. >> once again, from washington, moderator yamiche alcindor. yamiche: good evening, welcome to "washington week." this week, challenges were on full display. one year ago today that russia launched a full-scale invasion on ukraine. a secret planned trip to the capital. air raid sirens ringing, the two leaders walked the city. president biden also announced a new half-billion aid package which president zelenskyy praised. >> together we will protect our cities and people from russian terror and strengthen the impulse to our victory. yamiche: on tuesday, president biden delivered a speech in poland where he pledged to continue support to ukraine and allies. pres. biden: one yea into this war, putin no longer doubts the strength of our coalition he still doubts our convictio there should be no doubt. our support for your crane will not waver. nato will not be divided and we will not tire. yamiche: follow-up from the train jerome in ohio. former president trump -- from the train derailment in ohio. former president trump criticized them. >> if we wo

. >> once again, from washington, moderator yamiche alcindor. miche: good evening and welcome to washington. tuesday saw one of the rowdy's state of the union speeches in recent memory. republicans heckled him through the door address. -- the address. the divisions were crystal clear, the president touted accomplishments and big bills passed last year, and urged bipartisanship to finish the job. it is a phrase he used 12 times during his speech. republicans shouted at him and called him "liar." this when he accused them of seeking to make cuts to entitlement programs. >> some republicans want medicare and social security to sunset. [booing] let me give anybody who doubts it, contact my office and i will give you a copy of the proposal. as we all apparently agree, social security and medicare is off the books now. [applause] all right. yamiche: quite a moment. after his speech, arkansas's new governor, sarah huckabee sanders , gave the republican party responds and pointedly criticized the president and democrats. >> at 40, i'm the youngest govern

. ♪ >> once again, from washington, moderator yamiche alcindor. miche: good evening and welcome to washington week. it has been ather busy week in news and while we are a long way from 2024, we have a preview this week of the messaging and challees of the likely contenders. for his part, president biden kept up can present -- kept up criticism of republicans. >> some republican friends in the house are talking about taking the economy hostage over the full faith and credit of the united states. i will not negotiate whether or not we pay our debt. yamiche: biden has yet to formally announce he is running for reelection, and has posted the results of his latest physical. the doctor said biden remains healthy and is fit to successfully executehe duties of the presidency. meanwhile, former president donald trump's list of challenges got longer as he again runs for president. on tuesday, he got his first official challenger for the gop presidential nomination when nikki haley formally announced she is entering the race. >> it is time for a new generatio

i'm also embracing my future >> reporter: yamiche alcindor, nbc news, montclair, new jersey. >> and that'sws" for this monday. thank you for watching, everyone i'm lester holt. please take care of yourself and each other. good night . >>> right now on nbc bay area news tonight, the disaster overseas. a 7.8 magnitude earthquake killing thousands of people in turkey and syria. we are getting updated numbers within the hour on the lives lost. >>> also, could an earthquake of this size happen here? the similarities and differences to the bay area. >>> plus -- >> we will not be silenced. >> women of color in politics say they're the target of growing threats. what's been happening and the action they want to see moving forward. >>> and did you see this? some bay area love at the grammys.

for a kidney transplant i packed a bag so if i receive a call, i'm ready to go. >> reporter: yamiche alcindor, nbc news, olive branch, mississippi. >>> we'll take a short break. coming up, for valentine's day and beyond, he'll write a love song, just for you. >>> finally on this valentine's day, if you struggled to find the perfect gift for that special someone, how about a love song written just for them? here is gadi schwartz. ♪ i think we know how this story begins ♪ >> reporter: in a tiny basement studio in portland, oregon, there is something special about the lyrics floating in the air. ♪ they're still strangers at this point ♪ >> reporter: this modern day bard is writing ballads about ordinary everyday people ♪ tiny anthems is a system where you give me information about your sister or your husband ♪ ♪ i will then compose a song ♪ >> reporter: it all started with an offer to write a song about anyone for two bucks it quickly snowballed into mike long's life's work. today mike charges about $300 per song, putting more than 20 hours each into the composition. >> there is something absurd

