kicking off our 2022 coverage of the calendar. why georgia? well, it is both a battleground and ground zero for all the important political stories this year. they sort of converge this year in atlanta. we have a democratic vote here that includes the two most important parts of the biden coalition, african-american voters and the growing american suburb. it also is home to the most closely watched governors race this year featuring stacey abrams and a republican primary that will test the power of the former president and his lies about the 2020 election. and georgia right now is at the center of the national political battle over voting rights. the republican legislature passed some new measures that alarmed some voting rights activists and brian kemp due to his lack of an embrace of trump's election conspiracy theories and not using his power to overturn georgia's election. as you know georgia's secretary of state brad raffensperger held a press conference. had a chance to speak with him on the side lines of that event on the current level of distrust from both parties on what's happening here in georgia. and i also spoke with a group of voters going to be key to democrats about election integrity, what matters most to them and what they want to see from elected leaders. senate democrats are voting a vote tonight to try to change the rules of the senate to try to pass the president's stalled voting rights agenda without republican support. earlier today one of the most notable hold oelts senator mark kelly of arizona said he will back the proposed changes on the filibuster, but the effort is still going to fail given that joe manchin and kyrsten sinema are both going to vote it down. and of course all of it is happening as president biden gears up for a major press conference this year on the eve of his one-year anniversary as president. so let's dive in. greg bluestein covers all things politics and joining us in washington is our senior political editor, mark murray. all right, blain, you were here covering georgia as a potential place where this could be a swing state, this could be of interest, and we weren't quite sure. here we are. it is now the epicenter of american politics right here. how quickly has this happened just in you being here, since you've gotten to atlanta? >> i'll actually say i've covered georgia in some form for the past decade or so, and you could see these changes occurring. i will say what's notable is the fact when you look back at 2020 the people who made this happen, democrats saw this coming for quite some time, right? so when i talked to stacey abrams soon after the 2020 election she said her strategy to go out and engage these voters is to talk to voters nobody ever talked to before. and not just during election time but to go and stay there. the issue i think democrats are running into among the organizers i've talked to when they look at biden's agenda stalled in washington, they don't have much to go back and tell the voters again, and say hey, listen, you came out and voted 2020 and here's the return on your investment. >> greg, one of the things we've not been able to do here in georgia and i'm guessing you've done this, which is we didn't have the after action report about what happened, right? everybody was so -- the former president did what he did, and it really -- we didn't unpack how did this happen? was this a decade in the making? was it an accelerant by donald trump? >> it's a mix of all that. there was an after action report but it didn't really delve into what happened. i think it was a mix. i think it was the fact tens of thousands of republican voters did stay home, were tempted by those election lies about election fraud so there was that. but there was also democratic energy that galvanized and energized supporters. jon ossoff and raphael warnock both focused on their base energizing voters. >> we talked about how georgia looks like a bunch of new battleground states, colorado, arizona, nevada, virginia, georgia, they all have the same thing in common. one big urban center that's become a powerful blue turnout machine in a state that's a lot more conservative around the edges here. does georgia look like a state headed more like colorado or more like arizona? >> yeah, chuck, i think we're going to find out the answer to that in 2022 and 2024. to me what is really indicative of a state like colorado and virginia is even in bad environments for democrats can they still win elections? and of course we end up seeing democrats lose a virginia governor's race just last november. but even in challenging mid-term environments, you talk about in 2014, democrats were able to hold onto to the governorship in colorado and be able to win in virginia up until last year. and so if democrats can actually pull off victories in the senate contest in georgia, you know, in 2022, to me i think that would be some evidence that you -- yes, that maybe you are on the way. chuck, also when i look back to the power of atlanta and its atlanta suburbs as you were mentioning, it's pure math, that if democrats have a super charged electorate in metro atlanta and the suburbs, it gets really hard for republicans to be able to win elsewhere. and our political unit crunched the numbers. the biggest change in georgia from 2008 to 2020 was in quinnette county. remember that was a really good