it's the top of the hour, noon here in washington. we are awaiting remarks from president biden and french president emanuel macron at their joint press conference from the white house east room. still with me, kristin welker, former obama national security official ben rhodes and "the new york times" helene cooper and michael crowley. michael, talk big picture diplomacy. how important is it for the administration to hold this state dinner, as a symbol of how far we have come since covid and

where their priorities are geo politically with europe? >> it's very important. it's interesting you mention covid, andrea. i was talking to a senior administration official a few weeks ago asking him, how has it been? he said that covid was a really hard time. everyone was working incredibly hard. you felt so shut in. he said, we were -- we really weren't able to get out as much or interact. a lot of the perks of the job when you are not in grueling meetings were gone because one thing he mentioned specifically was, we have had no state dinners. the ability to interact and see and connect with the people who you are dealing with around the world was severely limited. he said that was really hard for morale. this is almost a coming out of that shell. i think will be welcomed by white house officials and officials throughout the government. yes, as we alluded in the

previous segment, look, president biden, again, he has always said his top foreign policy priority was the competition with china. that that was the overriding issue for him. but within that, crucial to that was restoring relations with europe. president biden and people around him felt donald trump had done grievous harm to america's transatlantic relationship, severely undermined nato. i think part of the message and meaning to this early state dinner is that there really has been a restoration of those transatlantic ties. nato is strong right now. there's a huge uncertainty hanging over this. who will be the next american president? could it be donald trump? will we go back to that status quo anti? i think people are feeling pretty good right now. >> yeah. your point is so well taken. kristin, remember, donald trump got out of the paris climate accord, got out of the jcpoa

iran nuclear deal. he was breaking all of these past agreements from the obama administration with europe, including europe, of course, and nato. that is something that has been restored. of course, there was friction over the u.s. withdrawal from afghanistan and now some tensions over the pace of the war in ukraine and what to do about energy and what to do about diplomacy as we are seeing today. but they also seem today to be very eager to show this friendship. let's talk about that handshake. from what we were watching, it seemed as though joe biden was really holding on to macron's hand. the music started. then they kind of -- they kind of couldn't stop the hand clasp. >> i think those optics are so interesting, andrea. of course, we pay close attention to what these two leaders are saying throughout the day. you have president biden and

macron reaffirming their strong commitment to each other in everything that they have said today. but that handshake, that extended outreach, is really i think a symbol of what they are trying to achieve here. that is the uncertainty looming over all of this. the fact that former president trump has now announced he is running for re-election. will the commitments that president biden and president macron agree to during this meeting be kept if there is a new president who takes power in the next administration? that remains the uncertainty. then on the issue of ukraine, andrea, there's perhaps no larger foreign policy crisis on which they are more closely aligned. and yet, there are still differences in approach behind the scenes. you have president macron who has been meeting with president putin, engaging in face-to-face diplomacy. president biden has not been and

has not done the same type of push of ukraine to go back to the negotiating table. so there are some subtleties in their approach on that critical issue, which undoubtedly i think will dominate much of their discussion throughout this visit, andrea. >> ben, let's talk about china. we were told going over to romania by state department officials that there was going to be a lot of discussion about china, how to approach china. there there was agreement between the u.s. and europe over china and that the u.s. wanted europe to resist, to push back against some of the purchases. china's attempt to buy infrastructure, to get into ports and the technology, to bring their technology and sell it to europe. once we got there, it was very clear that because all these european countries have their own trade aspirations with china, they're not exactly on

the same page of pushing back against china as the u.s. is. >> that's right. it's tied to some of the other tensions in the visit. the u.s. view of this, particularly under president biden, has been a shift towards a more industrial policy. we have to compete with china by pouring money into our own semiconductor industry, by making huge investments, which i think are good investments, in clean energy. but that is part of what is creating tensions with europe. they see us as picking winners in the united states and having provisions like buy america provisions, which force companies to access that funding by moving here to the united states, including some european companies. part of what president biden is doing to put the united states on a stronger footing to compete with china and the development of new technology and new clean energy is the very thing that is creating tensions with european economies that see that as a risk to their own bottle to line. europe is not on the same page

