how strong is your economy? if you have gas prices that you can't simply depend upon it continues to rise, you are going into winter, and you are wondering can you afford your winter heating, that's not an economy that's strong. i think that's why in the selection, they made a change in congress. this is what we're going to focus on for the american people. we will make an economy that's strong. it's not government dictating where somebody can work. we will have an economy that workers can work. we will have an economy that has energy prices that are lower. you have money to fill up your tank and still go to dinner. we will secure our borders so your kids know they are safe. we will have a government that's accountable. no longer is administration is going to lie to you and tell you a border is secure when it's not. >> what about ukraine funding? >> keeping an eye on twitter under elon musk? >> that's offensive to me.

government is going to go after someone that wants to have free speech? what do they have to look at twitter about? they want to go after the american public about whether they can have an opinion on something? the american public have spoken on this. our first amendment stands up. they should stop picking on elon musk. elon musk has succeeded in many places. i would bet on him more than government going after you. one thing i would say when we talk about accountability, we will no longer let government after people because of their political views. >> where do you stand on funding for ukraine? just clarify your position on the meeting between trump and kanye west. was that appropriate? >> the president had meetings with who he wants. i don't think anybody should have a meeting with nick fuentes. his views are nowhere within the republican party or this country itself. >> kanye west made -- >> i think kanye west should -- i don't think those are right

comments. i don't think he should associate with him. i'm very clear in my position. let me walk through on ukraine. i think that's a legitimate question. i remember coming here in 2015 after coming back from ukraine. i remember sitting in the situation room meeting with then vice president joe biden advocating we sell javelins, a defensive weapon, to stop tanks from russia from coming in. unfortunately, i wasn't successful that day. i brought a bipartisan group in. i think what putin in russia is wrong. actions we could have taken ahead of time probably would have made sure they never entered. i'm not for a blank check for anything. this is hard working taxpayer money. i want to make sure whatever funding we spend goes to the right places. unfortunately, under the current majority of democrats, full body control, what they put on the floor last time they never gave members an opportunity to even

have input. you voted on a fly-in day. $40 billion. now they want to come back and ask for more. i want to make sure we are successful at this. but i want to make sure that no matter what we spend on, come january 3rd, be it any funding, that there's no blank check. that there's accountability and there's audits. >> how would you describe your relationship with president biden leading up to now and going forward? >> i had worked with then vice president biden. i visited him at his house. we would meet for breakfast at times. since becoming president, we haven't met often. i can work with anybody. we want to make sure our country is successful. for the same responsibility, i think one of the reasons why republicans are winning the majority in the house is the failed policies of this administration. i think america likes a check and balance. america wants to make sure that government is working for the

people, not for their own political views. that's what we will get come january. >> the respect for marriage act. catholic bishops say protections are insufficient and far from comprehensive and treat religious liberty as a second class right. it's in the senate. do you agree with that assessment by catholic bishops? >> i agree with them, yes. >> what do you make -- [ inaudible ] >> democrats control the house, senate and presidency. we are sitting here talking about this. maybe this is the reason why republicans took the majority in the house. they didn't do their job. they controlled all government and now we are sitting at the last moment in time debating whether to do a cr or not that we know causes pain to the american public. it's because congress was not working. congress was not doing their job. from saying all that, i'm not going to sit back and let some bill pass in the middle of the night. i'm not going to let them continue to do this runaway

spending. i'm not going to let them to continue to ignore the challenges when it comes to our energy policy, our border policy, or let known what we are doing in the military, kicking men and women out. the president calling that coast guard a hero. a week later, he loses his job because of his belief of not taking a vaccine for covid. that has got to stop. we need common sense brought back. if we can't get common sense in appropriation bills, we will support a cr and fix this come january. appreciate it. >> what about members of the gop conference who have ties to nick fuentes like marjorie taylor greene? >> she denounced him. >> i have a question the border. i wanted to ask a little bit about border patrol officers. you were saying there are not enough. it's difficult to get them into the job.

