the proejt will take the pulse of the american electorate. we'll focus in seven different counties, presidential battleground states that have seven very competitive mid-term senate races. all of it begins today. one week out from the virginia governor's race. we'll crisscross the country. the nbc reporting teams on the front lines of our county-to-county project coming up. but first there is a reason we're launching it today. the same reason president joe biden is headed to virginia today. the start if you will of the mid-term cycle across america. the results in virginia have historically been a canary in the coal mine politically for what lies ahead for the party in power in the even numbered year. this year virginia is a dead heat. a new poll has the race virtually tied, third straight public poll that essentially has that. poll after poll has shown this race is for democrats uncomfortably close in the state joe biden won rather handily, by ten points. a loss here is a neon warning sign for democrats everywhere in this country. no matter the tint of your state. the last time republicans won virginia, democrats lost 63 seats if the house a year later. the last time it was close in virginia democrat lost control of the senate the following year. the white house, democratic leadership, the rank and file, front line members all know how big a deal this race is. that's part of the reason we've been seeing a renewed sense of urgency and frustration among democrats on capitol hill to get the president's agenda across the finish line so democrats in virginia can at least run on something. not necessarily running on this but they want to run against the dysfunction. democrat terry mcauliffe, republican glenn youngkin are hitting the trail hard to try to close the deal. mcauliffe the rallying with the president tonight in arlington all important northern virginia suburbs which is going to be vital for the campaign. youngkin has a trio of event today in the southern part of the commonwealth closer to his base. as we tee up our county-to-county reporters across america we'll begin our conversation on the trail with the latest in virginia. you know, shannon, with a presidential approval rating anywhere from the high 30s to mid 40s depending on which poll you want to cite, including in virginia where most of the polling has the president's job rating at best in the low to mid 40s is joe biden a help? >> reporter: yes, chuck. that is the exact question i asked a few democratic strategists here. i said normally having the president come campaign for you would be a real positive but looking at the numbers it's a question. terry mcauliffe is a biden democrat. he is aligned with the president on a lot of policies and one of the democratic stalwarts of the party like president biden. the two have a lot in common. as far as the president helping with turnout that is a plus i heard from democratic strategists saying the democrats will do better if they can get turnout in the areas as you mentioned the metropolitan suburbs. so that is a positive there. but you allude to this difficult dynamic between the mcauliffe campaign and president biden, where mcauliffe and democratic strategists have been open about the fact that the infighting going on in the democratic party, president biden's inability so far at least to get these massive spending bills through congress, is hurting him. and not giving the mcauliffe campaign the things to run on that they would like to have. the president is probably going to still try and help mcauliffe run on those things even though there are no bills passed and no framework agreed on, expect him to talk about the universal child care and climate change and health expansion even though they don't have those. that is basically as good as they can get is stay with us it's coming. >> shannon, i think what terry mcauliffe is asking for is, please. don't dysfunction your way out of the election for me. and, look. he has first-hand experience in this. as we mentioned before, in 2013 you had a government shutdown that the congressional republicans engineered. then you had the failure to launch at health care.gov and the washington dysfunction just put a wet blanket on democratic turnout in northern virginia and allowed a guy who had no chance at winning that race ken cuccinelli actually come within three points. >> yes, and we're obviously as you mentioned the whole country in the political universe at least is watching this race as a bellwether to say what it's going to signal for 2022. i have talked to hill staffers who said their members, democrats, are watching the race as they try and figure out what they should support in this spending bill. how far they should go to the left or the center or to the right in this spending bill. democrats currently in congress watching to see what happens here. it may seem like we're kind of obsessing over one race that, in a state most of the country isn't from but it certainly has a lot of political significance here, chuck. >> a lot in northern virginia and if they are feeling demoralized they may not necessarily come out to vote. let's go to the other side of the commonwealth. gary, for as much as national democrats we heard members of the house, they're watching to see how terry mcauliffe does maybe to decide whether they should seek another term or how to run. every elected republican who has chosen not to denounce donald trump but doesn't know how to run with him is watching glenn youngkin closely to see if doing this softer, you know, this faux distance not really distancing but trying to not say is name is good enough in a blue state, what have you seen today? how does