>> i'll ask new hampshire republican governor chris sununu if washington's dysfunction is one reason he decided not to run for the senate. >> also, trump adviser steve bannon indicted for refusing to comply with the january 6th congressional subpoena. could former chief of staff mark meadows be next? >> i'll talk to democratic adam schiff, member of the house committee investigating january 6th. and the kyle rittenhouse trial -- >> there were people right there -- >> could the teen who shot three men, two fatally during a protest in kenosha, wisconsin -- >> i didn't do anything wrong. i defended myself. >> -- be acquitted in part because of a flawed prosecution? >> don't get brazen with me. joining me for insight and analysis are former democratic senator claire mccaskill, matthew continetti of the american enterprise institute, nbc news capitol hill correspondent leigh ann caldwell and eugene scott of "the washington post." 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. and a good sunday morning. so just when democrats thought it was safe to brag about the economy after that healthy jobs report in october, the passage finally of the popular bipartisan infrastructure bill, along came word that inflation surged 6.2% in october, the largest increase in 31 years. not only could the inflation spike make it harder for democrats to pass their $1.75 trillion social spending bill, as joe manchin has been hinting at, but it also calls into question whether the biden administration has a handle on this problem after insisting, frankly, for months that inflation would likely be moderating by now. it obviously is not. just when republicans, by the way, thought it was going to be safe to look forward to a united party heading into the 2022 midterms after their successes in 2021 last week, a nasty skirmish broke out. the 13 republican house members whose votes did help pass the trillion dollar bipartisan infrastructure bill have received profanity laced messages and death threats from some conservative voters. so why the anger over the kind of bill, infrastructure, roads and bridges, that normally produces bipartisan support? because president biden who will sign the bill tomorrow might benefit politically. that's why. at least that's what our former president fears. that's where we're going to start this morning. with our increasingly dysfunctional congress, dysfunctional politics which is driving people to want to leave washington or simply not run at all. >> ugly time, a toxic time and really unfortunate because it's not what we we stand for as a democracy. >> this week's gop-led backlash over the vote to fund roads, bridges and broadband is the latest as a portion of the republican party seeing threats of political violence as a a legitimate part of their partisan struggle. >> we always have a difference of ideas, but these ideas should not be leading to violence. >> house republicans who voted for the bill have been flooded with angry messages, called traitors, told to rot in hell, and delivered death threats like this one to michigan congressman fred upton. >> [ bleep ] traitor. that's what you are. a [ bleep ] traitor. i hope you die. i hope everybody in your family dies. >> it's a bill some republican members voted for, including lindsey graham and mitch mcconnell. >> i was delighted that the house finally found a way to pass the infrastructure bill last week. >> on monday night at an official dinner raising money for house republicans, former president trump went on an angry tirade. >> no thank you goes to the house and senate that voted for the democrats' non-infrastructure bill, also known as the democrat presidential re-election bill. >> georgia congresswoman marjorie taylor greene posted the office phone numbers of the 13 house republicans online. >> to say a bill is right for your district and right for your state and something you helped write but you want to vote against it because you don't want to give the other side a victory, that's a sign of what's broken. >> threats against members of congress have doubled since may, some of the threats coming from inside the house. this week, arizona congressman paul gosar shared an animated video showing him killing new york congresswoman alexandria ocasio-cortez and swinging swords at president biden, and republican leaders have been slow to condemn the attack on the capitol, taking their cues from the former president. >> they were saying hang mike pence. >> because it's common sense. it's common sense that you're supposed to protect -- how can you -- if you know a vote is fraus lent, right, how can you pass on a fraudulent vote to congress? >> we're also confronting a domestic threat aided by political leaders that made themselves willing hostages to this dangerous and irrational man. >> now many in the party are adopted former president trump's violent language. from republican leaders -- >> i want you to watch pelosi hand me that gavel. it will be hard not to hit her with it. >> to the conservative grassroots. a reuters investigation documented nearly 800 intimidating messages to election officials in 12 states. >> tell the truth or your three kids will be fatally shot. let's be clear. this is domestic terrorism. >> the bitterness in washington is just one reason new hampshire governor chris sununu, a top senate recruit, took a pass. >> i have been criticizing washington for a long time, and i guess i was right. >> joining me now is governor chris sununu of new hampshire. governor sununu, welcome to "meet the press," sir. >> thank you very much. >> so, i was going to say -- ask, geez, is this washington environment the reason why you chose not to run. to me that's actually kind of obvious. it would be weird if you chose to want to be -- if you actively said yes, i want to be there. but let me ask it this way. if people like you don't