would you support additional funding for more officers or better pay for them or something to get more border patrol officers in the job? >> the answer is yes. but that's not the problem. the problem is happening right now. if you talk to border agents -- all of you are welcome to come down and travel with me. i welcome the president to come with me, vice president or any others. they are working six days a week, ten hours a day. as you sit there, you watch a border of people running across. what they're doing with the border agents, they are taking them -- going inside to the processing centers. it's not their job. they sit inside and not being able to do their job. we have watched with the new administration where they leave gates open. the mechanism -- the mechanics have broken but they won't fix it because they think it's working on a wall, the infrastructure, we have to get the infrastructure working. you should bring people in that are processors, not border agents, and let them do their job. the other thing that they're doing is, they're doing polygraph tests on people trying

for a job. these are men and women who are heroes coming out of our military who are passing that to get in. the challenge is, that's wrong. they need another -- they need hundreds of thousands more agents to be hired. we watch administration and n a democrat control that think you need more irs agents. our priorities are wrong. come january, we will bring common sense, not just to secure our border but actually make an economy that is stronger, a government that's accountable and a future that's built on freedom. thank you all very much. right now on "andrea mitchell reports," live from romania, president biden wrapping up a meeting with congressional leaders on his priorities for the lame duck session, including push for legislation to prevent a crippling rail strike. the house republican leader

laying down some markers on future aid to ukraine and other suggests. senator republicans now are a chorus condemning donald trump for dining with a white nationalist holocaust denier along with kanye west. >> i think it has been clear there's no bottom to the degree to which president trump will degrade himself and the nation. he never sees anything wrong in anything he does. this is characteristic of his approach. in doha, an epic showdown. the u.s. and iran in a make or break world cup match today. iran's regime faces global outrage over their treatment of protesters and the treatment of women. secretary blinken say this should be about the game, not geopolitics. >> let's let the athletes do their thing. we have what should be a competitive game.

let's let the game speak for itself. >> the secretary and his nato counterparts are trying to help ukraine patch together its power grid after russian attacks leave much of the country without heat or water. ♪♪ good day. i'm andrea mitchell in romania. blinken is working with nato allies to help ukrainians survive a frigid winter. many allies have teams playing in the men's world cup, with the match between the u.s. and iran this afternoon. joining me now and throughout this hour, my colleague and friend, nbc senior capitol hill correspondent garrett haake in our washington studio. garrett, this could be one of the most watched soccer games in american history. >> it could. you think about it, friday's game against england has that

record now. tons of people home tuning in. you didn't have to be a sports fan to want to cheer on the red, white and blue. this is a team that needs to score goals. i know you will talk about that a lot more coming up in our next segment. we have some breaking news we have to handle in washington first. you saw the tail end at the top of the hour. moments ago, the big four congressional leaders, nancy pelosi, schumer, mcconnell and mccarthy were at the white house meeting with president biden after he asked congress to intervene to avoid a massive rail strike that could derail the economy and your holiday plans. >> there's a lot to do, including resolving the train strike, what we're doing now. congress, i think, has to act. it's not an easy call, but i think we have to do it. the economy is at risk. >> monica alba is covering this. the deadline on this rail strike is potentially december 9th.

just beyond that, of course, is the possible deadline for a government shutdown. a lot to juggle with the new and then old leadership teams changing the guard right now. take us inside the meeting. what did we learn? >> reporter: the president did meet with these leaders for more than an hour. tons of topics on the agenda. i'm told -- according to the congressional leaders who spoke to us, they did spend a good amount of time talking about the looming rail strike. speaker pelosi said there was bipartisan cooperation that all of them wanted to work to avoid what could be completely crippling to the economy. leader schumer agreed. in terms of how this could actually happen, speaker pelosi said she believes it will be brought up for a vote tomorrow. when asked if he has the votes to pass it in the senate, leader schumer said, i'm still working on that. for his part, on the republican side, leader mccarthy implied he thinks they could come to a

solution, but he expressed his disappointment thinking this was already handled by the president when he was involved in the negotiations a couple of months back in september. of course, that deadline of december 9th made a little bit more intense because they will have to give a notice days in advance. that could be friday. all of the congressional leaders spoke to the fact that the clock is ticking. they want to come to some resolution. even speaker pelosi said she would like to see more paid sick leave for the workers. that's one of the main debated issues at the heart of the disagreement. listen from all three leaders about their sense on how these negotiations could go and what could happen with an agreement between the rail companies and the labor unions. >> i don't like going against the ability of unions to strike. but weighing the equities, we must avoid a strike. tomorrow morning in the house, we will bring up the legislation. send it over to the senate. >> leader mcconnell and i agreed