youngkin talk about the former president, or does he? he just talking about education? what else is he talking about on the trail? >> well, chuck, he is trying to keep donald trump out of his mouth because it is certainly in donald trump's mouth. we are part of a 50-stop, ten-day bus tour glenn youngkin is doing across the commonwealth. he is trying to talk to voters one-on-one and in smaller settings. we just came from a gas tax event at a very small gas station about an hour north from where we are right now an hour south of richmond. he was focusing on how the gas tax would affect people in mecklenburg county where we are now and these are places where the poverty rate is 10% to 15% of the population under the poverty line. that is a significant issue for people all across the commonwealth of virginia so he is focusing on the issues as opposed to the national political figures. we actually did talk to him about some of the issues that are nationwide and affect people in virginia. here is what he had to say. >> what we're seeing and hearing from all over america is families from everywhere have seen the exact same thing in their own school districts. so as we hear from parents who e-mail me and text me and call me and say stand up for our kids, too, it goes to show that virginians have a chance to do something in virginia that is going to have an effect ob the whole country. that's why i'm so proud to be a virginian today and so proud to see virginians come together. it is not republicans against democrats anymore. this is virginia and standing up for our rights and particularly the rights of our kids. >> there are two different strategies happening here. democrats are bringing out the big guns like barack obama, joe biden, kamala harris. glenn youngkin isn't koog that. i asked him today about that approach from both sides. he said when you look at the ballots the names are terry mcauliffe and glenn youngkin not donald trump and joe biden. >> very interesting there in your little back and forth there, gary. even though he was talking gas taxes he immediately went back to schools. they do believe that is what at least got them into the conversation with the suburbs. let's see if it is sustainable. shannon and gary thank you both for getting us started. >> the virginia governor election is essentially that amazing preseason dpleej game that features the number one and number two teams in the country. maybe they'll end up facing again but it actually counts. well, this one counts and it is the beginning of the midterm cycle if you will. we'll dive in and take a first look at what we're spotlighting this cycle in our county-to-county project. joining me is our go to expert in political geography the director of the american communities project and an msnbc reporter. sir, good to see you. >> good to be here. >> we have seven counties. let's show you. i think we'll use the board but use it a little bit from afar. we have seven counties and loosely three counties light blue to dark blew, three counties light red to dark red and one truly pure in the middle. from west to east here you got the three democratic counties. washoe a county, very closely competitive county but carried it in the 21st century. anson county, an african-american majority county, rural. a 50/50 county racially. can the rural african-american vote turn out and the dark blue county is progressives, college student, dane county. that tapestry there, what fascinates you about the three? >> i think obviously we've talked a lot about it is interesting because dane county is so blue. the thing fascinating to me is college kids do not come out for midterms historically. you look at trends and people turn out at presidentials but if you look at the lines the one that really dips is 18 to 24-year-olds so the question is are they enthusiastic? are they going to turn out? are they happy? look. it is their president. it's their house. kind of their senate. are they going to come out? are they excited? >> what dane county tells you, the county in florida, or east lansing or johnson county in iowa. >> that is the thing. there are places like this all around the country that are hot beds, a lot of college students and they tend to be very liberal and we wonder what they'll do. it is a question of turnout. >> anson county, north carolina, 50/50, plurality african-american, very close to 50%. the interesting thing over time is the margins for trump and biden, down 13 point in 2016. what happened? >> there is something about, is the rural/urban divide stronger than the racial divide? i think that is the question. on the republican side. light red to dark red goes this way. we've got delaware county our lightest red in ohio. sort of the home of college educator republicans that are moving over. lucerne, next door to scranton the old union democrats now voting republican. chattooga home of evangelical whites. light shall medium, dark here. the delaware county has been moving the most this decade. >> fascinating. you are talking about a country that went for romney by 23 points and went for trump by 17 points in 2016 which surprised me. by the time we got to 2020 it was down to seven points. that is a huge shift and tells you, we've talked to people on the ground in this county for five years now on and off. it's real. what we are seeing in those numbers is real. the republican party is unsettled there, not really sure if they like the direction. >> they're not democrats. this is what is messing up the party and their ability to govern is one piece of their coalition, don't want a lot of taxes. i don't want trump but they don't want that. >> this is the kind of place where you