this sunday, americans angry, anxious and fired up to vote. >> at the end of the day, if you can't afford to live, you're going to vote for change. >> with control of congress on the line, our new nbc news poll shows we may be in uncharted political territory. what i'm seeing is a division i've never seen before in this country in my time. >> unpredictable turnouts and the trump factor all shaking up the midterm environment. >> there is a greater likelihood the house flips in the senate. candidate quality has lots to do with the outcome. >> my guest this morning, new

york congressman shawn patrick maloney and republican congressman of kentucky, andy barr. plus, crisis in the classroom. >> we're seeing so many dedicated teachers leaving the profession. >> the nationwide teacher shortage. >> i was running myself ragged. >> putting children's learning in jeopardy. is there anything the biden administration can do to help? i'll speak to the secretary of education miguel cordova. >> we did not favor. we did not flinch. and we have not given in. instead, we're delivering results for the american people. >> signing his massive tax health care and climate change bill. while donald trump gets a victory of his own. >> i believe that donald trump continues to pose a very grave threat and risk to our republic. >> outspoken in congress. even as multiple investigations

among him and his allies heat up. joining me marc caputo. symone sanders townsend and ali vitali and republican strategist brenden buck. welcome to sunday. it's "meet the press." from nbc news in washington, the longest running show in television history, this is "meet the press" with chuck todd. and a good sunday morning to all of you. we are less than three months before the midterms. and our news poll paints a pretty bleak picture. americans are angry. they are disappointed, and they are worried about the future of this country. just 21% of adults say we are headed in the right direction. and once again, three out of four americans say we are on the wrong track. in fact, this number never before in this poll has this wrong track number been over 70% for this long.

it's been nearly a year now. 58% of americans say the best is behind us. that's an all-time high in our polls. so what is behind this rise in pessimism about our country's future? well, it starts with this. americans don't like either party and they don't like anyone in power. take a look at this. both parties are very unpopular. one slightly over the other. it is a similar story with the current and former presidents. the current president's negative rising a bit faster than we have seen since our last poll. the former president deeply unpopular, almost identical. even the two politicians who have most publically stood up to the leaders of their own parties, joe manchin and liz cheney, they are the most unpopular. and for the first time ever, when asked what is the most

important issue facing this country, the top answer was not an economic issue. it was threats to the democracy. higher than cost of living or jobs or guns or even abortion. so this is the environment in which voters are going to the polls this november. they're pretty angry. in a normal year, these numbers would forecast electoral doom for the party in power. but these midterms are going to be unlike any we have seen in history. i'll warn you, the old rules of politics probably don't apply. >> reporter: by traditional metrics, republicans should be headed towards big gains this november. president biden's approval is at 42%. the gop has a two-point lead on which party should control congress. and three-quarters of americans think the country is headed in the wrong direction. >> look at the country, what it's come down to. horrible. everything, the gas is up, the prices are high for everything.

>> reporter: and, yet, interest in the election is up all around to levels we typically don't see until october. >> i'm going to vote because i feel like i can't not vote in this climate. >> reporter: democrats shrunk the republican advantage on interest in the election from 8 points to 2 since may. on major motivating factor for the left, abortion. >> take caning -- -- urt decisi >> take caning -- -- voters disapprove of the supreme court decision overturning roe v. wade by a 20 point margin which contributes to the 6-point advantage of women over men for the midterms. >> you don't have to agree with abortion to want to honor other people's rights. >> republicans hope to keep voters focused on cost of living and the economy. >> biden's reckless spending gave us reckless spending that

is crushing families. >> by number one issue right now is prices, the prices of things. it is ridiculous. >> but approval of biden's handling of the economy is getting better and gas prices are going down. in some key states republicans emerge from bruising primaries with weak nominees, many of whom are propped up by former president trump. >> there is a greater likelihood the house flips than the senate. senate races are just different. they're statewide. candidate quality has a lot to do with the outcome. >> and threats to democracy has replaced cost of living as the top issue on voters' minds, a potential advantage for the democrats. >> they did everything they could to stop the peaceful transfer of power. democracy is on the ballot. >> 57% of americans want investigations into president trump's actions while president and after to continue. so despite what history tells us, we may be heading into unpredictable territory this november. >> i think both parties are not really addressing the issues. i think they're both missing the

