makes his mid-term year debut. he still leads the republican party, and he is still all about the big lie. we begin the hour though with a calendar collision. this year's martin luther king holiday and the teetering democratic push for voting rights. right now the house speaker and others from congress, members of the king family as well, at union station here in washington, d.c., about to demand action on voting rights. just moments ago the vice president of the united states adding her voice. >> we must not be complacent or complicit. we must not give up, and we must not give in. to truly honor the legacy of the man we celebrate today, we must continue to fight for the freedom to vote for freedom for all. >> the outlook though is beyond bleak. the top senate democrat chuck schumer plans an up or down vote on voting rights legislation tomorrow, and the math seems certain, certain that it will fail. so it is normally a holiday of tribute and reflection is raw this year. martin luther king iii says he's tired of those who claim to honor his father but refuse to do what is necessary to advance his cause and king but one of many civil rights leaders who say president biden waited far too long to make this issue number one. with me to share their reporting and their insights margaret at alliev and a member of the "new york times" and what makes this day so interesting is the rawness. normally reflections on the journey still to come and the challenges you a head but the raw element to it today which is why you had the president this morning in taped remarks to another civil rights breakfast say i'll keep pushing. listen. >> dr. king forced us to answer the question where do we stand? whose side are we on? we're in another moment right now where the mirror is being held up to america, being held up again, and the question being asked again is where do we stand? whose side are we on? >> it is fascinating, margaret, that a president of the united states needs to allow this vote to go forward tomorrow even though he is going to lose. >> yeah. well, john, that's right, and you talked at the start of the show about a collision on the calendar, but it's no coincidence that this collision is occurring for weeks and weeks as we head in towards the end of 2021. there were strategic questions among democrats about how do they proceed? how do they push this voting rights? they made the calculation at that time that the mlk holiday, the galvanizing of at least their party around debate on this issue, might be enough to push joe manchin who they saw at pivotal at that moment and perhaps kyrstin sinema along with them to a place where there could be a compromise. maybe it wouldn't be those two bills in the format that they exactlied existed but something, a compromise with that pressure point of mlk day building towards that, and it's now apparent that there won't be, but with that gamble they are now faced with that moment where there's frustration not just with the holdout senators but with the president and party leadership themselves. >> we're about to hear from the black caucus, members of the king family who are most mad at those two senators. there may be more tomorrow but those senators were adamant about not creating a carve out. listen to jim klei burning the number three in the house leadership, getting incredibly personal who it comes to senator sinema. >> no one has asked her to eliminate the filibuster. the filibuster is there for all of these issues that may be policy issues, but no one person sitting downtown in a spa ought to be able to pick up the telephone and say we are going to put a hold on my ability to vote, and that's what's going on here. >> again. it's personal. it's raw, and it's within the democratic family, claudia? >> right. very personal, very raw. what we're hearing clyburn say there is the frustration that these democrats have at this moment. they feel cornered with the two senate democrats who are not budging on filibuster rules, and they don't see another way out. at daylight today this, holiday really highlights where they stand and the struggles they are having in terms of finding another path to try and push this legislation forward, but as it looks now, they are looking at a very difficult vote coming up tomorrow where it will be, again, a reminder of how far they are in their own party of trying to get some federal regulations in to try and address these investigate access concerns. >> and the house democrats have just enough votes to advance this ledge slampingts the challenge is the senate. they are two different pieces, and the john lewis voting rights act which would restore portions of the 1965 voting rights act that the supreme court stripped away, expanding the strengthens the government's ability to respond to voting discrimination and protects against vote suppression and the freedom to voting right act, a counter to roll back early voting and other and establish election day as a federal holiday. the question is there a plan "b" in the biden white house and the democratic father this goes down, as it appears it will, or just to have the issue for the rest campaign year? >> it's as much right now for the white house about sending a message to the holdout democrats we're just talking about as well as the president's protests and some of the voting rights activists that have grown increasingly anxious as well as the lack of perceived sense of urgesy. i talked to someone who is present for the senate luncheon that the president attended just last week where he painted this scenario. he talked about how republicans in various states were already, already pushing different laws to make voting harder, and him as well as senator jon ossoff really spoke out about this, painted this scenario. for the white house it comes down to really this. is the risk greater that republicans, if you change the rules surrounding