the overall public seems to be done with the coronavirus emergency. many congressmen don't. this question gets that the trend line we've seen. an overwhelming 70% of americans agree with the statement that it's time we accept that covid is here to stay and we just need to get on with our lives. that view is widely held despite an average of 2,500 people in this country dying every day from the virus at this moment. most of them, of course, are unvaccinated. and while americans overall say it's time to get on with their lives, democrats are more divided. the fact that independents look more like republicans on this question is a huge potential political liability for the president and his party. independents are the deciders these days on a lot of issues, looking more like democrats than republicans, but not on covid. those numbers are a window into why the administration appears to be struggling with its pandemic messaging, privately and publicly. photo-ops like yesterday's meeting don't help matters. we see president biden seated more than 10 feet away from anyone in the room, even his vice president, the only one give an glass of water, which means no one else would remove their hasings to take a drink. the white house is clearly concerned about protecting biden, 79 years old, from potential infection. him being down for eight to ten days not good even if asymptomatic. but the white house's actions protect biden medically may expose him politically. he acknowledged he needs to get out from behind the mask. the white house seems to be stuck managing an emergency the public doesn't want to see as an emergency anymore. republicans and ads and re-election campaigns are trying to seize on the issue of covid fatigue, use it to channel frustration with government overall, even if sometimes pretty recklessly. >> ned lamont's response to covid put connecticut in danger. he sought the guidance of ex-governor cuomo. >> monday i'll meet with governors cuomo and -- >> we hear so much about all these things, man day-to-days, restrictions, tearing people down. today we lift people up. >> dr. fauci, let's have a debate, dpok or the to doctor, and give the american people the truth about covid-19. >> i call on my fellow americans, do not comply. do not comply with the tyranny and with the gestapo showing up at your front door. you know what to do. >> look, those are three of the most extreme examples of republicans talking restlessly, desantis, mandel and oz there. and they want to go on offense on covid, which is a turnaround politically we saw from two years ago. the bottom line, this pandemic is not going away. democrats need to figure out their covid messaging in order to figure out their midterm message, and the box is white house is in is the public wants to get to normal, yet we all know when the next variant comes and the next fight comes, there will be a bunch of people yelling, what were you guys doing? why did you do this? they're in a damned if you do, damned if you don't moment right now. kelly o'donnell joins us from the white house. mark caputo joins us on politics and the midterms including this republican strategy. kelly, you know, you can see the dilemma every day in the white house, words, actions, photo-ops. it is mixed. >> there are it is. it's quite visceral. you laid out carefully the imperative ha most americans would accept on its face of protecting the president himself from covid and at the same time how that may grate against weariness that many americans feel and the desire to have a more normal daily life. there are facts supporting the white house's view, and certainly the president also wants to be a good example of dealing with mitigation steps. and there is also a desire to get back to a place where people feel the benefits of a more normal existence. at the same time, there are political costs for all of that. and the white house is ping-ponging back and forth between things they believe they can talk about in a favorable light, progress, whether it has to do with some of the developments on more testing kits that are being sent out, more testing kits that are available in the marketplace, vaccinations, a whole host of those things and yet dragged down by the fact that the virus itself has been so difficult to beat. then put that in the backdrop of politics, and a very active opposing party, it really is a challenge and one that could make certainly any white house weary. and then put world events in the backdrop as well. and so there's a lot of challenge for this white house to try to sell its own story, to deal with the crises of the moment, and to try to forge a path politically. >> the head scratcher is they've surrendered on vaccine mandates. i know the courts gave them blueprints to do more narrow ones, but the only tool we have is the vaccination. that is the best tool to keep people out of the hospital. we know this. are they going to regret in six mos when the next surge hits that they sort of backed off of pushing for more vaccine mandates? >> it's an interesting question, because they will readily tell you that getting more people to willingly take the vaccine is the best answer. and they can cite the emering statistics that creep up ever so slightly with how many americans have at least one shot. we're behind on boosters. people are not accepting the booster as readily as they had hoped. in that narrow area of health care facilities that