mark. >> well, joining me now is congressman shawn patrick maloney, the man in charge of the campaign committee that is designed to keep the house, the house in democratic hands this november. good to see you, sir. >> good to be with you. >> let me start with the fact that, look, our polls shows a pretty even playing field. you have anger on both sides of the aisle, which could be usually a driver in midterms. that seems to have equalized. is it fair to say now that there is no moral victory for you. you hold the house, that's a win. you lose the house, that's a loss. >> yeah, that's right. but we have had a summer of strength and we're going to buck history by making history. just in the last few weeks, we passed historic legislation to finally lower prescription drug costs, capping seniors' out-of-pocket costs, combatting climate change, a 40% reduction

in just the next eight years in our emissions. that trends health care that the republicans tried to stop. and, of course, gun safety legislation. that's on top of the american jobs bill, the chips and science act will revitalize our manufacturing sector. look, we know that we need to get things done. that's the hard path that we have chosen. the other side has had a summer of stumbles, ripping away 50 years of reproductive freedom and now trying to defund the fbi and ignore a serious threat to our national security with trump's latest scandal. we will address problems. we think that's going to bring it home. >> one of the issues, though, i think you have to overcome is the amount of open seats, the amount of members of congress and the democratic side that chose not to run. i'll put up the list here. it is quite long. as you can see, we have to use small font in order to get all the names in. these folks left when they thought this was going to be a midterm that looked like it was going to be a disaster for your party.

do you wish these folks rethought and had had more confidence that the political landscape might have changed? >> listen, we have been counted out for a while now, but we are having a comeback. and we have great candidates all over the country, veterans, diverse candidates that look like america, that fit their district. and we excited to share those candidates with we are excite fod share those candidates with the american people. look, you are seeing us come back in the polls. they have a huge advantage, by the way, over their republican opponents in terms of their campaigns, their cash on hands, they're getting their votes right. better roads, better bridges, clean drinking water, an end to this pandemic. look, we have a story to tell. we will go out and tell it. >> well, the other side of the story they're telling and i want to play a couple examples and these are in your front line districts where republicans are heading up.

here is one on the economy. this one is without sound here but it is hitting what you guys call the inflation reduction action by saying, hey, this isn't touching inflation, higher taxes on american people, american families and this is all being done in recession. there is also an ad that's going to roll in here that hit the democrats on crime and defund the police. so let me ask you this. >> my brother had been gunned down and nearly killed by ms-13 gang members. i knew then that i was -- >> let me ask you this. a lot of those front liners wanted more to counter the defund the police narrative. and congress ended up not passing anything. are you concerned that these issues like high costs and crime are still going to trump democracy and abortion in these swing districts. >> well, let's look at where we are. gas prices are more than $1 lower than they were just about 60 days ago and they're still going down. that's good. so the inflation that goes along with that is coming down as well. it's not where we want to be,

but we're making real progress. the other side, of course, has no plan to lower costs. they only have a ploy to win power for themselves. so we're working the problem. they're working on their own power. and on the other issues you mentioned, my goodness, every republican voted against lower prescription drug costs and a cap on seniors out-of-pocket costs of $2,000 a year. that's the kind of real progress that under president biden's leadership and under speaker pelosi's leadership we're getting done. now we have to go tell people what we're doing. but the other side, again, is interested only in their own power and has taken away 50 years of reproductive freedom, wants to white wash the attack on our democracy. this crowd will do nothing while kids are getting gunned down in their classrooms. that's their future. they have a plan to win power. >> speaking of power, there is a lot of people who thought that you oversaw a very cynical ploy in order to help a trump-backed

opponent in the peter mejer district in michigan. after, look, you see the result. you got the candidate that you wanted apparently there. but you put party over country, did you not? is that something that you're comfortable with? >> absolutely not did we put party over country. the moral imperative right now, mr. todd, is to keep the dangerous maga republicans who voted to overturn our election out of power. there were 139 of them who voted over the results of the election back in january 2021. so this danger didn't start with the primary in michigan. let's talk about that. we believe that by running a commercial that called our opponent an extremist who was too conservative for western michigan, we teed up the choice in the fall. we have a strong pro choice democrat there. named hillary scolten. i hope people will support her. we're going to win that seat. the big loser was kevin mccarthy and this maga crowd and they know it. >> all right. but if mr. gibbs ends up getting elected in the words of peter