the filibuster, is the risk greater, what's the worst scenario, the republicans if they take majority using a simple majority to then push policies in the future or not doing anything right now about the policies being pushed by state legislatures? but, john, as far as a plan "b" right now this seems to be the track that the white house goes on, and it will be interesting to see if a -- if a bipartisan group grows around potentially changing something around the rules governing the electoral college vote as well. it's unclear where the white house stands on that at this moment. >> it is unclear because it has a promise to the democratic base and it wants to call out the two democratic senators. we'll see if there's more. listen to senator mitt romney. he said he and other republicans are working on changes to the electoral college act, perhaps other changes to things that they say are critical. trump talks about putting people in power who can essentially change the will of the people, decide to throw out votes after they are cast. governor romney says he would like to work on this. somebody has called. >> there's a group of 12 senators working on the electoral count act. sadly this election reform bill that the president has been pushing, i never got a call on that from the white house. there was no negotiation, bringing republicans and democrats together to try and come up something that would meet bipartisan from. >> is that a call, claudia, that the president should be making maybe after tomorrow or a lot of democrats would say, wait a minute. maybe senator romney is there, collins is there, murkowski is there, but will you really in an election year get ten republicans to stand with democrats on a fallback if that's what's necessary? >> well, when we're talking about this broader legislation to address voting access, that's something that republicans like romney have made pretty clear that they do not want to join forces with democrats to go forward with, so a phone call doesn't appear to have made a difference in any case for the push they are looking at to try and consider tomorrow on the senate floor. that said, there is a lot of momentum with the electoral count act. i just spoke to sew lofgren when past week about proposals that her committee. they are leading the charge on the house side. this is something we saw highlighted with january 6th, with former president trump. in terms of seeing the threshold, for example, of objections to election results being raised from one house and one senate member to one-third of each chamber. a very dramatic change. these are issues that senate republicans appear to be willing to join democrats to perhaps consider a bipartisan solution here and perhaps this can be some sort of consolation prize, if you will, for democrats to try and look at once voting rights appear not to move sgloord that may become a more significant count in the republican math after we see what happens in the united states senate tomorrow. the conversation continues. your covid depends on where you live and when omicron first hit. encouraging signs in northeast but a rights case count and hospital stress just about everywhere else on the map. 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[echoing] get a quote today. ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪ ♪ ♪making your way in the world today♪ ♪takes everything you've got♪ ♪ ♪taking a break from all your worries ♪ ♪sure would help a lot ♪ ♪wouldn't you like to get away? ♪ ♪ ♪ sometimes you want to go ♪ ♪where everybody knows your name ♪ ♪ ♪and they're always glad you came ♪ why does walgreens offer prescription copays as low as zero dollars? ♪ so you won't have a medicare in the world. ♪ fill your medicare prescriptions with walgreens and save. new projects means new project managers. you need to hire. i need indeed. indeed you do. when you sponsor a job, you immediately get your shortlist of quality candidates, whose resumes on indeed match your job criteria. visit indeed.com/hire and get started today. ♪ ♪ wow, we're crunching tons of polygons here! what's going on? where's regina? hi, i'm ladonna. i invest in invesco qqq, a fund that gives me access to the nasdaq-100 innovations, like real time cgi. okay... yeah... oh. don't worry i got it! become an agent of innovation with invesco qqq donald trump made his mid-term rally debut over the weekend and the defining choice for republicans could not be more clear. support the former president's big lies about 2020 or race for his scorn. arizona was the venue and the warmup speakers reminded us loyalty to trump requires several ties with the truth. then, the main event. >> we had a tremendous victory in arizona that was taken away. last year we had a rigged election and the proof is all over the place. i ran twice, and we won twice. the big lie is a lot of [ bleep ]. that's what it is. >> panel back with me to discuss. margaret at alliev, just about everything that the former president said is true. most of it not even close to the truth, not even in the same universe as the truth which is who he is. that is not a surprise. the question is will more republicans say we cannot have this? we cannot ask the american people for power in congress and have that or will they just continue to kiss the ring? >> john, it's an important question. i mean, by overwhelmingly all accounts so far, the former president is still the person with the biggest ability to move and shake and shape the republican party and that's party so if kevin mccar thick the house republican leader is his guide, all of his steps and moves right now are met with at least in part trump's continued support or not opposition in mind has he mounts what he hopes will be a bid to the house speaker after the next set of elections. at the same time i think we spoke in the last segment a little bit about the electoral reform act that many