could see a big difference between where they go, how they feel about donald trump versus if you get a moderate republican in a senate race there that could -- >> then our big maricopa of this year, duval, which is basically a slightly smaller version than maricopa, the megasuburb that takes up an entire county. this place has been the sneaky swing county of florida that nobody talks about >> i know. i think we spend all our time talking about a place you know miami dade for good reason but this thing has been going on up here for a while now. it has been very tight and it flipped. this is a place where florida went harder for trump in 2020 than in 2016 but duval flipped from trump to biden. >> jacksonville is one of the largest cities in america that actually has had a d and r mayor go back and forth. indianapolis. very few semi large cities actually see d and rs go back and forth. >> it is about the composition of jacksonville. duval sprawls. jacksonville sprawls. it is very suburban in its makeup. >> that is why i call it the maricopa of the east there. going to be a fun year. >> it will. >> thank you, sir. as we relaunch this midterms county to county we'll have reporters embedded in all of the key counties throughout the next year starting now. listening to voters, what matters to them, what is driving local political conversations. so live on the ground in a few of these counties next. plus keeping an eye on the fda as the agency meets today to determine whether to approve pfizer's vaccine for kids age 5 to 11. you're watching "meet the press daily." l right ♪ ♪ have a good time 'cause it's all right ♪ ♪ now listen to the beat ♪ ♪ kinda pat your feet ♪ ♪ it's all right ♪ ♪ have a good time 'cause it's all right ♪ ♪ oh, it's all right ♪ at humana, we believe your healthcare should evolve with you, and part of that evolution means choosing the right medicare plan for you. humana can help. with original medicare, you're covered for hospital stays and doctor office visits but you'll have to pay a deductible for each. a medicare supplement plan can cover your deductibles and co-insurance, but you may pay higher premiums and still not get prescription drug coverage. but with an all-in-one humana medicare advantage plan, you could get all that coverage plus part d prescription drug benefits. you get all this coverage for as low as a $0 monthly plan premium in many areas. humana has a large network of doctors and hospitals, and telehealth coverage with a $0 copay. so call or go online today and get your free decision guide. discover how an all-in-one humana medicare advantage plan could save you money. humana - a more human way to healthcare. ♪ i'm a reporter for the new york times. if you just hold it like this. yeah. ♪ i love finding out things that other people don't want me to know. mm-hmm. [beep] i just wanted to say... ♪ find yourself in these situations and see who you are. and that's just part of the bargain. ♪ and there you have it- and thawoah.ust part of the bargain. wireless on the most reliable network nationwide. wow. -big deal! ...we get unlimited for just 30 bucks. sweet, i get that too and mine has 5g included. that's cool, but ours save us serious clam-aroonies. relax people, my wireless is crushing it. that's because you all have xfinity mobile with your internet. it's wireless so good, it keeps one upping itself. welcome back. as we mentioned it is county to county kick-off at msnbc news spotlighting a handful of counties that will tell the story of the political realignment in this country and explain why voters are voting certain ways. an insight on to what to expect on election night of 2022 particularly with important parts of the electorate. we'll go live to on the ground to five of the seven key counties. we'll start in washoe county, nevada. let me start with you in washoe because it was interesting. i saw an earlier report you did and i thought it was just terrific and you talked about sort of how much washoe is changing. i would argue of all of the community we're highlighting this is the one that may look the most different in a decade than today. what have you learned so far? >> chuck i lost you for a second with a communication issue but i believe you were speaking about the hispanic community here, the latino voters or members of the latino community here in washoe county. like other parts of the country, it is very mysterious and difficult to figure out. the latest census saying 25% of the residents are latino. it is difficult to know what percentage of that population can register to vote and what percentage actually votes. i've been speaking to members of the community. i went to the most popular restaurant, most popular store with a lot of the latinos go to buy their clothing and they are telling me there is a large part of the latino community that are imdprants and some undocumented that are not involved in the political process and those that do vote are divided between republicans and the democrats, so it is going to be interesting to figure out how the latino community here votes and if they become involved. another common thing i'm hearing from these leaders is that they actually lack leadership in local politics. so this is a his panic community that is growing and changing and it will make a difference in the elections to come here in washoe county. >> it's interesting. in clark county down in las vegas it's the unions that are in many ways where the leadership and hispanic community comes from at least on the political side of things but reno is a bit more of a diversified economy. it is not as dependent on the casino industry as others. plus we're seeing an influx of californians, are