accept federal dollars, medicaid, medicare money, that's where the mandate has been held up by the courts. and they're also looking to the private sector, big companies that are canning their employees to be vaccinated for the health of employment workplaces and looking to that in a voluntary way. if you remember, the president at first early, early in the pandemic did not see himself going toward mandates. then they felt they had to and tried everything from appeals to incentives to cash in your pocket, free doughnuts and the like, and they went the mandate route and that seemed to steel the resistance among some, and then they had court troubles. you're right, is another variant brewing? the scientists would say that's highly likely. how will it play out? we don't know. but vaccination is one important piece to offer protection. now they're focused on things like trying to get more children vaccinated, trying to hasten the availability of underage 5 vaccinations. they've put the focus back in the voluntary sphere. >> mark caputo, the politics of covid is fascinating to watch. if you look at the 2020 campaign, it was mostly democratic campaigns up and down the ballot talking about the ones being scared of covid and that seems pretty good politics because we saw in polls the red/blue divide was there, but independents seemed to tilt towards the dems. a year and a half later, it is the red/blue divide, you're seeing more democrats are feeling -- are more divided on this, but it really is independents that are shifting, and suddenly i guess republicans think this is something to run on. >> they don't think that they, they're doing it. dr. oz is running three add alds in arizona. there's a senate candidate like durant in alabama, lindy blanchard in alabama running for governor, hillen running for governor in nebraska. and of course desantis, he has a minute-long web ad that calls fauci a flip-flopper, plays different clips of him saying one thing on masks then another, and the shot widens out into a beach and a pair of flip floms in the sand and he tells fauci to pound sand. if you think this isn't effective politics, there's a poll today showing desantis has a relatively comfortable lead for florida, that is, over his possible democratic opponent. it's early on, as you have discussed. the virus gets a vote. charles frankel from wisconsin pollster told us that for our story today. so things change, but the trend is with republicans. some case the top line, like mask mandates, still slightly popular than unpopular, but support is down ten points. so it looks like it's trending more toward the republican side. >> there's always a risk of overreach here, right, which is looking like you're whistling past. and i guess where would you point those who are being a little too aggressive with this messaging versus those that sort of seem to be understanding the moment? >> i don't know. ron johnson from wisconsin has gone full force on this. he announces his re-election in a swing state and hold answer event called a second opinion on covid, featuring doctors from youtube and twitter, and then he goes on a conservative podcast or radio show in wisconsin and he says how come no one's talking about all the athletes who have died on the field because they took the vaccine? totally false and crazy but in keeping with how he's campaigning. the anti-vax crowd might be a danger. falling back on the virus will get a vote, and this will dictate what happens going forward. >> yep. and as we know, it does feel as if there's a pattern, and if this seasonal pattern continues, what happens when the summer surge hurts and what happens to our political debate about covid if, indeed, a summer surge comes like the last two? kelly o'donnell, mark caputo, thanks for getting us started on this mix of covid and the midterms. joining me is colorado's governor, one of the most prominent and few democrats to declare the end to the pandemic emergency. governor, we've talked about this before. it seemed extraordinarily appropriate to have you on today given that the party does seem divided on this question. let me play something you said yesterday to my friend kara swisher, and i want to ask you about it on the other side. here it is. >> the emergency phase early on, lack of supplies, lack of vent lay or thes, we're past that. now it's about empowering people to make the right choices. it's a clear-cut decision to get the vaccination. it's not like the benefit is slightly more than the risk. it's many multiples of risk reduction. and you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink. so you do your best and go to sleep every night knowing you did your best. >> governor, one flaw in what you're saying. how do you protect -- the whole point of the vaccination is not just to protect yourself, it's to protect the community. that seems to be the gap here and the disconnect that we can't fully bridge. what say you? >> this will be ongoing as a threat to people for years and decades, at a lower level than at the height. and by the way, in addition to vaccinations, there's new treatments, therapeutics that are available now and likely that will be available in the future. so i think it's time we move past the rhetoric phase and focus on empowering people with real science, with real information, and it's about how effective the vaccine is. and by the way, all three doses, chuck, right? it's important about