republicans are also on board with along with democrats. the purpose that have is to sort of clarify, that no, the vice president can't overturn the electoral college, you know, returns and that congress and the vice president's role is to affirm the will of the people through the electoral college process and presidential election so that's not exactly the affirmation of president trump, but for the most part he is very much in control of the messaging and the shape of his party, and this real is meant as much for internal gop messaging as it is for messaging to biden and to voters. >> and if you watch this play out. to me trump is trump and he's not going to change. the part that becomes dangerous is joe biden won arizona. donald trump had all the chance to file the necessary complaints but it was won like georgia and pennsylvania and very close states. listen to the trump preview, full, was just a circus act of characters but characters who may well hold huge power in that state for the next election. listen. >> and they are going after everyone that supports president trump with their sham january 6th select committee, and they are pushing legislation to rig our elections again! >> was there fraud? absolutely. was there enough to overturn the election, absolutely, and it has to continue. somebody has to pay the price. >> that election was rotten to the core. we all know it, right you? know, that right? >> ladies and gentlemen, we know it, and they know it. many donald trump won. . >> the k57bd date for governor and the candidate for sec serbs people who could help donald trump next time. republican governor ofs a, a the republican governor of georgia did not help donald trump last time. the question is can he use the mid-term campaign to put in place people who are tone helping him next time? >> that is his hope, that he'll be able to get in a new wave of supporters into pivotal seats with these mid-term elections, and i think margaret raises a very good point that a lot of this is messaging. this is the script for trump and his supporters, that they need to folks, especially if they want to get that support and see that success that they hope to get those seats, garner those seats and in turn trump can boost his base, if he will, when it comes to the various seats he's hoping to install more his loyal followers, but there's a real test in terms of the cracks that we're seeing. more cracks in the republican veneer. for example, when we saw senator mike rounds come forward recently saying that former president trump did indeed lose the election, going against that -- that kind of narrative, so it will be interesting to see how this all plays ought going forward. >> but they continue, many republicans, to take his money, to use his name to. say, well, you know, i don't agree with him, but if i defy him they will come after me or i'll have trouble back in my district. i was going to say trump to his credit, but at least he's very transparent. this is a video sent to jeffrey lord, a trump supporter in pennsylvania where trump concedes the point, that yes, can you have a candidate but you also need people in power after the election. >> we have to be a lot sharper the next time when it comes to counting the vote. there's a famous statement sometimes the vote counter is more important than the candidate, and we can't let that ever, ever happen again. you have to get tougher and smarter. >> every single review the votes were counted honestly last time but trump there again gives the impression and says straight out that they were not and part of his challenge is to get tougher and smarter meaning put somebody in place who when i call like he did the secretary of state of georgia, when he tries to pressure those governors, will do it differently. >> no longer becomes about let's have an efficient election. every report that is found that the claims that the former president are making is fraudulent and we should continue to reiterate that. the former president becomes the measure of credibility at this point for him and loyalty becomes who is willing to push these fraudulent claims about the previous election and also when it comes to his support and the trickle down, the local officials that he may be supporting. who could potentially be in a position where you could have power over a future election as well and that should be the take aye way. it's not just the officials in arizona which should be "the new york post"ed as well in terms of the fraud and flames they were pushing but it's also how it's become increasingly the mainstream blech when it comes in particular to the house gorp and how many dare those people defy the president? speak out and such as say the elect was run efficiently and tharnt they will be condemned or step away fromves. >> this remains to see who remains in the republican party. >> you had half a dozen senators making the case and what they thought about the big lie. if the support going to travel country doing this in the mid-term election year, i suspect this is no, but i would be like to be proven wrong. virginia's new governor stirs immediate controversy. glenn youngkin says parents, not local school districts, gets to decide whether their child wears a mask in the classroom. ♪ three times the electorlytes and half the sugar. ♪ pedialyte powder packs. feel better fast. living with diabetes? glucerna protein smart has your number with 30 grams of protein. scientifically designed with carbsteady to help you manage your blood sugar. and more protein to keep you moving with diabetes. glucerna live every moment it's been nearly two years since the pandemic started. our students and teachers tried their best, but as a parent, i can tell you that nearly 18 months of remote learning was really hard. i'm so angry that instead of helping our kids get back in the classroom, the school board focused on renaming schools