i'm also embracing my future >> reporter: yamiche alcindor, nbc news, montclair, new jersey. >> and that'sws" for this monday. thank you for watching, everyone i'm lester holt. please take care of yourself and each ♪♪ the devils in the basement in my home ♪ ♪ a flight of stairs is way too close ♪ ♪ he comes for me when i'm alone ♪ ♪ collecting debts that i don't owe ♪ ♪ follow me down where the waters run deep ♪ ♪ i'll let you drown in the worst of me ♪ ♪ if my intentions are good ♪ ♪ why can't i come clean ♪ ♪ if heavens above ♪ ♪ where does that leave me ♪ ♪ am i looking for revival ♪ ♪ am i dressed in other's sin ♪ ♪ hold my breath until i am honest ♪ ♪ will i ever breathe again ♪ ♪ again ♪ ♪ again ♪ ♪ will i ever breathe again ♪♪ [cheers and applause] >> kelly: all right, everybody, give it up for my band. that was breathe again, she is currently an emerging artist you want to keep your eye on that she was part of the black voice of 2021 and black history concert i'm super honored to be covering a song of hers as we celebrate black history month on the show, she's a big supporter of th

here's yamiche alcindor. >> reporter: michael stashed his bucket list in a brown suede beg, 60 thingsinish it. at 54 years old, he was killed by a distracted driver. so 13 years later when his daughter laura found that list -- >> it was just, like, this feels important and this feels like something i need to do. and as soon as i thought of it, i saw my dad's face in the back of my mind just smiling and nodding. >> reporter: several items on the list were checked off. but 54 remained. so laura got to work. swim the width of a river, drive a corvette, skydive. she crisscrossed the u.s. visiting several cities, then made her way across the atlantic to do the same. >> i started developing this level of confidence in myself because i had this feeling like my dad's not going to let me fail. >> reporter: for some items laura, a new jersey native, was able to stay local. down the street from her home, laura planted an apple tree in this park which is still growing. >> even though my dad's list is over, that's always going to live on. >> reporter: one of the most daunting items, she says, have

i packed a bag so if i receive a call, i'm ready to go. >> reporter: yamiche alcindor, nbc news, olive mississippi. >>> we'll take a short break. coming up, for valentine's day and beyond, he'll write a love song, just for you. psoriasis really messes with you. try. hope. fail. no one should suffer like that. i started cosentyx®. five years clear. real people with psoriasis look and feel better with cosentyx. don't use if you're allergic to cosentyx. before starting get checked for tuberculosis. an increased risk of infection, some serious and a lowered ability to fight them may occur. tell your doctor about an infection or symptoms or if you had a vaccine or plan to. tell your doctor if your crohn's disease symptoms develop or worsen. serious allergic reaction may occur. best move i've ever made. ask your dermatologist about cosentyx®. okay everyone, our mission is complete balanced nutrition. together we support immune function. supply fuel for immune cells and sustain tissue health. ensure with twenty-five vitamins and minerals, and ensure complete with thirty grams of protein. born

joining me now, nbc washington correspondent yamiche alcindor outside the court, eugene daniels, and former u.s. attorney harry lipman, who was a supreme court clerk. harry, i want to play notable remarks from justice jackson in the last hour on who would have standing to sue on this case. let's listen. >> what i've been mulling and wondering is whether the same concerns about the political significance of this case that the chief pointed to could be a reason for us to hold the line in terms of thinking about our standing doctrine and whether or not we should expand it in this area. if we look at our standing doctrine in cases like this, we find that even the most minor state interest, a dormant fund that hasn't been used by the state in 15 years, if that can be the basis for standing, i guess i'm concerned that we're going to have a problem in terms of the federal government's ability to operate. >> harry, what are your takea takeaways? >> so, that was an elegant line of questioning. i have to put it in context. two basic issues in the first argument, where six republican attorneys

. >> yamiche alcindor, what do you think? if kevin mccarthy sees that george santos could be indicted for stealing from a veteran's dying dog, he's not going to say, all right, we've got pull the plug dude? >> incredibly, i completely agree with what jackie alemany is saying, which is that republicans don't seem to have shame when it comes to george santos. the party line is going to be to wait for the process to play out, to wait to see if he broke any laws and it george santos and his lies but he is someone who deserved in some ways a process that was going to be fair to him. that's gonna probably gonna be the party. line it's already embarrassing when you think about someone who has lied rise heritage, who was presumably lied about why his mother died, who presumably lied about his time in brazil and possible charges he's facing their. this is already deeply embarrassing for republicans, which is why you see republicans in new york saying that he should resign. but kevin mccarthy knows he needs the vote, possibly, if thing