year for democrats and barack obama, but then joe biden got nearly 60% of the vote in gwinette. one of the questions i have this year and going into 2024 whether the changes go back to the meme or whether this all continues. >> i want to zero in on the voting rights issue. i had a little voter round table. all three of these vokes are new biden voters. they all were biden voters. they all call themselves reluctant biden voters and i was talking to them about election controversies. take a listen to what they said. if in 2024 the georgia state officials announce who carried this state are you going to trust it? >> yeah. >> 80% confidence, 90%? >> i was going to go with 90%. >> okay, what kind of confidence with you? >> i would say as a younger adult i was very naive what a vote could be and my vote doesn't matter. but growing up i think i've got more confidence in it. >> what do you make of the former president's railing against -- do you think he was -- >> that turned me off big time. the ones that keep bringing it up just turns me off even more. >> by the way, when that voter said that, jason said that, the others said, yeah. those that are bringing it up, they don't assume good faith, and it just told me, blayne, this really is an issue on the partisan edges, isn't it? >> absolutely it is. on 2020 i've spent a lot of time talking to voters on both sides. both leading up to the primaries people who waited in a line a long time and then when it came to the runoff elections. and one thing i did hear from several republicans is what what president trump at the time, former president trump really was taking hold. they were saying i'm not going enthusiastically because who knows if i can trust this process. but that momentum and enthusiasm i think really kind of showed what we saw. >> to me it gets at the challenge that i think both parties have, which is these are voters that are kind of in the middle. they're thinking about the supply chain issues. they see it because of the way one works in the health care system, one works for an hvac company. they're like, hey, focus on these economic problems, the covid stuff. the activists want one thing but the voters you need to sort of win an election with want something else. >> right now the democrats in georgia have the advantage. they don't have to play to the activists as much. they can just focus on a broader based message, while senior republican candidates for higher office, they're focusing on 2020. you've heard it from republican leaders saying don't look in the rearview mirror, look in the windshield because you're going to see what's coming. they're echoing donald trump's lies about election fraud rather than focusing on what's coming up. >> you know, mark murray our pollsters have been telling us this. there's been lots of -- after what happened in virginia, hey, be careful here, talking about the process whether it's trump, the election, that there's a whole bunch of voters in the middle that are in the middle of dealing with what has been a rough two years. and yeah, they don't like the politics, but they're more worried about the economy, more worried about covid, more worried about some near-term things, and i do think this has really put the white house in a box. do you appeal to the base to get out the vote or appeal to the middle to persuade the vote? >> yeah, and right now when you end up looking at all the poll numbers at least when it comes to the white house, the democrats in the white house have taken their eye off the ball when it comes to what appeals to independent voters. and when we actually also look at georgia, chuck, you know, it is now a perfectly polarized state, and of course that means that the middle matters so much even if it's gotten smaller to be able to win elections. just as we often talk about wisconsin and just how polarized it's gotten since 2010 and the recall of scott walker and all the elections ever since, now in georgia after the 2020 presidential race, the twin senate runoffs we ended up seeing last january and now again more races, you're dealing with an electorate now that is highly informed, that is used to turning out to elections and as a consequence becomes really polarized and you end up having really close elections. >> blayne, do your concur with what david was implying there. they don't have to deal with primaries, don't have to deal with why aren't you focusing on this, or focusing on this? they're well-defined politicians already. >> i think so. i also think they have name recognition, wide name recognition which can be a good thing or bad thing. when we talk about enthusiasm or turn out, one organizer i talked to saying they're facing an uphill climb and it's going to be difficult to bring people out. but they say they've got stacey adams on the ballot. on the flip side they're saying we need to focus and make sure that's something they're speaking to. >> every organization if they don't an atlanta organization they now. have you seen the influence outside of money that's going to pour in? how's that change things here? >> i mean more ads, more messaging, more volunteers on the streets knocking on doors and canvassing voters. but last election cycle almost a billion dollars was spent on those senate runoffs, so it's hard to imagine talking at this cycle, but we know we're going to have a record setting