when it comes to china. some have taken a hawkish line. president macron has been willing to speak out on human rights abuses. you have germany that still does a ton of business in china and has a lot of investment flowing into china. this is really a two-step process. europe has to get on the same page and europe and the united states have to get on the same page. we're not there yet. i think this is a really important issue for them to address at this meeting, because the alignment of the u.s. and europe on china policy is something that -- it's going to take months of work, and it's going to take working through the differences that europe has with how the united states is reassuring all of the key industries rather than integrating europe into the supply chains. i think what europe wants and macron wants is, can we get a part of the investments you are making in technology and clean energy, can we be a part of that rather than be excluded from that? that may be what is necessary to get them on board with our china policy.

we already saw with the submarine deal, it was a choice between the united states or france for the supplier of submarines to australia. that alienated france on a critical part of our china policy. i think had is the main trend to watch going forward. can the u.s. and europe get on the same page on these things in the months to come? they will not solve that in one meeting. they might be able to give good direction to do so. >> there's so much happening in china with these unprecedented protests against president xi jinping. as well as the death of the previous chinese president who opened up the economy and moved towards some degree of capitalism. a lot that has been reversed by xi jinping. >> it has. before i pick up on china, andrea, we cannot let michael

crowley get away with using obscure diplomatic jargon like status quo anti on your show. china is -- it's a big deal that just hangs over all of this. china hangs over the war many ukraine. china hangs over -- one of the reasons why so many people believe that vladimir putin stopped making -- remember a month ago when we were talking about -- everyone was talking about nuclear weapons being used? well xi made clear that he would not -- this is something that china would not support. china has a no first strike policy. you saw that nuclear talk sort of being tamped down by the russians. so china -- the united states two days ago released its -- the pentagon released its annual report on the chinese military.

china is moving forward very rapidly on nuclear warheads and also on its military, on its defense spending. that's something that the united states continues to track. so china -- looking at what we are seeing right now with the protests that are going on right now on the zero covid policy, this is something that continues to sort of layer over everything going on with china right now. but there's a lot of interest in how beijing is going to handle this. there's this expectation that you are going to see these protests eventually being quashed, just as we have seen protests in the past. but we don't know. we're in a different era now with social media and with these posts that are starting to come out, despite the censorship that's undergoing in china. you are still starting to see this stuff coming out. it's sort of a broad overlay

over these meetings. i think this is going to be -- beijing is going to be a big part of everything. but i still think -- i think this is probably because i'm rooted at the pentagon. i think ukraine is still the bigger deal right now between macron and biden. i think getting -- you alluded to this earlier. so did ben and michael. getting to this idea of pulling the french -- continuing to keep the french on board. even the germans have been more bullish in the last few weeks on this idea of nato unity and this idea that ukraine -- that this russian bombardment of the ukrainian electrical grid is not going to stop germany from continuing to support ukraine. we hear what we want to hear from the french publically. i'm curious whether they are pushing this diplomatic line and

let's push ukraine towards negotiations privately. i suspect there might be more willingness in the french to sort of push ukraine more quickly towards negotiations than the biden administration would like. >> well, all of you, please stay with us. stay with us as we await the joint press conference with presidents biden and macron. clearing the tracks. the senate is set to take up a deal to avert a holiday rail strike and an economic crisis. the very latest from the hill coming next. this is "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. nexium 24hr prevents heartburn acid for twice as long as pepcid. get all-day and all-night heartburn acid prevention with just one pill a day. choose acid prevention. choose nexium. when cold symptoms keep you up, try vicks nyquil severe. just one dose starts to relieve 9 of your worst cold and flu symptoms,

