Personnel at the border. It was clear we want to fix the border. Its also clear the speaker didnt give a reason why you had to do one before you did the other. Thank you. Reporter congress, Pope Francis On Sunday called for sir so you see the two Democratic Leaders, Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries coming out of what sounds like an extraordinary and incredibly intense meeting that they had with President Biden, Vice President harris and Republican Leadership. You heard Hakeem Jeffries saying its an existential moment for the free world, talking about whats going to happen with aid to ukraine and Chuck Schumer saying, its one of the most intense meetings hes ever had. The stakes for these meetings are high. Based on what we just heard from those two Democratic Leaders they escalated the intensity. I want to bring New York Times correspondent peter baker and sarah sutt mayer. Peter, tell me what you thought about what you heard there. The messaging was very intense right now. It was intense. Leader schumer just got back from ukraine. Its very high on his list and fresh on his mind. He made his point passionately. That was a room where johnson was on isolated basically. The other three leaders, including mr. Mcconnell, all three leaders as well as the president and Vice President shown there, they all support ukraine aid. Mike johnson is the one person who hasnt made that happen, but also the one person who needs to make it happen. If he doesnt allow it on the floor it becomes that much harder for democrats to find a way to bypass him. Most people agree if it gets to the house, theres bipartisan majority for ukraine. The blockage by the speaker is holding it up. We know there had been a lot of intense back and forth. What is the real relationship between President Biden and Republican Leadership . We were listening earlier to our colleague here Jonathan Lemire saying, when speaker johnson was elected, there werent many people in the white house or on capitol hill that knew him well. Whats the relationship like . Wheres the personal part of this fit in . They have almost no relationship. Thats absolutely true. I think the president has spoken with him a couple times since he became speaker. He had no prior relationship to him. Im sure its the first time the Vice President ever met the speaker in todays meeting. Mitch mcconnell said he didnt know johnson prior to him becoming speaker. This is a brand new dynamic in which theres no history there to work with. Theres no level of trust. Theres no past dealings they can turn back to for to rely on. Johnson is facing an enormous amount of pressure from the Freedom Caucus inside the house. Thats where he is stuck between a political rock and a hard place. Tara, how much of an impediment could this relationship be in a situation like this . Do you see any indication that he could im talking about speaker johnson make a decision apart from the right flank of his party . Thats where lack of capital comes into play. Speaker johnson was an unknown before he rose to this incredibly powerful position. Hes on an island within his own leadership corp. In years past theres always been a certain amount of good faith efforts for the most part when it comes to major policy discussions, like something as important as ukraine funding and funding for Foreign Policy issues. We used to say back when congress was functional that politics ended at the waters edge. But here, when you have someone as inexperienced as mike johnson who doesnt have a strong Kitchen Cabinet of advisers and he doesnt have the Political Capital other speakers have had, you run into a problem. Who is he getting his advice from . It seems like its trump world. Mike johnson was in maralago speaking to trump. His Ob City Innocence On Ukraine is coming from donald trump. They dont want funding for ukraine and the magas in Congress Creating this headache for mike johnson. This is a problem. Its bigger than arguing about welfare benefits. Its about a national and International Strategic necessity, making sure a democracy is not overtaken by russia. Im glad to see there was such a spirited conversation going on there, a bipartisan one, included Minority Leader mcconnell in the senator to put push on speaker johnson. Who is he going to pledge his allegiance to . Is he going to do the right thing for the United States and democracy . Is he going to continue to cow tow to trump . We were waiting for the republicans to come out to hear from Mitch Mcconnell and speaker johnson. Let me go back to you, peter. There are domestic consideration here as well obviously in the short term. Friday is the deadline to continue to fund a number of Government Agencies and then a week from then the pressure is really on. You see the list. Thats when the rubber hits the road and some of the funding will really start to be felt by a wide swath of the American People. Whats going to happen here . Thats the 64,000 question. Speaker johnson has made clear he does not want the government to shut down. Hes avoided that in the past in his short tenure there. He has gotten the message that a Government Shutdown doesnt help republicans. It hurts republicans at the polls. It doesnt accomplish what republicans want to do which is cut spending. They dont have the votes to accomplish the big goals they want. Speaker johnson is looking for a deal that will keep things going, maybe make