meijer, with an historically unpopular president and inflation, at 40-year highs, less electable doesn't mean unelectable. have you not helped an election denier get into congress? >> again, this danger didn't start with mr. gibbs. by every measure, he's the weaker candidate. don't take my word for it. the political report says it is far more likely the democrats will win that seat now because we're doing our job. let's remember peter meijer, was an anti-choice extremist who was going to vote to have jim jordan run the judiciary committee, investigate hunter biden, there is some other silliness when what we need to do is keep up climate change, helping seniors with health care. >> look, on the democratic side of the aisle saying, hey, republicans need to stand up to their own party and put country over party and someone like peter meijer does and voted to

impeach the president, and put his political career on the line, look, i understand the strategic decision that you made, but you have seen our poll. there is a reason everybody hates both political parties. it is cynical moves like this, is it not? >> chuck, my job is to win elections for the democrats, and i take that seriously because the moral imperative is keeping the gavel out of the hands of kevin mccarthy who would have overturned the results of the election. this danger didn't start with mr. gibbs. i understand there are difficult moral questions, philosophical questions about tactics. that's always true in politics. you better believe it. but we are more likely to win that seat. john gibbs is a weak opponent. we can't string a set of policies together that will make sense for western michigan. we will win that seat. we believe that by keeping those dangerous people out of power, we address the larger moral imperative, and that's our job. >> i know you are on the ballot

tuesday. there is also a special election in new york that is basically testing these two competing messages. you guys are on the democratic side on abortion. on the republican side, they're running on inflation. is it fair to call that the winner, the party that wins that special, the one that has the upper hand? >> oh, well, that should be a republican victory. i see they're panic spending in the last week. they're clearly worried. look at what happened in kansas. we won 14 counties that donald trump won in kansas. the swing congressional district there, it got 68% support for abortion rights. in minnesota in that special election, we closed the gap in half. and in upstate new york, pat ryan, our candidate, he's a west point grad, he's a war hero starting a business, he's been running a county, he's a great candidate. i think you will see him perform very well. and i know the republicans are panicking. >> all right.

congressman sean patrick maloney, the democrat in charge with keeping the house in democratic hands, thank you for joining me. >> joining me now is andy barr. congressman barr, welcome to "meet the press." >> good to be with you. >> you are no stranger to extraordinarily close elections and midterms that are as unusual as this one. you have seen our poll. i want to start with the top issue. the fact that threats to democracy have over taken cost of living. it looked like you guys were going to ride the cost of living to the majority. cost of living is certainly an important issue, but it is not the only one anymore. are you concerned with lower gas prices that all of a sudden you guys don't have the right message to win this? >> well, chuck, at the beginning of the program, you made the important point that the american people are angry or anxious and there is a reason why the american people are

angry or anxious. it's because they are worse off under the policies of congressional democrats and joe biden. yes, they are concerned about our country and the future of our country because we're in a recession, because we have had two consecutive quarters of negative economic growth, despite what the white house wants to do and redefining that term. real wages are down. credit card debt is up because people cannot afford this increased cost of living. we are experiencing the highest inflation, chuck, in 40 years. the average american household is suffering under $5,000 reduced purchasing power. they're paying more for virtually everything. gas prices have doubled. there is an energy crisis in this country because this president has waged a war on energy in this country. we are no longer energy independent. we have gone from energy dominant to energy desperate in just a year and a half's time. and we are experiencing a crime wave. 15% increase in homicide because of the defund police movement,

and we have no operational control over the southern border. and in my home state of kentucky, we are experiencing the worst fentanyl crisis in the country. no, kentucky is not on the southern border, but we are a border state, because our citizens are dying, because this administration, and this leadership in the democrat-controlled congress refuses to follow the law and secure our border, and people are dying because of it. >> let me ask -- >> that's why the american people are anxious and angry in this country and why they want to change. >> let me ask you this. what is your plan to deal with inflation? what is the republican plan to deal with inflation other than not supporting joe biden policies? i say that because what is the pro-active agenda here? >> we have a positive agenda. we have a commitment to america. we're going to get back to basics. republicans will win landslide elections, not just because joe biden has done such a poor job and congressional democrats