schools that weren't even open . please recall all three school board members now. for the sake of our kids, we can't wait one more day, never mind a whole year for a fresh start. announcer: tired of pain radiating down your leg and lower back? get relief finally, with magnilife® leg and back pain relief. and get living. available at your local retailer. now you see live pictures right here. the vice president of the united states, the husband, the second jaffe is nearby. a little community service visiting martha's table here in washington, d.c. of course to mark the martin luther king jr. holiday. martha's table, there you see doug emhoff there the left of your screen. one. places that deals with hunger and community issues. a remind their schools are closed for the lieutenant hewitt holiday but they open tomorrow and virginia's new governor is in an immediate confrontation with local school districts over mask mandates. gloen youngkin wag nauss rated saturday, and a flurry of immediate executive actions includes one ending a statewide school mask mandate. youngkin says that decision should be left to parents but at least three major school districts vow a fight, arlington and fairfax county public schools in northern virginia and mask rerequirements for statements will stay put. just on the job and just into controversy, eva. >> yeah, john, if you read this four-page executive order from the governor he essentially argues masks among kids in schools provides inconsistent health benefits saying many of them wear them improperly or are wearing cloth masks that aren't even clean. this, of course, has triggered controversy. one person in henrico who supports both in-person learning and mask mandates for kids telling me as adults we should be leading by example. a mask mandate should not be a political ping-pong, but if you follow youngking during his campaign, he essentially is making good on a campaign promise to give parents more agency in pandemic-related decision-making. he defended his authority to do so on sunday. take a listen. >> we will use every resource within the governor's authority to explore what we can do and will do in order to make sure that parents' rights are protected. >> now school leaders in arlington and fairfax say, hey, you want to stay open. we need the kids to be masked. white house press secretary jen psaki, who happens to be an arlington parent, weighing in tweeting arlington county parent here. don't believe you are, glenn youngkin, but correct me if i'm wrong. a little sass from her. thank you to arlington schools for standing up for our kids, teachers and administrators and their safety in the midst of a transmissible variant. now the legal back and forth in florida over republican governor ron desantis' executive order that was similar could be an indication of what lies ahead for youngkin. desantis secured a political victory last november when the state legislature agreed on a ban on school mask mandates. desantis signed the measure into law. now while youngkin hag a majority in the house of delegates the state senate is still narrowly controlled by democrats. john? >> which i suspect means we'll watch this one play out in the courts. big challenge for the governor early on. we'll follow it. it's an important national issue. up next back to covid and your outlook probably depends on where you live and when omicron first hit. there are encouraging signs but brace yourself. we're told by the experts in most of the country the next several weeks will be tough. y ie liberty mutual. they customize my car insurance, so i only pay for what i need. how about a throwback? ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty ♪ only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty ♪ [♪] if you have diabetes, it's important to have confidence in the nutritional drink you choose. try boost glucose control®. it's clinically shown to help manage blood sugar levels and contains high quality protein to help manage hunger and support muscle health. try boost® today. (ringing) - hey kaleb, what's up? how you doing? - hey, i'm good, guess what, i just had my 13th surgery. - really? i just had my 17th surgery. - well, you beat me. - well, i am a little bit older than you. - yeah it's true. how are you doing? - i'm doing good. i'm encouraged by seeing how people are coming together to help each other during times like these. - kind of like how shriners hospitals for children is there for us. imagine if i couldn't get my surgery. who knows what would have happened. - same for me. i know my shriners hospitals family will continue to take care kids like us who need them most all because of caring people like you. - like me? - no, the people watching us right now at home. - oh, those people. hi people. - kaleb and i know not everyone can help right now, but for those of you who can, we hope you'll this special number on your screen right now. - you'll be making sure our amazing doctors and nurses can keep helping kids like us, who need them now and in the days to come. - your gift will make a huge difference for kids like us. - ooh, ooh, show them them the thank you gift. - okay, okay, hold on a second. with your gift of $19 a month we'll send you this adorable, love to the rescue blanket as a thank you and a reminder of the kids you're helping with your monthly support. - so what are you waiting for? you can use your phone and call, or go to loveshriners.org to give and join with thousands of other generous people who change lives with their gifts every day. - i think that's about it buddy, good job. - my pleasure captain. please call now. if operators are busy with all the other caring people, please wait patiently, or you can go to loveshriners.org to give right away. - [alec] big or small, your gift helps us all. - [both] thank you. (giggling) as a business owner, your bottom line is always top of mind. so start