come down here to break this dysfunction, how do we ever break the dysfunction? >> look, it's a great question. that's one of the reasons why i pushed and entertained the idea so much because i do believe there's a responsibility to bring management decisions, bring leadership where i think there's a bit of a gap in the system f you will. but also, you've got to remember, i'm an active governor, every single day we're working on making a dozen different decisions, balancing budgets, all these things that the congress and senate just don't do. as i said earlier, unfortunately too often on both sides of the aisle, doing nothing is a win. i don't live in that world. i can't live like that. i'm more of an executive and a manager. again, we're still in the middle of the covid crisis, right? we've done a great job of making sure our economy is open and flexible and we still have the boosters and vaccines coming out. there's still a lot of work to do as governor. at some point there's an opportunity to go down. you're absolutely right. there needs to be a fundamental change in philosophy on both p sides of the aisle to start getting stuff done. >> i know you didn't give a heads-up to mitch mcconnell or rick scott to your decision beforehand. have you had any discussions with them since, and have you expressed your direct concerns about how the senate is run as to the reason why you didn't go? >> yeah. well, after i made the decision -- again, i represent the people and state. they've hired me to do a job here. so obviously i'm going to talk to my constituents first. i left messages for a variety of folks in washington after i made the announcement public to my own constituents. all the issues i've been bringing up are conversations we've had since day one. it was never about could you win or could you get money, and all the election stuff. we were going to win. that's not really the issue and what is going to be best for my constituents. as a public servant, it's an amazing job, our responsibility is to be really selfish for our constituents, put them first every time. i think if more folks had that philosophy in washington, frankly, more stuff would get done. they'd be less worried about how they'd get re-elected or raising money and all of that. with all things done, you could get re-elected on those results. that's what we do here in new hampshire. they need to take a page from our playbook. >> you have the former president declaring -- he put out a statement last night he wants to put out primary challengers to the 13 republicans in the house and the 19 republicans in the senate that in his mind defied the party by -- you heard in the words of don bacon, a republican from omaha, nebraska, said, this bill is what my constituents wanted me to support, so i supported it. going down this road of making everything a party line test, where does that leave us? >> we're not going down that road. washington has been on that road for a good ten years now. and that's the fundamental problem. if everything is a party line test, nothing is going to get done. i have had senators tell me, well, when we get 60 votes, we'll work on balancing the budget. that may never happen. start crossing the aisle now. figure out how you're going to do it. make sure to manage other people's money responsibly. when you get the financial right, all the other opportunity flows from that. you bring folks together on common ground. you've got social security going to go bankrupt in the next ten years, and no one in washington is talking about it. medicare, i seniors here, their medicare system is going to bankrupt this country. no one in washington wants to talk about how to make it sustainable. that was my fundamental issue. again, i think it's a matter of governors getting something done. we actually have the best ability to fend off the inaction of washington. covid was a great example. governors took the lead and found the solution. that's what i'm going to continue to do here. >> the fact that there was another candidate in the race, he has claimed that because he was more pro-trump, more pro- this populist conservative movement that you were scared of the primary. the fact is, these primaries are more toxic than ever on the republican side of the aisle, are they not? >> look, i think primaries are good things. there's no doubt about that. but, believe me, i was not scared of a primary. i got 65% of the vote about a year ago. that was not the issue at all. in fact, if anything, there was a lot of talk that chris sununu has to be the 51st vote to stop the chuck schumer agenda. i think maybe six months ago there was a discussion for that. after last tuesday, republicans are looking at 53 or 54 votes in the senate, one of them being right here in new hampshire. we have a lot of good candidates that i think will step up and run for that seat. it's not about just stopping an agenda anymore. it's about making sure my skill set as an executive and a manager is best suited for the constituents i represent here. >> so, governor, you have trashed the job of senate, you've trashed the u.s. senate, and now you're going to try to recruit somebody to run for it? you know, you've made a case for why you can't get anything done. how do you with a straight face recruit somebody to say, well, i think it's a total waste of time for the next near term, but, hey, you go for it? >> you've got to remember, i'm not trashing the senate. i'm showing the differences. i'm not term-limited out. i'm going to run for governor in 2022. there's a responsibility for my constituents to do that. they weren't just asking me to run for the senate, buts asking me to give up something that's incredibly challenging but incredibly fulfilling where i get something done every single day. they were asking me to quit something that i think the state has been able to really