we not? >> correct. so we do have some casinos here in reno, but the main driver of the jobs, of the people that are migrating to work in reno are really the companies that are opening up a lot of new spaces here. you have tesla, microsoft, apple that have joined the industrial park here and they're opening up new operations, offering jobs to professionals that are coming from places like california, buying the homes, raising the price of homes. you think in reno you would never expect that in reno or washoe county that is the medium price of a home is half a million dollars. $500,000 for the average home in this area, up almost 30%. all of these changes because of the influx of people coming in to take these jobs. >> thank you. let me move to antonia hilton in anson, north carolina. the question as i discussed, why are woo he in anson? a lot of times, what is more important in our political divide? particularly with african-americans. is it race? or is it geography? this is a home to many rural african-americans. >> that's right, chuck. look, this is a county, actually a rural county with a lot of contradictions here particularly when you look at what's happening to the black community. they have the plurality here but when you look down really they have a hair on their white and more conservative neighbors here. as you talked about a few minutes ago, over the years the support for democrats has been slipping. one of the questions here was what is happening? is it that black voters in a county like anson are falling for trump now? are some of them staying home? what i am finding in my conversations with community members is because of the challenges facing rural communities like anson many who were formally very dedicated voters are starting to lose faith in the political process and the people who are supposed to represent them at the statewide and national levels. anson is a rural community where there are some people who still don't have internet at home. there are some folks who do not have running water. the superintendent of the schools who is one of the black major community leaders here told me about 75% of his school district is living in poverty, intense challenges not just through covid but the recent years past. you see black people in leadership, the school system, police chief. the chamber of commerce. but when you talk to them they say they are not heard in the political process around the state and country. even some of the older black voters, people we think of coming out consistently to question whether their voice counts at all. she owns a bed and breakfast here called the dream inn and right now sees voting as really just a hope, a prayer. would you say people in anson feel like their voices are heard at the state or national level? >> you would hear someone on the state level say we've got money coming. but where is it going? is it going to where it needs to go? we need broadband. okay. that is something that has been an issue that should have been addressed long before covid. >> to put what she is describing there in more context this is also a community that's lost almost 10% of its population over the last ten years. when you talk to folks they bring up jobs, confusion about where state support is going when it comes to anson and also their future and some existential questions facing them. young black children here. they are looking around and don't see jobs. they don't see opportunity. many are fleeing the county. when you talk to older black voters they are also worried about the next generation coming up behind them. >> a terrific introduction to why we're in anson county and again this is something we've seen particularly in quite a few rural african-american counties throughout the south. antonia, thank you. let me move over to the other side of things. dasha burns is if delaware county, ohio. this is the lightest red of the three red counties that we're show casing for the midterm cycle. in many ways i believe you spent a lot of time in kent county, grand rapids, delaware. slightly more republican than kent county is but i am guessing it looks quite familiar, doesn't it? >> yeah, chuck. he am hearing echoes of similar sentiments here. when you say it is the lightest red, very recently, this has been a long time gop stronghold. we're talking well over a century here. when you look at the recent history, since 2000 republicans have been winning this county by double digits. in 2020 the margin for trump here narrowed by more than nine points. there are a couple factors at play here. one the population is just exploding. this is the fastest dproeg county in ohio. a lot of that growth is coming from columbus just south of here more urban, more liberal area. when we're talking about this project and these key slices of the electorate, you've said this before. this is not a project that is looking at swing counties. delaware county is not likely to go blue anytime soon but the margins here are narrowing and we are looking at moderate republicans here. the folks we've been talking to called back to ronald reagan, gerald ford. they are feeling a little bit lost in today's gop. and a lot of that has to do with donald trump. i want you to hear from one of the folks we talked to, actually the former gop chair here in delaware county and voted for trump in 2016 but is actually part of that margin narrowing because he did not vote for him again in 2020 and actually stepped down from the party, from the chairmanship because of donald trump. take a listen to what he told me. >> i'm still registered republican and probably will continue to register as a republican until the point it gets to the point