plus, the house finally passes the big bipartisan infrastructure bill. >> the motion is adopted. >> president biden gets a much-needed victory, even as democrats delay a vote on the larger social safety net bill. >> i don't think it's an exaggeration to suggest we took a monumental step forward as a nation. also, my interview with new zealand's prime minister jacinda ardern on china, america's place in the world and climate change. >> it's not enough to simply say we'll wait until everyone else does their bit. i've heard that argument. we have to all do ours now, lest we all end up on a steep drop to the bottom. joining me is white house chief of staff, peter baker, former democratic congresswoman donna edwards, pbs "newshour's" chief correspondent amna nawaz, and former white house political director for george w. bush, sara fagen. welcome to sunday. it's "meet the press." >> announcer: from nbc news in washington, the longest running show in television history, this is "meet the press" with chuck todd. good sunday morning. so what happened to democrats on tuesday goes far beyond the defeat of terry mcauliffe in virginia or governor phil murphy's narrow escape in new jersey. if you look at it from coast to coast, it was a warning to democrats that their congressional majority is in grave danger. terry mcauliffe fell a net 12.5 points off mr. biden's 2020 victory in that state. even in victory, governor phil murphy's net loss in new jersey compared to what biden got in 2020 was roughly 13 points. kind of familiar. so what happened? was the standoff between progressives and moderates partly to blame? probably. did president biden misread his mandate? many democrats think he did. was the public's sense that the country was on the wrong track a factor? clearly. that said, on friday mr. biden followed up the democratic drubbing with one of the best days he's had in office yet, strong october employment report with over a half million jobs added in a month, best showing since july, and the house passage, finally, of the long-delayed trillion dollar bipartisan infrastructure bill which, of course, is one of the pillars of the president's agenda. still as democrats pick through the rubble of tuesday's election, republicans are partying like it's 2009. remember that year. that was one year before they ended up flipping 63 democratic house seats. >> all the talk about the elections and what do they mean. they want us to deliver. >> after a devastating loss for democrats in virginia. >> all righty, virginia, we won this thing! >> and a surprising nail-biter in new jersey, democrats are sounding alarm bells, worried a toxic national environment could cost them control of congress in midterm elections next year. >> if you're a democrat and president biden won your seat by 16 points, you're in a competitive race next year. you're no longer safe. >> late friday night after two failed attempts to bring it to the floor, the house finally passed the trillion dollar bipartisan infrastructure bill, 228-206. >> the motion is adopted. >> with six democrats voting against it and 13 republicans bucking their party leadership to put the bill over the line. >> finally, infrastructure week. >> most house progressives supported the measure, which they had been holding up, hoping to extract more spending on a larger social safety net and climate change bill, after a pledge from moderates they would hold a vote on the bill by november 15th provided it doesn't add one cent to the deficit. >> we're going to trust each other because the democratic party is together on this. >> the whole day is a cluster [ bleep ], right? but beyond that, i thought everyone was working in a very congenial way. >> i feel confident we'll have enough votes to pass the build back better plan. >> what gives you that confidence? >> me. >> passage followed a push by president biden who made personal phone calls to both progressives and mott rats on friday. >> do you think terry mcauliffe would have won if your agenda had passed before election day? >> well, i think we should have -- it should have passed before election day, but i'm not sure that i would be able to have changed the number of very conservative folks who turned out in red districts who are trump voters, but maybe. >> there's no way you can say a 12-point swing in a state is due to congress not passing a bill. >> meanwhile some democrats are urging the party to scale back the size and scope of their social spending agenda. >> this is not a center or center left country. we're, if anything, a center right country. >> you can't win in virginia if you only appeal to very liberal voters. >> while others blame the economy and inflation. in exit polls 53% of virginians said they disapprove of president biden's job performance. can they seize on the culture war issues which compelled glenn youngkin's campaign. >> there are concerns about education at the local level. he touched a nerve. >> will republicans borrow youngkin's approach, supporting donald trump while staying personally at a distance. >> we stayed away from being negative and divisive, and we brought people together. joining me, white house chief of staff, ron klain. >> thanks for having me, chuck. >> thanks for having me, chuck. >> the bipartisan infrastructure package passed the senate on august 10th and now passed the house on november 5th. obviously a lot happened between that time period. how important, frankly, were tuesday's elections to you creating the urgency among democrats to get this done on friday night? >> well, look, i do think the voters sent a message on tuesday they wanted to see more action in washington, they wanted to see things move more quickly. three days later congress responded passing the president's infrastructure bill. but a lot of work went into getting us there over the past few months. i don't think the election alone put it over the line. what put it over the line was president biden starting back in april putting it before the country, working with democrats and republicans in the senate to get it through the senate in august, working with a broad coalition in the house to finally pass it. you know, chuck, this is the oldest show on television, as you know. as long as people have been on the air, people have come on the show and said we should make a massive investment in infrastructure to grow the economy, to strengthen the thing. we finally did it on friday. that's the bottom line for us i think. >> i have to say this, ron -- i've got to ask you, is it easier to pass a bipartisan bill right now than a democrats-only bill? watching what's happened, it does seem to be the case. >> well, i think we're going to get both of these bills done. i don't know why republicans won't vote for cutting child care costs in half or letting medicare negotiate the price of drugs down to save seniors money and vote for preschool for everyone. i wish that were bipartisan as well. we got the infrastructure bill passed. we'll get the build