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thank you for sitting in the last couple of days while i was traveling overseas. then, the $2 billion a day that a strike would cost the economy, according to at least one estimate. do they have the votes in the senate to stop it? >> reporter: it was my pleasure to sit in. it looks like they will probably have the votes. although, this has not been a sure thing in the senate. this is an interesting issue because it doesn't break down neatly along party lines. you see members in both parties concerned about the precedent it sets for congress to involve itself in what basically everyone agrees should, under normal circumstances, be a private set of negotiations between these unions and the rail companies, not the kind of things that congress should get involved in. but the stakes here are so high. the time line is so short. i think it's pushing the two sides closer to an agreement. remember, this bill has passed the house yesterday. in the senate today, the complicating factor is there are a number of lawmakers who would like their amendments to be part

of the discussion here. notably, bernie sanders who wants to include an amendment to provide for paid sick leave for these rail workers. that passed side by side in the house yesterday. i think what we are looking at here is the efforts behind the scenes to figure out how to do these amendment votes, how to get everyone satisfied and how to make sure that the ultimate agreement can get to 60 votes, even if these other amendments don't pass. it's also thursday afternoon in the united states senate. a certain kind of magic happens when lawmakers want to make sure he had get home for the weekend. i think we see a vote on this bill sometime this afternoon or this evening. >> speaker pelosi was asked about her husband's recovery. what did she have to say? >> one of the final -- not the final, but we are coming down towards the wire here, press conferences from speaker pelosi, she was asked about her husband's recovery. she outlined what she says has

been a slow and sometimes difficult process. here is a little bit of what she told reporters. >> it's going to take a while. head injuries are -- they have an impact beyond surgery. it's a big thing. i thank you for asking. it gives me an opportunity to thank everyone for the magnificent -- from our grass-roots activists to royalty around the world, everyone has sent him prayers. we are believers. so we welcome that. >> reporter: the speaker had said before she announced her decision that the attack on her husband would be one of the factors that she considered in debating what kind of role to play in the next congress. she hasn't really talked about it much since. again, they are outlining the long time line it takes to recover from a serious head injury like the one her husband suffered. >> to that point, garrett, one of her interviews, she was asked about discussing that night with him.

she said, we have been told not to as he is recovering so that he doesn't have to relive it. that was certainly a big hint of what he is going through as the victim of this savage attack. garrett, thank you, again, very much for everything. >> reporter: my pleasure. joining me is senator angus king. very good to see you. >> thank you. welcome home. >> thank you. i wanted to ask about the rail agreement that passed the house. do you think it will pass the senate today? what about that paid sick leave proposal? >> i think it will. i think garrett did a great job of summarizing the state of play. i think it's going to pass. there's indications on both sides of the aisle. everybody realizes this is something we can't let happen. the effects on the economy would be catastrophic, in the billions of dollars a day on top of the inflation that we are dealing with. we have to get this done. the question is how to handle the amendments, how much time it will take, what the debate will

look like and whether to impose the sick leave provision that the house also included. a lot of discussion going on all over the place today. i will be surprised -- you can go broke betting on congress, when they're going to get something done. but i believe we're going to get it done today. >> everything is also personal in terms of diplomacy with this president, in particular, relationships are important. there's a lot of symbolism involved. there's a lot of business being done. how significant is it that president biden invited emanuel macron for the white house for the first dinner and their meeting is going on longer than expected? >> i consider the meeting going on longer than expected a good sign. that means they are having substantive discussions. it's a big deal for president macron, big deal for france that they are the first country to be invited for this kind of visit at the white house.

it really, i think, elevates the status of france. the importance really, as you know, is this extraordinary effort that the president has made and that the world has made to unify in the face of putin's aggression in ukraine. nato has never been stronger. i think this meeting is an important part of sort of reiterating the importance of this unity. that's why i'm glad the president of france is here. i have to say, i'm glad they are serving maine lobster at dinner tonight. >> apparently, a lot of maine lobster. i think we had a picture of the white house chef holding up the maine lobster. how many pounds for this special dinner tonight? >> i heard 200 lobsters that are in the dinner. it's probably a couple hundred

pounds of one of the most delicious foods on earth. i think it's great that the white house chose -- the president chose the iconic delicacy for the first major state dinner. >> it's all mouthwatering for those of us looking in. at a press conference yesterday, a group of senate republicans warned they were going to drag out the national defense authorization act unless they get a vote on ending a covid vaccination mandate for service members. >> we need more people in the military, not less. this mandate is going to result in tens of thousands of able-bodied americans who are well trained leaving the military because they chose not to get vaccinated. >> one of the reasons i believe that president biden and vice president harris are pushing through this policy is that i believe they are doing this as an effort to purge from the

