you get bigger... ...badder... ...faster. ♪ you can never have too much of a good thing... and power is a very good thing. ♪

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post 2020 election, it world in which one party is increasingly beholden not to the american people are too ideological policies budget to a big lie. everything changed after most of the republican party under donald trump took white was once a free and fair election and turned it on its head. falsely claiming widespread voter fraud. attempting to overturn the election results. culminating in the good old fashion insurrection at the u.s. capitol. the big line is now embedded within the republican party, most evidently, recently, in pennsylvania. -- on the ballot for the senate race was election denier on tuesday. the feeling choir editorial board typically doses candidates in portion races in pennsylvania. noting, that it is no secret that this board for decades has a leans towards democrats. yet we have endorsed republicans in past elections. let's time, around the board, choosing whether not to endorse

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spurring concern as the u.s. is now seeing close to 100,000 new infections a day. that number could be even higher since many people are testing at home and not reporting those tests in. about 18% of the u.s. population now lives in high-risk areas where the cdc is urging everyone to wear masks indoors. another 27% live in medium risk areas where folks deemed higher risk themselves because of underlying health conditions should consider wearing masks again. this comes following the cdc's decision to sign off on booster shots of the pfizer vaccine for children aged 5 to 11. meanwhile the fda still reviewing data from moderna before giving the green light to its vaccine for kids. under the age of five. and as if dealing with one infectious disease was enough, health officials are now moderate the emergence of another rare virus, it's called

monkeypox. the cdc says the disease for seeing its name because it was protecting laboratory monkeys in 1958. while monkeypox doesn't usually spread from human to human. in recent weeks, about a dozen cases have been detected in the uk, portugal and spain. two cases have also been detected stateside. one in massachusetts and the other here in new york city. meanwhile, five cases and confirm in canada. according to that country's public health agency. turning now is doctor nahid bhadelia. she's an infectious disease physician as the founding director of the boston university center for emerging infectious disease policy and research. and a visiting fellow for the white house office of science and technology policy. doctor bhadelia, good to see you again,. thank you for being with us these infectious diseases the pop of all the time. but our sense is our heightened right now. so when we started hearing about monkeypox cases. i think a lot of people are alarmed. is this the next iteration of a wildly infectious disease that's going to get us all?

>> no. let me start by saying. that i think monkeypox is a very different virus than covid-19 and just give a little bit more background on monkeypox, it's a virus that's in the same family as ballparks and chicken pox. thankfully, not as deadly as smallpox. the interesting thing here is that because monkeypox and smallpox were so closely related, for a very long time we are vaccinating against smallpox there was cross protection against monkeypox. and the theory has been since we eradicated the smallpox and we're not vaccinating, we've created generation of humans on the face of this earth who are not immune to monkeypox now. and so you've been seeing increasing number of outbreaks and endemic countries and in west africa and central africa with the increased number of export cases. but the interesting part of the current situation is that you are seeing -- releases jewish report lasted almost 100 confirmed cases and multiple countries that are not related to travel. in the concern here is that could this have been something as the change of the virus,

thankfully that didn't seem to be the case currently. still remains a hard to transmit virus compared to other things like covid. it requires very close human contact. could it be that it just was bad luck of an introduction from a potential travel case on to a vulnerable population with close social network. and the third is, could it be that it was potentially a lot more cases and now that we've raised alarm for it that physicians are looking out for it a lot more? again, the kind of rash of this virus causes that others are looking, it might look like chickens pox or herpes so it could be missed. the good news that i want people to know is that we have invest -- vaccine against -- anti viral medications that may work. and we don't expect these clusters to get bigger but of course it's a matter of concern and requires good epidemiology and contact tracing. >> and obviously people like you know about the stuff on most of us learned about it in the last two years transmissibility. how different viruses transmit differently. this one, as you mentioned, you

said it requires prolonged close contact. it's not like covid in terms of or a flu or a come cold in terms of its transmissibility. >> that's right. i think this is an important part. different viruses have different potential for causing economic space on how they're transmitted. again, we're still learning about the situation. i always want to be humble as -- last couple years. but this right, this is a virus that actually is, as compared to a respiratory virus. it requires much closer contact in droplet transmission. and that close contact, the physical contact, sexual contact as we're trying to learn in some of the cases that are being reported. and so, not only that but people who transmit this need to be symptomatic. and so you would have had the symptoms already and you be aware of it and hopefully that means identification. and isolation of a person treatments are not able to pass it. but this requires vigilance and officers and clinicians out there to help us track and that's what's w.h.o. and cdc