back better act passed in the house when the congress comes back after this veterans day break. we're making progress on this agenda. >> the question i think a lot of people have this morning, at least that follow this build back better part of negotiations very closely is it does seem the things that were added to the house version, paid family leave, which a week ago the president said was out, is back in. medicare negotiating prescription drugs pricing, last week the president said it was out, the house put it back in. the modifications to state and local taxes. it was out. now it's back in. immigration, that's something for the parliamentarian. but it was out, now it's back in. all of those things were out because it didn't seem to have senate support, and there's no indication that senators manchin or sinema are all on board everything like this. are house progressives prepared for this to get scaled right back again? >> chuck, i disagree with some of that. immigration was in the framework the president put out before he left for europe, and the medicare prescription drug provision, something we needed to work the final details out. senator sinema has been a real leader in trying to get us to the finish line along with senator klobuchar, senator schumer, others on all sides of the party. it took a little longer to get that across the finish line. i think this bill will pass the house when the pass comes back. i'm sure the senate will make changes. that's the way the legislative process works. we're going to get a very strong version of this bill through the house, through the senate, to the president's desk and into law. again, it's because the american people need help with basic expenses. this bill cuts the cost of child care in half, in half, for middle class families. that's one of the main pain points in their budget. i think this bill is gaining momentum. we're going to get it passed, get it signed, and most importantly, we're going to get it to work for the american people. >> i want to ask about one thing that came up in the climate summit, the united states was notably absent from signing onto a pledge to phase out coal. we joined india and china among countries that did not sign that pledge. there's been some reporting -- it's one of those source, not on-the-record sources, that indicated senator manchin was certainly in the heads of u.s. negotiators when that decision not to sign on on eliminating coal was made. is that the case? is joe manchin's vote for build back better a part of the decision in not signing on to coal? getting rid of coal? >> no, look -- look, we're in a transition year to get us to a clean energy future. what is in our minds is the build back better plan has the largest investment in american history to get us to a cleaner economy, create millions of jobs moved forward to sustainable renewable energy, not just creating jobs, employing the energy here, but building technology to ship around the world. we're making the progress. the president had a very effective time in glasgow meeting with world leaders making sure they knew the u.s. is back. look, president biden was in glasgow. the presidents of russia and china were not. we are going to lead the world in tackling climate change. we're going to pass this bill and have the tools to do it. >> i'm going to ask you a little bit about the political fallout from tuesday. i want to show you the last national poll we had last sunday. i want to show you about the voters feelings about president biden and former president trump. they're much closer to being aligned. the voters still find the former president very unpopular, 38-50. this president sitting at 48% positive, 48% anything active. why do you think that is? what's been the cause of the president's decline in your opinion? >> in my opinion, it's been a rough and tough year. president biden said this all along, we're in a year-long effort to dig out of the holes. inherited a debt economy, 50,000 jobs a month. we're now back to 500,000 jobs a month. we inherited a country where 4,000 people a day, 4,000 people a day were dying from covid. that's down 75%. so i understand that voters are tired, americans are tired of how long it's taken to get the economy moving, to get covid under control. i feel the frustration personally myself. i think everyone does. i think that frustration wears on people. i think what the american people are going to see is we have put in place the strategies, the actions to turn that around. they are in a show-me, don't-tell-me mode. i think we're going to show them in the weeks and months ahead that we have made this progress on covid, have made the progress on the economy. we have passed the infrastructure bill. we can start to get going on implementing that. i think that will pay off results. >> i want to ask about another exit poll result in virginia. it was about voters' perceptions of the two parties. 51% thought the democratic party was too liberal than thought the republican party was too conservative at 46%. do you fear that there is a perception problem about the democratic party among independent and right-of-center voters, that the party looks like it's too progressive? >> i don't think so, chuck. part of that reflects who turned out in virginia tuesday night. that's its own problem and issue. i do want to push back a little bit. we lost on tuesday in virginia. it was painful. terry mcauliffe is an old friend of mine. so sad to see him lose, lose the virginia legislature. but it's also worth noting on tuesday night, we did get governor murphy who was on next, the first democrat in 44 years to get re-elected in new jersey. he held onto the mayorship in new york, eric adams. we lost there in 2009 the last time we had a new democratic president. the first woman, first person of color elected mayor of boston. shontel brown elected to the u.s. house in ohio. we have to learn from that, do better from that. i think we had wins on tuesday. we can take pride in that, too. >> i want to ask you about the court ruling yesterday on the vaccine -- on the vaccine protocols that osha's putting out, the sort of soft mandate. i don't want to call it a hard mandate because of the testing option. there's a freeze. what does that mean for the federal government's efforts? do you stop preparing for january 4th in the moment? how does this work? >> i think what it means for the time being is the effectiveness of that vaccine requirement is frozen. i think it will certainly be well litigated, though, well before january 3rd. so i'm not sure it has much practical effect in the short run. look, these vaccine requirements have been litigated up and down the courts all over the country. state requirements, for example, one in maine. in every single court before this one ruled that they were valid. the supreme court has turned back several times already various efforts to enjoin other vaccine requirements. i'm quite confident that when this finally gets fully adjudicated, not