military conservatives. purge from the military people who don't agree with their political agenda. >> give me a break. >> take it away. >> give me a break. we are trying to keep people healthy. members of the military have a battery of vaccinations when they sign up, when they enlist. they go year by year, smallpox, diphtheria, you name it. there's nothing new or unusual about a vaccination requirement. it is also covid that's a disease that's serious. by the way, george washington required the troops in the continental army to be vaccinated against smallpox. this is just rational health policy in an environment where a pandemic, which is contagious, could be devastating. you know, there's a process.

if people have a legitimate medical excuse or a religious -- some kind of religious excuse, which, frankly, i don't fully understand what that would be. but there is a process where if people have some kind of medical problem that this would be a problem, they can avail themselves of that exemption. this is overblown. i'm waiting for the press conference about the smallpox and diphtheria and measles vaccination. >> they live in close quarters. on one of our carriers early in covid, it was taken out of action. it had to stay in port in asia. >> i remember that incident. i was on a conference call with the armed services committee during that exact situation. it was devastating. that ship had to be quarantined. the people couldn't leave.

there were cases spread like wildfire. if ever there was a situation where vaccination for an infectious disease is called for, it would be in a situation where you have people living in close quarters. plus, these are people who we need to be well in order to defend our country. again, there's an exit if people have a legitimate excuse or medical excuse. but this is -- to me, it's common sense. it's consistent with the practice of the military, which is to protect our troops from infectious disease. >> well, on a more delicious note, we want to say, it's great about the maine lobster. i know they're going to have a wonderful dinner tonight. you see the white house chefs are all in on that. >> the only oversight is that

the senator from maine wasn't invited to the dinner tonight. >> how is that possible? >> i will have my lobster at home. it's not a problem. i'm not worried. >> my invitation was missing in the mail. yours is more important. thank you very much, senator angus king. >> thank you. good to see you. president biden and macron are still meeting inside the white house. we will bring you their live press conference when it begins. the latest with the georgia runoff. you are watching "andrea mitchell reports." this is msnbc. ew. gotta get rid of this. ♪ tell me why ♪ because it stinks. ♪ tell me why ♪ i don't know i've washed it so many times. ♪ tell me why ♪ no you tell me why i can't get rid of this odor. ♪ have you tried new downy rinse and refresh. ♪ it doesn't just cover up odors, it helps remove them 3x better than detergent alone. guess the odor went bye bye.

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former president barack obama is in georgia tonight to campaign for raphael warnock, defending his seat against herschel walker, republican challenger who is in a statistical tie with warnock, despite negative headlines on walker. walker's team is keeping him away from the press at campaign stops and sticking to more friendly media outlets. vaughan hillyard is live for us in atlanta. vaughan, first of all, there's complaints among some republicans that herschel walker wasn't even campaigning for five

days over the thanksgiving holiday. he hasn't been working hard enough. georgia broke its own early voting record twice this week. obama is coming in as a closer tonight. >> reporter: right. pro-warnock forces are outspending the pro-walker forces by two to one. that's the closing -- essentially the closing effort here from the republicans trying to win back this u.s. senate seat. i think it's important to note that there is one former u.s. president who is going to be campaigning here in the state of georgia. that is a former democratic president, not a former republican president, which speaks to how far georgia has come over the last years. barack obama will be here in atlanta. this will be his second appearance in a little over the last month here. i was talking to somebody close to the democratic effort here who is telling me that barack obama, they believe, has a

megaphone unlike any other politician in america. it comes four weeks after the general election. it's needed to get out democratic vote and also in order to make an appeal to some of the more independent or even conservative voters who are thinking about going and supporting herschel walker, even if they hadn't voted for him back in earlier november. you saw barack obama do this before the general election here. he is trying to take a second crack at this and trying to help raphael warnock get across the finish line. >> notably, not only is donald trump not coming, a former president, but the current president, you haven't seen joe biden show up there either. doesn't have good numbers in georgia, even though he narrowly won that race, won the state, which led to the controversy over trump's attempts to get 11,800 more votes.