gubernatorial contest, and we now have an epic spending in the senate race as well. one big thing that has changed democrats aren't afraid anymore to align themselves with national leaders like you've seen in not so distant past elections in georgia. >> it wasn't that long ago and it was sort of coded language. no, no, which really meant you needed a white democrat to win. not that way anymore. >> not at all. >> this is going to be the last election we've had in the state since georgia's voting law has been on the books. there's of course going to be so much focus on voting rights. however, there is is the concern, remember it was such a slim margin of victory when georgia went blue in 2020 so activists i troched to said it could mean any small factor would mean it would go away. >> i'm trying to figure out what is your second day of your campaign if you're david purdue? what's the second day of your campaign if your jodi hiess? what would that do? >> it would be devastating, chuck. and of course when donald trump backed candidates have actually lost one thing donald trump has done is pretended the loss never existed just like he ended up doing in his presidential loss in 2020. what is true trump definitely wanted to leave his imprint on these races for governor and senate in 2022. and we end up seeing glen youngkin and republicans doing well by keeping trump at a distance. and donald trump is going to make that all but impossible in 2022 whether it is him trying to defeat brian kemp in the gubernatorial race or having hand picked herschel worker as the senate front runner in the driver's seat. so there's going to be no avoiding donald trump to maybe keep him at arms length. >> it is amazing. you see the popularity of a charlie baker or larry hogan, the successor of glen youngkin and all these people thinking i've got to run towards trump, not away from him, but we'll see. so up next we're going to get the latest from capitol hill as the senate is set to vote tonight on voting rights legislation that mirrors the name of the late georgia congressman john lewis. so we're going to hear from the congresswoman who holds john lewis' former seat. you're watching meet the press daily live from atlanta. you'reation. uh, i-i'm actually just going to get an iced coffee. well, she may have a destination this one time, but usually -- daily live from atlanta. yeah, but most of the time, her destination is freedom. nope, just the coffee shop. announcer: no matter why you ride, progressive has you covered with protection starting at $79 a year. voiceover: 'cause she's a biker... please don't follow me in. hey lily, i need a new wireless plan for my business, but all my employees need something different. oh, we can help with that. okay, imagine this. your mover, rob, he's on the scene and needs a plan with a mobile hotspot. we cut to downtown, your sales rep lisa has to send some files, like asap! so basically i can pick the right plan for each employee. yeah i should've just led with that. with at&t business. you can pick the best plan for each employee and get the best deals on every smart phone. well, would you look at that? jerry, you gotta see this. seen it. trust me, after 15 walks... gets a little old. i really should be retired by now. wish i'd invested when i had the chance... to the moon! ugh. unbelievable. hi, i'm steve and i live in austin, texas. i work as a personal assistant to the owner of a large manufacturing firm. i've got anywhere from 10 to 50 projects going at any given time. i absolutely have to be sharp. let me tell ya, i was struggling with my memory. it was going downhill. my friend recommended that i try prevagen and over time, it made a very significant difference in my memory and in my cognitive ability. i started to feel a much better sense of well-being. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. welcome back to our special edition of meet the press daily. we're live here in atlanta. right now to us is the center of the campaign political universe. voting rights have become a central issue for georgia democrats who are concerned without federal voting rights protections changes in georgia state law that make voting more difficult could lead to even more laws that make voting more difficult. and obviously give republicans more of an advantage in november. in washington, d.c. senate action on two voting rights bills including one named for georgia's own john lewis is expected to happen later tonight. we think we know the outcomes of these votes, but this morning the leaders of both parties gave impassioned defenses of their position. >> today the senate will need to prevent this factional frenzy from damaging our democracy, damaging the senate, and damaging our republic forever. >> so i urge my colleagues for the sake of our beautiful, wonderful democracy, for the sake of what the founding fathers called this noble experiment, take a stand and do everything, everything, everything you can to protect voting rights today, today in this chamber. >> my colleague leanne caldwell has the latest from capitol hill as the senate prepares to vote on a talking filibuster later today. and blayne alexander has stuck around. she's been following the georgia voting rights story for quite some time. leanne, let me start with you and sort of the choreography for today. we know joe manchin's going to do a