saving by switching to the mobile service designed for small business: comcast business mobile. flexible data plans mean you can get unlimited data or pay by the gig. all on the most reliable nationwide network. with no line activation fees or term contracts... saving you up to $500 a year. and it's only available to comcast business internet customers. so boost your bottom line by switching today. comcast business: powering possibilities. san francisco was a beacon of hope for my family to reach the middle class, and i've been helping others ever since. when the pandemic hit bilal was right there, helping restaurant workers make ends meet. in the obama administration, bilal worked tirelessly on innovative policies. the status quo isn't working. bilal is the best shot we have for meaningful change. i'm bilal mahmood, and i know our city can become a beacon of hope once again. there are some regional glimmers of omicron progress, but the overall national outlook remains quite grim. the surgeon general predicting several more weeks before omicron peaks nationally. that suggests record hospitalization numbers will only climb. let's take a closer look at the numbers. number one, this is a cdc map of high transmission. you can count. you can count with your two hands the number of counties that are not red, meaning just about all of america. just about all of america county by county, high transmission of the coronavirus right now and it's omicron driving that. because that have, hospitalizations, 151,000. more than that, nearly 152,000 americans hospitalized right now. 40 states reporting more hospitalized this week than last week and no states trending down at the moment. some are a bit optimistic as omicron hit in the northeast first and you do see cases starting to trickle down but in places in the country like the midwest where it came later omicron is still trending up so the question is do you view this as half empty or half full? let's get insights from our senior medical correspondent elizabeth cohen. listen to dr. paul offiat, one of the experts helping us throughout the year. he says brace yourself but -- >> i really do think within the next three to four to five weeks you'll see a dramatic decline in the instance of this illness and we'll feel better, a least as we get into spring, summer and early fall and then presumably next winter we'll see a surge that's less than this surge. >> that's the glass half full in that the next few weeks will be tough for most of the country but he does see some hope. >> that's right, and from dr. offiat's mouth to god's ears that's all i can say is i certainly hope that he is right and we are seeing some signs that things are getting better. i want to show you a map of the united states, john. just last week, just last week when we looked at this map, you and i, it was almost entirely dark red. dark red means the highest increases in transmission, sort of the part week versus the previous week. now you see a lot of colors. you see yellow which means it's holding steady and you see green which means the numbers are actually going down. now let's take a look specifically at new york. in new york we are seeing cases going down. if you look at january 9th it was will 5,000 new cases a day and now it's 52,000 new cases a day. if you look at colorado. it was about 8,600 new cases a day, and now it's over 16,000, so, in other words, there, they have gone up. that just shows what we've been hearing which is, you know, the united states is a very large place and some places like new york they are going down. other places like colorado they are going up. i think we're going see this pattern for quite a while. john? >> to that point, again, if you look at the overall numbers right now and just see this here. you don't even need me to tell you the numbers. we're approaching 770,000 cases a day. it's high, kind of like a skyscraper. we were at 15,000 cases, elizabeth, down to 15,000 cases a day. dealt ark became dominant and got up to the delta peak of 170,000 and tells you how powerful omicron is. these are still delta cases and when omicron became dominant and, bam, up to here which is why as you note in some parts of the country things are starting to turn and other parts of the country will have to wait. when you see the numbers show high, there's a preliminary israeli study that says for theismno compromised it might be time for a fourth dose soon. what did you make of that? >> that's right. it's interesting. in israel now for several weeks they have been giving fourth doses to people who are over age 60 and to people who are immunocompromised and the question in israel is do it they do it then for young people and people not immune compromised? on the basis of study it seems like they are not going do that. let me explain. they said fourth doss did inclose antibodies, really did, but didn't to reduce your chancels of getting infected with omicron so with that the lead researcher said, you know what, maybe it makes sense to stay what israel is doing, fourth shots for the immune compromised, also being done in the u.s. and for you shots for people over the age of 60. the big question that the israeli researchers were not able to answer is does a fourth shot decrease the chances that you're going to get a severe omicron infection? they say they just don't have enough data to answer that right. >> hopefully more data comes in. up next, president biden hits one year in office this week and democrats are in a big bit of a panic. some recent seth backs overshading some early biden wins. i would've called yesterday. but... i could've called yesterday. but... i should've called yesterday, but... would've, could've, should've. we hear that a lot. hi. i'm jonathan, an insurance professional and manager here at colonial penn life insurance company. sometimes, people put off calling about life insurance. before you know it, another year has passed. and when they do call, they say, "i wish i'd called sooner." call right now for free information on the $9.95 plan. are you between age 50 and 85? 