. >> joining me now, mike memoli in wisconsin, garrett haake, yamiche alcindor and former north dakotaocratic senator heidi hydecamp. i think mike memoli is not with us. mike, are you there? sorry about that. go ahead. >> reporter: i'm here, andrea. >> sorry. i knew we were both scrambling today. the president will go to florida. a state he would like to put in place but that democrats ignored in 2022, not putting money and not helping the governor race. do they really think they have a chance against a governor that won by more than 20 points? >> reporter: andrea, i think one of the highlights from the perspective of the white house speaks to why democrats and the biden campaign in waiting feels like they do have a chance to compete in florida. that is that exchange we saw in the feisty state of the union address by president biden with republicans over the issue of social security and medicare. we have been hearing president biden throughout the midterm campaign and now in the state of the union address, his warning that some republicans -- we know which one, rick scott the senator f

nbc's yamiche alcindor is live from des moines. good morning. hearing from people there? >> reporter: well, good morning, jose. i am starting my morning here at a diner in des moines, iowa, an incredibly important state for republicans because it is going to be the first state to vote in their presidential nominating process. we have seen a number of people who are likely contenders for that come here as you said. we have seen vice president, former vice president mike pence, nikki haley who was officially running for president, tim scott is also going to be here today. he's going first to drake university and then he's going to be speaking at a republican dinner, annual dinner. we have been talking to voters about what they think about all of this. this is someone who use issed to be a republican but left the party when donald trump became the nominee. this person is very worried about the future of the party. listen. >> it worries me with the -- how the republican party is -- has shifted so much to the right. abortion rights are an important i

yamiche alcindor has more. >> reporter: she developed kidney disease and got a transplant in 2012.iving 40 miles three times a week to spend hours in dialysis. >> the alternative is not being alive anymore. so i want to see my daughter grow up. i know it is hard on her to watch her mom. i've been sick her whole life. >> what's the hardest part of living through this and waiting for a kidney transplant? >> the hardest part is the wait. sometimes i get anxious when my phone rings because i don't know if it's a call for a transplant. i feel like my heart races every time i hear my phone ring. >> reporter: that call may come sooner for higgins because of a national rule that's determining who gets a transplant. >> what's changing now is we have a growing awareness. inclusion of race variables is inaccurate to a large degree, and also contributes to disparities in access to care. >> reporter: historically black patients have had to wait longer for kidney transplants than other races that overestimated kidney function in african americans. the transplant system is banning the test and cr

joining me now from des moines is nbc news washington correspondent yamiche alcindor.ying about this growing gop field? >> reporter: well, as you said, i'm starting my morning here at a diner in des moines, iowa. this is an all important state for republicans. it is the state that's going to be voting first in the republican presidential nomination. we should remind folks there are a number of people who have already swinged by here. we've seen likely contenders, nikki haley has been here. we've also seen former vice president mike pence come through here. we have not seen former president donald trump, who was the first republican to jump into this race. we're going to be following today tim scott who's speaking at drake university and then speaking at an annual republican dinner. going back to donald trump, it's interesting. they say at least one voter told me that they're worried possibly that if donald trump is at the top of this ticket and he's in the general election that it could hurt the gop. we also talked to some voters who say they want to see maybe a more m

yamiche alcindor is outside the supreme court for us today. walk us through today's hearing there.t were the main arguments on both sides here? >> reporter: well, aaron, this could be one of the most consequential cases to come bf the supreme court on the issue of internet and governance. on one side you have the gonzalez family and their attorneys arguing that google should be held liable because they were recommending terrorist videos to users who clicked on one video. the issue is there's an al fwor rhythm saying you should watch this one next. on the other side you have a team at google saying this is not what should be happening. there's section 230 that shields us from this. there really is no difference here, and that it's really the platform here should not be held liable for terrorist activities or any activities where all you're doing is creating what they call a neutral algorithm. definitely the two sides arguing hear. we saw organize arguments for more than two hours go on, seeming a bit skeptical that these platforms should be held accountable. elena kagan saying we're

yamiche alcindor is in des moines, ahead of senator scott's appearance and tim miller is back as wells, but not donald trump. so what's happening there, and any sign that he's even started to organize in the state? >> well, good afternoon, chris, i've been spending my time here at a diner tim scott's going to be there today. nikki haley who's an official contender in this race. they have all been here, former president donald trump, the person who's presumably the favorite in the race leads for now. he has not been here. he has already started hiring staff members. that being said, i have been talking to voters who say they're a bit worried but the future of the republican party, some of them saying trump at the top of the ticket might hurt the party in the general election. take a listen. >> it worries me how the republican party has shifted so much to the right. >> we need to start working together instead of splitting the party and some of them going to the democratic party. >> i would like to see it move back to the center and some of those on the fringe tend to be moved away from

we will bring you any update when that happens. >>> we begin with kristin welker and yamiche alcindor, also susan page, charlie sykes, jason fuhrman, former chair of economic advisors. let's play what the speaker said at the white house and on the hill yesterday about that meeting. >> we both have different perspectives on this. i thought this was a good meeting. we promised we would continue the conversation. we will see if we can get there. at the end of the day, we can find common ground. we are not going to pass a clean debt ceiling. >> you told him that? >> yeah. he told me the perspectives he wanted. >> we saw the president sitting with the speaker this morning. where do white house officials see this moving? is it possible they think that they can work with kevin mccarthy and avoid a debacle, a disaster over the debt ceiling, despite the fact that he said yesterday, he is not going to have 218, the majority in the house, 218 republican votes, he will need democratic votes, but he said it will not be the clean debt ceiling bill that president biden wants with no attachments. >>