failed the american people on the economy, crime and the border, but because we have a positive agenda to secure the border, to get back to basics, to stop the flow of drugs in our communities, to prevent people on the terror watch list from coming across the southern border and to restore the remain in mexico policy that this administration just reversed, to finish a border wall infrastructure, technology and resource border patrol. the democrats just passed a bill that would increase the workforce at the irs by 87,000 people to come after law-abiding american small business owners and harass them. we don't need more irs agents. we need more border patrol agents. we have a common sense plan to reduce the cost of living, to lower the cost of living. we want to restore american energy independence. we will end these policies that prevent us from being energy independent. we're going to stop the pollicization of the financing

of energy, and we are going to produce more energy to reduce our dependence on foreign sources of energy and unreliable sources of energy that this administration is so obsessed about. >> let me ask you about the irs talking point because i just don't get it because a lot of republicans have talked about dealing with waste, fraud and abuse. the current head of the irs, who is a trump appointee said he didn't have enough people to essentially, that the biggest problem we have is people don't pay the taxes that they're supposed to pay. if you are upset about extra irs agents, stop cheating on your taxes, congressman. i'm not saying you personally, but i'm talking about in general. >> right. chuck, well, look, everybody believes that people should pay their taxes, but the nonpartisan congressional budget office looking at this legislation, this reconciliation bill, this inflation expansion act says that $20 billion of these audits are going to come at the expense

of low and middle-income americans. when joe biden and his campaign promised the american people that, oh, taxes were not going to go up for people earning less than $400,000, that was a lie. this bill is going to come at the expense of the american people. raising taxes on energy producers, job creators and people trying to save for retirement in the middle of a recession i don't know for the life of me why they think that's a winning strategy in a situation where americans can't afford gas. they can't afford groceries. heck, moms can't even get baby formula right now. so the economy is not serving the democrats well. >> yeah. >> and only in joe biden's america, only in joe biden's america is the solution to an inflation-induced -- spending-induced inflation crisis more spending. the way to fix inflation is to lower taxes, to repair our

supply chains and produce more energy to lower prices. that's the solution, and that's the republican solution. >> i want to get you to respond to what happened to liz cheney earlier this week. here's what she said in her concession speech. >> we have candidates for congress, including here in wyoming, who refuse to acknowledge that joe biden won the 2020 election and suggest that states decertify their results. our nation is barrelling once again towards crisis, lawlessness and violence. no american should support election deniers for any position of genuine responsibility, where their refusal to follow the rule of law will corrupt our future. >> congressman, you voted to certify this election. you are not one of these folks that goes out there talking about this nonsense, but there are a lot of house republicans that are being supported by the nrcc and the campaign committee that do.

respond to congresswoman cheney there. do you agree with her warnings and concerns? >> well, i think it goes to show that the election outcomes in a lot of these primaries, these seats do not belong to politicians in washington. these seats belong to the american people. and there is a massive, massive disconnect between the priorities of politicians in washington and the concerns of the american people. i have been back in my district in urban kentucky, mount sterling kentucky, in harrisburg, kentucky, richmond, kentucky over the past several weeks and not once have any of my constituents, republican or democrat, talked about the 2020 election, january 6th, the committee in washington or any of these issues. they're talking about not being able to afford putting food on the table, putting gas in their trucks and not being able to see their grandson again because he died of a fentanyl overdose because we don't have control over our southern border.

that's what the american people care about. politicians that obsess about the past are not in touch with the american people. >> it sounds like you don't believe republicans -- so you're saying republicans who are campaigning on donald trump's election denialism are making a mistake? >> what i'm saying is that republicans are going to win this election because we're laser focused on what the american people actually care about, and that is the rising price of gas, the rising price of groceries, the fact that we can't find baby formula on the shelves, the crime crisis in this country. the democrats are advocating a dangerous policy of not only defunding the police but eliminating cash bail, eliminating qualified immunity for law enforcement, and homicides are up 15% in this country. americans want security and safety. democrats are not delivering that. we have a positive agenda to put

the country back on the right track. >> we have given you a lot of air time. congressman, we thank you for coming on an sharing your perspective. >> thank you. >> president biden is having one of his best stretches of his presidency at arguably the best possible time to have it. but can anything overcome america's deep dissatisfaction right now? our panel is next.

in order for small businesses to thrive, they need to be smart. efficient. agile. and that's never been more important than it is right now. so for a limited time, comcast business is introducing small business savings. call now to get powerful internet for just 39 dollars a month. with no contract. and a money back guarantee. all on the largest, fastest reliable network. from the company that powers more businesses than anyone else. call and start saving today. comcast business. powering possibilities.

