with amy walter and tamara keith of npr.f you. it is time for politics monday. as we just heard from laura, there is a lot to talk about . big primaries this week, everybody is watching. wyoming, what is at stake in this race? tamara: liz cheney is running like someone who has nothing to lose, and in fact she basically does have nothing to lose at this point. she made the decision back around january 6, the calculation that standing up for the constitution was more important to her than her congressional seat, because there are plenty of people, plenty of republicans who agree with her, but none who are going to have a straight to camera tv ad saying that former president trump lied and incited a riot. and as a result, she is almost certainly going to lose. there are not enough democrats in wyoming to help her win. that said, she has certainly elevated herself as a voice in politics and she obviously comes -- has the cheney name and is unlikely to disappear from the political scene. judy: there are a lot of democrats who are

amy walter, annie linsky, thank you.residents of the american southwest, including many indigenous peoples, have been exposed to elevated levels of radiation from uranium extraction and refining. a toxic legacy of the cold war's weapons program and nuclear power generation. in partnership with the nonprofit investigative newsroom pro publica, stephanie sy reports on one community's fight to survive and to hold a company and the federal government accountable. jonnie: this is a map that my daughter put together to show the different types of cancer around the subdivision that we lived in. stephanie: in cibola county, in the high, sparsely populated desert of northwest new mexico, it became known as the death map. jonnie: the green is cancer. then the yellow is cancer deaths. stephanie: skin cancer, breast cancer, thyroid disease. jonnie head, herself a breast cancer survivor, points to all the families who, over the years, were hit. given how sparsely populated it is, it seems like a lot of cancers. jonnie: it does, doesn

annie linskey, amy walter, thank you so much. annie: thank you. lcome. ♪ amna: polio had been considered eliminated from the u.s. since 1979, when the last known case of the original strain of the polio virus was detected. and around the globe, a successful vaccination campaign has decreased cases by 99.9%. but now, the virus seems to be gaining a foothold once again in countries that thought they were free of it. william brangham has our look. william: that's right. in the past few months, polio has re-emerged in the western hemisphere. eight cases have been detected in israel this year and the virus has been found in london wastewater. now it is back here in the united states as well. in july, an unvaccinated man in rockland county, new york was infected and paralyzed by this preventable, but incurable virus. sewage samples taken in new york city show the polio virus had likely already been spreading for months. to discuss, i am joined by dr. yvonne maldonado, she's chair of the american academy of pediatric's committee on infectious diseases and

amy walters and tamera keith, thanks to both of you. amy: you're welcome. you're welcome. ♪ amna: tonight, serena williams takes the court at the u.s. open to compete in what is expected to be the last major grand slam of her legendary careeer. many consider williams, who is now 40, the greatest tennis player of all time, and no one denies that she's changed the game. let's take a look at the impact she's had, both on and off the court. with each swing, each step, each day, serena williams inches closer to the end of an incomparable era of tennis. she has already taken home 6 titles here at the u.s. openabut -- u.s. open, but this time, she says, will likely be her last. over her 27 year pro career, williams has won 856 matches, and lost just 154. that includes an astounding 365 major match wins, the most of all time. and 23 grand slam singles titles the most in the open era. off the court, she has shattered barriers. battling racism and sexism, redefining beauty, and setting new bars for financial success. earning not only $95 million in career prize money

here to analyze all this and more are amy walter of the cook political report with amy walter.th of npr. thank you for being with us today. tamra, i want. . to start with you democratic senator jon tester said he is not sure if the inflation reduction act is going to pass. how much of an impact could this bill ultimately have in motivating democratic voters, as well as undecided? tamara: he said in the interview that judy jested that he is reviewing the measure. it seems pretty likely that all demo -- all democrats are going to get on board for this. because it is such an important -- it would be such an important accomplishments that democrats ca tout ading into the midterms. one of the problems president biden has had in his approval rating is democrats are frustrated, particularly young progressive democrats, are frustrated that his administration and congress has not accomplished enough. this inflation reduction act both has the pr value of literally being called the inflation reduction act when people are worried about inflation and rising costs, but also has a big compone