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(announcer) call now and you'll also get this free beneficiary planner. narrator: on a faraway beach, the generation called "our greatest" saved the world from tyranny. in an office we know as "oval," a new-generation president faced down an imminent threat of nuclear war. on a bridge in selma, alabama, the preacher of his time marched us straight to passing voting rights for every american. at a gate in west berlin, a late-generation american president demanded an enemy superpower tear down a wall and liberate a continent. american generations answering the call of their time with american ideals. freedom. liberty. justice. for today's generation of leaders, the call has come again to protect our freedom to vote, to fortify our democracy by passing the freedom to vote act and the john lewis voting rights act because america - john lewis: we are not going back, we are going forward. president biden hits one year in office and the mood in the democratic party ranges from nervous to outright panic. is there a second act ahead? with all the talk here in washington about filibuster and voting rights covid exhaustion is the larger worry. biden must hope that there's a gradual improvement that the voters feel by early summer and yet nothing can say people who are feeling bad that they shouldn't feel bed bad. at david axelrod said you can't jawbone people into feeling better. david axelrod joins us right now, the former senior adviser to president obama and one of the great cnn analysts. you've been in the white house when you start the second year looking at a cliff like this. do they get it? >> well, i -- i think that they read, they hear. they know. they know that he's sitting at 42% and that 42% would be klatt chris mick going into the mid terms. the question is how do they react to it? there's an instinct and i understand it to say, hey, we did all these great things, cut unemployment by 40% and go the at least one shot into 75% of americans. we're not where we were a yore ago, but that's not what people feel. you know, there was an anticipation that we'd be through the virus by now. we're going through another significant wave. inflation is at a 40-year high and people are feeling that in their lives, and so you have to be careful about how you sell your accomplishments if it doesn't square with people's lived experience, and, you know, we learned that lesson, and they need to pay heed to that. >> people are exhausted because of covid. again, a lot of conversations in washington about politic things and party things. people in the country are exhausted and each person has a different experience whether it's back to work or school or their own issues with the virus. here in washington there's a lot of talk from democrats, bernie sanders, we need a major course correction. congresswoman stephanie murphy, leadership set out with a failed strategy and senator dick durbin said i'm sure voters are frustrated. i am. tim ryan from battleground ohio. democrat can't get out of their open way. sherry bustos saying we real need a reset. you see a lot of frustration which doesn't even get at the frustration in the african american civil rights community with the president. when you're getting screamed at so much, what's the less snon what do you need to do? do you block that out? do you take that in? >> yeah, it's interesting because the list of names you read have different complaints. he has been buffeted between the base of the party and the moderate wing of the party. he's about buffeted. we saw him on voting rights between activists and two stalwart resisters in the senate and, you know, the end result of that is it can make you look week. you don't want to be buffeted by your own forces and i think he has to tune that out and focus version very heavily on the issues that are driving these things. he got elected on the economy and covid and he needs to be seen being effective and active on these everyone use and these are meta forces beyond the control any president. we kind of assume that presidents can control everything. they can't. right, but they are held accountable for everything. he needs to be seen as working on those issues and then quietly win what legislative victories he can instead of setting deadlines that get passed and goals they can't achieve. >> number one is the larger issue, the covid exhaustion. the president ran a campaign. presidents get too much criticism when things go wrong and too much credit when things go wrong. sometimes especially in a pandemic or the economy that no president can control and he did say i'm not donald trump. we will put science first. we will fix this happened did give a speech on july 4th that was incredibly optimistic about where we were with covid. you know joe biden well. he has this irish optimism, if you will, that's often an incredible asset and his personal story of resilience is remarkable but sometimes that becomes his enemy, no? >> i absolutely agree. because if you set people evenings expectations higher than you can achieve, then you're setting them up for disappointment and we've seen that several times. that was certainly true in that speech in july. now the science was probably helping to inform that speech and the science didn't anticipate some of the bumps in the road that we saw. let's be honest, there's been some miscalculations on testing in particular. we're hearing a lot about that now and there have been communications problems, particularly out of the cdc that go on his account where people had just confused about what they are supposed ton doing and that's maked him as well. he believes he can overcome any on the calls, but, you know, there