have done at the end of this week. really raise the alarm to say, let's try to find more cases as likely we will find more cases. because there is no connection in the current cases that we're seeing which means we're missing some change of transmission. but it's not as, alarm for the general public, there are similar to the way that we're seeing with covid-19 which is a much more transmissible virus. >> now ahead, thank you as always, we appreciate it. i hear you about be humble about all the stuff. i never want to ask anybody a prediction about how bad something is going to get any more. because we don't know but we do appreciate your science based information on this. so thanks again. now he typically is a funny director of the boston university center for emerging infectious diseases policy, she's a research and a visiting fellow for the white house office of science and technology policy. georgia heads to the polls on tuesday for some high stakes primary elections and the early voting turnout is shattering records. we're gonna have a live report from atlanta after this. er this. riders! let your queries be known.

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the polls on tuesday of the first elections since the states new voting laws took effect. back in march, the georgia governor brian kemp signed a bill that is believed to be one of the most restrictive voting rights laws in recent history. but despite all of that, georgia has seen a record turnout for early voting. some 850,000 people casting ballots. meanwhile, donald trump has distancing himself from georgia from a looking candid for governor, the former senator

david perdue, after became clear to trump that purdue would probably lose his primary bid. to incumbent brian kemp. according to the new york times, quote, mr. produced impending downfall in tuesday's primary for governor looms as the biggest electoral setback for mr. trump since his own defeat in the 2020 election. nbc's alison barbara has been fully the races in georgia. joins us from atlanta this morning. alison, good morning to you. what are you watching for on tuesday? >> elie, this is a fascinating race. it's going to be even more interesting once we get through the tuesday primaries. so, far a lot of the action really has been honorable can side. democrats haven't necessarily been out aggressively campaigning in the same fashion because they really haven't had to. and they're gonna trail side of stacey abrams who is running without any sort of primary opponent. senator raphael warnock, he has won a primary challenger but it is light years ahead of her in the polls. republicans though, you've had a contentious primary, a crowded primary, both in the senate race and the equatorial

race. you talked about what we have seen that gubernatorial race where you have a trump backed candidate. former senator david perdue going up against the incumbent governor, brian kemp. there's been a lot of focus on that race, a lot of back and forth and if you were at the democrats fundraising gala, when it counted last night and listening to some of their speeches. you had been forgiven if you thought we had already made it through the primary election. the polls show that brian kemp has pulled the pretty far ahead of david perdue and that he likely will get the republican nomination for the good notorious race. if you listen to stacey abrams last night, we got a sense of sort of what her campaign speech, what her points will be as she prepares to likely go up against brian kemp. listening to her speak, she seems to think that brian kemp will absolutely be the republican nominee and the person that she faces in the general election. let's listen to her here. >> we have heard that the current occupant of the office has been doing a lot of

regifting. i was trying to remember that episode of the seinfeld and i pulled it up and it is indeed, because i felt like déjà vu. and it turns out that brian kemp is a regifter. you see, joe biden signed legislation that our friends lucy mcbath and carolyn porto and jon ossoff and raphael warnock put into law. money that came to the state and brian kemp is traveling around here handing it out with his name on the card. >> voting rights is an incredibly big issue in this state. you have record numbers when it comes to early voting turnout. over 150,000 georgians voted early. that's up to hundred 12% compared to the 2020. republicans are pointing to that and saying hey remember when democrats for saying that voting rights were going to be restricted here and our law that we pass was highly contentious, controversial. you had businesses leading the state. clearly there and restrictions

here. democrats and dc abrams talked about this specifically last night. they said no, just because we worked harder to mobilize more voters and we worked harder to get around the hurdles. it doesn't mean the hurdles are not still there. stacey abrams has focused heavily on this over the years. continues to sow focus on the think there is a lot of work to be done in georgia because they believe that there is a large amount of voter suppression happening in this state. another big issue to walk. women's rights, senator warnock has started to focus in seems to be shifting his campaign towards focusing a lot on what is happening when it comes to abortion rights in this country. obviously, you had an incredibly controversial heartbeat bill here in georgia. that's still is in the courts. that seems to be incredibly mobilizing, motivating factor for democrats and senator raphael warnock is already talking about it. he talked a lot about it last night. ali. >> alison, thank you very much for a very full report and. that gives us a sense of where we're looking for. as we watch those returns on