making sure that people have that information so they can best protect themselves. >> look, at the end of the day, the white house has a lot to say about what normalcy looks like for a big chunk of the country. you were there yesterday with the president. would you like to see a different projection of normalcy? >> well, i've gone back to my essentially normal events. i mean, look, it's smart if you're indoors in a packed space and during a period of high transmission, you can certainly wear a medical-grade mask. the state of colorado has made free medical-grade masks available and people who want that level of protection can use it. the truth is the vaccine is highly effective. the health risks are not nonexistent but are relatively small if you are -- if you've been fully vaccinated, much lower. you know, you have an order of magnitude lower risk of death or severe health outcome. it's time to empower people with the best information and know that people have a stake in protecting themselves and we move on. >> we still have a hospitalization problem. we still have a medical staff burnout problem. what do you need to deal with that? does it need to be part of the national response at this point? >> it really does. if we've listened one thing, especially hearing the health crisis phases of this pandemic, it's how society needs to take extraordinary steps that impinge on education and the economy to protect hospitalizations which we've done in colorado since day one. we said we didn't want to see hospital capacity. but we need that ability on the hospital side in terms of standards, supplies, so we don't run into a situation where there's no masks, no gloves. staffing emergency protocols can be activated if covid takes off again or it's a really bad flu season or another pathogen. we need to be ready. one thing the world learned is the world was not ready for this pandemic and therefore the first year especially before we got the vaccine was a lot worse than it had to be. >> so, you've been in many ways, like i said, being sort of one of the leading voices in the democratic party trying to say, okay, we have to pivot covid recovery is an economic issue as much as you keep describing. we had our health emergency. in some ways, it is a societal and economic fallout we're still trying to deal with. so, you know, give me your midterm pitch for how you're messaging this. >> first of all, chuck, and you know me, it is for me -- and it's this show, a little distasteful to descend to the political ramifications. i'd rather focus on the science. >> i get it. >> i think some republicans are snatching defeat from the jaws of victory here by going full core anti-science, anti-vax, you know, talk about gestapo. that's not where people are. but you're absolutely right. people are also not where some democrats are, which is saying there's no exit plan, it's a pandemic still forever. i think where most people are is i'm protected, i'm vaccinated, should i be a little more careful maybe if i'm going to go visit grandma next week? i'll be extra careful and test before i visit her. but in general, we have our lives. it's not just economics, chuck. it's also about education. it's about our social lives, young people being able to go out and date and have family gatherings. yes, they were a little higher risk before the pandemic. nowhere near as high risk as they were last year before the vaccine, and it's reasonable that people say i'm willing to take extra risk because i want to see grandma and grandpa and get our family together. it's perfectly reasonable decision, probably a rational, logical decision, probably the decision the vast majority of americans including democrats are making at this point in the pandemic. >> quickly, the president will be traveling to new york city with that new mayor, eric adams, talking about gun issues. you have talked about in your state of the state, you committed to make colorado one of the ten states. how do you go about doing that? what are you trying to tell your citizens about what's been happening with crime lately? >> so we made out the goal of making colorado one of the ten safest states for property crimes and violent crimes. a big part of that is a public safety investment and package, more and better policing, reducing youth recidivism, successful interventions, data-driven solutions. the good news is there's lot of data and science about what works. we just need to do more of it in colorado. other areas of the country need to do more as well. we feel that we can move the bar by making these important investments and making colorado safer, whether they're walking home from the store at night or going to work. >> interesting phrase right at the tom. more and better policing. governor jared polis, democrat, colorado. appreciate you coming on. good to talk with you. i know you didn't want to talk politics, but i let those that are going to criticize you say it's my fault. thank you. still to come, as the white house tries to tamp down democratic jitters about midterm messaging, the chairman of the group charged we electricitying democrats to white house this november joins me next. and stewart rhodes, this leader of the oath keepers, was charged with sedition in connection with the attack on the capitol. he'll appear virtually tomorrow before the january 6th select committee. his attorney says his client will plead the 5th to most of the questions. will plead the 5th to most of will plead the 5th to most of the questions. ♪ ♪taking a break from all your worries ♪ ♪sure would help a lot ♪ ♪wouldn't you like to get away? 