are times when you need to tamp down that language because in a political environment dealing with very difficult issues it's not always so that you're going to achieve everything that you hope to achieve. >> and every time you have one of these conversations, democrats out there, and i understand it completely, they beat me. you know. they get mad at the person leading the conversation saying you're not mentioning the fact that republicans will give joe biden nothing. republicans have said no. >> yeah. >> if joe biden said a bill saying tuesday would come after monday republicans would say no. i concede the point, but joe biden has known that and should have known that since day one, right. >> yeah, by think he had some confidence that his relationships and his legislative know-how built up over half a century would -- would somehow overcome, that and on the infrastructure bill it did, and he passed a bill that either trump or obama would have loved to have had to their credit, but on some of these other things, it just hasn't worked, and there is a political calculation. republicans, many republicans don't want this president to succeed because they -- that would -- you know, that would make it more difficult for them to do what they want to do in november. you know, mitch mcconnell has been very overt about that and the republicans are in full out war mode. he's confronting a very difficult environment and the only thing worse is having a 50-50 senate but having a 4-51 senate against you and a 50-50 senate is no picnic. there's not a lot of maneuverability. the house is really divided. this is a real difficult environment in which to operate and, you know, i think he's actually accomplished a fair amount under those circumstances, but these meta forces are driving this. poem do not feel good, and when poem don't feel good, they take it out on the president. this has to change by summer or it's going to be a very did you have foul. >> sometimes when this happens -- i'm sure they are reaching out, but i can't say ave had these conversations sglarl does that strike you as odd? if they are going to reichard out to somebody smart, wouldn't you be high on the sflis. >> look, i think that there is -- there is an impulse to say, hey, we're going do this our way. i think it would be a mistake not to reichard out at this point because this is a terribly difficult environment, and i know what it's like to be in the white house. it's very hard to see the whole landscape from inside there. you are looking at the country through a periscope so it would be valuable to reichard out, and i hope that they do. not necessarily to me, but to many others. >> appreciate the humility there. especially appreciate the perspective. david axelrod, hope to join you in scottsdale for a cubs spring training game. first have you to solve the baseball lockout. that's the first conversation. >> thanks, john. north korea conducts a fourth missile test this month. what does kim jong-un want? ♪ three times the electorlytes and half the sugar. ♪ pedialyte powder packs. feel better fast. ♪ ♪making your way in the world today♪ ♪takes everything you've got♪ ♪ ♪taking a break from all your worries ♪ ♪sure would help a lot ♪ ♪wouldn't you like to get away? 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one of the theories you're hearing out there is he may be annoyed that he's not getting enough world attention of the right now it's all going to vladimir putin so he's showing off some of his advanced capability, but that advanced capability is of serious concern because the kind of missiles, if they are successful that he's developing, tough to track and even tougher to shoot down if it came to that. we also know that kim is publicly promising to improve his military program, is upset about some sanctions that the u.s. has levied. politics and diplomacy aside, kim has been quite for months now. he's not with his missiles, and he apparently by all accounts has used that quiet time to improve his capability, and he's now trying to snow off to the world. john? >> giant challenge. barbara starr, appreciate the live update. the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff mark milley has tested positive for covid-19. he's experimenting mild symptoms. he's vaccinated hand has received a booster shot. most recently had contact with president biden last wednesday and tested negative several times before and after that meeting with the president jibs seven senators will meet with president zelensky and other ukrainian visits today. the visit comes as congressman michael mccall not mincing words about the current state of u.s.-russia relations and they think the united states is engaged in a new cold war with russia. the top republican on the house foreign affairs committee saying he believes that putin smells weakness here, that because of the u.s. withdrawal from afghanistan. the pressure continuing to mount on the british prime minister buyers johnson to think about resigning. he allegedly held numerous parties in downing street while the country, the uk, was under covid lockdown. one of the parties was held the night before prince philip's funeral. a new poll shows 63% of uk voters thinks the prime minister should resign. don't forgot you can also listen to our politics. download it wherever you get your podcasts. have a good martin luther king holiday. ana cabrera picks up our coverage right now. hello. i'm ana cabrera. thank you for joining us. our top story. covid sparking new changes to the winter olympics. just weeks before the 2022 games, china says it will no longer sell tickets to the public and instead chinese authorities will choose who can attend. this big announcement comes as beijing reports its first case of the highly transmissible omicron variant in the city. in the next few weeks close to 3,000 athletes from all around the world will gather unde