floor speech outlining his position. i guess the head scratcher i have is i thought the idea of the talking filibuster, the sort of incremental process change here did have 50 votes inside the democratic conference. explain joe manchin and sinema's rationale for not wanting to make this incremental change to the senate rules? >> well, a talking filibuster does have support among all democrats, but the thing that doesn't is alt the end of this talking filibuster, which democrats say -- democratic leaders say could take months and months to get through if every single senator speaks for let's say 24 hours and they're allowed to speak twice in one piece of legislation. if all the opposing parties do that, it could take a very long time. and at the end of that, when no one is able to speak anymore, time has run out, then it would be a simple majority to pass the legislation. and that is what senators sinema and senators manchin do not support because what is changed is that 60-vote threshold. of course it makes it very painful to get to that simple majority. like i said it could take weeks or even months if the republicans are really opposed to something. so that's where it stands, and that's where those two senators are opposed to. and of course senator manchin said he doesn't want to change any senate rules with just one party changing those senate rules. he says there needs to be republican buy in, and of course there isn't. so this will take place later tonight. i'm told all the other 48 democrats are going to support this rules change. that's what my sources say, so it's just going to be senators manchin and sinema who don't support it, chuck. >> you know, blayne, it's very tough to be a brand new senator and suddenly the person that has to be the workhorse or the symbol of the fight that you're going to have. i am surprised that reverend warnock hasn't been able to make, hey, you know why you have the majority, i'm here. you know what my constituents care the most about? it is this. now, he's up already, so he's in a complicated position. have you been surprised he hasn't -- that that hasn't been more of a rallying cry? >> you know, i think he's pushing it as far as he can. in order to put this into perspective you have to go back to 2020 and look at the effort to get him into office, to get jon ossoff into office. you had all these groups knocking on doors, trying to bring people by bus and van to vote. and now those same people i'm talking to are using words like disgusted, utterly befuddled, disillusioned with the entire process that that hadn't been able to come to pass. so i think when you lock at this and look at the fact it hasn't come, these activists are saying, look, come to georgia, understand -- >> who do they blame for this? i'll tell you i talked to an activist and doing a lot of -- who's madder at biden than the republicans. >> oh, yeah. >> and even says i won't consider the republicans for anything because i think they're racist, but this party's doing nothing. it was just like, whoa, it really blew me away. >> there's a lot of anger at the white house. there was a lot of anger this wasn't made a priority in their opinion earlier on. you saw the "the new york times" op-ed from bishop jordan over the weekend. you could feel his frustration, his anger. he's somebody who was rallying people saying you know what there's a bigger question at play whether democrats can take something like this and run with it and bring it to fruition. >> leanne, it feels there's a lot of collateral political damage coming from this, emily's list and what they've said with kyrsten sinema. this is a debate that's going to leave a mark inside this party. what's the -- how's everybody getting along? is it getting ugly inside that democratic senate caucus right now? >> reporter: well, there's a couple of things. first there's one thing republicans and democrats do agree on and that is the historical importance of this vote tonight. that was the essence of senate majority leader mcconnell's speech today saying all senators are going to go on the historical record on where they stand. and then senate majority leader chuck schumer said essentially the same thing, that this is an important vote for that historical record, and some senators are going to be on the wrong side of history. and other senators are going to on the right side of history. as far as politics is concerned, well, i mean, i keep asking this question. there is a lot of frustration, of course, among democrats with senators manchin and senators sinema. one aide i was just talking to said they don't see how senator sinema runs for re-election in 2024 because politically speaking this is just so bad for her politics. but it's also a long way away, chuck. >> leanne, i've got to ask one more question, though, about this. senator mcconnell already changed the filibuster rules, right, for supreme court justices. so, you know, part of this is always either how is it that sinema and manchin think, oh, we can't get rid of something we've had here for years when actually they keep moving the line all the time. over the last ten years we've changed the rules for the filibuster a bunch of times, and i don't understand how senator mcconnell thinks they don't look like hypocrites here. they changed the rules for issues they care about like the supreme court. how dare a