tuesday night. alison barbara for us in atlanta, georgia. she'll be covering this all the way through. georgia's one of many states with republican candidates who have tonight the 2020 election results. up next, we're gonna take a look inside why voters would ignore the anti-democracy warnings and still vote for republican candidates anyways. blican candidates anyways. blican candidates anyways. you know liberty mutual customizes your car insurance, so you only pay for what you need? oh, like how i customized this scarf? wow, first time? check out this backpack i made for marco. oh yeah? well, check out this tux. oh, nice. that'll go perfect with these. dude... those are so fire. [whines] only pay for what you need. ♪liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty.♪ right now, we're all feelin' a little strapped. but weekends are still all about grilling. and walmart always keeps prices low on our fresh ingredients. so you can save money and live better.

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look at the republican party in order used to be, it might seem unrecognizable to some. we see a political party that's for for ideal six piece, free markets, limited government, strong national defense and the most paramount of all those virtues, democracy itself. the current gop has strayed from those positions in the last several years the parties rallied around donald trump's anti democratic impulses. and with the midterm elections fast approaching, we're seeing republican candidate after candidate clinging to trump's big lie. the idea that he is the rightful president and at the

2020 election was stolen from him. they've done so in hopes of furthering their political careers in the case of many of these candidates. a perfect example of this is the new limiting republican nominee in pennsylvania's race for governor, the state senator doug mastriano. he's a vocal election denier. he was there at the capitol on january six. he's promised to decertify voting machines in pennsylvania counties where he feels the results might of been rigged. then there's the congressman ted budd. who just won the republican nomination for senate in north carolina. he was one of the nearly 150 u.s. lawmakers who voted against the certification of president biden's win in 2021. in idaho, a state where the failed former president dominated. this past week 57% of republican primary voters backed to candidates for the secretary of state position. both of whom had pushed election falsehoods. fun fact, it was a three-way race, those two candidates ended up losing to a rival who actually does except biden. as the president.

but one of the biggest test we're going to see as we just discussed, this coming tuesday in georgia. and voters have the polls for eight from areas. trump had involved himself or has involved himself in the states top races, including its competition for senator. he endorse the top republican candidate, the former football star herschel walker who still is yet to admit that joe biden won the election. this is just a small handful of the election deniers out there running for office, there are a lot more. according to a group called states united action, which describes itself as a non partisan organization that advocates for policies to protect election integrity, at least 50 election deniers are running for governor in 24 states. and according to nbc's tally, at least 23 election deniers or running to be the secretary of state in their home states. meaning in those cases, they might be in charge of overseeing elections in the years to come. as i said, midterms are right around the corner and support for all of us to understand the gop and what motivates its voter base. to delve deeper into that

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yes on h. recall chesa boudin now. political strategist pollster who's an expert on what drives voters to the polls. and influences their decisions. he's the author of the book words that work, he shrine me from spain which makes this

conversation even more interesting, frank. because this concept of populism and some of these trends that just talked about, they're not american. they're not just american. they're all over the world. in fact america is a bit of latecomer to some of them. what is interesting to me is the republican party's embrace of some of these populism and nationalism and some of these anti-democratic friends. but it is everywhere. >> look at what just happened in the last 24 hours. the government, the conservative government in australia was voted out of power. go back 30 days and an extreme right wing candidate in france received 42% of the vote, an all-time record. in fact, if you look across the globe, incumbent parties are getting beaten in europe, in asia. there has been a replacement in the south korean the last few months. the populations are upset, they're storing, the rumbling against the status quo. and so what's happening in america, which is more public about, it is happening across

the globe. >> so let's talk about, as a conservative, as a republican, what's's success look like to you for the republican party? because on one hand, voting for some of these election to nine candidates is juicing republicans, it's getting a base out there. not unnecessarily broadening that base and entitle actions like the ones we had in 2016 in 2020, prodding the base seems to be an important strategy. and going back to 2012, the republicans did a postmortem after the mineral me lost to barack obama and said let's broaden the base. that doesn't look like what's happening. but am i reading this wrong, according to you? >> first off, as a pollster, we're not republican or democrat. it's our responsibility to tell the truth as best as we can see it. second, it's that we don't have any goals. how i vote personally does not affect what i'm going to say to you right now. third, this is how your viewers feel, the number one issue in america a crisis, costs,