welcome back. panelists here. ali vitali, author of the new book "electable," about women getting into the white house. marc caputo is here, brendan buck and symone townsend. former chief spokesperson for vice president kamala harris. i want to set things up with an anger issue here. we asked people in our poll, are you so upset about something that you would carry a protest sign for a day. over 60% said they would. the break down here. 80% of democrats wanted to carry a protest sign. it was only 48% of republicans.

we've asked this question before and it is usually pretty 50-50. this tells you the anger is on the left more than it is on the right. here are the word clouds from the various protest signs. the democratic side, it is one phrase that jumps out over all else, women's rights. if you look over there, you see a lot of the dobbs decision influencing those protest signs. now, on the right here, not anything as dominant. impeach biden is up top. i'm going to put them together, though, so that you can see here that women's rights is so dominant it's the bigger of either of the two. brendan buck, normally the out party is the angrier party. right now it is the in party that is angrier, and that could be a good sign for the left. >> it could be. you know, there is argument they're upset with republicans. there is also a lot of inner party fighting on the left, too. i think they're a little angry with each other. this is what's different. the roe ruling completely

changed politics. what happened in kansas with a traditionally conservative state had a massive democratic turnout that really nobody saw coming and has opened a lot of people's eyes. republicans are engaged too, though. there is a lot of issues they're fired up about as well. i don't think we should assume that republicans aren't going to turn out. it is a different turn-out model we're used to. >> and it isn't one issue. normally it is one or two issues driving it. it is clearly abortion and democracy are firing up the left. immigration and just a grievance against biden fires up the right. that's certainly there, too. but this is what's changed. i mean, it does seem like abortion did change everything. >> i think it did change everything. it is important to note that i'm from nebraska. kansas is right down the road. republicans had to come out and vote to defeat that amendment. the reality is that rolling back roe, curbing a woman's ability

to make a decision, it is women period. it affects men period. people across this country. republican women, they get abortions, too. >> uh-huh. >> but then there is also the idea and you see it in that word cloud, women's rights is in the red side and the blue side of the word carrying crowd. but the idea of freedom pops up on the red side if you see it in the word cloud. democrats did a good job in kansas and democrats are trying to replicate this issue, the idea of coopting that issue of freedom and trying to apply it to an electorate. who regardless of party strength, women don't like the idea of people telling them what they can and cannot do with their health care. >> marc, one other thing. we did test the president's agenda here and the new bill. he got some good news in that the bill, the climate health care and tax bill starts out net positive compared to the first time we asked about the trump tax plan. that was under water. obamacare was under water.

let me show you this next slide here which house republicans will jump on. people are skeptical this will help them. a plurality may not make a difference with 36%. 35% thought things would make things worse for me. 26% think they would make things better for me. so a doubled-edged sword. >> sure. but by and large people are right. i'm not sure they read the bill. but the fact is we're going to do something about climate change. you are not going to notice a difference, if you are going to notice a difference for decades. these things are baked in. but the real good news here is that there is a shine on joe biden now. he's finally got a congress that looks as if it's functional and it's notching wins. and for biden, who for a period of time was presiding kind of over nominally a totally dysfunctional congress, great news. >> it does seem to be, you look at what's happening on the

republican side, if biden has gotten better, trump has gotten stronger under the party, but that's not necessarily helpful to the gop in the midterms. >> usually when things are good for donald trump, they're bad for the party. he had a raid at his home and all of a sudden the party is rallying to him. that's good for him and i think he cleared out a lot of the competition potentially for a nomination. but that only tends to hurt democrats. republicans want this election to be about what andy barr talked about, cost of living, gas price, things like that. we're talking about donald trump reminding people that this is donald trump's party. it hurts. that's why everybody wants him to kind of stay away for a little while and let us get over the finish line. >> is it time to believe that the democrats can keep the house, or is that a bridge too far at this point? >> i think it is a possibility. the folks saying it is a foregone conclusion are being way too optimistic. this is going to be a turnout election.