rally around. there are other folks that have more legislative thought processes. they understand policy and funding and all of that sort of thing. that's what the senate does. sometimes it's not about who can win. it's about who's really fit for the jobs and who has the skill sets. we have a lot of folks in new hampshire that can bring that to the table for washington. >> does former president trump's presence in the par -- all of you in the republican party that are not close to trump want to say, hey, let's look towards the future. it's code for i don't want to talk about trump. but how much does the former president's presence make it harder to want to go to washington, harder to want to compete in a primary, harder to want to run for office? >> in new hampshire, none at all. no. look. i maintain a decent relationship with the former president. he doesn't factor into what happens. people talk about what's going to happen in '24. stop it. all that matters is 2022 and getting stuff done and handling inflation and workforce issues, supply chain issues. these are real. this is where washington has completely left their constituents behind, right? governors are on the ground every day talking about this stuff, trying to redesign systems. if you're not connected with your constituents, you're doing some of the dumb economic things this president has been doing, ignoring the realities on the ground, pretending that if we just talk about inflation going away, it might happen. it won't. you need good solutions and folks who understand this stuff at a grassroots issue. >> do you accept that the former president is the current leader of the republican party? >> i've never said anyone's a lead of a republican party. is aoc and chuck schumer the leader of the democratic party? no. am i the representative, the only head of the part of the republicans in new hampshire? no, i don't believe that at all. we have a good infrastructure. it's about the ideals we bring to the party. that's what defines a party. i think the media likes to talk about individuals because that gets more attention in social media and more traditional media. at the end of the day it's about what you're bringing to the table. >> you're still comfortable with donald trump's presence in the party? >> well, he's a republican that lives in florida. i mean that's it. i mean as far as new hampshire is concerned, the only thing that matters for the party, what are the republicans doing for new hampshire? what's our senate and house doing for new hampshire? for our citizens, that's what defines the party. that's the example and accountability i try to live up to. it's not about party politics and platform and what's being said in the national media. it's what we're delivering. if we can do that every single day, we'll be successful. >> are we supposed to consider you a president candidate in 2024? >> people have asked me about that. look, i suppose that would be on the table, but nothing i'm thinking about right now. if i went to washington, it would be more of a management aspect because that's just what i do. we'll cross that bridge or jump off it, you know, down the road. >> well, maybe that's a cabinet secretary, or maybe that's one of the two elected jobs. governor sununu, thank you for coming on and sharing your perspective with us. >> you bet. thank you. joining me is the director of president biden's national economic council, brian deese. mr. deese, welcome back to "meet the press." >> thanks for having me, chuck. >> look, i want to start -- it was literally six months ago on the show that the treasury secretary and former fed chair janet yellen said, look, inflation, it's just not an issue. two weeks later when some numbers came out, that was the first time the administration started using the word transitory to say temporary. this is six months ago. is it fair to say this is no longer transitory? >> there's no doubt inflation is high right now. it's affecting americans' pocketbooks, it's affecting their outlook. that's a problem we have to deal with. it's important we put this in context. when the president took office, we were facing an all-out economic crisis. 18 million people were collected unemployment benefits. 3,000 people a day were dying of covid. because of the actions this president has taken, we're now sighing an economic recovery that most people didn't think was possible then. economic growth in america is outstripping any other developing country. and ton employment rate has come down to 4.6%. that's about two years faster than experts projected. the challenge we have now is how to build on the strength of that recovery while also addressing the price issues. for us that means three things. one, we have to finish the job on covid. we have to return to a sense of economic normalcy by getting more workplaces covid-free, more kids vaccinated so parents feel comfortable going to work. number two, we've got to address the supply chain issue, and the bipartisan infrastructure bill that the president will sign on monday is going to do more to help get goods moving more cheaply and freely through the american economy than anything in half a century. 