just a temporary order, the validity of this requirement will be upheld. it's common sense, chuck. if osha can tell people to wear a hard hat on the job, be careful around chemicals, it can put in place these simple measures to keep our workers safe. >> find out if the workers courts agree. ron klain, chief of staff for president biden. thank you for coming on. >> thanks, chuck. joining me is democratic governor phil murphy whose expected easy re-election win turned into a bit of a squeaker. governor murphy, welcome back to "meet the press," sir. >> good to be back. thanks for having me. >> let me ask you this, on one hand, you made history, first democratic to win re-election. i know you're going to say how difficult it was, one vote, i get it. i'm sure you were surprised that it was as close as it was. what lesson do you take away from this squeaker? >> listen, i'm happy to have made history. i got more votes this time than last time, so that's all for the good. a couple of reactions. thank god we put the programs in place we put in place, the actions we took, whether it's expanding pre-k, raising the minimum wage, investing in all-time record levels in infrastructure. i think, had we not, we might have been swept away as well. secondly, chuck, it's quite clear there's a lot of hurt out there, and there are a lot of kitchen tables that we need to connect more deeply with and help folks get through this period whether they lost a loved one, a job, a small business, they're frustrated by the ongoing pandemic or economic recovery, whatever it may be. i like what we're doing. that's quite clear. without it, we might have been swept away. we want to reach more deeply into more families in our state. >> do you agree with the state party chair, leroy jones, who said this to "the new york times" on thursday, the paralysis in washington has worked its way here in new jersey. the dysfunction has caused people to take pause. do you agree? >> i think to a certain extent leroy has put his finger on one of the factors. it's remarkable, the debate in washington feels -- although this infrastructure bill on friday, by the way, is a game-changer, we're the most densely populated state in america, so it's a particular game-changer for new jersey. but on the whole build back better debate, it feels very abstract. new jersey is doing it. expanding pre-k, expanding child care, funding public education, making housing more affordable, college more affordable, health care more affordable. you look at that debate in washington and folks feel like, well, i wonder if this would work. i'm screaming out, listen, look at new jersey. it is working. we're doing this stuff, and we know it works. >> i want to ask you about a comment you made in 2019 that got uttered over and over again in tv ads. let me play it. >> if you're a one-issue voter, and tax rate is your issue, either a family or a business, if that's the only basis upon which you're going to make a decision, we're probably not your state. >> governor, i've been covering new jersey elections since the early '90s. i have to tell you, tax has been one issue for a lot of voters in new jersey and led to a lot of republican victories in new jersey. do you regret that comment? >> first of all, it didn't lead to a republican victory this year importantly. now, that's taken out of context, chuck. we view ourselves, and there's a lot of data to support this, as the number one state in america to raise a family. we have the number one public education system in america. one of the top health systems in america, a quality of life that is in many respects second to none, and affordability is very much a part of that. we inherited a mess four years ago. i promise you every single day we've been fighting to make this state more affordable and make it every day the number one state in america to raise a family. we've been doing that, and i commit to folk wes'll continue do that. >> there also appears to be a bit of a -- maybe an ideological issue. south jersey, we saw it with the party switch of jeff van drew, and i believe it's the same as the state senate seat. do you think progressive politics is not playing as well in south jersey as it might in north jersey? >> a couple of things. first of all, i'm very proud that the entire new jersey delegation on both sides of the aisle voted for the infrastructure on friday. i think that's a real testament to our ability to come together. secondly, shocked that my friend and partner, steve sweeney, has lost a race. i think it is a combination of where we started in this conversation a couple minutes ago, chuck. we've got to get to more kitchen tables. i don't think raising the minimum wage, expanding pre-k, making college health care more affordable, all-time high investments in infrastructure. i don't think that's a progressive/non-progressive agenda. i think that's directed at making families' lives better, quality of life better. we've got to clearly connect more deeply to more kitchen tables in the state, that's for sure. >> mandate fatigue. everybody has it. you know it. i think people who abide by the rules have it. considering that that seemed to be a little bit of a motivator for some, are you at all thinking about some relief on any of your mandates? >> listen, there's mandate fatigue everywhere, including with yours truly. let there be no doubt about that. at the moment, no. but my hope is particularly with our kids under the age of 12 now being able to get the vaccine, that we will some day, sooner than later, be able to lift the mask mandate we have in schools. that's my fervent hope. we're not there yet. but, please, god, we can get there sooner than later. we've got to get there safely, responsibly, but we can get there. i hope it's sooner than later. >> governor phil murphy, who made history, the first democrat to win re-election since the '70s, but, boy, was it a squeaker. thanks for coming on. >> thanks for having me, chuck. when we come back, we'll talk with the other side of the aisle, the republican charged with winning back the senate for the gop in 2022. it's senator rick scott of florida. stay with us. welcome back. after the strong election night on tuesday, republicans are more bullish about winning control of the house next year, and now even the 50/50 senate. senator rick scott is the head of the republican senate campaign committee. senator scott, welcome back to "meet the press," sir. >> great. it was a good day for republicans on tuesday, and i think it puts us in position. we'll have a great november '22. >> let me ask you something that stuck out to me. as unpopular as joe biden was in virginia, donald trump was actually more unpopular. both glenn youngkin and jack ciattarelli had a similar stance on how to deal with donald trump. they didn't attack him or denounce him, but they didn't embrace him or hug him and sort of sending a message a bit to independent voters. is that the better formula, and is that the formula you're looking