political party go the other way? >> right. that's exactly right, and that's part of the argument democrats are making to senators manchin and sinema. and you hit the nail on the head and i'm so happy you brought this up, chuck, because of course republicans want to keep in a 60-vote threshold for legislation. republicans usually don't have big legislative plans like democrats do. historically they want to roll back government, they want to cut taxes, which you can do in the senate with a simple majority. so all of the things that republicans care about they already have a simple majority like judges and nominations. but it wasn't enough to convince senators manchin and sinema. and we know that senator mcconnell has been talking to them as well. >> well, as everybody listens to senators tonight making the case they've got these firm beliefs, remember nothing about that senate and those rules have been firm at all in the last 20 years. leanne caldwell, blayne alexander, good to see you both and happy mother hood. >> thank you. >> we'll be right back with a special edition of meet the press daily. l edition of meetht l edition of meetht press daily. with downy light in-wash freshness boosters. just pour a capful of beads into your washing machine before each load. to give your laundry a light scent that lasts longer than detergent alone, with no heavy perfumes or dyes. finally, a light scent that lasts all day! new downy light, available in four naturally-inspired scents. i'm jonathan lawson here to tell you about life insurance through the colonial penn program. if you're age 50 to 85, and looking to buy life insurance on a fixed budget, remember the three ps. what are the three ps? the three ps of life insurance on a fixed budget are price, price, and price. a price you can afford, a price that can't increase, and a price that fits your budget. i'm 54, what's my price? you can get coverage for $9.95 a month. i'm 65 and take medications. what's my price? also $9.95 a month. i just turned 80, what's my price? $9.95 a month for you too. if you're age 50 to 85, call now about the #1 most popular whole life insurance plan available through the colonial penn program. it has an affordable rate starting at $9.95 a month. no medical exam, no health questions. your acceptance is guaranteed. and this plan has a guaranteed lifetime rate lock so your rate can never go up for any reason. so call now for free information and you'll also get this free beneficiary planner. and it's yours free just for calling. so call now for free information. welcome back to our meet the mid-terms special edition of "meet the press daily." we're live in atlanta, georgia, where the ongoing fight within the republican party and those who don't is playing out in this race for governor. brian kemp is facing a challenge from former senator david purdue who's being enthusiastically backed by the former president. republican officials in some of georgia's reddest counties even censured kemp for what they call a betrayal of donald trump. he is knee-deep in this back and forth inside the republican party, and this is the thing, just up the conversations i've had with some georgia observers, i understand what perdue's campaign is day one. what's your campaign after you finish donald trump's fealty message? >> it's more trump. it's more cowbell. in the end that's one of kemp's biggest problems, he's kind of a one trick party -- well not kemp but perdue. kemp is in this inveeable position. he's got a budget surplus, doing abortions restrictions, great in a republican primary, more gun rights, doing tax cuts and they're going to have more spending -- more spending and bonuses for teachers, for cops, for firefighters, on and on. >> what do perdue and kemp disagree on other than following the law in the elections? >> in the republican party where donald trump is the center of gravity they're going to be arguing about gravity, basically. so you're either with gravity of the party or you're against it. you're pro-gravity or anti-gravity so we'll see how it works. >> what do both the perdue and kemp people say what's the election look like if they get through this primary? it feels like it's inevitable it'll be personal. not just your typical upset after a primary. how do they put humpty-dumpty back together? >> i think you hear more of the concern out of the kemp camp than the perdue camp which is we had a great thing going because nothing galvanizes georgia they say like stacey abrams and now comes perdue and they're going to be spending 20, 50, maybe $100 million trashing each other while she sits back happy and waits for the -- >> this is all about the other side over here. >> right. but also don't underestimate georgia is a swing state, remember that. it's not a blue state. and swing states swing. and one of the reasons georgia went blue was because of trump both in 2018 and 2020, and it was narrow in 2020. you know, biden is looking terrible in the polling in georgia, in the polling in swing states and in national polling. those head winds are going to be tough -- >> it's interesting because he's underpolling the democratic party right now. >> right. >> meaning there are people who said, look, i'm going to vote generically democrat but i'm not happy over here. >> and "the washington post" had an interesting story today about biden's problems. biden's own