affordability. and by the way, the average american is not calling it inflation, that's a term for harvard or mit. they walk into a store and they think, i can't afford to meet. i can't afford food for my family. or they're trying to put gas in their cars and they're wondering how they're going to get to work. that's the key. i will say, and i acknowledge, and in fact i embrace those who talk about concern for democracy. i am concerned. i am afraid. the percentage of americans, you've seen those photographs right now as people are standing in line to vote. my god, we are challenged. the left argues, excuse, me the left argues that people are being denied the right to vote. the right argues about voter accountability. and corruption. on both sides of the aisle, we are less likely to believe in our democracy, to believe that our politicians actually listen to us. to believe that the bureaucracy itself functions and this is a

real problem. i only caveat is focusing on one happening re-six is not wise for democrats when people are struggling to make ends meet. focusing on what happened back in november of 2020, is stupid for republicans when their focus on the future now in the past. >> so you make an interesting point, you do this based on a research that you look. at that this issue of -- where i come from on this is an economic sky, i agree with. you i think people's costs override all the concerns. but to a lot of democrats, and maybe some republicans, climate change is a big issue. covid is a big issue. abortion is maybe one of the biggest issues. how do you, you are advising anybody on these issues, if you believe that these are serious issues. how do you communicate that heading into a midterm election to an audience that rightfully so is very concerned with rising prices and the economic situation that they face? >> and very skeptical. skeptical, feeling that the

politicians may have constant and so how are they supposed to fix it? number, when you talk in terms of day-to-day life. how it impacts you from the moment you wake up the morning to the moment you go to sleep at night. from your cradle to your grave. number two is to focus on it, on a personal individual humanistic point. rather than ideology. the public does not want to hear about conservatism or liberalism or progressivism or libertarianism. they want you to speak to them as people, as families, as communities. and most importantly, as human beings. and number three, is that we don't have a monopoly on the truth. the answers are not all on the left, they're not on the right. and so they expect their elected officials to work together to find the best possible solutions and then hold people accountable for them. >> so in a perfect world, we have dialogue, we have policy based, of we are people presenting ideas that relate to individuals as opposed to political blocs.

in an imperfect world in which we live, we do have this election denier problem. and it is animating a lot of voters. what does one, and this is largely a republican problem, almost exclusively a republican problem. what are republicans doing about that, what should they do about this? because it's helping get voters out but it may not be a good long term solution. it is helping to get voters out in the primaries but not in the general election when you're making the decision with senator you want to represent you. what's a house member do you want to represent you. you are absolutely positively without a doubt not looking backward. you are looking at the challenges that people face today and the challenges are getting worse and worse. although we haven't talked about crime, we haven't talked about immigration. we haven't talked about the sense of insecurity that people feel right now. we haven't talked about the russian ukraine situation which is making americans feel and secure in their own country. these are issues that we are faced with right now and that it's actually stupid to be

going back 18 months from now. nobody cares. and i'm using proper language because the language that i hear from the voters is much more graphic in that. >> frank, good to see you as always. thank you for joining us from spain. he is a political strategist and author of the book words that work. the guy knows a lot about what makes people think, and how they vote. do not go anywhere. straight, ahead the latest on biden's trip abroad in the war in ukraine, and how russia may be facing some serious trouble this summer. another hour of velshi begins. right now. it is days of russia's vision ukraine, i am ali velshi. a war which -- said we take 72 hours. and so it has led to ruin of cities in ukraine. rejuvenation of the nato alliance. in a forever altered perception of russia and its army.

a depleted force which may not be in store for a summer of trouble they could to do much more damage than just to its already altered reputation. on the battlefield in ukraine, a successful ukrainian counteroffensive continues to push russia out of the northeast. russian forces were treating back to russia, said to fight in a donbas in southern ukraine. one apparent victory for russia is in mariupol, where it has claimed control of the last ukrainian holdout in the ava style's factory. ukrainian president vladimir zelenskyy pay tribute to the soldiers at that factory, calling them quote, absolutely heroic people. zelenskyy also honored the ukrainian pilots who flew resupply missions to those fighters, and the civilians who sheltered in the factory during the weeks-long battle. saying that 95% of those pilots who don't make it back. the captured mariupol effectively completes a land bridge from the internationally recognized russia to the southern donbas, to crimea. areas were russian invaded, installe