for from republican candidates in battleground states in 2022? >> first, i hope democrats continue to be obsessed with donald trump. i think terry mcauliffe would probably run his campaign differently, wouldn't focus his whole campaign on donald trump. i think what we have to do is we have to say we would love donald trump's endorsement. if you're a republican and want his endorsement, but you're going to run on the issues. if you listen to ron klein and fill murphy, they didn't get it. americans are fed up with inflation, kids being indoctrinated in their schools and fed up with defunding the police. those are the issues people care about. i think this obsession with donald trump is going to be good for republicans next year. >> you're okay -- one of the things you said was, you were hoping he wouldn't get involved in senate primaries. you didn't get involved in open senate primaries and wanted the former senate to do the same. he's not taking your advice. does that complicate your ability to recruit candidates that can win? >> absolutely not. i believe republicans ought to let the voters decide. i remember my primary 2010, my opponent had everyone in the country almost, but i won because i focused on the issue. i think you'd be foolish not to want and accept donald trump's endorsement, but you're going to win not because somebody endorses you, but because you win because you're making sure inflation gets stopped, that people get a job, making sure your kids aren't indoctrinated on critical race theory. make sure question have we have safe communities. those are the issues people care about. >> you said you're going to support all incumbents. i'm curious, does that include lisa murkowski where the form are president endorsed a challenger. does that mean you'll financially support lisa murkowski and help run a campaign against a primary opponent? >> absolutely. we support the next republican senatorial committee, all of our incumbents. fortunately for us, we've got great candidates running in our primaries, and fortunately for us, we've got bernie sanders candidates on the other side in many primaries. we'll be in a great position in 2022. >> let me ask you this. if you win the majority in the senate, is there something that a republican senate majority is going to want to work with president biden on? or are we looking at two years of gridlock? >> well, i always say when we win in '22. look, i want to work with democrats, but here is what i want to do. i want to create the best economy we could ever have. we had a great economy under president trump. i want to make sure kids get a great education. i want to fund the police, fund our military. now, if the democrats want to continue to bankrupt our country, continue to raise the debt ceiling, continue to raise taxes, i'm going to fight that. i came to washington to fight that stuff. i cut taxes and fees 100 times as governor. i paid off a third of the state debt. i had record funding for education, transportation, the environment. i'm not going to go and i hope republicans don't go down this path of wasting money because eventually it costs somebody money. >> do you think it was a mistake for republicans to support the bipartisan infrastructure bill? >> well, everybody gets to make their own choice. here is the way i look at it. i like infrastructure. to me that's roads, bridges, airports, and seaports. i spent $85 billion on it my years as governor. but guess what? i cut taxes and paid off a third of the state debt. that bill, remember how they promised it would be paid for? it wasn't. it wasn't paid for. less than half of it, it was roads, bridges, airports, and seaports. we should do things and be honest what it is. let's do real infrastructure and quit saying we're not going to raise your taxes eventually because we have these deficits. chuck, we have almost $30 trillion worth of debt. $30 trillion worth of debt. we have to hope to god our interest rates never go up because it will never be paid for. by the way, there's no conversation about how -- we've got to fix medicare. we've got to fix social security to make shir the funding of these programs can continue to last. the democrats in d.c. and republicans continue to waste your money. i'll oppose it all the way along. >> i have to ask you something about our last poll because it is divisive and driving our politics. it's the issue of do you believe joe biden was elected legitimately. 93% of democrats believe that, 71% of independents, but only 22% of republicans believe joe biden was elected legitimately. why is that? >> i can tell you joe biden is the president. we went through the constitutional process, that he was elected. i think there was a lot of buyer's remorse. people are scared to death of the unbelievable inflation, gas prices are up 50%, food prices are up, housing prices are up, the botched withdrawal from afghan starngs all these things -- >> i understand what you're saying. then you're part of the 22% that believe he was legitimately elected. why do four in five republicans not believe that? >> i think you'd have to ask them. i think joe biden is elected president. what we've got to do right now is figure out how to start helping these families. >> senator, i think we both know the reason why that is. let me put up something the former president put out on october 21st, not like six months ago. this was three weeks ago. he said this. the insurrection took place on november 3rd, election day. january 6th was the protest. is there any part of that statement that you agree with? >> first, chuck, democrats are focused on donald trump. americans are focused on the future. so you can go ask all these questions about why people think the way they do. i can tell you why. we're going to win in '22 because we're going to talk about issues. we're not going to talk about the last election. >> you don't think it's a mistake to denounce what the former president is saying as a lie? it's not healthy. you won three elections by less than 1%. you won three elections, by the way, by less of a raw vote than the state of pennsylvania where you voted to object. every one of your democratic opponents conceded. why hasn't former president trump conceded? >> i think you'd have to ask president trump. first off, let's put it in perspective. my opponent in '18 did not concede until we went through two recounts and there were illegally found ballots after election nights. let's not act like these people, oh gosh, you're right, you won. we have plenty of democrats -- chuck, chuck, chuck. wait a second. we have plenty of democrats that don't concede. that's what happened. here is what happened. we have a duly elected president. right? the constitution was followed. i hope democrats keep focusing all their time on donald trump. republicans are going to focus on the issues and we're going to win big in '22. that's exactly what i plan on doing. >> you're not at all concerned that former president trump is helping to create a false