where i say, this is just too crazy for me. i think people are struggling with that. it will be very interesting to see if those folks that still have the conservative values, still have, you know, were born and raised republicans, always republicans, if they come back to the party. and i'm hoping that that's being realized, you know, if not, then there is going to be this group of people that are out there wandering around the political wilderness. >> but, chuck, you talked to the current gop chair here which we did, and he says that republicans like carl are kbg to come home for the midterms. he says what is happening under the biden administration is helping the republican party right now. he says folks are unhappy with the rise in gas prices, inflation, the pull out from afghanistan, and he says that those are the things that are going to bring folks like karl back into the fold. but i'll tell you right now a lot of people are not talking so much about the midterms as they are about the upcoming local elections. what is happening at the national level is actually really trickling down locally here. and school boards a lot of heated races coming up that might give us an indication of what we're looking at for the long term. >> a lot of our politics have gone national -- our local politics have gone national. dascha was in delaware county sort of the bush/romney republican party, we go to chattooga, georgia, an example that is the heart and soul of the trump republican party. marjorie taylor green's district is where this county lies. tell us a little bit about chattooga. >> chattooga county, georgia is one of the poorest counties in northwest georgia. this is a place where they've seen a lot of jobs leave over the years. a lot of jobs tied to the textile industry that are no longer here. this is a place that has not voted for a democrat in a presidential election since the late '90s when bill clinton won here in 19 #96. and ever since then every four years it just seems to get redder and redder. donald trump won this county last cycle with 80% of the vote. when you look at the numbers here, it is mind boggling because the population here has actually declined in recent years but as the population was declining, voter turnout when donald trump was on the ballot in 2016 and 2020, voter turnout went up. when you look at that you have to think, wow. that is clearly being driven by one individual, donald trump. if he is not on the ballot, will people here actually show up, turn out, and vote? and what we're finding here is, yes. people are still paying close attention to politics in this community and say their support was not driven solely by donald trump. it was that they felt and this is how one person described it for me, they said donald trump did not create or here is how he put it. they said donald trump understood the views and values of voters here but did not dictate them. when i asked if people will still show up and vote when he is not on the ballot what i keep hearing is yes. the biggest driver behind people saying they will turn out are social issues particularly abortion. this is an evangelical community. almost everyone here identifies as baptist or evangelical and abortion is the driving issue, the biggest issue for them. >> and we'll have a lot of action in the courts on that issue throughout this supreme court term, which will be very interesting to see the impact it has in chattooga county, georgia. we close with duval and, again, sort of the sneaky swing county here in america, a sprawling county, in many ways a mini version of maricopa from two years ago. what have you learned? do democrats and republicans live next door to each other or across the county from each other? >> a little bit of both, chuck. let's just set this up for our viewers a little bit. when we talk about duval county we are essentially talking about jacksonville, florida, a place that was a republican stronghold for so long and in 2018 democrats won it at a state wide level and 2020 president biden flipped it. you talk to voters here and there is big resistance to aligning themselves with any party here. people say they don't want to be a democrat or republican. they like the idea of independence and a sense that you get there is despite democrats winning recently at the statewide elections if you look at local politics, the mayor, the city council are both controlled by republicans here. you get a wide spectrum of opinions here. i want you to listen to some of the conversations with voters and warning signs for democrats who feel this county is trending their way. >> nobody wants to pay a fair wage to anybody. and, you know, the minimum wage has not kept up with the cost of anything. >> even in the party, the democratic party they're not agreeing. but i think if they would work together, come together and find a solution, and i think they look like they are close to getting some things done >> i am concerned about the government taking -- spending more and more money. >> you voted in 2020. >> yes. i will never vote again. >> why not? >> because there is no change. i don't feel like i was heard. >> following up on that last conversation, the democratic chair here warned the democrats on a national level and said you need to pass biden's agenda. voters are watching not only the build back better plan but looking for voting rights, police reform. those are the things that energize so many voters here. if you talk to politicians and more people who are watching this at an academic level they say the reason you have seen this shift and trend you had suburban, more moderate voters turned off by president trump specifically his rhetoric but