and amy walter of the cook political report is gonna rejoin us now. we were talking about some of the national politics of the overturning of roe v. wade. the democrats hope that this is an issue that is gonna sort of energize their base. it's gonna take democratic friendly voters, who previously maybe went sour on biden, were not excited about the midterm, and give them a reason to go out and vote. it's gonna be politically and equalizer for them, that's their hope. is this kansas vote tomorrow, very unusual to see a referendum in the primary, and not a general election. but is this referendum in kansas tomorrow gonna offer us a clue about whether democrats are on to something with that? >> yeah, perhaps. i mean, i always hate, and i'm sure you do too, steve, reading too much into one election, one ballot measure, especially with comes during a primary season. look, i do think that the issue of abortion has motivated democratic, or democratic -leaning voters. voters who do prioritize this issue. and quite frankly, i think we are gonna have, and we hav

here to analyze all of this and more are amy walter and tamra keith. being with us today. democratic senator jon tester said he is not sure if the inflation reduction act is ultimately going to pass. how much of an impact could this bill ultimately have in motivating democratic voters and undecideds? >> right, he said in the interview he is still reviewing the measure, but it seems likely all democrats in the senate are going to get on board for this. because it is such an important -- it would be such an important accomplishment that democrats can tout heading into the midterms. one of the problems president biden has had with his approval rating is democrats are frustrated, particularly young, progressive democrats are frustrated that his administration and congress, controlled by democrats, has not accomplished enough. this inflation reduction act both has pr value of literally in called the inflation reduction act when people are worried about inflation and rising costs, but also has a really big component of climate and energy related spending tha

if amy walter joins us now live.was cruel if you looked at the data for the democrats. this one is better, the question is how much of a breeze? when you move this state, pennsylvania now held by a republican, key to the 50-50 control, who will control the senate come january, when you shift that toward the democrats, the question is why? >> yeah, absolutely. so on paper, pennsylvania is a state that obviously is incredibly competitive. joe biden carried it very narrowly. but it's a place where the republican candidate has been unable to really benefit from what should be a pretty good environment. as i said, the breeze for democrats or the environment for democrats a whole lot better than it was last summer. but there's enough of a tail wind for republicans that candidates should be able to benefit. in this case, the republican candidate, dr. oz, is deeply under water in terms of his image. it was a very messy primary. he's not been able to consolidate the base. and he seems to have been on the defensive for the ent

joining me for insight and analysis are eugene robinson, amy walter, matthew continetti, betsy woodruff swan and michael beschloss. 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. >> good sunday morning. chuck todd is off today. even by donald trump's standards, it's been an extraordinary week. first came word of the fbi's search at mar-a-lago, for classified documents. while that prompted an it's about time reaction by some on the left, the noisiest voices on the right were calling for everything from the abolishment of the fbi to civil war. then on wednesday, the former president who once said pleading the fifth amendment was for mobsters and the guilty did so himself more than 400 times in a new york civil suit. the list of items removed by the fbi at mar-a-lago and revealed on friday included 11 sets of classified documents, five sets were top secret, three sets were secret and three were confidential. and there are still so many unanswered questions. what kind of leg

costa is on the campaign trail in atlanta this morning and the editor in chief of the cook report, amy walter, i want to start with you and something the white house chief of staff ron klain said about the current state of the presidency and the democratic party. take a listen. >> we now have a presidncy where the president has delivered the largest economic recovery plan since roosevelt, the largest infrastructure plan since eisenhower, the most judges confirmed since kennedy, the second largest health care bill since johnson and the largest climate change bill in history. >> according to politico he went on to say the first time we've done gun control since president clinton was here, the first time ever an african american woman has been put on the supreme court. i think it's a record to take to the american people, he says. are democrats right now sitting in a pretty good position because of the issues and the environment, or does it have something to do with the candidates that they're running in these key races across the country? >> so democrats are clearly in a much better place than

here to assess it all are amy walter of the cook political report with amy walter. ra keith of npr. hello to both of you virtually. ladies, summer is ending, school is starting, it feels like we are moving into the next political season as well. amy, the political report i noticed last week changed its overall forecast. now your team sees more of a ripple than a wave for republicans in the midterm in the house. why is that, and how much of that has to do with the presidents, both current and former? amy: you summed it up pretty well, lisa, by looking at the three topics that we think have the biggest impact, turning it into a much smaller way. and our house editor, david wasserman, has changed our forecast from one that was predicting republicans gaining somewhere between 20 and 30 seats to one now more 10 to 20 seats. and the big reasons are the ones that you mention, abortion, trump, and lower gas prices. on abortion, since the decision me down at the end of june that overturned roe v. wade, what we have seen is an increase in democratic enthusiasm. we have seen it