we would try to get it done asasp. >> this is unfortunate. the president told us this was solved. now we find ourselves in the last moments, in the last hous asking us to rush a bill to the floor. >> reporter: of course, the president is hopeful. he said earlier that he was confident this could get resolved. the next couple of days are critical about whether that can happen. on a looming government funding deadline, speaker pelosi said this could turn into a year-long cr, which was not her preference, as you capitol hill reporters know. she said they would want an am -- omnibus bill. that was something else. leader mccarthy was asked to denounce the meeting that former president trump had with the artist formerly known as kanye

west and known white supremacist nick fuentes at mar-a-lago last week. i believe this was the first time he did come out and condemn that. he hadn't in the last couple of days or he had been sidestepping it. he said, when it comes to nick fuentes, nobody should be associating themselves with him, especially the former president. he did condemn anti-semitism but didn't necessarily the fact that former president trump has been involved with ye in the last couple of weeks and months. >> those were the first comments from kevin mccarthy on that particular issue. now we wait to see what mitch mcconnell will say about that and he will have to come up with votes on this rail strike. that will be very interesting to watch. thank you for your reporting. andrea, back to you for your reporting in romania. thanks so much. let's turn back to the world cup. today's big match. joining me now, meagan fitzgerald in doha, grant wall and former obama deputy national security advisor ben rhodes.

meagan, before you tell us about the excitement, i want to play for some of our viewers some of the stunning questions just yesterday from iranian state media to u.s. soccer captain tyler adams. >> first of all, you say you support the iranian people but you are pronouncing our country's name wrong. our country is named iran not i-ran. once and for all, let's get this clear. second of all, are you okay to be representing a country that has so much discrimination against black people in its own borders and we saw the black lives matter movement over the past few years, are you okay to be representing the u.s. meanwhile there's so much discrimination happening against black people in america? >> my apologies on the mispronunciation of your country. that being said, there's discrimination everywhere you go.

one thing that i have learned, especially from living abroad in the past years, and having to fit in in different cultures and kind of assimilate into different cultures, is that in the u.s. we are continuing to make progress every single day. >> he did a great job thinking on his feet. what about the fact that the iranian media hijacked that news conference which should have been a pre-match news conference and what the tensions are there as we watch to see what the iranian team does after we know they were silent during the national anthem on a previous match and now what's going to happen today? >> reporter: andrea, you are right. this was very unusual. an unexpected press conference. you played the sound from the team captain tyler adams, who answered those questions with incredible poise and respect and class. what we are seeing here is that

this tournament is a lot more than just games. it's not just about soccer. it is the intersection of politics and human rights and sports colliding all together. recently, we had the u.s. soccer federation where they had that one-time graphic where they removed the islamic republic emblem from the flag. that, of course, angering the iranians. the team saying that they knew nothing about that. they are now caught in the crosshairs of it all. i had an opportunity to ask the team, there's a lot of distractions off the pitch. how do you stay focused? is this a distraction? they said, while they stand with human rights, they stand with women's rights, they stand in solidarity with the women of iran fighting for basic human rights, when they take the pitch, think are focused on winning. of course, in a couple of hours, they are going to be playing a really important game against iran. it's a must win for team usa. if they win, that means they will advance to the next round

where they will likely take on the netherlands on saturday. if they lose, they head home. a lot on their plate. >> we will be watching. meagan fitzgerald, thank you for your coverage. ben rhodes, as a former deputy national security advisor and i assume a soccer fan, it went further than that. the secretary of state, you heard him say, this is not about geopolitics. all attempts by iran through the state media are trying to disparage america. >> yeah. there's nothing new about that, andrea. they have been doing that for years. i think the problem for iran is that the whole world can see what the view of the iranian people is through these protests and the view of iranian people through these protests. their efforts to try to distract from that by spotlighting america's problems, america's

racial disparities is not going to take away the attention from what the world can see happening in iran. most importantly, the fact that the iranian soccer team seems to be in solidarity with iranian's women and the protesters. that's a huge embarrassment to the government. the stance they are taking, that is the most interesting thing that's happening at the world cup. the thing that i think that the iranian government is probably most worried about. normally, they would try to gin up national pride, anti-american sentiment with the hijinks we saw at the press conference. they are dealing with a team in solidarity with the protest movement. >> grant, focus on the team. this is the world cup. so far, two ties, one a disappointment with wales. what's the team's mindset with