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(vo) for me, one of the best things about life is that we keep moving forward. we discover exciting new technologies. redefine who we are and how we want to lead our lives. basically, choose what we want our future to look like. so what's yours going to be? oh hey there! i'm just reading wayfair reviews like it's my job. i love seeing people loving their home. my daughter and i never agree on anything. that's not true! but we did agree this rug was perfect. okay. stop being weird. mom and daughter agreeing on something. wayfair works miracles! ooh! check this one out. this chair is so comfortable. it puts both of my babies to sleep. look at you making a space that works perfectly for all of you! i could use a good nap. the first primary is a month away. early voting in texas begins on valentine's day. as election day near, jitters are growing for democrats looking to hold on to their narrow majorities in both chambers of congress. the house campaign committee had to expand its list of democrats in front line seats to 32 last week. that goes along with 29 house democrats opting against that for another term. add up the numbers, you're in the 60s there. joining me is the man charged with getting house democrats elected in november, new york democratic congressman, sean patrick maloney. good to see you. >> good to be with you, chuck. >> so tell me why you advertise who your vulnerable incumbents are. i'm sure there's a good explanation. i think i have an idea. but i want you to share with your viewers because sometimes you don't want to show weakness. we don't want to point to our po oents who the vulnerable ones are. we all have the same data. why do you guys make public event out of saying these people are now front line members? >> well, i think i should probably add that we also expanded our battlefield red to blue, where we will defeat republican incumbents. that number is going up too. if you look at the seats that have gone through redistricting, the number of republican members sitting in districts biden won is going from 9 after the election to more than 15 now. so that battlefield is increasing too. but we advertise who's in a tough spot because we want our donors to know. we want people to rally to those members who are in difficult races. and i believe in transparency. i don't believe in happy talk. i believe at looking at this challenge square in the eye, and that's how i've won five times in a trump district. i didn't do it by trying to pretend things were easier than they are. i did it by speaking to people who don't agree with us and listening to them and finding out what a better path forward is for them and their family. that's how you do it. >> i'm curious, you have more incumbents that lobby you to be on the list or not be on the list? >> i get probably a little bit of both. >> okay. >> i mean, look, i've been on that list. you know, honestly, i'm still in a district that donald trump won. i elected to subscribe myself as a player/coach. obviously it's good when people come to help you, but, you know, sometimes you would rather not be where the fight is. i think people probably have mixed emotions about it. but, look, the truth is the truth. and the challenge is the challenge. but we are going to win this election because we have a better plan for future, we're getting results for people and we'll tell them what we're doing. >> what have you learned from the 29 members that have admitted to you they're not running again? in many cases you were trying to recruit them to run again, and some of them are waiting for new maps and things like this. i'm curious, what have you taken away from your version of exit interviews as you've tried to convince these folks to run again and they haven't, is there any sort of unified message you're hearing from these conversations? >> there are a couple thing, and i'll be very candid with you. congress is difficult on human beings right now and it's hard on their families. i don't think i need to go into the reasons why. but redistricting is overriding most considerations for folks. you change someone's district and even if they can win it, it's a moment when you reflect on whether you want to continue to serve. here's the point, chuck. some of us are going to stand and fight and defend this majority, and we are going to ask our voters and our supporters to stand and fight with us. that's what i need. i need a great group of members and candidates on a map that's fair and we're going to stand and fight, because there's a lot at stake. >> is there a -- how are you going about candidate recruiting? because, look, they hear the chatter among those leaving going, this place stinks, you know, it's horrible to work with the other side, you know, it is not as safe today to be a member of congress at least feeling-wise as it was two years ago. you know these members. i've talked to them. they feel personally less secure. how are those conversations with candidates you're trying to convince to run? what do you tell them? >> well, i might be more candid than most people would be, but what i tell them is, yeah, it's tough, yeah, it's hard. it will be hard on you and your family. but it matters. it's never been