some sort of concession that will satisfy the conservatives so they can say they got something out of it. Its hard to see what that will be. Were heading down to the wire. Let me go to the white house where Aaron Ghilcrist is standing by. Whats going on now . Reporter we expect the i need to interrupt you. Mike johnson, the Speaker Of The House is walking to the microphones. Lets listen to what he has to say. Thank you for staying. We had a couple meetings there. It was frank and honest. I think we need more frank and honest conversations on capitol hill. We did that as a group. Then i had a oneonone with the president. When i showed up today, my purpose was to express what i believe is the obvious truth. We must take care of americas needs first. When you talk about americas needs, you have to talk first about our open border. I believe ive been in 20 something states, going and the country and hearing from the American People of all parties and all persuasions in all cities and all states. They understand the catastrophe at the border is on mind. I brought that up repeatedly today in that room and oneonone with the president. The other big priority is the funding of our government. Weve been working in good faith around the clock every day for months and weeks and over the last several days quite literally around the clock to get that job done. Were optimistic. I hope the other leaders said the same. We hope to prevent a Government Shutdown. Thats our first responsibility. You also heard there was discussion about the supplemental spending package. I was very clear with the president and all those in the room the house is actively pursuing all the options on that. We will address that in a timely manner. Again, the First Priority of the country is our border and making sure its secure. I believe the president can take Executive Authority right now today to change that. I told him that again today in person as ive said to him many times publicly and privately over the last several weeks. Its time for action. Its a catastrophe and must stop. Well get the government funded and keep working on that. Well have more for on that. Speaker johnson taking no questions, calling it a frank and honest meeting, but falling back on what got this all bolloxed up in the first place. Thats the border. The republicans wanted action on the border. The democrats gave them a bigger package than Many Democrats like and they turned it down. Let me go back to you, peter baker. Let me ask you the idea that the president did stop and speak oneonone with speaker johnson in the oval office and what you think that means. Where does this leave us . The argument that speaker johnson is making dont sound any different than what got us here. First of all, he came out without Mitch Mcconnell. Normally you see the democrats come out together and the republicans come out together. Mitch mcconnell didnt come out with speaker johnson. He didnt wait to appear for him. It may just be logistics and he had to get back to the hill. Interesting they did not present a united front, because theyre not united on this. Second thing, how different his ranking and priorities than leader schumer. He said we cant wait any longer on ukraine because putin will win and then we can work on the border. Johnson said, border, border, border. He also said the president has Executive Authority to take action, i urged him to do it. It seems like President Biden is looking at some orders, but that begs the question of why wait on ukraine aid if you dont need legislation and want the president to take action on his own authority . We couldnt ask him that question because he didnt take question. You heard the final comment, tara. Its a catastrophe. The whole idea of the border is something the republicans think they can run on. Polls bear them out. Theres a new poll that suggests the vast majority of americans have serious concerns about the situation in the United States with immigration. Can they afford to be seen as Holding Everything up . Were looking potentially at the barrel of a shutdown. When i worked on capitol hill i worked on immigration and Border Security issue for seven years. It wasnt solved then. It wont be solved tomorrow. The disingenuous nature of mike johnson saying this is about the border is hard to swallow because they have a strong bipartisan Immigration Bill that could have been voted on and passed by now, but only for the fact that donald trump does not want this issue to be, quote, a win for biden in an election year. They want to run on this. Theyre playing politics not only with our Border Security and our Men And Women On The Border and the Border Patrol and the folks trying to come over here and the humanitarian crisis its creating. Theyre playing politics with ukraine. They married the two issues together. Theres no reason for it. The other thing about it thats funny to me as someone who worked for republicans for years who didnt like the idea of an imperial presidency and executive actions on things i remember republicans during 2010 used to get on Barack Obamas case for using Executive Authority too often. Here now theyre asking President Biden to do it. They dont know what they want. Its all about politics. Its not about whats in the best interest of all parties involved, other than whats going on in an election year. We can see that by Mike Johnsons comments. Tara and aaron, thank