pollster had done a focus group where they had ten suburban women who found the real problem with joe biden was joe biden. they thought he was too old, too weak and too feeble and not able to get the job done. >> these three biden voters i spoke with today all were reluctant voters, one said it was because of his age. age was an issue for them before they saw him perform as president, which i think a lot of people are figuring out everybody knows this is more of an issue nobody wants to talk about it. you get that sense from pollsters, right? >> and you also get that sense from consultants more broadly who are democrats. >> how do you deal with it, how do you address with it, all this stuff. let me go back to the kemp-perdue primary. to me they will inevitably converge because perdue and heiss have the same basically i assume campaign structure and all of that. >> i know in the past before the senate race in january and even thereafter a lot of republicans were segregating kemp from raffensperger. maybe the two are joined at the hip because raffensperger is so much more no nonsense, kemp kind of ducked it thinking, hey, maybe i can escape the wrath of trump. he was wrong. so we'll see how that plays out. >> there are two other candidates in this race that i'm told, if you watch any -- you and i are both college football nuts, so even if you accidently watch a miami georgia tech game as i may be watching, his super-pack has been advertising for months just 5%. doesn't that end his presidency? >> it's not past the post. >> the runoff i don't think it's a 50%. >> that is true. but if you talk to jones he's saying perdue needs to get out of the race. trump's people have misled him, et cetera, et cetera. the reality is he does capture that maga flavor a lot better than perdue who has a mansion on sea island. >> a former rebok ceo is not the face i expected of trump populism. >> and the kemp folks, they have their opo file ready to go on perdue, and they're going to unload it on him. >> does perdue have another issue to run on other than trump. >> no, trump i think is the other issue he's got to run on. >> nothing on guns, nothing on immigration, nothing he thinks he can get to kemp. >> kemp is supporting open carry basically or constitutional carry as they call it. i don't know how you outflank him outside of trump. again, it's trump, trump and more trump. >> all right, cowbell it is. it's good to have you here. we need some more miami guys here. coming up live from atlanta how one republican wants to do the after action report that's not about election shenanigans. we'll be back with more of this special edition of meet the press daily live from atlanta. e e press daily live from atlanta.ht pain reliever... life opens up. aleve it... and see what's possible. ♪♪ things you start when you're 45. coaching. new workouts. and screening for colon cancer. yep. the american cancer society recommends screening starting at age 45, instead of 50, since colon cancer is increasing in younger adults. i'm cologuard®. i'm convenient and find 92% of colon cancers... ...even in early stages. i'm for people 45 plus at average risk for colon cancer, not high risk. false positive and negative results may occur. ask your provider if cologuard is right for you. after my car accident, ask your provider if cologuard is right for you. i wondered what my case was worth. so i called the barnes firm. when that car hit my motorcycle, insurance wasn't fair. so i called the barnes firm. it was the best call i could've made. atat t bararnefirmrm, our r inry a attneysys wk hahard i could've made. atat t bararnefirmrm, to get you the best result possible. call us now and find out what your case could be worth. you u mit bebe sprisised ♪ the barnes firm injury attorneys ♪ ♪ call one eight hundred, eight million ♪ welcome back to meet the press daily. we're live here in atlanta. and around the country the republicans don't seem to be reckoning with why their party lost the white house and senate in 2020. i'd argue, actually, neither party has fully reckoned with what happened in 2020. but on the republican side maybe that's because many in the party are pushing president trump's baseless allegations they lost because of voter fraud not because of whatever they were selling to voters and they're still relitigating that. it's hard to look at why you lost when you can't admit you did loss. one republican in this state looking to move on is jeff duncan, the author of the book "gop 2.0." well, i want to start with that last thing you say, america's conservative party. i talked to my friends at the dispatch, and they're starting to question whether this current republican party is a conservative party or at least the trump version. >> well, look, i think it's time for real conservative leaders to step up and put a vision -- cast a vision for americans complaining about the past. i think that's going to be the turning point for the republican party. conservative values work. i think this country is a majority senate right, and we need to put that on display. that's certainly what the last election cycle was about. we just forgot to do that. >> i was going to say there hasn't been this after action report. democrats didn't fully reggen with the idea they won the white house but lost seats in the house. maybe you need to figure out why that happened, losing