different from kansas, right, kansas people are going out to defeat a ballot initiative. it is not a ballot initiative, people are going out to vote for candidates which is i think the democrats not talk about the search on the former president's home. if talking about donald trump was going to get you elected, terry mcauliffe would be elected as the governor of virginia right now. they are going to see it sooner than ten years, lowering prescription drugs, jobs. there is something to talk about here. and i think that's what they should do. >> all right. i will pause for conversation here. you guys are coming back, but we will have a little bit of an int lewd here. we will talk about what's happening as kids go back to school. are there enough qualified teachers to teach them when they get here.

it's time for the biggest sale of the year, on the sleep number 360 smart bed. snoring? it can gently raise your partner's head to help. our smart sleepers get 28 minutes more restful sleep per night. all smart beds are on sale. save 50% on the sleep number 360 limited edition smart bed. ends monday.

when traders tell us how to make thinkorswim® even better, we listen. like jack. he wanted a streamlined version he could access anywhere, no download necessary. and kim. she wanted to execute a pre-set trade strategy in seconds. so we gave 'em thinkorswim® web. because platforms this innovative aren't just made for traders -they're made by them. thinkorswim® by td ameritrade welcome back. across the country, schools don't have the teachers and the staff they need. many places are scrambling to fill the gaps. alabama lowering its

requirements to receive a teaching certificate. florida turned to military veterans to lead classrooms, even if they have no qualifications to do that in their degree. some districts in rural texas are moving to four-day school weeks. while states like tennessee and michigan a trying to get retired teachers back, arizona is turning to college students, getting them to teach before they even graduate. that's the tip of the iceberg. it's no wonder in our new poll, 1 in 3 people have little or no confidence in america's public schools. it is a big problem. joining me now is the secretary of qaeda, miguel cardona. good to see you. >> great to be with you again. >> look, i have seen a lot of your interviews this week. you have talked about what we've got. there is a short-term crisis that we're dealing with, and we've got a long-term problem we've got to deal with. look, you have thrown money at this. i say this not disparagingly. the money is there with trying

to deal with the short-term, teacher retention bonuses and things like this. the problem is a human capital problem. you can't legislate physical teachers for these classrooms. what is some of your answers to the long-term problem? >> well, i have seen good examples of what states are doing to address the long-term issue. first of all, let me just say it is back to school time. i'm excited that our students, 50 million students are returning back to their classrooms. this is going to be a great year. yes, we are dealing with a shortage issue. but some of the long-term solutions that we must focus on are creating grow your own programs. we need to tap the shoulders of our high school students, of our para educators and give them a pathway to higher education. we encourage, we have strongly encouraged the use of the american rescue plan dollars to get some of this work done and we're seeing it. in tennessee, they're working on an apprenticeship program. i visited las vegas, and the

high school there has a partnership with unlv to get connected into a teacher preparation program so they could be hired again. again, i want to stress, chuck, it is important that i stress the american rescue plan dollars should be used for this. remember, only half of congress voted for the american rescue plan. but 100% of our country can benefit from it. that's what we're encouraging folks to do. >> it's a bit distressing, you talked about these innovative programs, but at the end of the day, we wouldn't find -- you know, if we had a shortage in people training airline pilots, we wouldn't say, hey, let's see if we can fast track people who have ridden on airplanes while they learn to teach it. >> right, right. >> what kind of damage are we going to cause to a generation here who are going to be taught by underqualified teachers? >> well, if you heard my interview, you have heard me say this teacher shortage issue is a symptom of what i call a teacher

respect issue. we need to respect the profession better. college graduates earn 33% more than your average teacher when they leave. and adjusted for inflation, over the last 25 years, teachers have made a $29 increase in their salary. that's unacceptable. the fact we have normalized teachers driving uber on the weekend to make ends meet or working at a restaurant waiting tables to make ends meet, we have to lift the profession. we're speaking boldly about that and we want the rest of the country to respond. this didn't start with the pandemic. it is really important that we note that. i have been in education over 25 years. we have been talking about fighting for respect in the profession for decades. >> let me ask you this. is there any way of taking the student debt crisis and finding a way to, you know, i think there is a lot of people uncomfortable with canceling student debt without something in return. is there any way to take student debt and meet the teaching

crisis in figuring out a way to incentivize, hey, we'll wipe away your debt if you give us five years in the schools. >> yeah, yeah. that's great. and we do have examples of that across the country. let me mention public service loan forgiveness was broken. we fixed it so that our teachers can get loan forgiveness right away. we have given over $10 billion in public own forgiveness to date. we're asking folks to go on and see if you're eligible now. we're encouraging american rescue plan dollars to offset some of those costs. but we're also saying, why don't we take our para educators and give them college credits paid for by the american rescue plan dollars to address the issue. let's incentivize them going into the profession using the american rescue plan dollars. they've proven that they want to be in those schools and in those communities. let's incentivize them going into the profession using the american rescue plan dollars.