also an increased turnout and population growth here. if you don't turn out the democratic base in swing counties like this it will definitely stop the trend. that is a warning you're hearing from democrats in this county, chuck. >> i have heard this demoralization issue among democratic based voters. whether focus groups, campaigns, or family gatherings. thank you all for getting us started. a great way to kick off our county-to-county project. these five great reporters will show case from these key counties all week long and across the next 12 month across all of the platforms of nbc news. follow them on all of the different social media platforms we have. you can keep up withway they're doing and they'll be featured in this week's episode of "meet the press reports" streaming on msnbc news now, an even deeper dive into this project on demand the next day on peacock. county to county is all about the midterms and which voters are motivated to turn out in 2022. it all starts one week from today. election night 2021 when we are teaming up to host a "meet the press" election night special. this is the place to come. next tuesday 9:00 p.m. eastern streaming on nbc news now, available on nbc news.com and peacock? 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[coins clinking in jar] ♪ you can get it if you really want it, by jimmy cliff ♪ ♪ [suitcase closing] [gusts of wind] [gusts of wind] [ding] we are back. joining me now for more on we expect this fda vote later today on whether they will approve the pfizer vaccine. joining me to discuss this is an infectious disease physician and director of the boston center for emerging infectious diseases policy and research. doctor, i want to start with the decision pfizer made on the doses for kids 5 to 11 versus other countries. they've done it in some places just one dose. all of it has to do with the side effect here perhaps of heart inflammation. is there a -- what is the best practice that you've seen so far on this? >> yeah, chuck, he think the fda committee's job is exactly what you said which is really making plain the case that benefits far outweigh the risks of this rare heart inflammation. people compare the numbers, right? the numbers are from the cdc data base in the highest risk group 16 to 17-year-old is about 70 cases in a million. slightly lower in 12 to 15-year-olds and 40 in a million compared to kid who actually get covid, you are 36 times more likely to get the heart inflammation compared to kids who don't get it. in a world where there is no covid yeah the vaccine may pose greater risk but in a world like ours where we are still seeing 70,000 cases a day and kids in the age group 5 to 11 actually make up about 11% of the cases nationally ending last week, this is still -- the benefits out weigh the risks. so what pfizer's decision here is that lower dose in their study, they were able to show equal amount of immune response for that type of protection that they had clinical outcomes for, 91% effective against symptomatic disease. i think the lower dose the fda scientists also feel is likely to lead to fewer cases of the rare complication and so the two dose i think is probably the right way to go. the safety data contained within that trial data showed no incidents. just so rare it may not have been picked up. i think that the committee is likely to approve this and if they do what you'll likely see is the fda potentially takes that recommendation and next week the cdc's advisory committee will adapt it of course to who can get it and where. >> is there any thought that this, is it -- that there should be by a physical component here instead of just age? some 11-year-old are huge. some 13-year-old are small. >> yeah, and there is a range, right? in this trial as well i think you've seen sort of, yes. in some ways it is an artificial cut-off but at the same time you have the whole range of kids represented in that trial and that is partly why the randomized controls were to get enough population to address that. they were able to find the same kind of immune response. what parent need to hear, you'll hear a lot of noise and they need to hear it is relatively rare and the numbers peter marks the chief of center for biologics research mentioned, 5 to 11-year-olds made up 1.9 million cases, about 8,000 hospitalizations, about 2,500 cases of this multi system inflammatory syndrome caused by covid. here is the thing that blew me away. about a hundred deaths among this age group. kids don't die that often thankfully in our society which means that covid is in the age group 5 to 11 a top ten cause of death. so the vaccine, yes, it would be great to keep kids in school but does have a real health benefit as well. >> again, the risk of heart inflammation is worse getting covid than this vaccine. bottom line. right? >> absolutely. if you're going to take your kids on holidays, to areas with high transmission, get them the first shot so they have some protection as you're traveling. >> excellent advice. as always, thank you. thank you for your expertise. up next we'll show you what went down in today's social media hearing on capitol hill as executives from some companies not named facebook including tiktok, youtube, and snap answer questions about how their platforms do and don't keep children safe. you're watching "meet the press daily." as someone who resembles someone else, i appreciate that liberty mutual knows everyone's unique. that's why they customize your car insurance, so you only pay for what you need. oh, yeah. that's the spot. