we have ellison barber. why are people focused on these trump voters?re is a solidly red district. nobody there has carried the vote like donald trump did, but people there seem to believe that the enthusiasm around him is transferrable. that's notable because that hasn't been the case in other places. >> reporter: right, and here that does seem to be kind of the difference. when you talk to people here and you ask them questions -- you mentioned the congressperson who represents this district, marjorie taylor greene, the support for donald trump here, and it's probably not a surprise when i tell you they don't trust the media here, they don't trust many institutions, they don't fully trust the election process. but despite all of that, they still say that they will vote, and it really is two kind of key reasons. one, they do not like the direction this country is going in, they say, particularly when it comes to the covid restrictions, mainly vaccine mandates. they believe there is a snowball to this country becoming a socialist or communist country, a

roll up their sleeves, trying to curb the spread of covid, now tightening its grip on alaska ellison barber, nbc news, anchorage. >>> want to tell you now about a security scare at the u.s. supreme court today. police say a man illegally parked his car in front of the court, refused to get out, and told police the time for talking is done. after more than an hour police set off a controlled detonation, removed the man from the car, and arrested him. >>> president biden was on the road today to try to sell his ambitious spending plans that are still dividing democrats in congress but tonight there is a glimmer of progress. peter alexander is at the white house. >> reporter: tonight the reset president biden at a union training center in michigan trying to recharge his sales pitch for his multi trillion-dollar spending plans >> these bills are not about left versus right or moderate versus progressive these bills are about competitiveness versus complacency. >> reporter: but the reality check, so far the president's been struggling to unite those competing wings of his party though tonight th

ellison barber from alaska for us tonight with our thanks.ta, poll mo pulmonologist. doctor, your reaction to that report we just saw? >> good evening, brian. it's sobering to hear that. i have heard that from colleagues not here in the united states but other parts of the world. i haven't experienced myself but i'll reference an experience here a few days ago but health care wokker shortage as was emphasized in that package is the existential crisis of our time. the reason that we have hospital surges is not because we don't have ventilators or beds. i had a patient transfer to me two nights ago in the icu from a hospital in eastern washington near the pacific ocean because that person no longer had access to a respiratory therapist. we move people to have access skilled staff. >> wow. an incredible turn of events. stay with us. we'll take a break and continue the discussion in just a moment and cominging up we'll talk about how shots could be going into millions of smaller arms in just the next few weeks in our country. tonight, i'll be eat

let's bring in nbc news correspondent ellison barber who is in anchorage, alaska. so ellison, you have been getting firsthand accounts of some of the harassment that anchorage health care workers have experienced. and they've been experiencing this for months, they say. what more are you hearing? >> reporter: yeah, i mean, we spoke to health care workers here in anchorage who say that they are being berated, physically attacked, just for doing their jobs. and they say it's not necessarily a new thing, though recent events in the anchorage area have really shined a light on some of this harassment. they say this has been building for quite a while now and they say a lot of the harassment and hostility they're seeing stems from misinformation, disinformation, and politics. listen. >> i got assaulted when i swabbed somebody for covid who was literally on the verge of dying from covid. she didn't believe she had it. and she struck me and another nurse after we swabbed her. >> sometimes when i go to work, i feel okay when i go home. other times i can't stop thinking abou

tonight ellison barber and dasha burns take us to counties where former president trump is looming large over the 2022 midterms and possibly beyond. >> reporter: we're in chattooga county, georgia. >> this is new york style pizza strictly >> steve pledger brought a slice of the big city with his pizza shop here. >> i love to go to manhattan. >> reporter: but the one thing he could do without? liberal politics >> today's world, i'm a republican. >> reporter: the kind of voter republicans are counting on to take back congress steve voted twice for president trump. a recent nbc news poll showing 77% of gop voters have a positive view of the former president. just 12% view him negatively how strong is the trump train here >> it's strong it's strong. >> reporter: in 2016, then-president trump won this deeply evangelical county with 78% of the vote >> my faith, it influences the way that i vote. it really does if a republican come out and said that they were pro-choice, he's off my list. he gone. >> reporter: the gop is red-hot in areas like this, but to win, they also have to keep new republi

ellison barber is in shah koog ga county, georgia, a rural evangelical county, georgia flipped to bluenows each other. they love high school football. there are church steeples scattered across the skyline. politically it's about as red as you can get. georgia is a newly purple state. if republicans want to flip a senate seat, they need too see highturnout in communities just like this. many people will tell you they do not trust the election process. be u the same people also say they fully intend to vote in the midterm election. two big issues we keep hearing people mention, abortion and socialism. this is a deeply evangelical community for many people here abortion is not just an issue, it is the issue. they also look at things like covid restrictions, vaccine mandates as something they believe infringes on their freedoms and they worry it's an example of the country moving towards socialism, something they absolutely do not support. chuck. >> thank you, ellison. a key question we want answered there. will these voters show up when trump's name is not on the ballot. juan vin anythin

it to go first to ellison barber in deep red chattanooga county, georgia.es? >> reporter: hey, stephanie. so this county went for donald trump big last time. he won with 80% of the vote. the population overall was declining, but when he was on the ballot, voter turnout actually went up. president trump has done a lot to create doubt in the election process and that is something that we feel a lot when we're speaking to voters here. they do not entirely trust the election process. and the key question now is whether or not the enthusiasm that was seen at the polls earlier, if that is just for him or if it can translate to another republican candidate. everyone we've spoken to say, even though they don't entirely trust the election process, they still plan to vote and their faith has a lot to do with it. >> of course, we're right in the bible belt, so a lot of church values, christian values in general. >> the church is a big part of the people of this community. >> does your faith impact how you vote? >> yes. it does. it has a lot to do with it. >> we talk a