more important. this work may be harder than ever, but it has never been more important. the future of your country, of everything you care about, is on the line right now. so democrats listening to me realize a bunch of us are going to throw ourselves into this fight, and we are going to stand and defend this democracy in an hour of real danger, because we want to fix the problems the other side is trying to exploit to win power for themselves. we've got a plan, and we're working on it, and we're going to fight this fight and we need your help. come and fight it with us. and i don't begrudge anybody who's said i've had enough of this. that's good lord knows that's a feeling all of us have from time to time. but right now, i've never been more energized for the work. >> let's talk about redistricting and the new york map and the idea of gerrymandering. the democratic party in general is against gerrymandering. hr-1 would like to see it put to an end. but i think you're for it when it comes to the case of new york in 2022. try to square that circle for me. >> yeah. it's pretty easy. we won the house races in 2020 by 4.7 million votes, and we lost 12, 13 seattles in the house. you tell me how the house of representatives that represents the population, one side wins the majority vote and loses seats. the house doesn't reflect the majority will, what the heck is it? that tells you what kind of map we're dealing with right now. so we can argue for fair districts and pick up democratic seats because the republicans have gerrymandered it all to hell over the last couple of cycles. and this time in the courts and in the legislatures we are making the case, and in new york, that communities of interest, what the law allows in new york, means that new york, which has been voting overwhelmingly democrat nick recent elections, should have representatives in the house that reflect that. we'll do it straight. but why are we losing seats in the house -- >> -- jerry manhandlering? you don't accept that you're gerrymandering in new york? >> you tell me if we win a majority of the votes in these election, why are we losing seats? i'm telling you can have democratic improvements in these districts and have fair maps. those things go hand in handle. >> well, i think it's one of those where i guess i go back to why be against gerrymandering at all? he ho has the power draws the lines, which has been the case for 200 years. >> this is true in a bunch of areas, chuck, and you know this. we would reform campaign finance reform, we'd do a nonpartisan redistricting in every state in the country. we shouldn't do it just where democrats are strong, though. we should do it where republicans are strong. if you're asking to unilaterally disarm, whether you're talking about campaign finance or arguing for fair maps, i want to bring a gun to a gunfight, you bet. and i think democrats need to stand and fight and defend our democracy. what i'm telling you is that right now a majority of americans have been voting for democrats. 5 million votes almost we beat them by in 2020 and lost more than a dozen seats. that tells you the maps aren't fair, and we're arguing for fair maps. >> i think when it comes to money, redistricting, your philosophy is probably right, if you start at mutually assured destruction, maybe people will want to come to the table and de-escalate. sean patrick maloney in a district about 50/50 as you get these days. thank you, sir. >> thank you. >>. we have more. more republican primaries are taking a turn towards the negative on the air waves including a new ad starring former president trump. you're watching "meet the press daily." you're watching "meet the press you're watching "meet the 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an outstanding man. he's tough, he's smart, he has my complete and total endorsement. vote for david perdue. >> interesting little chiron there. did you notice they're trying to turn this into the idea that only perdue can beat stacy abrams? that's not an excerpt from trump in georgia. it's trump directed camera which tells you how invested he is in this primary. mehmet oz is going up against his opponent, david mccormack, accusing him of being, quote, china's friend. by the way, one little interesting nugget, in pennsylvania, dr. oz runs as dr. oz. when david mccormick attacks him, it's mehmet oz. in the alabama senate primary, the club for growth is out with two different ads. one highlights donald trump's endorsement of brooks, and the other attacks the chief challenger. >> president trump needs people he can count on in the senate. he needs mo brooks. >> someone who has worked harder than anyone else in congress. >> a proven conservative, brooks will never compromise on election integrity. >> there's liz cheney trashing trump again. why didn't she say that when she was running before just like katie brit? she might not say it but she's a lobbyist. >> it's been interesting. nancy pelosi used to be name that republicans would use to sometimes attack other republicans if they were there. now it's liz cheney. just moments ago, trump endorsed another primary challenger taking on a house member who impreached him. he backed russell frey against south carolina congressman tom rice. up next, new developments on the crisis in ukraine. as russian president vladimir putin says his security demands were, quote, ignored by the west. but he still has not