and although representative barr didn't vote for the american rescue plan, we know this community can benefit from it, too. >> i have to ask you before you go. we're ten days away from the most recent moratorium for student debt to expire. is a permanent fix coming? >> you know, from day one, we have been really focused on making sure we're protecting our students and our borrowers. $32 billion in debt forgiveness from day one. we know august 31st is a date that many people are waiting to hear something from. we have been talking daily about this. i can tell you that the american people will hear within the next week or so. >> it won't be nothing. is it fair to say it won't be nothing? >> well, i don't have any news to announce today, chuck, but i will tell you the american people will hear directly from us because we recognize this is an important issue across the country. >> all right. secretary of education, really appreciate you coming on and sharing your perspective with us. thank you, sir. >> great to be with you. thank you. when we come back, the amount of water in the southwest.

it's shrinking fast. population growing fast. but, first, if you don't already know about first street, it's our daily politics news. from "meet the press" and the nbc news political committee. we bring you the freshest reporting from the polling data and the sharpest analysis you come to expect from "meet the press" and nbc news. sign up. scan the qr code on your screen right now. we'll be right back.

welcome back. date download time. this week the federal government announced more emergency water cuts for states as well as our neighbor to the south along the colorado river. arizona and nevada as well as parts of mexico will be required to significantly reduce their watering usage from the colorado river in 2023. now, it is hard to overstate the importance of the colorado river basin in the southwest. serves 40 million people. look at the annual economic activity it generates. 1.4 trillion. but we're in the middle of a 23-year mega drought as well, which is contributing to a low level of water all along the colorado river basin. it is as dry there now as it has been in the last 100 years. right now we are at dangerously low levels here. the near high was about 20 years ago, near 1,200 feet there. let me put this in perspective.

go back to 1937. that's when we first started filling lake mead, and the level is basically the same. if the lake drops further to 950 feet, the dam no longer is able to produce hydro electric power. forget just a water crisis. then you have an energy crisis, too. there is a lot of reasons for the diminishing water supply. climate change is a big part of it. but you can't ignore the impact of growing population numbers. look at the cities served by the colorado river basin. some of the places in the sun and fun of san diego, vegas, denver, et cetera. look at these population gains. 1990 the area was over 16 million. now it is over 23 million. by 2025, we are looking at 25 million. so put it altogether. the rate of population growth continues as high as it is. we continue with this mega drought, we will have more

actions like this that become more drastic, more extreme, and then we will be fighting politically over water. it is not a pretty picture. when we come back, two weeks after the fbi searched president trump's home, many believe these investigations into the former president should continue. stay with us.

with xfinity internet, you get advanced security that helps protect you at home and on the go. you feel so safe, it's as if... i don't know... evander holyfield has your back. i wouldn't click on that. hey, thanks! we got a muffin for ed! all right! you don't need those calories. can we at least split it? nope. advanced security that helps protect your devices in and out of the home. i mean, can i have a bite? only from xfinity. nah. unbeatable internet. made to do anything so you can do anything.

welcome back. so donald trump's hold on the republican party. we have a poll question that we track here, and it basically -- you identify more -- this is just among republicans. we have to identify more as a republican or as a trump supporter. let me show you what had happened. we had been watching basically a slow erosion of support for trump. marc caputo. it was happening, and we saw it in our poll. we saw it in other polls. we happened to be in the field right after mar-a-lago and after the search was executed. so we saw a spike in the interest of the election. among rural voters.

it showed us something there. it goes to brendan's point before, whatever it is, when it is somehow bad for trump legally, it's good for trump politically. >> yeah. and it's also sort of bad for the republican party long-term because they are looking at, and i think i quoted brendan the other day and my story that we talked to different republicans who have talked to donald trump. and they said he's over the moon. he was celebrating liz cheney getting defeated. he's celebrating these sorts of poll numbers. he's celebrating the fact he's raising more money. people are thinking, oh, my god, you have four or five criminal investigations into you. >> you could go to jail and you're celebrating? >> he said he'll win the republican primary in a jail cell, and you are seeing it in these numbers. his base feels that any sort of law enforcement action or attack on him is an attack on them personally. >> i never bought the slippage. i'm sorry. >> obviously it was in the polls.