6 third, we have to address those costs that are the biggest pain points for american families, things like housing and health care and child care. that's exactly what the build back better bill that the house is going to consider this week will do. we're looking forward to working on that and getting that done as soon as we can. >> look, covid makes a lot of sense, but the other two points are a big longer term, and i understand this, that your job in some ways is to protect the long term, but there are some short-term challenges. i want to put up here, yes, we have an economic recovery but inflation is now outstripping the wage gains. as you can see here, year over year, wages are up nearly 5%, but tin flags basically eats ought of it and then some. we're starting to see some eating into savings. so you talk about the supply chain issue. let's start with the labor market. we have a massive problem in the labor market. some of it is covid related. some of it, we need more workers. is it time to open the immigration door? >> i'm glad you made the point about wages. there's more to that statistic than meets the eye. if you look at the strong wage gains that have happened plus the direct support that we've provided to families, checks in pockets and more, the disposable income is up about 2%, even after you take into account inflation, which is why we've seen checking account balances go up and credit card balances come down over the course of the year. that doesn't reduce the frustration any more when somebody is going to the gas station and they see prices go up, but it does mean we are well positioned to try to address these challenges going forward. with respect to the labor market, 500,000 jobs a month created. that's historic job growth. we want to get all americans back to work, but it means focusing on things that are practically keeping people from going to work right now. covid is a big element of this. last month, 4 million people reported that they weren't able to fully work because either they themselves or they were dealing with a family member. the more we can get back to a sense of normalcy, get workplaces covid-free, get more people vaccinated, the more we'll solve the issue. i want to focus on child care, too. >> i understand that, but this doesn't solve the labor -- i mean we have a truck driver problem. this isn't going to suddenly magically fix itself because you've got a better pre-k situation in this country. the truck driver issue, this appears to be -- there's not a lot of people who want to be truck drivers. that's what i'm asking. you've got to open the immigration door. you seem to duck that question. >> well, i'm glad you raised the question of trucking and truck drivers. the situation we have in the economy right now, we're moving more goods through the economy than we ever have before. the supply chain challenges are a function of actually us being more successful at moving goods through the economy, but the demand is really high, up 17% from before the pandemic. so we're looking at doing everything we practically can. for example, the speed of the issuances of a commercial driver's license. to drive a long haul truck, you need training to do so. we're opening on nights and weekends to let more people get commercial driver's licenses. we need to pay good wages and benefits to truck drivers. a lot of the reason people don't want to be a truck driver, it's hard work, you have to be away from your family and it's physically exhausting. if you look over the last two decades, the wages paid to truck drivers have just come down and down and down. the good news is truck companies are recognizing that now, they're starting to offer bonuses and wage increases, and as they do, this will become a more attractive profession for people. we have to work on the training but also paying people and making it an attractive job for them to take. >> sounds like you -- you don't think we need more labor in this country, particularly in the service sector? >> we have one of the strongest labor market recoveries that we've seen in modern history, and we need to do more to get people to work, but we're focused on those drivers that will actually help americans get into the workforce. those are things like getting covid under control and also providing child care. that is a here-and-now issue. that's not a tomorrow issue for a lot of families, a lot of women -- more than 2 million women who have left the labor force precisely because they have to manage these family issues. if we can get quality child care, quality preschool in place, that's going to free them up to get them into the labor market. >> are we at the point where the fed needs to step in here and start raising rates to tap the brakes here on inflation? >> well, the fed's going to operate independently, and the president has underscored the importance of the fed operating independently. i'll leave those determinations to them. what we can do from our side is to focus on passing the build back better agenda. if you think about costs right now, 60% of a typical family's budget goes to four things, housing, health care, child care, and transportation. >> yeah. >> this build back better bill will build more affordable houses around the country, make it cheaper and easier for people to live near jobs that they want to take. it will reduce the cost of health care, reduce prescription prices -- >> i understand that. none of that is going to impact inflation right now. so i guess the question is, is there much -- do you believe just at the end of the day everything you've done is everything that can be done with inflation, or are there more tools in the toolbox that you might use if you think it's getting worse? >> we can address this issue in the short term and the median term. in the shorted term we're focused on executing a strategy to finish the task on covid. those are immediate steps that we know actually will help return our economy to a sense of normalcy. affecting supply chains, working with ports, you know, the president stepped in with the port of l.a. and long beach a couple weeks ago to get them to go to 24/7. in just the last couple weeks, the share of containers sitting on docks idly has come down by 20%. those are steps we can take in the short term. i don't think we shoulddown play the median term here. if we can cut the cost of child care in half for the typical family, that's going to be a game-changer for familiar lease and help get more people into the workplace as well. we've got