at the results of what voters felt in 2020, that could be true here as well, but, as my friend amy walter it to me the other day, republicans have a pretty solid bet that voters care more about gas prices than they do about donald trump. and they don't live in the media aqua chamber that we live in, they are not in the news cycle is intensively. as we are. that's one of the factors, things like prices, they affect people day today, in and out, whereas they don't have to live inside the january 6th news cycle if they choose not to. that's something to keep in mind when you are trying to look ahead into what the political outcome is going to be this fall. >> i didn't realize living outside that bubble was an option. this is news to me on a friday night, thank you so much, both of you, nice seeing you both, have a good weekend. >>> in other news, speaking about what's going on in different places other than washington dc, a judge blocking michigan's 1931 abortion ban today. setting up what could be the fiercest battle yet over abortion access post row. stay with us. ♪ does it get better than

amy walter chief of the cook political reporter. former education secretary bill bennett.know 48 hours later. >> few thousand terrible thing unprecedented to raid a former president's home home. i doubt it's ever been thought of before in american historying it's ongoing inquiry. >> i'm worried that the democrats, liberals may be two steps ahead of us on this. they want to focus on donald trump they succeeded in doing that no matter what else is at mar-a-lago or what they might have even brought to mar-a-lago. the focus is on donald trump. since monday, we have not heard a lot about inflation. a little bit, we have heard mostly about donald trump. i think they would like him to declare before the '22 midterms. and because then they can make him the focus. and this is just what republicans who met with him last night as you reported, bret, want him to do, which is declare. the becomes the focus and not the condition of the country. we will see where it goes from here. >> bret: speaking of the political impact there. first of all, let's clarify that the fbi with what happene

amy walter publisher and editor and chief of the cooke political report and fox news media analyst andurtz. i want to call you editor and chief. >> just go with those. >> bret: just go with it your thoughts about this. we have been talking about this evolution and the confusing guidelines and now there is this admission. >> didn't reblibbably meet objectives a failure. rochelle walensky worst communicator i have seen on the public stage. cdc slow, contradictory cautious at times. confusing and just seemed out of touch and frequently looked political as with its new whatever program. don't need to mask? whatever. don't need to quarantine if you have the virus, don't need to do any of that's things because the administration now is trying to send a message that the pandemic is basically over. so i think that it's full of bureaucratic blown restructure the communications office okay that will do it. >> bret: equity office being formed, mollie. here is a listen to some of the past back and forths. >> >> the overwomenning number of new infections continue to be amongst people who are not va

out front now, amy walter, publisher and editor in chief of the -- and ron brownstein, our senior politicale start with you. biden had had a lot of bad news coming his way, and the poll numbers, approval ratings, poll numbers even among three quarters of democrats didn't want him to run again. now he's got momentum, a lot of wins. can this changes and his party's political trajectory? >> erin, the history is it is very difficult in the near term to convert legislative success into political momentum, individually. the republicans lost seats after the trump tax cut in 2017, they lost seats after the reagan tax cut in 81, democrats, obviously, lost a lot of seats after the aca passed in 2010. perhaps, the biggest example, the most productive modern congress history, the great society congress of 65, 66, democrats lost about 45 seats in that midterm election, that even lost ground with seniors despite creating medicare which had been a battle for over 30 years. in the near term, it is hard to make that translation. the longer term is very different. many of the things democrats have done could

she is the senate and governor's editor of the political report with amy walter.ht, the climate, the political climate, technically in republicans favor. the presidents have a low approval rating, there are fears of a recession, and historically, the party in power usually loses in the midterms. why are you predicting a toss-up? >> well, it's because it's candidate quality. we are seeing something we haven't seen happened in a while, and it's that democratic incumbents are running ahead in double digit cases in some points of president biden's approval rating in the state. and they are winning over in states biden narrowly won, in arizona and pennsylvania and georgia, and the top of this cycles as i put republican chances in this past april, probably get 60%, because biden's numbers in the state were that bad, and they may have gotten a little bit better. democrats have sort of accomplish things with legislative successes. the white house and congress passed the inflation legislation, and then in particularly, they have seen democratic voters and independents and