everything on line today? >> score goals. you have to win this game. the expectation is that iran, which only needs a tie most likely to advance tonight, the u.s. needs a win, iran needs a tie, that iran will play very defensively. it's going to be on the u.s. team to try to break down this iranian defense. that will not be easy. the u.s. hasn't won many games over the years at the men's world cup. winning games here is not easy. this is a good u.s. team. they performed consistently during this tournament. i think they should be able to win tonight. but it's going to be very, very difficult. >> thanks so much to you, grant. i know you have a lot to do before the game. ben, i want to stick with you for a second on a couple of other foreign policy points. let's talk about china and the crackdown against the protests. the protests spreading. it's hard to tell, isn't it, just -- it's widespread against the lockdowns.

but just how significant is this? it's unprecedented. we have never seen protests against xi jinping after he won his third term. >> it's usually significant. we haven't seen anything like this in many years. it's more significant because there's not an obvious way out for xi jinping. it is his zero covid policy that he has dug in on. he either has to concede that that policy is failing and he needs to make a u-turn by open things up or by reaching out for vaccines from other parts of the world or he has to clamp down, as he probably most likely will, and risk greater unrest and greater economic slowdown in china. we have seen significant hits to the economy from this zero covid policy. he has no easy way out. either he will have to lose face by changing his policy or risk more unrest by digging in with the policy that's angering his own people.

>> here is what secretary blinken had to say about this at a news conference today about china. >> when it comes to protests, protests that we are seeing in china, protests that we are seeing for different reasons in iran and other places, our position is the same everywhere, which is that we support the right of people everywhere to peacefully protest. >> they are -- obviously, the administration is committed to supporting the protesters without trying to go too far, i suppose, when they are talking about either china or iran. well, iran less so than china. with china, it's a much more delicate, more complicated relationship. i want to briefly pivot to news from paul whelan's family. you had so much experience having to deal with hostages around the world when you were in the national security team. they have not heard from paul

whelan, still in russian custody. they have the weekly scheduled phone call on thursday. he missed it. they are getting concerned as the days progress. the consulate officials say they have not had their contacts. we are concerned about paul whelan's health and welfare as well as brittney griner. >> yeah. this is really disturbing news. obviously, we know the conditions in russian penal colonies is not good at all. there have been discussions around a potential prisoner swap. the challenge is, u.s./russia relations couldn't be in a worse place. vladimir putin is willing to go past any norm to any length in his conflict with the west. so there's not a lot of

maneuvering room. this sense of urgency to bring these americans home, but we are trying to bring them home in the most difficult circumstances possible with paul whelan and brittney griner in challenging conditions of detention. it's just a very difficult time. hopefully, the administration can get something done here through a swap. there's no guarantee. >> it's a difficult situation. as you know better than most. ben rhodes, thank you for your expertise on everything. turning back to the protests in china, i want to bring in janice. you said health officials are acknowledging the frustration across china. we still have heard nothing from president xi jinping. >> reporter: the acknowledgement was vague. but they did hint at understanding that people are frustrated with the system, the zero covid system, the old 2020

tools of lockdowns and quarantines and regular testing that people here have grown so tired of. the inspiration for these extraordinary protests that we saw through the weekend. what we saw today, andrea, was the clamping down. that seemed almost inevitable. police fanning out in cities where the protests were held, where the streets had been swelling with people. now they are walled up with barricades as well as guards on duty. people were also having their phones searched by police. they were looking for any images of the protests or messaging apps that could connect somebody to the protests. there was a lot of discussion of that on social media today, people saying they were taking care to delete any photos or chat histories in order to avoid trouble. the protests against the zero

covid policy, it isn't clear if this moment will last for the protesters. for xi jinping, it does pose a challenge for him. he will need to quell the protests but at the same time, not be seen as walking back from his own policy. >> thank you. back in the u.s., republicans are condemning former president trump's dinner with kanye west. what they are saying now coming up next. you are watching a special edition of "andrea mitchell reports." we are live in bucharest, romania. we will be back only on msnbc. (scrooge) bah humbug! (cecily) happy holidays, mr. scrooge! (scrooge) i can barely get reception outside ye olde towne center! (cecily) you need a better network. 'tis the season to switch to verizon. (scrooge) 'tis? (cecily) 'tis! you get a free 5g phone when you do. (scrooge) free phone! (cecily) plus verizon gives you another great gift! a tablet, a smartwatch, earbuds... (scrooge) well the more gifts the merrier! (vo) right now, get a free 5g phone.