to work in the short term and the medium term. >> brian deese, the chair of the president's economic council, mr. deese, appreciate you coming on and sharing the administration' perspective here. >> thanks. when we come back, trump adviser steve bannon has been indicted for defying a subpoena from congress. there may be more indictments coming. congressman adam schiff joins me next. me next. dicted for my hygienist cleans with a round head. so does my oral-b my hygienist personalizes my cleaning. so does my oral-b oral-b delivers the wow of a professional clean feel every day. welcome back. friday saw two major developments in the investigation of the january 6th capitol insurrection. former trump adviser steve bannon was indicted on two counts of contempt of congress for refusing to comply with the congressional subpoena. earlier on friday, former white house chief of staff mark meadows also defied a subpoena. and the january 6th committee says it's considering holding him in contempt as well. joining me is democratic congressman adam schiff. welcome back to "meet the press." >> thank you. great to be with you. >> let's start with the bannon indictment. do you believe that this will shake loose others who are not cooperate, knowing that the justice department isn't afraid to indict these folks for contempt of congress? >> without a doubt. and, indeed, even before the justice department acted, it influenced other witnesses who were not going to be steve bannon, and now that witnesses see that, if they don't cooperate, if they don't fulfill their lawful duty when subpoenaed, that they, too, may be prosecuted, it will have a very strong focusing effect on their decision making. so it's very positive. i view this as an early test of whether our democracy is recovering. if our law is to mean anything, it has to be applied equally. i'm very glad the justice department has moved forward in this fashion. >> are you at all concerned that mr. bannon appears to enjoy being looked at as a martyr in maga world? he could get convicted, serve time, and still never be forced to testify. >> no, that is true. i'm concerned, frankly, what that represents, basically that the republican party at the top levels, that is donald trump and those around him, seem to feel that they're above the law and free to thwart it, and there's something admirable about thumbing your nose at the institutions of our government. and look. bannon did what he did because for four years that's what worked. they could hold republican party conventions on the white house grounds, they could fire inspectors general, retaliate against whistle-blowers. it was essentially a lawless presidency, and they were proud of it. that ought to concern every american. we need a reestablishment of the rule of law in this country. i'm glad to see that's -- i'm glad to see that happening. >> in the statement from thompson and cheney, they note mr. meadows' actions today, choosing to defy the law will force the select committee to consider -- why is it only under consideration? he defied the subpoena. how is it not automatic? >> we've been moving quickly to make these decisions. i i'm confident we'll move quickly with respect to mr. meadows also. we want to make sure we have the strongest case to present to the justice department and for the justice department to present to the grand jury. that means making sure we bend over backwards to reach any agreement we can with witnesses that are showing any willingness to engage. but when ultimately witnesses decide, as meadows has, that they're not even going to bother showing up, that they have that much contempt for the law, it pretty much forces our hand and we'll move quickly. >> jamie raskin, also a member of your committee, has said he's open to the idea of limited immunity in exchange for this testimony, even for mr. bannon. are you there? >> you know, it will have to be made -- that decision on a case-by-case basis. i certainly wouldn't want to prevent the justice department from prosecuting people who committed criminal conduct, for examples, on january 6th by giving them immunity to testify before our committee. so we have to weigh whatever equities the justice department and the justice system may have. i think with certain specific witnesses, we ought to consider it, but as that kind of immunity makes it very difficult to prosecute, not just them but sometimes others, we need to think about it very carefully. >> it's pretty clear what the strategy is here. delay, delay, delay, in order to try to run out the clock on the investigation. how are you going to combat this? >> well, first of all, the fact that the justice department has moved as quickly as it did is really helpful because as i mentioned, that's already having an effect on other witnesses who are coming forward and not choosing to go to jail as steve bannon may. but also in the civil litigation over our effort to get documents from the archives, the courts themselves have recognized that donald trump essentially played our institutions for four years and played rope-a-dope in the courts and moved with such expedition to reject trump's claims in the district court a week or so ago. now the court of appeals is saying they're going to have a hearing by the end of the month. courts don't generally move that fast. i think it's a recognition that donald trump has relied on justice delayed, meaning justice denied, so the courts are moving quickly. >> i want to ask you about the steele dossier because it's been in the news for a lot of reasons, including questions about its validity. it want to play around that you had on the steele dossier over the years. take a listen. >> according to christopher steele, a former british intelligence officer reportedly held in high regard by u.s. intelligence -- >> when you look at what has become public, some of