vaughan, also, what we have seen is a lot of negative headlines about herschel walker, his residency, where he said that he lived in texas while running in georgia, campaigning not very effectively. yet in this latest poll, they are neck and neck. >> reporter: right. it should not be discounted that herschel walker has a decent shot to pull off the win here. he only was bested by raphael warnock by just over 38,000 votes. we have to keep coming back to that 200,000 number. there were 200,000 voters who selected brian kemp for governor but did not choose herschel walker for u.s. senate. there are about 81,000 individuals in the u.s. senate race that chose libertarian. the libertarian will not be on the ballot this time. another 15,000 to 20,000 who left it blank. there's another 40,000 or so that voted for raphael warnock. in this instance, for herschel

walker, that's why he was in dalton. this is about turning out the base as well as trying to convince just enough of the conservative voters to come out and even if they didn't in the general election, but to back him here. that's why it's important that brian kemp, who distanced himself during the general election, never appeared on the campaign trail with him, never touted herschel walker's candidacy, he has cut an ad making the case that he would like to have over the course of his next four-year term a conservative republican partner on capitol hill to work with. this is for a full six-year term. that's where you hear the republicans trying to make this late play that, yes, while acknowledging that perhaps herschel walker is -- there are questions around his character, but it's more important to have a republican vote here in the u.s. senate. >> brian kemp is doing that and cutting ads. but did i see the republican

lieutenant governor said he could not vote for either candidate? he is refusing to vote for herschel walker. >> reporter: jeff duncan is that type of republican that herschel walker needs to win. the lieutenant governor, republican, he opted not to vote in the runoff at all. not for warnock or walker. that is a sign -- i was talking with a voter, david timms, in southern georgia this week. he told me that, he said, he is a conservative, he is a republican, he will be voting for the likes of walker. but he knows friends of his in town that are not going to vote for him. a large part is because of the stain of donald trump and the repudiation that georgians have doubled down on. you saw joe biden pull off the win.

that is where, when you draw the contrast to the likes of brian kemp, who beat stacey abrams, it may be too late to try to -- in the case of brian kemp, try to come in as a savior and try to build up his conservative credentials, despite the questions of his past. >> it should not go unnoted that having 51 votes is a big deal for the democrats who have won control of the state. if it's 50/50 as it is now, they have to divide the power and share it equally on all committees. if there is a controversial issue, they can't get it out of committee for a floor vote without some sort of very complicated, lengthy process. the whole difference would be if they have 51, they then really control committees and more of the agenda. thanks so much, vaughan hillyard. that's where did is at, the election is tuesday. you are watching "andrea mitchell reports." we will be right back on msnbc. c

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tomorrow president biden will be continuing to welcome visitors from overseas when he meets the prince and princess of wales, william and catherine, in boston. they are meeting with local community leaders who are working on the environment. there's controversy back home. joining us now is keir simmons. tell us about what's going on. >> reporter: it's overshadowing everything. to give you an example, i'm here in boston. it's good to be here. i have finished a very powerful interview with the black british woman at the center of this by zoom from here. what she says to me is that, i know racism, and this was racism. she describes how this former aide, who stepped down -- former

aide to camila, as she reached in to move her name before interrogating her about where she was from despite her saying, i'm british, i was born here. saying, where in africa are you from? she said that it was very hurtful. she says that things need to change within the royal family. in order for things to change, an organization has to want them to change. we have had these statements from the palace. a spokesman for prince william saying there's no place for racism in society. at the same time, of course, it is raising once again these questions about the culture within the royal family after those claims by harry and meghan that somebody asked what skin color their unborn baby might

have. it is difficult. prince william previously was asked directly, is the royal family racist? he said, we are not a racist family. what he is not doing -- he is trying to concentrate on his environmental causes. they have been here in boston to see a not for profit working for at risk young people. they are trying to talk about the messages they wanted to, but it's proving difficult. >> where did this incident happen? >> reporter: it happened at buckingham palace earlier this week. pretty much immediately, she tweeted what happened. she had no doubt about the way that she been treated. we should mention another aspect that's making this royal visit difficult. just this morning, harry and meghan released a trailer for their netflix documentary in which they suggest that they are going to unveil what's really