and another gift, like a tablet, smartwatch, and earbuds. all on us. that's up to $2100 in value. (scrooge) wow! (vo) act now, this offer won't last long! verizon

(dog barking) we love our pets. but we don't always love their hair. which is why we made bounce pet hair and lint guard with three times the pet hair fighting ingredients. just one sheet helps remove pet hair from your clothes! looking good starts in the dryer with bounce pet. hi, i'm jason and i've lost 202 pounds on golo. so the first time i ever seen a golo advertisement, i said, "yeah, whatever. there's no way this works like this." and threw it to the side. a couple weeks later, i seen it again after getting not so pleasant news from my physician. i was 424 pounds, and my doctor was recommending weight loss surgery.

to avoid the surgery, i had to make a change. so i decided to go with golo and it's changed my life. when i first started golo and taking release, my cravings, they went away. and i was so surprised. you feel that your body is working and functioning the way it should be and you feel energized. golo has improved my life in so many ways. i'm able to stand and actually make dinner. i'm able to clean my house. i'm able to do just simple tasks that a lot of people call simple, but when you're extremely heavy they're not so simple. golo is real and when you take release and follow the plan, it works.

donald trump's iron grip on the republican party is slipping just a bit.

republican lawmakers blasted the former president on monday. >> joining me now, capitol hill correspondent ryan nobles, two former members of congress, democrat donna edwards and david jolly, former republican congressman from florida. these are all senators we spoke to yesterday breaking from trump. less unusual for them to do so. we just saw kevin mccarthy do the same thing here. what do you make of this particular moment in republican

political reckoning? >> reporter: you know, with everything when it comes to the former president and his relationship with members of congress, it's a wait and see moment. there have been times in the past where many of them have come out strongly disavowing something he said and then they turned around and endorsed him. i think it's important to listen to what kevin mccarthy said a few minutes ago. i think it was poignant in terms of how he is handling this. take a listen. >> i don't think anybody should be spending any time with nick fuentes. president trump came out four times and condemned him and didn't know who he was. >> he said he didn't know who he was. he didn't condemn him or his ideology. >> i condemn his ideology. >> reporter: you see there, garrett, probably a difference from the senators we talked to yesterday. kevin mccarthy still trying to find a way to excuse donald trump's behavior by claiming he

didn't know who nick fuentes was. that's the big difference between what we saw from republican senators versus what we hear from republican members of the house as we fan out and try to talk to them today. they usually are a bit more willing to give donald trump a little grace when it comes to situations like this. of course, the big question becomes, garrett, as the 2024 campaign plays out, and if he is the leader in the polls, are the republicans just going to fall in line behind him as they have done in previous instances? >> i have my truth social alert set up to see if trump is going to respond to mccarthy. mccarthy very much needs trump if he is going to be the speaker. david, the thing with all the republicans trying to distance themselves now from donald trump is they had the chance to really be rid of him if they had convicted him in his second impeachment after january 6. they chose not to do so. do you see the way that republicans are handling this incident providing any blueprint for how the party might stop him from getting the nomination again or those who don't want to

see that happen? >> no, not at all. we are six years into this. it's almost transparent how they handle these moments. it's easy to condemn white nationalism, white supremacist. who condemned donald trump? then the natural follow-up is, will you still abide by what i call the mcconnell rule, which is i will support the nominee in '24 regardless who it is? i bet but for maybe a few, every one of these people would support the nominee in '24 even if it is donald trump. they own this moment. this is a moment of the republican party in 2022. not a moment of donald trump. even consider the house republicans on the judiciary committee continue to keep up their tweet that says kanye, elon, trump. this is who the party is. it's easy to condemn hate and anti-semitism, but if you give harbor to it and you say, we will still support donald trump if he is our leader, it's kind