. >> reporter: yamiche alcindor, olive branch, mississippi. >>> her heart will go on celine dion backscreen for love again. >>> digging through trash, they uncovered a treasure inside the quest to return a signed jordan jersey to its owner. gned jordan jersey to its owner. to dry eye disease. millions of americans were estimated to have it. they also tell me they've tried artificial tears again and again, but the relief is temporary. xiidra can provide lasting relief. xiidra treats the signs and symptoms of dry eye disease. don't use if allergic to xiidra. common side effects include eye irritation, discomfort or blurred vision when applied and unusual taste sensation. why wait? ask your eye doctor about a 90-day prescription for xiidra today. want luxury hair repair that doesn't cost $50? pantene's pro-vitamin formula repairs hair. as well as the leading luxury bonding treatment. for softness and resilience, without the price tag. if you know... you know it's pantene. ugh-stipated... feeling weighed down for by a backedup gut"ence, without the price tag. miralax is different. it work

nbc news washington correspondent, yamiche alcindor, is outside the supreme court for us today. so yamiche, walk us through these cases today and the arguments we're hearing on both sides. >> reporter: really, the arguments that we're hearing center on president biden's authority to create the student debt relief program. the biden administration is saying that it is well within its right to do so because we were going through a national emergency, the emergency being the covid-19 pandemic. on the other side you have people who have sued and are taking this case to the supreme court that are saying that the president has overreached powers here. you have six gop-led states saying that the president should not have done this, he didn't go through the proper procedures and he should have consulted with congress before creating this possibly $400 billion program. and then you have two students who are also suing saying that they didn't have enough time and enough time to be able to weigh in on this and that this program should possibly be broader. the conservative justices seem to b

yamiche alcindor is following this. and joins us.ant for five years now. what does this mean for her? >> it's centered on a test that overestimated kidney function it led to black people waiting longer for kidney transplants than other races. patients could get a new kidney between one and two years sooner than before. i interviewed a black woman waiting for a kidney transplant for five years and ten months. take a listen. >> for me i believe my wait time will be austed to receive extra sort of credit or wait time for how long i've been waiting for my transplant. so i may receive a transplant sooner. i am preparing for the call any day. >> i want to add that she said this change feels bittersweet. she had a friend who died in 2020 waiting for a transplant. she thinks others could have died unfairly as well and this isn't a way to get full justice in many of the cases. >> what are you hearing from doctors about this shift now in the transplant policy? >> the experts i spoke to said they see this change as restorative justice in medici

joining me now yamiche alcindor, donna edwards and susan del percio.oes her announcement change the dynamics of the race? >> yes. there's someone else in the race, first and foremost. you have to be in it to win it. the question is, how does trump react to her? a week ago, he decided to call her very ambitious, which got him some heavy criticism, frankly, because it was very misogynous tick. he was falling into his typical self. today he is less so. nikki haley is in a position to attract different types of primary voters. if she can expand the primary voter population among republicans, she can pave herself an interesting lane. >> yamiche, there's a two-edged thing here. donald trump took a light touch, rare for him, but his pack went after her today. they went after. we also have an interview she did with savannah guthrie. >> did you ever have any doubt about the fitness of this president to serve? >> i never did. i never had any concern on whether he could handle the job ever. >> what about his truthfulness? did you think he was truthful? >> yes. in

nbc news correspondent yamiche alcindor in des moines. what are you hearing from senator scott?ake university the senator speaking behind me. he hasn't officially said he's running for president, really see him gearing up for an announcement and talking about a number of things when it comes to america as land of opportunity, know oppression. going after democrats talking about racism in this country saying america should be celebrated and people shouldn't be losing hope. also leaned into the idea of abortion saying at one point americas have lost faith in life itself leaning into that issue in a way other republicans have not, but interesting to see here, the crowd here really agreeing with a lot of what he's saying. >> also talking to voters. what are you hearing from them? >> reporter: talking to voters, at a diner earlier telling me worried about the direction of the republican party. eager to maybe even see new faces. take a listen. >> it worries me with the, how the republican party has shifted so much to the right. >> i want to see them just -- stop the ignorance of democ