the public information is very much in line with what's reported in that dossier. >> the most significant thing to me is that christopher steele may have found out even before the intelligence agencies that the russians were aiming to help donald trump in the election. >> as chair of the house intelligence committee, do you regret giving credibility to the steele dossier before anybody had been able to verify anything in that? a lot of those clips were done before there was any good verification. look, there's some news organizations that made the mistake of publishing the dosy without verifying it, but you helped give it credibility. do you regret it? >> i don't regret saying we should investigate claims of someone who was a well-respected british intelligence officer, and we couldn't have known years ago we'd learn years later that someone who is a primary source lied to him, but what i just said, the clip you just played ends up being exactly right, which is steele did reveal that the russians were trying to help elect donald trump. that turned out to be all too true. in fact, the trump campaign chairman was giving internal campaign polling date to russian intelligence while russian intelligence was trying to help elect donald trump. so the top line there of russian help and trump willingness to accept it, make use of it, proved all too accurate. >> okay. the summary was accurate, but the details were incorrect. that does undermine the credibility, does it not? >> well, certainly. you know, this danchenko lied to christopher steele and then lied to the fbi. he should be prosecuted. i'll tell you this, if he's convicted he should not be pardoned the way donald trump pardoned people who lied to fbi agents like roger stone and mike flynn. so there ought to be the same standard in terms of prosecuting the liars, but i don't think there ought to be any pardon no matter which way the lies cut. >> congressman adam schiff, democrat from california, member of the january 6th committee, appreciate you coming on and sharing your perspective with us, sir. >> thank you. >> when we come back, how big a political threat is to democrats prospects and next year's midterms? right now it's pretty big. the panel is next. welcome back. g. the panel is next. welcome back ♪ look good feel good play good. gillette proglide, five blades and a pivoting flexball to get virtually every hair on the first stroke. look good, game good. gillette. welcome back. it is panel time. nbc news capitol hill correspondent leigh ann caldwell eugene scott of "the washington post," matthew continetti of the american enterprise institute and former democratic senator claire mccaskill. gas is up nearly 50%. we heard a lot over the last six months over the used car issue. that's up over 25%. here are the things like grocery, meat, poultry, fish and eggs up nearly 12% and rent up over 11%. but let me also show you this map here because it may explain why there's a feeling that some are more in touch with this issue than others. the red here is where inflation is the highest. if you look at that red, that looks like a lot of red political states as well. look at the two coasts. it's certainly there, but where it's bluer, the impact is a bit less. leigh ann, when you hear the discordant messages, you hear pramila jayapal, oh, people aren't experiencing it. well, it's sort of baked in. in the red areas they're feeling it hard. >> that's right. every single time i spoke with rick scott, the head of the republican senatorial campaign committee, he's been talking about inflation for months. that's what republicans are focusing on. democrats are focusing on passing the biden agenda. there's some concerns it could increase inflation. democrats say it won't. they say the build back better plan will actually help inflation. they're hoping there's more money in people's pockets, that inflation is transitory and it will go away. but there's months to see until these elections. >> you jean, we're all transitory. >> a very deep point. >> you've got to be careful there. what feels temporary on a stat sheet is somebody's reality. >> yeah. it's a reminder that this is a big america. you have to have messaging that targets where people are in different places. it's not a surprise that democrats want to lean heavily on the build back better plan because so many of its programs are popular. they feel like if they can move forward with that, the concerns that many americans have with inflation, they're hoping will seem smaller compared to the victory democrats are hoping to get. >> claire, is this a political problem for the white house or a policy problem? >> it's both. probably a big political problem. if we're talking about gas prices this time next year, next summer, it's going tore harder in the midterms and it's already going to be hard. job numbers are great. biden created more jobs in the first ten months of his administration than trump did in the first two years of his administration. by the way, he didn't have covid then. the job creation is great. but if you've got a job but paying $5.00 a gallon for gas, that's all you think about. so i think it is a big political problem. i'll tell you, eugene, the problem with the build back better and the infrastructure is how quickly can they execute, how quickly can those things feel real, as real as the price of butter in the grocery store? i don't know if they can execute quickly enough to make it matter next november. >> matthew, if we want to deal with this issue, we can raise taxes, raise interest rates, flood the labor market. those are things that could deal with inflation. republicans in '22 don't have to come up with a solution, do they? they can just talk about it? >> joe biden arrived in this town, washington, d.c., in 1973 just as the great inflation was picking up speed, sank three presidents, nicks