court s ruling was to take the issue out of the hands of the justices and return it to the states where they could forge their own policies, and that s what happened in kansas. state lawmakers can still adopt a ban on abortions as indiana did days later, but to-lifers must weigh pro-lifers must weigh whether republicans want to go that far especially when it comes to rape, incest and the life of the mother. now, i understand the deep beliefs of the pro-life side which vows to keep on fighting just as the pro-choice side would if it had lost, but this is the kind of democratic process majority envisioned. decisions are far more complicated than a simple yes or no. i m howard kurtz, and this is mediabuzz. if. howard: ahead, mike huckabee joins us on a wide range of media issues. we ll look at the senate voterama that s still going on as democrats are about to push through their big climate, health and taxes bill. the pundits quickly weighed in with opposing views on k
what s the latest. chad: griff, good afternoon, the senate has met for more than 24 hours straight and voted for nearly 14 hours straight. exhaustion is setting in. senate chaplain barry black sought to calm freight tempers. our weekend work gently reminds us that freedom s price must be paid. as our senators provide the currency of perseverance to protect and defend this land we love. chad: there s gamesmanship, republicans controversial amendments to get vulnerable democrats on the spot especially on border issues and on energy. so the next time you see a mark kelly in arizona or a raphael warnock in georgia or a maggie hanson in new jersey or michael bennett in colorado or katherine cortez, hey, we want gas prices to be lower, you know they are lying because they stood up and voted, raised the gas taxes, stick it to the producers, make our consumers pay more at the pump. chad: democrats lashed out at gop for striking a provision to cap insulin at $35 a month in private
neighbors against neighbors. a fight over who gets to use the river that fuels life. we visit two states that are facing off. hello. welcome to the lead. we begin this hour with our world lead. a pair of escalating international crises. russia and the united states are now indicating they re ready to hold talks about a prisoner swap. just a day after a russian court convicted american basketball star brittney griner of drug smuggling, and sentenced her to nine years in prison. potential prisoner swap talks could include fellow american paul whelan who has been detained in russia since 2018. we ll have more on that in just a moment. first another crisis unfolding. china is taking dramatic new steps of retaliation for house speaker nancy pelosi s visit to taiwan including sanctioning pelosi and her family. plus, military escalation. taiwan s defense ministry reports dozens of chinese war planes crossing into its air defense territory today. in return, the white house summon
welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world. i m wolf blitzer. you re in the situation room. surprisingly strong new jobs numbers are capping off what has been a big week for the biden administration. let s go straight to jeremy diamond. amid fears of a recession, the president has some momentum when it comes to the u.s. economy. at least in the short term. give us the latest. no doubt about it, this jobs report which the president called outstanding is more evidence that the u.s. is not in a recession. we saw the unemployment rate tick down to 3.5%. more than half a million jobs created last month. all of that painting a picture of a very strong and resilient jobs market. now of course, this strong jobs market doesn t do anything to address americans chief concern. and that is inflation. and the president and the white house very much aware of that. we heard the president talking about americans who may still feel they re struggling december fate st
world. i m wolf blitzer and you re in the situation room. we begin this hour with very encouraging news for the u.s. economy. and for the biden administration. tonight the president is seizing on the much better than expected jobs report as he caps a week of unexpected successes. here is our white house correspondent jeremy diamond. today we received another outstanding jobs report. reporter: tonight president biden hailing another strong jobs report and promising more relief to americans struggling with stubbornly high prices. today there are more people working in america than before the pandemic began. in fact, there are more people working in america than at any point in american history. reporter: the unemployment rate dipping to 3.5% as the economy added 528,000 jobs last month. bucking expectations and tamping down fears of a recession. but the strong jobs report will do little to beat back inflation. americans number one concern. i know people will hear