it was out of sight, out of mind. whenever donald trump re-emerged, this was going to happen. the party is in the image of donald trump. everyone who is not donald trump is trying to act like donald trump. that's because that's what voters want. as soon as he came back, they were going to come back to him. >> interesting contradiction in our poll when it comes to investigating trump. >> yeah. >> so overall, 57% said all these investigations continue. but when we ask specifically about january 6th, what is your confidence in that, a majority have very little or very little, and only a smaller amount have a fair amount of confidence. it is almost as the equal bipartisanship has taken hold with enough voters. just because you don't trust january 6th doesn't mean you don't want trump investigated. >> if you want more investigations, certainly you can take your pick of the number

of investigations happening right now. you can look to georgia, new york, down the street from where we are at doj. like you have options there if you want to see investigations keep going. the thing that's striking to me, if you want to see investigations done in the public eye, you really have no other option than the january 6th committee. the work they do in september will be really interesting especially now that liz cheney is unchained right now at this point and the fact they're talking to pence casts this in a really fascinating light, too. >> i'm sorry. i think there was also an element of overselling and underdelivering. certainly when you look to the social media traffic and what a lot of pundits were saying, you would have thought that this january 6th committee, when they had recently concluded that trump was going to be put in irons and marched to riker's island, that didn't happen. >> i don't think that's what they said either. i think the january 6th committee investigation is not

about donald trump. the threat to our democracy is very real. it is not -- donald trump could be, let's just say, one of these investigations gets him and he goes to jail. the threat to our democracy will still be there. the people at the capitol that day on january 6th, many of them went home. there were thousands of people went there. only a couple hundred have been arrested and convicted. so this is bigger than donald trump. i think it is a dereliction of duty to make it solely about this one deranged, very dangerous former president. >> isn't the january 6th committee's work also the fact they are showing in real-time the split in the republican party right now. yeah, the majority is with trump. but they have used republican voices to do the condemning of the former president and his orbit. during these hearings. being in alaska just recently with senator lisa murkowski saying, well, i hope we're not the party of trump. you are. but at the same time there are other voices that are running

the other way. >> we have less time, but i'll read it fast. i said this on january 6th. i'll do whatever it takes to make sure donald trump is anywhere near the oval office, and i mean it. what is the best way for her to fulfill that promise? >> yeah. i think liz cheney did a good job looking forward after losing her race. i think people that don't like donald trump, never trump republicans need to appreciate this was a pretty low point for the anti-trump movement. there were ten people voted for impeachment. only two have moved forward in their primaries. the road ahead is hard. liz cheney is not -- while i love what she's doing, she is not reflective of the republican party. maybe she will run. but that lane is incredibly narrow right now. so she's got to figure out what is the best way to hurt him and not help joe biden. i think if she runs herself as an independent, it could help joe biden. >> will it help trump? >> doesn't it help trump if she runs, too? >> if you are a republican voter that doesn't like donald trump

and it is a binary choice between donald trump and joe biden, it might be nice. it might be nice to have liz cheney where you don't have to feel dirty voting for joe biden. >> what is ron desantis thinking now that donald trump got his grievance mojo back? >> that's a good question. i think in trump world, which is more obsessed with desantis than desantis is with trump, i got an image of a meme that was floating around facebook from a republican consultant who is associated with trump showing desantis welcoming the fbi into mar-a-lago. so trump world thinks he loves this. desantis i think is waiting for his opportunity and it's not there now. >> all right. that is all we have for today. thank you for watching. this tuesday, we will be breaking down more primaries. live on "meet the press" election special. florida and new york two pretty decent sized states, i have heard. streaming now. don't miss it. we will be back here next week because if it's sunday, it's "meet the press."

what use does the former president have for classified or top secret information once he's left office? >> every former president has access to their documents and that's how they write their memoir s. a new excuse for why trump kept classified documents at his home in florida. and meanwhile the former president is pushing his legal plans and pushing more dangerous rhetoric about law enforcement. plus, new polling from nbc news shows the economy is not the top concern ahead of the mid terms. we will tell you what issue is the most pressing according to