the popular vote for the last five presidential elections. here in a state where i think you're seeing why this is happening, suburban atlanta. what are some of the changes you would propose to be more competitive here in the suburbs in atlanta? >> i use the acronym, pet project, power, empathy and tone. if we talk about immigration we can't just talk about border security without talking about 16 million undocumented folks and i think our tone has got to be better because the issues matter. the city is riddled with crime. in just a matter of weeks a few politicians said defund the police and it sent 500 cops running for the door, and now we're going to take nearly a decade to get this city back from crime. those are issues that matter and inflation. i think that's a winning subject for us. >> look, you're not running for re-election, not running for another office. and i think partially -- i don't want to put words in your mouth but i think we spoke previously, it seemed to be because you didn't think your party was ready for your message right now. it wasn't going to be why bang your head against the wall. >> i love the job of lieutenant governor. it truly is a rewarding job and our family has enjoyed the time in office. but i want to have a conversation in america. i want to start focusing on the issues i think a majority of americans care about, so that's what this is about. gop 2.0, it's an excuse to have a conversation all over america. >> all right. but here's the awkward part, you're walking away. one wants to ban drop boxes and says we need to continue to investigate the 2020 election and the one endorsed by donald trump wanted to see an alternative elector slate. the two people vying to replace you are living in another alternative universe. >> so i'm not writing their speeches. i've got nearly 12 months left on my term. and i'm focused on putting policy over politics. and i genuinely feel a gravitational pull toward the things that matter. america -- republicans are attracted to his fight, i think we need to parlay on that, but we need to fight with a purpose. i need to go fight for that kid's education in the classroom. i need to fight for that next job opportunity. tat to me is where i think the republican party can win. >> it was powerful for me to hear first-hand they call themselves reluctant biden voters. they truly were swing voters. one was a trump voter and all three of them said stop this election conversation. like, they hear it and they tune that person out immediately. i get the sense that nobody running right now on the republican side is hearing those voters. are they? >> yeah, i think it's a huge opportunity for us right now, and i don't want to miss another layup and lose a big election. there's a lot of reluctant biden voters out there watching the train wreck play out day by day whether it was afghanistan, the border, inflation, covid response, this is our opportunity to put real leadership on display and show we've got better ideas. and we're going to walk into 24 and beyond and expect to get leading majorities, we've got to do it in a different way. >> i feel you're also in an awkward spot. you're trying to get people to listen, to do some changing. a lot of times you're not willing to change until you realize it didn't work. in an odd way the more successful this version of the republican party is in 2022, the more successful you might be in convincing them to go in another direction. >> i worry georgia continues to be the proving ground for good ideas and bad ideas. i want those good ideas to work. all the good things that are happening, our economic development, our hate crimes legislation, i look at these streets below us just a year and a half ago were riddled with riots and now we're in a position we have a hate crime law on the books. >> are you, though -- let me ask it this way. what's the difference between kemp and perdue other than their disagreement on 2020? >> one want to campaign and one wants to lead. brian kemp has spent the last three years working through the toughest situations. i heard you on a segment ask after day one what's purdue's number one campaign strategy and it's for georgia to figure out how good brian kemp's been. we have under 3% unemployment, we've got hate crimes legislation out there. we've got probably the best reaction to covid than any other state out there. we've balanced lives and lively hoods. i think it's a mistake but hopefully brian kemp is going to be strong enough and show up in the general election and beat stacey abrams. >> i've talked to plenty of republicans and even those close to david perdue in and around the runoff, that donald trump successfully divided the party enough that in a close election, you know, you lose a couple thousand voters and he says it's corrupt i'm not voting. that's the difference between winning and losing. >> i spent nine weeks trying to spread the message here trying to say, look, if we don't focus on reminding georgian what we're good at, we're going to lose this runoff. we lost the u.s. senate because we focused on the wrong things, and i believe the issues matter. >> i talked to a voter today who didn't like how the election rules worked in 2018, okay, on one side. so has some questions about whether kemp and abrams was done fair and square. here's the other side saying eventually everyone's going