son, ford and carter. the only way we know how to cure it, chuck, is the deep and long recession. >> that's really optimistic. >> i'm the bearer of bad news today. >> it gets at the issue. there is not a policy answer, right? this is one of those -- they've got to hope they're right about the supply chain. they've got to hope they're right about the labor market. maybe they are. but we don't know. >> they have to hope that covid goes away because they are blaming covid in part on inflation and all the problems. that's why democrats continue to be focused on the agenda. they are singularly focused on this, and they're pointing to the fact that inflation won't be an impact. larry summers, their favorite economist, saying it is a problem, is now saying their agenda, the build back better plan, will not lead to inflation. they're pointing to that and trying to get things passed. >> so if inflation is the wet blanket of the economic story for the white house, this issue of party unity is turning into a problem on the republican side, the bipartisan infrastructure bill turned into this litmus test among the maga world. i want to put up republicans who have been threatened over their roads and bridges vote, fred upton and the polarized toxic environment, worse than i've ever seen before, don bacon, intentionally deceived by folks in the party in washington. it's amazing people want to kill me over paving roads and clean water, said andrew garbarino. this feels like we've gone over the cliff. >> a complete misreading of the situation. one, this bill is popular. two, the bill basically collapsed whatever leverage progressives had over the build back better. >> if you actually care about the politics -- >> they were holing the infrastructure bill hostage in order to get manchin to go over to the progressive side. that's gone. progressives folded. moreover, how many infrastructure weeks did we have during the trump administration? finally we got it. what does trump do? he turns against it. why? i think it's important to realize. he's trying to mold a republican party that is going to guarantee him coronation in 2024. more important, he wants an easy path to the nomination. >> this response is surprising. this is the logical conclusion where we've been in the last four years. i spent friday calling multiple offices who voted for the bill to see if they'd show up for the signing on monday. most did not even return our calls. you don't want that photo op to go against you when running in a primary that trump is backing. >> ironically susan collins and lisa murkowski are the only two republicans who are going to be there. susan collins, that was part of her campaign pledge, working with democrats. lisa murkowski might need democrats to win re-election. >> i would hope the retiring members, the rob portmans, richard burrs, those who voted for this bill, that they would show up. frankly, it's probably better for democrats that trump captures the republican party in the long run. but for our country, this is really sad. i didn't come to washington in 1973 like joe biden, but i can assure you when i got here in 2007, it wasn't like this. there were democrats and republicans that worked together and passed bills all the time. this is weird. >> i also remember though, back then, we used to say it used to be so much better. every ten years -- >> this is really bad. >> these republicans think somehow the republicans who voted for infrastructure are helping biden. they're wrong. they hurt build back better. >> banned logic during the trump era because i think a lot of trump supporters banned logic. anyway, coming up, the issue that divides americans more than any other, we'll see it in a minute. we'll be right back. we'll be right back. that's been saving people money for nearly 60 years. for a great low rate, and nearly 60 years of quality coverage, go with the general. welcome back. it's "data download" time. a deeper, more detailed look at our political breakdown beyond just red and blue. this week the pew research center divided groups into groups that showed more refined shades of red and blue as well as purple in the current political environment. they have four liberal groups and four conservative groups. let me walk you through them. the progressive left, this is your elizabeth warren/bernie sanders wing. establishment liberals. this is where nancy pelosi and chuck schumer fall. they're perhaps pro-defense, pro-business, socially liberal. then your democratic mainstays, a bit more moderate than this group of establishment liberals, a lot of african-americans and latino democrats fall into this category. this is perhaps the most religious of the four categories on the left. a bit of an outlier among the other groups. then there's the outsider left, the youngest cohort of those on the left, the least connected to formal politics, as you will. and also the least likely to probably show up and vote. now the four conservative groups, faith and flag conservatives, these are the most pro trump, most pro maga. they believe donald trump won the election. committed conservatives, this is your more traditional republican, the mitt romney/paul ryan wing of the party. as you notice, now the smallest part of the conservative move: the former blue collar voters, these have become republican voters, particularly in the trump era. the ambivalent right, younger, less connected to the party as a whole. by the way, the populist right, the most anti-business of this bunch here. what was interesting here, the biggest dividing line was on the issue of race. if you believe a lot needs to be done to get equality done in this country, you're in one of the four democratic groups. if you believe there isn't much that needs to be done, you're in one of those four republican groups. this data does remind us, some divisions we