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty ♪ ♪ ♪ don't be fooled by the bike. or judge him by his jacket. while ted's eyes are on the road, his heart stays home. he's got gloria, and 10 grand-babies, to prove it. but his back made weekend rides tough, so ted called on the card that's even tougher. and the medicare coverage trusted by more doctors. medicare from blue cross blue shield. by your side, no matter what. that's the benefit of blue. find your local blue cross and blue shield plan at benefitofblue.com so, should all our it move to the cloud? 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♪ ♪ wealth is your first big investment. worth is a partner to help share the load. wealth is saving a little extra. worth is knowing it's never too late to start - or too early. ♪ ♪ wealth helps you retire. worth is knowing why. ♪ ♪ principal. for all it's worth. welcome back. facebook has taken a lot of the public flogging and scrutiny when it comes to the societal impacts of social media, especially the harmful impact it has on children and teens. the scrutiny isn't letting up, especially as more journaljourn including nbc news, have been able to look at thousands of leaked documents by francis haugen. today executives from youtube, particular knock and snap, because these are three apps that teens actually use. >> you cannot trust big tech with your kids. >> in the week leading up to this hearing, i've heard from parents, from teachers, from mental health professionals who were all wondering the same thing. how long are we going to let this continue? >> i don't think parents are going to stand by while our kids and our democracy become collateral damage to a profit game. >> this is actually the first time the representatives from tiktok and snap, parent company of snapchat, protected their platforms for kids and teens, and all three say they support tougher regulations to keep young kids safe online. but when asked which specific one they support, they become silent. >> do you support online legislation to give that 14 or 15-year-old control of their data? >> we agree there should be additional protections put against young people to protect them further from -- >> so you've had a chance to look at the online child protection update i've introduced? it's been out there for years. do you support it or not? >> senator, we'd like to talk more about the issues -- >> this is what drives us crazy. we want to talk, we want to talk, we want to talk. this bill has been out there for years and you still don't have a view on it. >> lawmakers, though, cannot seem to agree on how to regulate big tech. we'll have more on that next. plus, what is next for facebook and thousands of leaked documents reveal even more about their internal research and the turmoil within the company. clearly we're using negative vibes, if you will, as a way to amplify content in order to stir the pot. we'll have more on that and more "meet the press daily" after the break. the break. .. we are not getting you a helicopter. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ i just became eligible for medicare and, can i say? 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dave covers tech news. dave, let's look at where it is. data protection for kids under age 18. that's the goal. how do they do it? >> i think this is one of the few issues where we can see democrats and republicans agreeing that they need to see something happen. you saw those senators earlier from diverse backgrounds, senator klobuchar and blackburn. out here in california, there is a relatively new data protection law that is just now being implemented. we're seeing other interests in states around the country to do something. tech users are facing the prospect of a regulation for teenagers and others whether they want it or not. they're either going to have it in the states, in other countries, in europe, or in washington. >> i was going to say, dave, ironically, the toughest legislation may come from europe or california. the weakness could be the federal government, right? >> that's right, but i think even as states like california move this direction, we're not going to see a let-up in washington for there to be some kind of national regulation of data privacy and some of these other questions about online safety. the united states is an outlyer in the western world of not having a comprehensive national law and even an agency that could regulate these questions in a really comprehensive way. there is very little in terms of a national privacy law or regulation. >> ten years ago people ran for office claiming there would be a digital bill of rights. we're still waiting for that digital bill of rights. let me switch quickly to facebook and what type of crisis management they're in right now. i know they're going to try to rename the company. they don't like to be compared to big tobacco. we don't like it, let's go by el tryo. there's still tobacco. >> wall street still loves facebook as a company, as a stock. they recorded $9 billion in quarterly profits in the most recent quarter, and they're going about their business the best they can. >> yeah. well, they like tobacco companies. they make a lot of money. thank you, and thank you all for being with us this hour. we'll be back tomorrow with more "meet the press daily." more msnbc coverage right now with my friend geoff bennett. >> it is great to be with you. i'm geoff bennett. time is running out to stick the landing. that might be the best way to describe president biden's full court press to get one major deal signed into law, and the other agreed to. sticking points solved, and on a path to final passage before he leaves for rome and glasgow on thursday. you'll forgive the mixed metaphors, but you get the picture. he leaves on thursday, ex