going on behind the scenes. it's a firestorm. the prince and princess of wales went to the celtics game. we were there yesterday. they got a good reception. they seem to be enjoying themselves. one of the questions is, can they continue these three days in a certain way ignoring all of the other noise? as you mentioned, they are meeting the president tomorrow. that may shift attention a little bit. i think they will be grateful for the chance to meet with president biden and kind of have a political event that isn't about all this other politics. >> aren't they also bracing themselves for the release of harry's book in january? >> reporter: yeah, absolutely. no question. they don't know what's in it. they just know the title. it is extraordinary that -- just to go back to the netflix trailer released now while william and kate are here in the united states. it's extraordinary, isn't it?

i will let people watching make their own mind up about the timing. everybody knew this visit was going to happen. harry and meghan would have known. yet out comes this trailer. i will let people decide for themselves what that tells them about the relationship between the two brothers. >> all of this drama going on, it's something of a soap opera. it's something you have been following closely, as you do all of your other work as our top foreign correspondent, diplomatic correspondent there. thank you very much, keir simmons in boston. as you can see from the other side of the screen, we are awaiting the joint press conference. the east room is getting ready. president biden, france's president emanuel macron. joining us now, nbc's peter alexander in the east room. back with us, of course, nbc's kristin welker, former obama national security official ben rhodes and helene cooper and ben crowley. set the stage in the east room. they are having an hour longer meeting than we expected.

there's a lot to talk about. >> reporter: you are right. this was supposed to start at about 11:45 eastern. it's now obviously 12:45. there's no indication when we will see the two presidents side by side here to take questions and deliver their shared message to the world community. at the pomp and ceremony that created president macron when he arrived for the first state visit of the biden presidency, we did hear president biden praise the partnership between the two countries. this is the second consecutive state visit to the united states by president macron. the last one, of course, four years ago was when he visited under the trump administration. different circumstances in a very different tone in the course of the conversation. right now, a very tight relationship. certainly, one that has some tensions as well. among them, some comments that we heard macron make just yesterday talking about his frustrations about the inflation reduction act.

some of the efforts that president biden put in place with his domestic policies right now that basically give the benefit to american manufacturers and companies as it relates to billions of dollars in subsidies, for u.s. clean energy efforts going forward, production of semiconductors as well. president macron criticizing that as something that could fragment the west, effectively saying it's going to impact the european community and its close relationship with the united states. one of the first foreign flubs of the biden administration was about a year ago when the united states, alongside the united kingdom, made an agreement with australia for a multibillion dollar sale of nuclear submarines that undercut the french in what they believed was an agreement they had. certain that will be among the topics. the biggest issue is one on which there's wide agreement and that is the war with ukraine.

a topic we have heard from president biden talking about its immediacy, its urgency here. certainly, a different way the two men have handled that issue. macron having met with president putin, most recently last august. president biden has not done that. both of them share a desire to wrap that war up as soon as possible. >> ben rhodes, when these two presidents speak before taking questions, what do you think are their top priorities? i guess it's all ukraine at first. >> yeah. i think that they're going to want to emphasize a message of unity and support for ukraine. i think they're going to want to detail the steps that they are taking to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in ukraine but also the military support provided to ukraine. they know that this press conference this press conference will be closely watched by people around the world, including people in ukraine and vladimir putin himself and so think you'll see them go out of their way to

emphasize the transatlantic unity and a shared vision to how things are going forward. it will be interesting in the questions to see what they say about potential diplomacy around the war. president macron has been more forward leaning and be willing to personally engage. and also whether they kind of aim to taper over suggest they made progress in narrowing the differences around the inflation reduction act and the semi conductor investments that the biden administration is making or whether or not president macron feels the need to draw a difference. we'll have a sense of whether they want to deliver a message that progress is being made. we're working through these differences. there's a process to address the european concerns or whether or not the gaps remain. so i think we'll be able to tell that through the messages they deliver in the press conference. >> and away are you going to be watching for in the press conference in terms of points of agreement and disagreement? >> i'm very interested in