be sure to join yamiche alcindor and her panel on washington week later tonight for more on this week'sse speaker kevin mccarthy, and on police reform efforts. anna: watch pbs news weekend with john yang tomorrow for a look at the political and humanitarian crisis in haiti. that is the newshour. i'm amna nawaz. geoff: i'm geoff bennett, have a great weekend. >> funding tonight for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- ♪ >> moving our economy for 160 years. the engine that connects us. bnsf. ♪ >> and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions and friends of the newshour including kathy and paul anderson and camilla and george smith. the walton family foundation. working for solutions to protect water during climate change. so people and nature can thrive together. >> the william and flora hewlett foundation, for more than 50 years, advancing ideas and supporting a better world. at hewlett.org. ♪ >> and friends of the newshour. ♪ this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and contributions for your pbs station from reviewers like you -

joining us from outside the court, nbc news washington correspondent yamiche alcindor. what are we expecting to hear today? >> reporter: this is a big day at the supreme court. if you can hear, there are protests already with people in favor of the student loan relief program. this does all come down to a biden administration program that was launched in august 2022. the president was saying that he wanted to relieve student loan debt up to $20,000. of course now you have two particular groups that are suing to stop that. you have gop states in biden versus nebraska. you have the department of education versus brown, two student loan borrowers say this program isn't expansive enough. we have been talking to people on both sides of this issue. first we also talked to an attorney who is against this. we also talked to the city university of new york city who's the chancellor in favor of this. take a listen to what they told us. >> are we really comfortable with the executive deciding that these huge programs are just going to come into existence? i don't think we should b

mike pence was last week, joining me now, more specifically, nbc news washington correspondent, yamiche alcindor are far away, donald trump maintains something of a lead amongst republicans but not the iron grasp among republicans that he enjoyed while he was president. what are iowans telling you? they will be the first ones to cast a ballot? >>> it's a key question, what you hear is that they're open to someone that is not donald trump, nikki haley or liz cheney, and the same time, haven't settled on a name that could possibly beat for president donald trump, at drake university, tim scott, the republican senator just finished speaking, leaning into a lot of issues the republicans speak about, culture were issues, america is a land of opportunity, not oppression, democrats were feeding the people the drug of victimhood and causing crime by being soft on crime, and critical race theory and teaching the consequences of slavery, as an african-american man he understands the challenges but he also believes that his very existence as nafta american senator has proved that america is a great country

i'm yamiche alcindor in washington d.c..- set of union address on thursday. putting up a non scalable fences, around the capitol grounds and raising the threat level. this will be the first national address by president biden since the midterm election, split convict questionable control. last time president biden and vice president kamala harris made a joint appearance of the democratic -- delivering a likely preview of its primetime address. >> democrats, we are delivering actually, we are delivering big-time. just today, president biden announced record job growth. [applause] >> as strong as two years ago -- three 4% unemployment, the lowest in 54 years. the biggest investment in american infrastructure since irons in the powers administration, interstate highway system. and by the way, by the way, we paid for everything we did

at the media these the sunday shows always have a black person usually the analysis programs yamiche alcindor or one of my babies and donna brazile people like that oh and jonathan capehart who's also one of my favorites is on newshour and i can name quite a few. but the thing that encourages two things encourage each man from the fact some of these people who make the decisions about who's going to get are hiring more black people in some very good prominent positions like yamiche is running washington week now and can name others. but one of the great tragedies of the moment is local newspapers which are going out business. i guess because they don't have the money but that's what people need in community that are not large communities that are not to the new york times and maybe don't even watch television anymore because everybody's doing twitter and tweet which where a lot of them are getting wrong information the way. but again like i talked a few ago about how we need to get our in the street, people need to get their feet in the street to help voters. they need the information. and so

joining us, yamiche alcindor. ben rhodes here. charlie sikes is back with us.ricans, including the majority of republicans, oppose those super strict bans that eliminate exceptions for the life of the mother. 83% of all moerns, including the majority of republican, oppose bans that eliminate exceptions for rape and incest. and that's where this gop is heading. >> certainly. when you think about this, you think about the midterm elections, not only the republicans not win as big as they historically should have won, but when you look at abortion referendums, you saw even in conservative states like kentucky, you saw voters go to the polls and say they did not want more restrictions on abortion. of course the republican party is looking at their base and saying we need to play to the people that are excited by this and lean in on the things they continue to think will win them elections. it's a curious decision as you're saying. also when you look at election denying and what happened there, we election deniers moving so many elections across the country and not