narrative that there's something wrong with our elections? >> i'm focused on how do we win in '22, and i know exactly how to win. do what i did in my three races, focus on issues. by the way, if anybody wants to help make sure we win. you can go to our website. chuck schumer is no longer the majority leader and take us down this ridiculous socialist path. >> speaking of majority leader, are you 100% supportive of mitch mcconnell as majority leader if you win the senate? >> absolutely. i've known mitch mcconnell since the early '90s. i actually lived in kentucky and supported him then. i have a good working relationship with mitch mcconnell we have elections generally every two years for the majority leader. >> senator rick scott, republican from florida and the man charged with helping republicans get control of the senate in 2022. i appreciate you coming on and sharing your perspective with us, sir. >> thank you, chuck. when we come back, how bad is the political landscape for democrats? it's even tougher than you might think. the panel is next. next. [♪♪] powerful skincare ingredients come dermatologist-recommended, and there's a brand that offers them at an affordable price. try olay skincare. olay regenerist, with 99% pure niacinamide provides 5 times the hydrating power of a prestige cream; while olay collagen peptide visibly firms and reduces the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles; and olay retinol 24 brightens and smooths the skin while you sleep. for dermatologist-recommended ingredients at an affordable price, try olay skincare. welcome back. the panel is here. pbs "newshour" chief correspondent amna nawaz, white house chief correspondent peter baker, former white house political director for george w. bush sara fagen, and former democratic congresswoman donna edwards. we're going to start a conversation here. rural white voters, last year president trump won virginia's rural voters by six points, 52-46. not a good showing for virginia by a republican. on tuesday, glenn youngkin won rural voters by 27 points. i call that a huge increase. rural voters increased their percentage of the electorate by three percentage points. so from 16% of the electorate in '20 to nearly one in five voters in virginia were from rural virginia. it gave youngkin too big of a lead for mcauliffe to overcome no matter how well he did in suburban and urban areas. donna, i don't know if there's enough votes in rural maryland to overcome this to give democrats a problem, but clearly there was in virginia, and there almost was in new jersey. it's a problem. >> it is. i mean one of the challenges is that we're not going to win rural voters, but you have to contest for them, and i think one of the things that youngkin did that was very effective is he went into democratic strongholds. he didn't have to win. he just had to peel enough away. >> chip away. >> as democrats, we have to think about how it is we contest for some of those voters, pull them into our corner. i think it's possible to do that, but 1%, 2%, 3% in this area is going to make a difference in the election. >> i think it's much more simple than that. congresswoman abigail spanberger said it best. she said we didn't elect a democrat. we didn't elect him to be fdr. we elected him to stop the chaos and be normal. that's not how joe biden is governing. that's why democrats lost in virginia, why we saw lots of republican victories across the country in local election, school board elections, is the progressive movement in the democratic party is driving the debate, driving the intellectual issues on the table. moderate democrats, joe biden, is allowing it to happen. >> amna, here's the math. if you're losing 36% of all voters by a 76-24 margin -- this is right now for the democrats -- it means they have to win 65% of allover voters. that's how bad the issue is. someone said what's bottom. someone said the bottom is zero and they weren't being facetious. >> the rural concern for democrats isn't new either. go back to 2018. >> it just got worse. >> heidi heitkamp and joe donnelly created a pact specifically to appeal to rural voters. if you look just at virginia, yes, youngkin was able to drive up the rural vote, got even bigger margins than 2020 on the rural end white voters. also flipped a couple of those suburbs, chester county outside of richmond, stafford county outside d.c. democrats weren't able to -- even though they increased turnout, they weren't able to keep pace with the gop increase and turnout. that's a trifecta for republicans, a triple whammy for democrats. in addition to covid and economy, which were the two biggest issues for voters, this education issue we keep talking about, which is not about how well kids read or write or how well they do in chemistry, it's about race and race history. that turned out a lot of parents in virginia who have long been frustrated for the past 18 months. >> peter, i think what got lost here, tuesday's elections were all on democratic terms, whether it's cities or the two states that are light blue and dark blue or so we thought, on those things. and whenever there was a choice from seattle to buffalo, a progressive and non-progressive, but still left of center, voters even in the cities picked left of center. >> that's right. that was true in new york city and a lot of other districts and places in long island. i think what it says, in fact, it's possible to overread a single election. because donald trump lost doesn't mean republicans suddenly lost their traction. in fact, republicans have done well in the last 13 months. they won house seats last year even as donald trump was losing. virginia voters and other voters showed they're being to vote for republicans, just not trump. they didn't want to vote for trump. youngkin not only outpaced trump in terms of winning the state, which trump lost, but he outpaced across the board, throughout almost every city and county. he got better, more votes than trump did last year, even though it was an off-year election. >> i think in not overreading an election, you have to look at a combination of factors, the campaign that was run. you can't ignore the candidate and the campaign. you can't ignore that the national context had a lot to do with this election. i don't think we can point to one or the other, but democrats do have to be willing to do some self-examination and recalibrate when it comes to 2022. >> i think when you think about the issues that were talked about, yes, terry mcauliffe focused way too much on donald trump, but he was also focused on abortion, on climate change, these big partisan issues while glenn youngkin was talking about lowering your grocery taxes in a time of inflation, of education, crime. >> how many times did phil murphy say kitchen table? >> he got the memo. >> he got the memo. >> that's how democrats won 2018. nancy pelosi will tell you the reason they won the midterms is not by talking about donald trump, although, he was the context