hearing what president macron has to say about how french willingness to back ukraine both on if he gets into the whole issue of additional weapons, it he gets into the whole issue of negotiations, it will be really interesting to see if he not if somebody asks him, but if he puts forward the idea of a negotiated settlement before anybody asks him, which means that the french will be you shalling for something like that. i want to hear what he has to say about that. i expect that he will say that anything like that is in the hands of ukraine and ukrainian government of volodymyr zelenskyy will drive that process. if he veers from that, that will be hugely interesting. >> and kristen welker, when we talk about the u.s. and france, as we say there have been points of tension, but it is

significant that president biden is really going out of his way to emphasize the importance of france. france is the leader of europe. less so germany with a new chancellor. macron really is the longest serving leader in the european group. we have seen what's happened in the uggs uk with three prime ministers just in the last few months. >> that is why so much of this official state visit has been focused on reaffirming the commitments and the unity between the two leaders and between these two countries. i will be listening closely as well to what they have to say on sop some of those areas of disagreement like the inflation reduction act, but also to what extent are they emphasizing the fact that they are unified. particularly on the issue of ukraine. i think that you also have macron really taking the lead when it comes to face to face diplomacy with vladimir putin.

trying to convince him to get back to the negotiating table with president zelenskyy. it's a very different approach we have seen from president biden. so will there be any shift, any shift in rhetoric or otherwise. i think the other thing to think about, and we talked about this earlier in the hour u the fact that all of this comes against the backdrop of former president trump having announced he's running for reelection. so any new commitment will be made under shadow by the former president and the potential uncertainty that all of that what if any commitments is president biden able to reach with president macron and will those commitments be long-term. it there is a new president in the oval office in 2024. those are mopg the key questions that are looming large over all of this. and add to that the fact that president biden is currently in the process of knowing whether he's going to announce he's running for reelection.

he's said that is exactly what he intends to do. this will include a number of donors, but the question is to what extent will that loom large over the critical conversations that have been unfolding throughout the morning. >> we were talking earlier about the defense authorization act. that's pending. the democrats and the administration, the white house really want to get it done before the end of the year. and they have the house republican takeover. we look forward to in january with kevin mccarthy saying that there's no blank check for ukraine. >> another big question looming over the subject. i think for now there's a general sense in the administration and someone just spoke to this week who had been opt capitol hill meeting with seen your republicans discuss ing the subject that the republican leadership in the house is going to impose a

little more oversight. there will be hearings. they will be asking skeptical questions, but the dollar figures probably are not going to shrink. there's still strong support for ukraine. so that's to say that come january and the spring, it's not like the spigot is going to be turned off. predictions in washington are suspect. i think right now, ukraine's strongest supporters are feeling pretty good. just want to throw one more thing into the equation. i'll be interested in this press conference to hear whether macron talks about baically the burden that france is carrying. i know that europeans feel like they don't get enough credit for the energy crisis. they are dealing with the inflation. will he mention that and give us more credit for what we're sustaining in western europe. >> and let me just say they have just released an eight-page, single-spaced joint statement of

all the things they agree on. that's going to be the tone of what you're going to hear in the press conference. thank you to all of you. that does it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." follow the show online on facebook and on twitter. the news conference will be starting soon. chris jansing will have it all, right after this. n. chris jansing will havite all, right after this bah humbug! my signal is totally ghosting me! (cecily) 'tis the season to switch to verizon. (vo) this holiday season verizon gives you the new iphone 14 pro. plus apple watch se, ipad and beats fit pro. all on us. and unlimited plans for everyone start at just $35 a line. verizon why give your family just any eggs when they can enjoy the best? eggland's best. the only eggs with more fresh and delicious taste. plus, superior nutrition. which is now more important than ever. only eggland's best. [coughing] hi, susan. honey. yeah. i respect that. but that cough looks pretty bad. try this robitussin honey. the real honey you love, plus the powerful cough relief you need.

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