to stop believing in elections, period. and i said what do you do with that, and her answer was just give me more transparency. just give me as much transparency as you can. are we in a real trap here in election rules that the party bases are making it to the point where it is going to be hard for people to trust the other side to run an election? >> yeah, look, this whole thing in georgia around election questions started in 2018 and the election i ran statewide. >> she did concede. she didn't do what donald trump did. and there is -- that is different, but i -- >> lawsuits sowed the seeds of , and the former president did it in 20, the current president is doing it in 2022. i'm tired, i represent millions of georgians who just want to go to work and raise their families and not being used as political pawns. his whole campaign was centered about being the great uniter and his rhetoric was appalling. whether you're a republican or a democrat, it's wrong to do as the leader of the trump. >> and the frustration, the left will say trump was worse. i hear those on one side will say, yeah, well, he's doing it now too so what's it matter. those on the other side will say, he's been worse at it so why are you lecturing us. >> i think we're coming to a breaking point in america. we don't have a voting rules problem. we have a politics problem. we're letting the outside 5 or 10% lead our messaging. honestly, it will get us nowhere. i hope america is waking up to put adults in the room to run our country. >> mr. lieutenant governor, thanks for stopping by. we'll be right back. we've got more of the special edition of "meet the press daily" as we look ahead to president biden's major press conference later this afternoon on his last day of his first year in office. t day of his firt t day of his firt year in office ♪taking a break from all your worries ♪ ♪sure would help a lot ♪ ♪wouldn't you like to get away? ♪ ♪ ♪ sometimes you want to go ♪ ♪where everybody knows your name ♪ ♪ ♪and they're always glad you came ♪ hearing is important to living life to the fullest. that's why inside every miracle-ear store, you'll find a better life. it all starts with the most innovative technology. like the new miracle-earmini, available exclusively at miracle-ear. so small that no one will see it, but you'll notice the difference. and now, miracle-ear is offering a thirty-day risk-free trial. you can experience better hearing with no obligation. call 1-800-miracle right now and experience a better life. you can experience better hearing with no obligation. aleve-x. it's fast, powerful long-lasting relief with a revolutionary, rollerball design. because with the right pain reliever... life opens up. aleve it... and see what's possible. mount everest, the tallest mountain on the face of the earth. keep dreaming. [music: “you can get it if you really want” by jimmy cliff] [copy machine printing] ♪ ♪ who would've thought printing... could lead to growing trees. ♪ welcome back to this special edition of "meet the press daily" live from atlanta. in a few hours, the focus is going to be squarely on the white house where president biden is set to hold his first news conference in what feels like months. it comes on the eve of his first anniversary as president. it comes at a pivotal moment for a still-young administration, the president likely to face questions about the continuing pandemic, his domestic agenda, and frankly, what i think will be the biggest at least number of unknown questions, if you will, and unknown answers to them, the growing concerns of a potential russian invasion of ukraine. the white house meanwhile has announced another initiative to combat covid, making 400 million n95 masks available for free at thousands of locations nationwide. the masks will come from the strategic national stockpile with shipments beginning as early as this week. you can watch the president's press conference of course on msnbc at 4:00 p.m. eastern. we'll be back tomorrow with another special edition of "meet the press daily." yes, one more day in atlanta as we mark president biden's first year in office. catch much more of our reporting from the ground here in georgia, including my conversations with voters, this sunday on a special edition of "meet the press," don't miss it. msnbc's coverage continues with my friend katy tur right after this break. friend katy tur rigr friend katy tur rigr this break just didn't feel like things were as sharp as i knew they once were. i heard about prevagen and then i started taking it about two years now. started noticing things a little sharper, a little clearer. i feel like it's kept me on my game. i'm able to remember things. i'd say give it a try. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. good to be with you. i am katy tur. this afternoon, major legal confrontations and, in one case, a revelation for donald trump, his allies and his children. first, new details revealed by new york's attorney general about her investigation into the former president and his family business. letitia james says her civil probe has uncovered evidence of fraud for financial gain. and now she wants to talk to trump and two of his adult children, don jr. and ivanka trump, filing a motion to compel their testimony. in a court filing she asserts there is evidence that trump and the trump organization falsely and