of a bunch of hot garbage from republicans. >> they learned it from trump, no backing down no matter the criticism. donna, he is trying to distance himself from nick fuentes. talk about the alignment to the degree you see any between fuentes's rhetoric and the rhetoric used by the former president. >> i think it's exactly the same rhetoric, to be honest with you, garrett. i think david jolly is right about this. there was condemnation. it took the better part of a week for it to happen. of nick fuentes. there was not condemnation of donald trump himself. i think until that happens, the republican party has not distanced themselves. when i hear republicans say things like, well, you know, he didn't mean to, he didn't know who he was dining with, this is

not who the republican party is. in fact, this is exactly who today's republican party is. i haven't heard any republicans willing to run away from that part of the trump party. >> ryan, quick, january 6, we have another witness coming in today, tony oronato. why is it important? >> reporter: he is important because he is central to cassidy hutchinson's testimony. she's the star witness who said it was him who told her the story of donald trump lashing out at his security detail on january 6, demanding to be taken to the capitol and lunging at the driver of the suv he was in. you will remember shortly after her testimony, officials from the secret service pushed back and said that what she had to say was not completely accurate. that is what compelled the committee to bring him and bobby

engel, in the suv with the former president, to hear their side of the story and to do so under oath. some of the members of the committee believe his testimony may not have been 100% truthful the first time around. this is their opportunity to get a second crack at him. of course, it comes as the clock is ticking on this committee. they have to have this report wrapped up by the end of the year. >> ryan, quick, they are voting today, the same-sex marriage bill. what's the prognosis to see that pass in the senate and move over to the house? >> reporter: it sounds pretty optimistic by leaders here in the senate. they will vote on a couple of amendments that republican senators are going to put forward that have to do with religious freedom. in general, it's expected that this legislation will pass. i don't want to say with ease, because that never happens in the senate. they believe it gets over the finish line. then back to the house where it's expected to pass again and then ultimately signed into law by president biden. it takes a little longer in the senate. but this is why they are considered to be the greatest

deliberating body on planet, that's what they tell us. >> we will go with that. thank you all. andrea, over to you in romania. thanks so much, garrett. today, secretary of state blinken announcing $53 million in emergency aid to repair ukraine's power grid, after russian attacks wiped out critical power substations around the country. on october 10, less than 5% of ukraine's power grid was damaged. between october 11th and november 22nd, at least 25% of the power grid had been affected. that increased to more than 30% of the grid by last week. joining us now is the former supreme leader of nato. russia has been targeting high voltage transmission substations all over ukraine, taken out by the cheap iranian drones.

how important is it to get the money from the u.s. and the equipment that this money will pay for -- they say some is stockpiled in the energy department and can be moved quickly to help them get through the winter. >> it's absolutely critical for a ton of reasons. i would invite people to put this on a scale in the united states. this would be a day in which 80 million people are without power, with winter coming on. say in the northern part of the country. that can be devastating, not just physiologically for the ukrainians, but to their morale, which so far has held together very, very well. this is a good example of where putin is miscalculating the resolve and the capability and the depth of what the west can bring to bear. we know how to make electric grids. we now how to prepare them. we have our 30 nato allies, all

of us pulling together. we can help keep the ukrainians warm through the winter. i think we will. putin will fail in this strategy. >> nato chief spoke today. they are attacks on non-military targets. >> the russian military retains significant capabilities and a large number of troops. it's willing to use extreme brutality and leave ukraine cold and dark this winter. so we must stay the course and help ukraine prevail as a sovereign nation. >> he says that putin is trying to use winter as a war weapon against ukraine. you still think ukraine, because of their morale, their leadership, can get through this? >> i absolutely do. with our assistance. can't overstate that.

the secretary-general of nato is a former prime minister of norway. he understands what it is to be in that leadership role, leading a country. he knows russia very well. the norwegians are up there in that part of europe, in and around russian aggression all the time. he is highly credible. he knows what he is talking about. we have to not only be able to take down the ability of russia to interfere with this electric grid by repairing it, but we have also got to help ukraine close the skies. what i mean is more air defense systems, potentially look at bringing them fighter aircraft, surface to air missiles. if we could blunt that part of putin's strategy, not only can we keep the ukrainians warm and rebuild the electric grid, but we can also really foil putin's plan, because the ukraiians are

succeeding on land. putin is only succeeding in the air. if we can take that away, we will push this forward. >> almost to that point, there was a threat today by former president medvedev warning if the u.s. supies patriot air defense, that they will be taken out, saying it would be a legitimate target. >> first and foremost, medvedev, someone i have met, is someone who is now trying to out putin putin. he is appealing to the extreme far right rabid war hawks. first and foremost, he is part of this stack of lies that russia has built. he is grooming his own political career with this rhetoric.

