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us. we begin with the news that broke yesterday with the supreme court. justice breyer plans to step down at 28 years on the bench. his formal announcement could come as soon as today. his decision gives president biden a chance to name his replacement while democrats still control the senate. nbc news justice corner pete williams has the details. reporter: people close to justice breyer say he made the decision to step down within the past several weeks and prepared to formally notify the white house this week. at age 83, he is the court s oldest justice and appears to be in good health. he remains highly productive, writing last term as, some of last year s decisions. he knows how washington works. he was well aware some progressives said justice ruth bader ginsberg stayed on the court too long despite battles with cancer. he death allowed president trump to appoint amy comey barrett. he said last fall he knew of the pressure for him to step down. most of the cons ....
qualifications, character, experience and integrity, and that that person will be a black woman. we are reporting on who the likely front runners are. but right now, though, under an hour after that major event, the president is on a major call, speaking with the president of ukraine as the russian collar around ukraine tightens, vladimir putin s army conducted combat drills earlier today, live fire exercises with troops and tanks along the eastern border of ukraine. if the u.s. and nato were looking for signs of deescalation, this was not it. those drills happening just 24 hours after the u.s. hand delivered a letter to moscow yesterday addressing putin s demands. we don t know the contents of that letter, but russian morn minister sergey lavrov told reporters it failed to address nato expansion. the kremlin now warning that when it comes to diplomacy there is, quote, not much cause for optimism. putin himself has been largely silent on the matter, but he was seen in p ....
that will be within a month. as on the hill, democrats get ready to control a nominee s path for the first time in more than a decade. with most of the drama coming not from whether dems will hang together, they probably will, but how many republicans, if any, will get on board. new reaction coming in this afternoon. developing at the white house right now, president biden and the leader of ukraine may be still on the phone. what we know about what they re saying with the white house worried about a russian invasion of ukraine. plus, back here at home new polling out of georgia and spoiler alert, things are not looking quite so peachy for democrats. what the numbers say for people like joe biden and stacy abrahams going into the midterms. with reporting we broke here on the expensive lifeline to save vulnerable house seats. i m hallie jackson along with the rest of the team. ali vitali on capitol hill and peter is our justice correspondent and let me start with you. ....
arose. with justice breyer expected to announce his retirement, president biden might just get that opportunity. tonight president biden confronting a major decision about the supreme court. justice stephen breyer expected to retire, paving the way for the president to nominate his replacement. there has been no announcement from justice breyer. let him make whatever statement he s going to make. i ll be happy to talk about it later. reporter: biden now getting the opportunity to fulfill this 2020 campaign promise. i m looking forward to making sure there s a black woman on the supreme court to make sure i committed that if i m elected president, have an opportunity to appoint someone to the courts, i ll appoint the first black woman to the courts. we are putting together a list of a group of african american women who are qualified and have the experience to be in the court. reporter: the white house reiterating today biden s position on this front remain ....
breyer s decision to retire has electrified washington, d.c. adding a legacy making item to the president s agenda and could galvanize the democratic base at a time of sagging approval ratings and with the signature legislation of the president stalled amid gridlock in washington. the news wednesday came as a relief for liberal activists who worry that democrats would lose control of the senate before breyer left the court and a shot of confidence to the democratic leaders who view the politics as a brigtd spot in an otherwise gloomy election season. president biden has promised to nominate the first black woman to the high court, a prospect the party hopes energizes supporters. republicans are already gearing up to oppose the yet to be named nominee. the new york times reporting, quote, holding a bare 50-seat majority under threat in november s elections democrats acknowledge the need to act fast since an illness or death of a member could deprive them. senate demo ....