and that was the environment that was taking place, but by talking about health care and issues that matter to the voters. >> quickly -- i'll get to the trooper stuff, but let's talk about what happened on friday quickly. i'm trying to figure out -- they spent months saying we're never decoupling the bills. they decoupled the bill. i have no idea what's going to happen to build back better. >> we see it in eight days. >> or eight weeks or three months. >> here is what progressives say. i spoke with congresswoman jayapal yesterday. she said six democrats, the moderates made a commitment on paper to me personally and to the president, this trust deficit they've been talking about. they're now talking to each other, the progress issues and six moderates in particular. she has every confidence this is going to move forward. the bigger issue they have which is messaging, what is in this thing. i think most people don't even know how it impacts them. majority of americans don't know what's in it. >> last thursday something wasn't in it and now they're in it. >> you'll see cabinet members out, transportation, and interior -- >> selling what's already passed? >> selling what's already passed, yes. they need to take credit. this is the victory lap. >> they're going to sell what's in build back better. i'm confident it's going to make it across the finish line. >> what's going to be in it? >> look, we know pre kindergarten is going to be in there, we know tax credit is going to be in there. there are things we know will be in there when it finally passes. i think the challenge for democrats is let's stop talking about the number. nobody knows the difference when they don't have -- they have $500 in their bank account, they don't understand what a trillion dollars is. the number -- it's going to be paid for and benefit individual americans and their own families. >> when you have $500 in your bank account, what you see in front of you is a tax increase, and you don't have money to pay for it. >> there's not going to be a tax increase -- >> there will be eventually. >> the $600 child tax credit -- >> the good news is we get to come back and a talk about that more. but before that, this is the time to report our latest episode of ""meet the press reports"" happens to be an in-depth look ahead of the 2022 midterms. available any time right now on peacock. go binge away. we'll be back in a moment with one leader's thoughts on what it will take to fight ll tt climate change globally. climate change globally. - grammarly business turned my marketing team into rock stars. (diana strums guitar) maya swears by grammarly business because it keeps her work on brand and error-free. fast and easy. - [announcer] learn more at grammarly.com/business. welcome back. more than 40 countries at the glasgow climate summit agreed to phase out the use of coal. failing to sign the accord are three of the biggest coal users, china, india, and as we mentioned, the united states. i spoke to new zealand's prime minister jacinda ardern who has been criticized for not doing enough and asked if she's willing to step up climate change efforts. >> we can't get ourself in a situation where our action is reliant on the action of others, because who pays the price in that game but all of us? our position has always been, we can't hold our heads up on the world stage and call for action unless we demonstrate that leadership ourselves. we have been amongst, as have been many countries around the world over the last several decades where not enough action has been taken. we are in a position right now of undertaking quite a steep rise in our commitments. we've ceded now in our domestic laws. we've targeted that 1.5 degrees because that is what it will take to ensure our pacific neighborhoods have a livelihood. it's not enough to simply say we'll wait until everyone does their bit. i've heard that argument. we have to do ours now, lest we all end up on a steep drop to the bottom. >> look, it's been a busy week. i promise you there's a lot more to that interview. you can see the entire thing with prime minister jacinda ardern. it's done in conjunction with the group climate now. it's on meetthepress.com. we get into a lot of things with china, climate, and a little bit of the united states politics. when we come back, how big a role did mandate fatigue play in the east's elections. we talk about it after the break. t, outlast anything! no sweat. secret. ♪all strength. no sweat.♪ it's time for our veteran's day sale on the sleep number 360 smart bed. what if i sleep hot? ...or cold? no problem, the sleep number 360 smart bed is temperature balancing, so you both sleep just right. and it senses your movements and automatically adjusts to keep you both effortlessly comfortable. so, you can really promise better sleep? yes! you'll know exactly how well you slept, night after night. we take care of the science. all you have to do is sleep. don't miss our weekend special. save $1,000 on the sleep number 360 special edition smart bed, now only $1,999. plus, 0% interest for 48 months. ends monday. every single day, we're all getting a little bit better. we're better cooks... better neighbors... hi. i've got this until you get back. better parents... and better friends. no! no! that's why comcast works around the clock constantly improving america's largest gig-speed broadband network. and just doubled the capacity here. how do things look on your end? -perfect! because we're building a better network every single day. we are ba we are back. "donald who," sara, seemed to be at least kind of the take rick scott wanted to have there. he's walking a fine line, and i think he was tiptoeing quite a bit. >> look, he is the elephant in the room. he is the biggest figure in politics still today, even out of office. but i think in virginia, glenn youngkin did a really good job of managing donald trump which is to say, i appreciate his endorsement, i welcome his endorsement, i'm honored by his endorsement. but i'm my own man, and i'm running on my ideas. here are what my ideas are. i'm not talking about the past. i'm talking about the future. i think another lesson for republicans here, to the degree that any national committee can control these things, which is increasingly harder in american politics, is that candidates with sunny dispositions who are behaviorally moderate, even if they're quite conservative on issues, that matters. it was very difficult for terry mcauliffe to paint glenn youngkin as a trumpkin. he didn't speak like donald trump and use the same language. >> i used to say connie mack when he was first elected to florida, he was more to the right for the statement conservative with a smile. that mattered a lot. donna, trump as a weapon for democrats, it did work in one spot, northern virginia, but -- >> the lesson is you've got to be careful where you use it. you know, there are going to be races all across the country, and trump is not going to be as willing to be quiet