point two would be, we ought to move those patriots into place. let me tell you something. those patriot batteries can take care of themselves. russia is -- may try to go after them. i think that would be wasted ordinance. recall this, any missile they send at a patriot battery will be almost certainly shot down by the patriot battery. and it won't be used, therefore, to be attacking the electric grid. i think there's a strong argument for bringing those systems into play. >> nbc's keir simmons sat down with students. let's listen to what they had to say. s listen to what they had to say.

>> admiral, does this further illustrate the russians' discontent with the war? >> absolutely does. you can hear echos of our own experience in the war in vietnam that you and i can remember. i would say that these are cracks that are starting to emerge in the russian facade of war. let's hope the young people can move this forward over time. >> thank you so much. it's good to see you. >> great to see you. in georgia, they are breaking all early voting records for a midterm runoff election. the latest from the campaign

trail and what the candidates are saying. coming up, more of this special edition of "andrea mitchell reports." we are live from bucharest, romania, only on msnbc. romania, only on msnbc maybe it's perfecting that special place that you want to keep in the family... ...or passing down the family business... ...or giving back to the places that inspire you. no matter your purpose, at pnc private bank, we will work with you every step of the way to help you achieve it. so let us focus on the how. just tell us - what's your why? ♪♪

in record breaking numbers. boy, are they voting. more than a quarter million votes were cast monday alone in the senate runoff beating the 2018 record. the total in-person early vote

stands above 468,000. incumbent senator warnock spoke moments ago. vaughan hillyard was there. he joins us now. herschel walker is on the campaign trail after basically disappearing for the last week. what was warnock's closing message today? >> reporter: right. this is a matter of turnout at this point. warnock gained 38,000 more votes in the general election three weeks ago over republican herschel walker. the runoff is a different ball game. we saw that in 2020. ultimately, a couple weeks later, a 140,000 net voter gain. that's what democrats need to take place here in 2022. warnock was at a historically black university speaking with

about 100 students in which he was making the case that while early voting numbers are a good indicator and something to be heartened about, we saw record voters turn out, he said for every one of the voters who have voted, they need four others to come out here. early voting goes through this friday. former president obama will be here thursday. then it comes down to next tuesday, which is the whole ball game. that is why you see not only warnock making the stops around the state but we will go on the trail tomorrow and meet up with walker, who is making his late pitch as well. >> vaughan, since i have you, i have to cover your other beat in arizona, where republican controlled county refusing to certify? >> right. this is a republican county here. voting for the republicans. yet, almost in a way of protest of the maricopa county

elections, in which there were long lins over printing issues that led to longer lines because it took longer to tabulate the ballots, you have seen the republican board of supervisors in cochise county decline to certify. the bigger deadline is next week. on december 8 is when the arizona governor, secretary of state and attorney general must certify the statewide results. there's a part of arizona state law that says if a county has yet to certify its election results, then the statewide canvas, certification will go forward without that county. the national implication is that there's an arizona u.s. house district, u.s. house district, he is the republican candidate, narrowly beat by just over 5,000 votes his democratic opponent. if you were to remove that county from the equation, he

would lose 13,000 votes and the democrat would win. it's hard to fathom that actually actual outcome taking place. you saw the secretary of state file a lawsuit compelling them to certify the results. all of this will play out over the course of the next week in arizona. >> he's a star recruit. they are going to be watching that one closely. thank you. and andrea, back to you in romania. >> thanks so much, we'll be seeing you here tomorrow. as russia's war drags on, ten ambulances are destroyed every week. on this giving tuesday, former astronaut scott kelly is raising funds to replace these life-saving assets. kelly, a twin to hez former astronaut just reelected mark kelly, scott kelly spent 520 days in space, 340 on the international space station. why that's so interesting, it was alongside russian astronaut.