you. Peter, youre staying with me. Coming up, key voting in michigan. What turnout could tell us. The star witness who didnt testify, but heading back to the stand and talking at fani Willis Fulton county misconduct hearing. What we can expect when were back in 60 seconds. Ck in 60 secs. Otezla is the 1 prescribed pill to treat plaque psoriasis. It can help you get clearer skin. Dont use otezla if youre allergic to it. Serious allergic reactions can happen. Otezla may cause severe diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. Some people taking otezla had depression, suicidal thoughts, or weight loss. Upper respiratory tract infection and headache may occur. Live in the moment. Ask your doctor about otezla. With nurtec odt i can treat and prevent my Migraine Attacks all in one. Dont take if allergic to nurtec. Allergic reactions can occur even days after using. Most common side effects were nausea, indigestion and stomach pain. Talk to your doctor about nurtec today. tony hawk skating for over 45 years has taken a toll on my body. Talk to your doctor i take qunol turmeric because it helps with healthy joints and inflammation support. Why qunol . It has superior absorption compared to regular turmeric. Qunol. The brand i trust. Now to michigan where perhaps never before in president ial politics has a primary state been more revealing, even though the outcome isnt in doubt. Both joe biden and donald trump will almost certainly win todays michigan primary by large margins. But how many voters are turning out and where . That will provide early clues for november in one of just a handful of true battleground states. One more way in which this primary is different, the focus isnt on domestic policy but the war between israel and hamas. My National Security adviser tells me were close. Were close. Were not done yet. My hope is by next monday well have a ceasefire. The problem is that is unlikely to sway michigan voters unhappy with bidens unwavering support for michigan. Even the governor of michigan expects the uncommitted vote for the president to be, in her words, sizeable. The Open Question is whether biden can close the gap by the general election. Mike memoli is in michigan and peter baker is still with us. Robert, can we talk about the uncommitted society . Organizers for one of the groups who led this charge say their goal is 10,000 uncommitted votes. The Biden Campaigns says there were double that in 2012 and 2020 and both time democrats won. Thats the public argument. Privately a democratic close to biden told politico theyre freaking out about the uncommitted vote. How important is it really these numbers . What should we be watching for . Both things are true. We have to watch how many people voted in 2012 and 2016 and in 2020. In each of those primaries about 19 to 20,000 uncommitted voters took place in the primary. You want to see what number above that normal 20,000 and geographically where is it. We know Arab Americans are concentrated just outside detroit. When you look at bluer areas, do you see those uncommitted voters showing up there . This is a political problem for the white house that it has to watch. These numbers will be worth watches as well as to see how trump does against nikki haley. You have two nominees struggling within their own parties to figure out how to coalesce the full democratic or Republican Party on each side. Peter, Governor Whitmer was on morning joe and talked about what the Biden Campaign needs to do to win back those protest voters, if we want to call them that. Heres what she said. I think its going to be important that, you know, the administration continue to engage with leaders and individuals in the palestinian community, the muslim community, the arab american community, as well as the jewish community. Im hopeful that there will be a release of hostages and there will be an end to the violence that is playing out because it is personal for so many people in this state. It is raw and it is genuine pain that people are in. Peter, you were with the president when he was in new york yesterday when he said hes hoping for a ceasefire next week, all throw theres been pushback on that. Does that answer whitmers concern and is that what the campaign is counting on to win back support . I mean, it depends on the timing. The white house hoped they could have got a ceasefire in place and ended the fighting in gaza in early january. The hope was that would give them enough time toby summer and fall when people are focusing on the general election, the anger on the left would have dissipated to some extent and the focus would be on peace making and reconstruction and issues that would be more beneficial to President Biden in terms of reassembling his position. Prime minister netanyahu hasnt cooperated. Until the fighting stops, its going to be hard for President Biden to win back some of these voters, not just Arab Americans in michigan, but young voters. His imperative of getting the fighting to stop is the opposite of Prime Minister netanyahu who faces a moment of reckoning when the fighting does end. His interest politically is not to end the war any time soon. Mike, youve been talking to voters. Do they feel theyre being listened to . Reporter well, its so interesting because when you talk about this michigan primary, this is part of that new early window that democrats put into place, in part to highlight areas of