as he was presumably in virginia and some of these other states and congressional districts, and so i think that is going to make it more difficult for republicans to run against donald trump. >> joe biden seems to fire up the republican base right now better than donald trump fires up the democratic base. >> he does, right? >> it's like a mirror image of 2017. >> one is he's the incumbent. donald trump is still a very active player, hasn't given up. not like he went into retirement like obama or bush or something like that. he wants to run again. of course, he's going to be an issue. biden has proven to be a more polarizing figure than anybody would imagine. >> he won the primary because he wasn't polarizing. >> which may say less about him than us right now. he's turned out to generate a lot of antipathy. >> i think part of that is there's a dishonesty about joe biden's candidacy. i think this is where democrats fail to get it. he ran as a centrist, and he's governing as a very, very progressive person, and i think for a lot of individuals, especially these rural voters, they look at that and say, i'm going to vote for republicans at a higher rate because i don't like the dishonesty about it. >> i don't think that's true at all. if you look back at the way joe biden ran his campaign, the messages that he talked about, the program he talked about, are all the things he's governing on. those are the things. so it demonstrates to me that people actually care about progressive issues. it just depends -- we need to make sure that we're characterizing him in the right kind of way so americans take that in. >> i want to look at what happens. how much was mandate fatigue a part of this? >> mandate fatigue, covid fatigue. covid and the economy are two biggest issues for virginia voters and nationwide. that's why you see the biden administration moving more aggressively to roll out more mandates, get millions more americans vaccinated. i interviewed the secretary of labor this week, and there's a direct link there. they want more shots in arms because it's more directly related to the economy. one of the things sara was saying, one of the things youngkin offered was a path to calibrate the closeness to donald trump for future republican candidates, people whou don't like him personally but like him politically, that's how you run that campaign. for democrats ahead, the message is you can't just rely on an anti-trump message. when you look ahead to 2022, house up for grabs, senate up for grabs, 36 governorships. democrats in those states won by smaller margins than they won virginia. that's going to be a problem for them. >> if larry hogan and doug ducey get enticed into these races, on paper they would be huge candidates in their two states unless donald trump decides to make them pay. >> well, and it's not clear that even if donald trump decided to make them pay, particularly in a state like maryland -- >> a republican primary with republican voters? >> larry hogan is one of the most popular governors in america, including still today. >> i agree. >> i'm not certain he couldn't win a republican primary even if donald trump was aggressively campaigning against him. >> well, maybe we'll find out. i think there are other races in 2024 that mr. hogan might be interested in. as we go, another reminder, by the way. we have tickets on sale at "meet the press" film festival at afi-fest, tickets at fest.afi.com. i'll see you out there myself. that's it for today. we'll be back next week. because if it's sunday, it's "meet the press." it's a bfd. president biden cease half of the signature spending plan passed by congress, but with the other part of the program still undone, the question is bbb human infrastructure next? plus, a district attorney appears poised to push forward on election interfierce by trump and his allies. the question is what are the potential penalties? plus, ted cruz pick as fight with big bird. with big bird on the side of science and ted cruz not, the question is w

Related Keywords

Things , Democrats , Republicans Won T , Rural Virginia , Thing , Victory , Righty , Drubbing , Phil Murphy , People , Voters , New Jersey , Wins , Midterm , Big Night , Biden Misread , Chief Of Staff , Rick Scott , Senate , Governor , Race , Points , Republican , Ron Klain , Safe , White House , Seat , Campaign Committee , Florida , Head , Guests , 16 , Larger Social Safety Net , President , Place , Vote , Infrastructure Bill , America , World , Motion , Jacinda Ardern , Climate Change , Interview , Nation , Step , Exaggeration , Plus , On China , New Zealand , Everyone , Donna Edwards , Bottom , Amna Nawaz , Sara Fagen , Peter Baker , Argument , Drop , Director , Newshour S , George W Bush , Pbs , Terry Mcauliffe , Chuck Todd , Washington , Meet The Press , Announcer , Escape , Defeat , Longest Running Show In Television History , Nbc News , Sunday Morning , State Of Pennsylvania , Loss , Majority , Danger , Mr , Warning , Coast To , 2020 , 12 5 , Moderates , Progressives , Kind , Standoff , 13 , Country , Mandate , Public , Track , Sense , One , Jobs , Half , Showing , Factor , Office , July , Strong October Employment , House Passage , Election , Agenda , Course , On Tuesday , Which , Pillars , Rubble , 2009 , Elections , Talk , Seats , 63 , Environment , Congress , Nail Biter , Alarm Bells , House , Late Friday Night , Floor , Attempts , 228 , 206 , Two , Line , Party Leadership , Six , Pledge , Climate Change Bill , Measure , Spending , Holding Up , Safety , Deficit , Doesn T Add One Cent , Bill By November 15th , 15 , November 15th , Way , Build , Plan , Votes , Confidence , Other , Cluster , Bleep , Phone Calls , Number , Election Day , Districts , Folks , Swing , 12 , Economy , Party , Inflation , Others , Center , Anything , Scope , Size , Glenn Youngkin , Culture War Issues , Campaign , Virginians , Exit Polls , Job Performance , 53 , Donald Trump , Education , Distance , Level , Nerve , Approach , Concerns , Thanks , Divisive , Infrastructure Package , On August 10th , House On November 5th , 10 , 5 , August 10th , November 5th , Lot , Message , Work , Action , Urgency , Three , It , Coalition , Biden Starting , Infrastructure , Show , Investment , Television , Air , Bottom Line , Price , Bills , Case , Both , Child Care Costs , Medicare , Money , Preschool , Passed In The House , Drugs , Seniors , Part , Question , Progress , Negotiations , Veterans Day Break , Family Leave , House Version , Something , Taxes , Prescription Drugs Pricing , Immigration , Negotiating , Modifications , Wall , Sinema , Everything , Indication , Senator Manchin , Parliamentarian , Support , Some , Senator , Prescription Drug , Provision , Framework , Details , Europe , Chuck Schumer , Leader , Finish Line , Pass , Sides , Changes , Longer , Senator Klobuchar , Help , Process Works , Version , Desk , Law , Expenses , Families , Child Care , Pain Points , Momentum , Cost , Budget , Middle Class , Climate Summit , Countries , Coal , Decision , Reporting , China , Heads , Negotiators , Signing , Sources , Source , India , Look , Energy , History , Transition Year , Cleaner Economy , Minds , Millions , Renewable Energy , Building Technology , World Leaders , Meeting , Presidents , Glasgow , Russia , Poll , Feelings , Fallout , Tools , Trump , Positive , 38 , 50 , 48 , Opinion , Decline , Holes , Cause , Covid , Debt Economy , Jobs A Month , 500000 , 4000 , 75 , 50000 , Actions , Frustration , Economy Moving , Strategies , Have , Don T Tell Me Mode , Me , Perceptions , Results , Exit Poll Result , Perception Problem , 51 , 46 , Issue , Problem , Bit , Friend , Virginia Tuesday Night , Looks , Virginia Legislature , 44 , Woman , Person , Mayorship , New York , Eric Adams , Color , Boston , Ohio , Shontel Brown , Vaccine , Pride , Vaccine Protocols , Osha , Sort , Court Ruling , Putting Out , Efforts , Government , Vaccine Requirement , Effectiveness , Being , Testing Option , Freeze , January 4th , 4 , Vaccine Requirements , Courts , State Requirements , Run , Effect , Example , January 3rd , Maine , 3 , Times , Court , Order , Validity , Supreme Court , Job , Hat , Workers , Requirement , Measures , Chemicals , Common Sense , Re Election , Win , Squeaker , Sir , Democratic , Hand , Lesson , Programs , Couple , Pre K , God , Record , Investing , Good , Levels , Minimum Wage , Reactions , Kitchen Tables , Loved One , Recovery , Small Business , Leroy Jones , Party Chair , State , Debate , Factors , Paralysis , The New York Times , Dysfunction , Pause , Finger , Extent , Game Changer , Feels , Densely Populated , Funding Public Education , Comment , Health Care , Stuff , Housing , College , 2019 , Family , Business , Basis , Voter , Tax Rate , Tv Ads , Victories , Tax , Led , 90 , Lead , Context , Didn T , Quality , Life , Respects , Health Systems , System , Data , Affordability , None , Number One , Fighting , Four , South Jersey , A , Party Switch , Folk Wes , Jeff Van Drew , Progressive Politics , Aisle , Delegation , Combination , Ability , Partner , Testament , Steve Sweeney , Conversation , College Health Care , Wage , Lives , Progressive Non Agenda , Mandate Fatigue , Everybody , Thinking , , Motivator , Relief , Rules , Sure , Mandates , Fatigue , Kids , Hope , Everywhere , Doubt , Age , Listen , Schools , Mask Mandate , Fervent Hope , Who Made History , Side , Boy , Stay , 2022 , 70 , Control , Position , Joe Biden , 22 , Stance , Jack Ciattarelli , Candidates , Formula , First , Battleground States , Wouldn T , Endorsement , Progress Issues , Ron Klein , Primaries , Police , Obsession , Same , Advice , 2010 , Opponent , Somebody , Incumbents , Communities , Form , Challenger , Lisa Murkowski , Kids Aren T Indoctrinated On Critical Race Theory , Committee , Bernie Sanders , Biden On , Gridlock , Military , Debt Ceiling , Fees , 100 , Transportation , State Debt , Third , Republicans Don T Go , Record Funding , Path , Mistake , Bridges , Airports , Seaports , Choice , Somebody Money , Roads , Wasting , It Wasn T , 85 Billion , 5 Billion , Debt , Deficits , 0 Trillion , 30 Trillion , Interest Rates , Social Security , Funding , Politics , 71 , Process , Independents , 93 , 71 , Housing Prices , Food Prices , Gas Prices , Remorse , Buyer , Withdrawal , Death , Afghan Starngs , Five , Reason , Figure , Insurrection , October 21st , 21 , Statement , Questions , Protest , Ask , November 3rd , January 6th , 6 , Lie , 1 , Perspective , Opponents , Hasn T Former , Let , First Off , 18 , Recounts , Ballots , Gosh , Second , Constitution , Big , Narrative , Doing , Races , Anybody , Focus On Issues , Website , Majority Leader , Mitch Mcconnell , Socialist Path , Oman , Kentucky , Working Relationship , Bad , Landscape , Panel , Next , Brand , Skincare Ingredients , Olay Skincare , Lines , Collagen Peptide , Prestige Cream , Hydrating Power , Niacinamide , Wrinkles , Appearance , Olay Regenerist , 99 , Skin , Ingredients , Brightens , Olay Retinol , 24 , Congresswoman , Electorate , Increase , Percentage , 52 , 20 , 27 , Matter , Maryland , Mcauliffe , Areas , Challenges , Strongholds , Chip , Corner , 2 , Difference , Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger , Area , We Didn T , Joe Biden Is Governing , Chaos , Fdr , Table , Progressive Movement , Lots , Math , School Board , 36 , Someone , Margin , Weren T Being Facetious , 76 , Zero , 65 , Democrats Isn T , Concern , Joe Donnelly , Heidi Heitkamp , 2018 , Margins , Yes , Pact , Democrats Weren T , Turnout , Stafford County , Suburbs , Triple Whammy , Trifecta , Addition , Outside D C , Chester County Outside Of Richmond , Issues , Parents , Education Issue , Chemistry , States , Cities , Terms , Dark Blue , Progressive , Non Progressive , Seattle , Buffalo , Fact , Places , Lost Doesn T , Traction , Long Island , Republicans , County , Board , City , Self Examination , Candidate , Grocery Taxes , Kitchen Table , Abortion , Crime , Midterms , Memo , Nancy Pelosi , Trooper Stuff , Quickly , Idea , Eight , Paper , Commitment , Congresswoman Jayapal , Messaging , Each Other , Trust Deficit , Americans Don T , Cabinet Members , Selling , Interior , Credit , Victory Lap , Kindergarten , Tax Credit , Challenge , Bank Account , Nobody , 500 , 00 , Tax Increase , News , Child Tax Credit , Front , 600 , Episode , Thoughts , Binge , Peacock , Ll Tt Climate Change , Grammarly Business , Marketing Team , Maya , More , Rock Stars , Error , Grammarly , Grammarly Com Business , Diana Strums Guitar , Accord , Use , Coal Users , Glasgow Climate Summit , 40 , Climate Change Efforts , Leadership , Game , Ourself , Situation , The World Stage , Commitments , Livelihood , Neighborhoods , Rise , Laws , 1 5 , Climate , Mandate Fatigue Play , Conjunction , Group , Role , East , Big A , Sleep Number , Sale , It S Time , Bed , Break , Veteran , T , Strength , Cold , No Sweat , Secret , 360 , Sleep , Smart Bed , Temperature Balancing , Movements , Night After , Science , Care , Interest , Miss , Weekend Special , Ends Monday , 999 , 1999 , 1000 , 000 , 0 , Cooks , Friends , Neighbors , Clock , End , Broadband Network , Network , Capacity , Fine Line , Ba , Donald Who , Elephant In The Room , Ideas , Degree , Dispositions , American Politics , Trumpkin , Matters , Moderate , Paint , Language , Connie Mack , Northern Virginia , Statement Conservative , Smile , Weapon , Spot , Base , Player , Incumbent , Bush , Retirement , Mirror Image , Hasn T Given Up , Obama , 2017 , He Couldn T Win , Antipathy , Dishonesty , Candidacy , Centrist , Individuals , Rate , Program , Messages , Progressive Issues , Governing On , Labor , Virginia Voters , Link , Administration , Secretary , People Whou Don T , Shots , Arms , Closeness , Saying , House Up For Grabs , Larry Hogan , Governorships , Grabs , Doug Ducey , Pay , Governors , At Afi Fest , Reminder , Film Festival , 2024 , Tickets , Fest Afi Com , Signature Spending Plan , Bfd , Human Infrastructure , Forward , District Attorney , Allies , Fight , Pick , Penalties , Ted Cruz , Big Bird ,