already knew. but some of these divisions are a bit more refined. it's worth looking at this. by the way, if you're curious where you fall, our friends at pew have a test for you to take. go to pewresearch.org and have a ball. when we come back, the trial of kyle rittenhouse who fatally shot two men at a kenosha protest last year, can he be acquitted? and if so, how will the country react? will the country react? vicks sinex. instantly clear everyday congestion. and try vicks sinex children's saline. safe and gentle relief for children's noses. i've been telling everyone... the secret to great teeth is having healthy gums. crest advanced gum restore. detoxifies below the gumline... and restores by helping heal gums in as little as 7 days. crest. the #1 toothpaste brand in america. small businesses like yours make gift-giving possible. now, comcast business has an exclusive gift for you. introducing the gift of savings sale. for a limited time, ask how to get a great deal for your business. and get up to a $500 prepaid card with select bundles when you switch to the network that can deliver gig speeds to the most businesses. or get started with internet and voice for $64.99 per month with a 2-year price guarantee. give your business the gift of savings today. comcast business. powering possibilities. welcome back. the kyle rittenhouse trial, it is inevitable this has been politicized from the moment itself happened. this might be the simplest way to show the divide on this issue. josh mandel, republican senate candidate from ohio, kyle rittenhouse is the victim. hakeem jeffries, number four in the house of representatives on the democratic side, lock up kyle rittenhouse and throw away the key. >> my sense is that neither side will be happy with how this turns out. and you don't know -- summations will be important in this case because the jury will be reminded that this young man went hunting for this. i mean, he came to do this, and they'll be reminded that there was some back and forth. so who is the initial aggressor? i think there will be a compromised verdict and no one will be happy. >> i do think it's possible to believe two things at once which is that rittenhouse had no business being there in kenosha that night, doing what he was doing, but also that the prosecution rushed to indict and may have overcharged him, and so may have set themselves up for a hung jury or potential acquittal on any of these six counts -- many counts he may be acquitted and then misdemeanor charge, no one will be happy with. >> this really has exposed our information bubbles, because if you see it only in one place, you think one thing. if you get a more balanced take, you're more likely to think, what the heck is he doing -- >> that's where we are when it comes to culture wars, where you're getting your information, which lawmakers you're following, which activists you believe and trust is shaping your view of what's right and what's wrong on an issue like policing and black lives matter and gun rights and all of these culture-like topics that this whole case is reminding us of that for the most part have been left last year and our media coverage, but we now know are something people will be considering when we move forward to the midterms. >> i was just going to say culture war completely, but i also think it's part of the larger picture of how our politics is treated and handled today. looking at the republican party, there's a lot of -- and on the left, too, there's a lot of violent rhetoric regarding republicans, regarding on what position you take. the far right is attacking those who voted for the bipartisan infrastructure bill. and i think it's all a destruction really of our political rhetoric and everyone in silos of where they stand on every culture issue that rises in the news. >> it does feel like we're making violence seem like an easier choice. >> i think so. and i think the thing we have to remember is that the laws have changed around guns dramatically in this country over the last decade. not only is our country awash in guns, but you now have things like stand your ground where defining the initial aggressor becomes everything the prosecutor has to do. you've got the same thing with the trial going on -- >> ahmaud arbery. >> this is one of those situations. who is a vigilante? are they doing the right thing? or who is out hunting to kill unarmed people? and the laws give them a lot more ability to evade punishment for killing unarmed people, and it started with the castle doctrine. now it's gone to stand your ground. in missouri, you get a gold star if you carry a gun in missouri. it's ridiculous. >> to pick up on this point, 20 years ago, people at the nra would have criticized rittenhouse and their parents for how they handle guns. you don't see that responsible gun owner rhetoric anymore. >> the broader picture, is what happened in kenosha. what happened is the collapse of the rule of law. when you have that situation, then you have vigilantes. when i look at these two trials, i see the restoration of the rule of law. it's going to be very important that that continues, especially going into the next presidential cycle. >> a nice way of putting it. i hope you're right. >> now i'm giving the good news. bad news last segment. >> exactly. thank you all for doing this today. thank you all for watching. we'll be back next week. because if it's sunday, it's "meet the press." we're heading into a busy day of news. former trump adviser steve bannon is expected to appear today after being indicted on two counts by congress. will we see him in court? plus, president biden will sign the bipartisan infrastructure bill into law. kyle rittenhouse, was he forced to act in a defensive way? what will the jury decide? it's "way too early" for this. ♪♪

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