since leeing, he's been an outspoken krutic of the invasion in ukraine returning his russian fight medal and calling out russians he once thought of as colleagues. he's a united ambassador, the official fundraising organization. they are getting geerators to power hospitals. scott kelly joins me now. thank you so much for being with us. this is very personal for you. you have family from kharkiv, friends on both sides of the war. you were an emt and a flight me tick. how did you get involved? >> like you said, the issue is really important to me. i have a brother-in-law who is a ukrainian american, a niece and a a nephew that are ukrainian had-american, although they were important in the united states. but i'm also a big believer in

democracy and freedom. as such, i think it's my responsibility to try to defend it. in any way i can and help in this very significant cause. so i got involved really early on in this fight. and recently, i was asked to join president zelenskyy's fundraising. >> we have all been in situations when our personal ideals differ from those of a colleague or a friend. how do you balance speaking your conscience and not jeopardizing the work that nasa is doing and frankly relies on russians for? >> nasa is in a tough spot. they rely on russia for control of the international space station. so i understand their challenge there, but i don't work for nasa anymore. i'm a private citizen.

i feel like it's my responsibility to do what i think is right. that's speaking out about this issue and trying to help in any way i can. >> do you see a future for nasa that does not include russia? >> absolutely. as soon as we get to the logical end of the international space station program, i can't really see us in an area where nasa would cooperate in space with russia again, assuming the current government is still in power. so i think nasa has a broigt future and the russian space agency future is grim. >> this week you visited two sites of intense war crimes. you have also seen signs of

incredible strength and resilience from the ukrainians, especially going into this winter without their power, without energy, without heat and water. how would you describe the situation now? >> it's really heartbreaking to see what happened with the a war crimes, the murder, the torture, evidence of that. just the destruction in civilian infrastructure. the russians will claim that a lot of this damage was either made up or collateral damage, but when you see the fact that tanks were shooting at close range at apartment buildings where people lived and killing those people and destroying their homes, it's very clear that this is a war of terror. now since they win on the battlefield, they decided to terrorize the whole population by destroying their infrastructure, their energy

systems, their water, their heat, which is a war crime. i'm hoping they are going to see their repercussions of that and pay the price. >> commander, thank you so much. it's great to see you. thank you for what you're doing. you can help the effort by donating on this giving tuesday. and this just in from the white house. there's a new sign on display wishing the men's national team well in the critical match against iran in the world cup. it team saves go team usa. we are all behind you. and that tuz it for this special edition of "andrea mitchell reports" live from romania. thank you. tomorrow i'll sit down with secretary of state antony blinken to discuss the war in ukraine, tensions with iran, protests in china, probably a little bit of soccer. "chris jansing reports" starts right after this. ght after this

(scrooge) bah humbug! (cecily) happy holidays, mr. scrooge! (scrooge) i can barely get reception outside ye olde towne center! (cecily) you need a better network. 'tis the season to switch to verizon. (scrooge) 'tis? (cecily) 'tis! you get a free 5g phone when you do. (scrooge) free phone! (cecily) plus verizon gives you another great gift! a tablet, a smartwatch, earbuds... (scrooge) well the more gifts the merrier! (vo) right now, get a free 5g phone. and another gift, like a tablet, smartwatch, and earbuds. all on us. that's up to $2100 in value. (scrooge) wow! (vo) act now, this offer won't last long! verizon there's a different way to treat hiv. it's every-other-month, injectable cabenuva. for adults who are undetectable, cabenuva is the only complete, long-acting hiv treatment you can get every other month. cabenuva helps keep me undetectable. it's two injections, given by my healthcare provider, every other month. it's one less thing to think about while traveling. hiv pills aren't on my mind. a quick change in my plans is no big deal. don't receive cabenuva if you're allergic to its ingredients or taking certain medicines, which may interact with cabenuva.

serious side effects include allergic reactions post-injection reactions, liver problems, and depression. if you have a rash and other allergic reaction symptoms, stop cabenuva and get medical help right away. tell your doctor if you have liver problems or mental health concerns, and if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, or considering pregnancy. some of the most common side effects include injection-site reactions, fever, and tiredness. if you switch to cabenuva, attend all treatment appointments. every other month, and i'm good to go. ask your doctor about every-other-month cabenuva.

♪♪ subway's drafting 12 new subs for the all-new subway series menu the new monster has juicy steak and crispy bacon. but what about the new boss? it looks so good it makes me hangry! settle down there, big guy the new subway series. what's your pick? good day. i'm