responded yet in writing with a retort. stay with us. stay with us ♪ got my heart ♪ ♪ got my soul ♪ ♪ got my mouth ♪ ♪ i got life ♪ woman: i have moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. now, there's skyrizi. with skyrizi, 3 out of 4 people achieved 90% clearer skin at 4 months after just two doses. skyrizi may increase your 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third piece of news, boris yeltsin put out a joint statement with ukraine, president zelensky with some promises of more aid including some aid on energy including money that would be used to transition away from the need for russian energy. i'm joined by doug lieu, former u.s. ambassador to nato, former leung in the army, now chair of international defense practices at bgr group. ambassador, i have to ask, so we have a nato leader meeting with putin today as we are in a standoff, between putin and nato. it's awkward. victor oorrbonne is a guy that s sort of generously straddling the west and russia here. how much does that hurt nato's unity? >> well, it depends a lot on the message that the president took to moscow. look, it's no surprise that among the 30 democracies in nato, there are strong democracies and there are wavering democracies. certainly, the authoritarian bent of hungary, turkey, and to some extent poland is cause for concern inside the alliance because these allies are actually drifting away from the democratic values that -- or the underpinnings of the alliance itself. >> so who's negotiating here, meaning is it the u.s. negotiating with russia? is it ukraine negotiate with russia? is it nato with russia? nate toe with ukraine? you see where i'm going here. >> right. >> it isn't always clear. i'm guessing the united states wishes they weren't -- in a perfect world should we be the lead negotiator? maybe we shouldn't. >> well, all of what you said is true. negotiations are taking place in different formats, different channels. there are u.s./russian bilat cal conversations. secretary of state blinken and his counterpart, russian counterpart foreign minister lavrov spoke again today. so there are bilateral talks. there are multilateral talks at nato with the 30 allies talking to russia. russia is part of the osce in vienna, one of 57 nations there. just yesterday we had an exchange at the u.n. security council. so this is taking place in different formats. one thing that is clear, however, is that the united states has been very explicit and consistent that we will not talk about nato, we will not talk about ukraine in a bilateral channel without those parties being involved. so we won't talk about someone without that party at the table. so that complicates the geometry of the diplomacy. >> on my show on sunday, dick durbin brought up the idea that ukraine on its own could decide that you know what, we're not going to even think about joining nato for a decade or something to that effect. whether this was just him, and, you know, obviously we've heard president biden say, well, ukraine's not ready, you know, we've heard others from nato say they haven't met the conditions. how would one orchestrate something like that? is that the exit ramp? is that a real -- it seems to me everybody is looking to offer putin an exit ramp here. is that the most realistic one? >> well, there's something to the senator durbin idea or comment because, in fact, all nato sessions, all those who have joined nato since its founding in 1949 have all started with a national decision by the candidate country to decide to join. so it is fundamentally at the doorstep of ukraine and the ukrainian people, the ukrainian government to decide if it wants to join nato. the nato treaty actually lays out the citeria for membership and has to do with democratic values and ability to contribute to the collective defense. and most important, and this is the catch, most important the treaty specifies that before a candidate can become a member, there must be consensus among current allies. today that means the vote must be 30-0 in favor of ukrainian membership if we got into the application process. so there are many steps here between today and potential ukrainian membership. and putin knows this. this is not something that's imminent. this is something that will take a long time. but the steps, and actually laid out in the treaty itself. >> so what is the benefit to putin? on one hand he knows this isn't happen anything-time soon. is it just he thinks he's got maximum leverage to -- is it really more about make sure this doesn't happen in a decade? >> well, look, it's not possible to say what's in it for him. when he several weeks ago laid out publicly a set of demands to include that ukraine would never become a member of nato, he certainly knew at that time that some of these public written demands, both to the alliance and to the united states bilaterally, were off the table from the outset. they were just outlandish. now, he also included, however, in his written request or demands of nato and the u.s. some things that could be on the table, some things that might be worth talking about. so arms control measures, stabilization measures, limits or confidence-building measures having to do with military exercises. these are things that the alliance and the united states would be willing to talk about. but exactly what his game is and why he would start with public maximalist demands we would have to interview him. >> yeah. well, look, at the end of the day, it's all about how rational putin is, and i think we're all trying to figure that out. former nato ambassador, doug lieu, thanks for coming on. >> thank you. up next, the latest from the white house as the president meets with the senate judiciary committee's top democratic and republican, a sort of normal institutionalist meeting on filling the supreme court vacancy. you're watching "meet the press daily." t vacancy. you're watching "meet the press daily. voltaren, the joy of movement. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ welcome back. senate judiciary leaders dick durbin and chuck grassley are meeting at any moment with president biden to discuss the upcoming supreme court pick. this looks old school, doesn't it? biden has pledged he will nominate the first black woman. he will choose a nominee by the end of february. we are likely to see black history made in real time. leigh ann caldwell and nbc contributor, former colleague and chief washington correspondent geoff bennett. what this meeting is today, you know this is biden meeting with a couple of people he served with for over a decade, chuck grassley -- he was there before grassley got there. between the three of them i think they've dealt with every -- like 20 supreme court nominations. what's the goal here to sort of defang the opposition? >> reporter: i think a couple things. there's symbolism, his first meeting with members of the senate are not only with the chair of the committee, dick durbin, but the top republican on the judiciary committee. that didn't happen during the trump administration. we know what happened during merrick garland, which that was a very political process. so the fact that president biden is holding these meetings publicly with a republican and a democrat shows that he is trying to do this process in a bipartisan way, and that's important for a couple of reasons. first of all, he could perhaps get back to this messaging that he campaigned on as being the uniier and bringing republicans and democrats together, but he also wants this confirmation to perhaps be bipartisan and that's why it's important. secondly, we do not yet know how republicans are going to react and how they're going to responsibility to this potential nominee. senator grass lee and republican members just huddled in leader mcconnell's office before they went to the what's for this meeting. there is some strategy session in that. >> if mcconnell says we're not going to -- don't culture war this, there will be a couple people that will culture war this up, but you don't do it, grassley. it wouldn't shock me if that was the message. jeff, i want you to address this issue. i feel there's a mixed bag among democrats, how fast they want to go but also from biden's perspective restore some normalcy to this process. it feels like it's an interesting balance they're trying to strike. i don't know what they'll end up doing. >> typically a supreme court process goes for about two to three months, the first time they are introduced to the time they are confirms. amy coney barrett's process was lightning fast. took 30 days. and senator durbin has said they are not trying to break that record but they do want to move expeditiously. i'm getting a sense they don't want to move too quickly, in part because the white house doesn't want to give any oxygen to what they see as being a bad faith argument from some conservative this is nominee, whoever she is, will be picked mainly on her race and her gender and less so on her qualifications. they don't want to even give the appearance of that being true. part of the reason they might settle on a slower, more deliberate process is to make it clear to the american people this is a measured, a well informed, well choreographed process. it won't take two to three months most likely and it won't take 30 days. there will be something in the middle of that. if they're trying to push this from a 50/50 vote with vice president harris being the tiebreaker and maybe pick up two or three republicans, a longer process helps them do that. senator collins voted against justice barrett, not based on her qualifications but she didn't like how quickly the process moved. a slower process might also bring along some other republicans. >> right, but, of course, it's a 50/50 senate, jeff, and life happens, right? life happens. >> they are one illness, away from losing the majority. >> no doubt. >> leigh ann caldwell, joe manchin said build back better is dead. nothing else to talk about. does he mean the old build back better or a new one? >> reporter: his spokeswoman clarified he's talking about the old iteration of build back better. that's not a thing anymore. talking about new legislation, informal talks. some democrats still have hope they can get something done, chuck. >> i thought we should do some clarity. geoff bennett, we miss you. leigh ann caldwell, thank you always. thank you for being with us this hour. we'll be back tomorrow with more "meet the press daily." my friend katy tur right after this break. d katy tur right aftr this break oesn't help and the whole process of getting them is a royal pain in the ..... ear. if only there was a better way. this is eargo, yes right here. incredible right? what's more you get all the support you need all from here. sitting right here. 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