NBC News' Steve Kornacki joined Meet the Press Daily Thursday to break down the latest polling data showing that, no matter how you slice it, most Americans oppose the removal of President Donald Trump's Title 42 border rule.  Watch the conversation below: 

In a new ad out Thursday, Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams touts her business experience in a playful ad with her former business partner.

The ad begins with Abrams and Lara Hodgson, both co-founders of the invoice payment solutions company NowAccount, listing opposites about each other.

“Lara talks to anyone,” Abrams says.

“Stacey listens to everyone,” Hodgson says.

“Lara’s an independent,” Abrams quips.

“Stacey is a Democrat,” Hodgson responds.

“Lara’s more Star Wars,” Abrams says.

“Stacey's Star Trek,” Hodgson answers.

Eventually, the two discuss how they grew their company and how that experience would serve Abrams as governor.

“We built a company together to finance other small businesses,” Abrams says near the end of the ad. “That's how we're going to grow Georgia's economy,” she adds.

This is a new commercial in a long string of recent ads from Abrams as Georgia voters approach their primary elections in May. Though Abrams is running unopposed and is the de facto party nominee, she’s gearing up for a tough general election battle with the eventual Republican nominee. 

Plus, Abrams has a lot of money to spend while she waits for Gov. Brian Kemp and his opponent, former Georgia Sen. David Perdue, to duke it out in the Republican primary. 

Abrams hasn’t yet reported how much she raised in the first three months of 2022, but at the end of January her campaign had already raised $9.2 million since the beginning of December, when she announced she would run for governor.

Abrams has already spent over $4.4 million on ads, more than any other candidate running for governor, including Kemp, who has spent $1.5 million, and Perdue, who has spent $920,000.

This is the first ad to tout Abrams' business experience with an old partner. Her other commercials have focused on how she helped Georgia families after the last election and her community organizing during the pandemic.

Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., raised a whopping $13.6 million in the first three months of the year as he gears up for a competitive re-election race, his campaign announced Thursday. 

Warnock ended the first fundraising quarter on March 31 with $25.6 million in his campaign account. His campaign claimed Warnock’s haul broke the record for the most money a Senate candidate has raised in the first quarter of an election year. 

“From fighting to cap the cost of insulin and lower prices at the gas pump to pushing for student loan debt relief, Reverend Warnock's commitment to serving the people of Georgia continues to drive the biggest grassroots fundraising effort in any Senate race this cycle,” Warnock campaign manager Quentin Fulks said in a statement.

Warnock’s chief GOP opponent, former football star Herschel Walker, has not yet announced his first quarter fundraising numbers. But he has also proven to be a strong fundraiser, pulling in $5.3 million in the last three months of 2021. Fundraising reports are due to the Federal Election Commission on Friday. 

Although Warnock starts the race with a financial advantage, the Georgia race is still expected to be close. President Joe Biden won the state by less than half a percentage point in 2020, becoming the first Democratic presidential nominee to win Georgia since 1992. And Warnock won a special election runoff by 2 points. He’s now running for a full term.

The Cook Political Report rates the Georgia Senate race a Toss Up. 

A climate change advocacy group composed of scientists who are mothers is launching a $3 million ad campaign targeting voters in five key swing states on how they can personally take action on the issue.

The campaign – paid for by Science Moms, a nonpartisan climate group – will air in Arizona, Wisconsin, Georgia, North Carolina and Pennsylvania, and encourages viewers to reach out to their elected officials to urge them to “stop big polluters.”

The ads are designed to enable viewers who are frustrated with government inaction on climate change with a to-do list to take action on the issue themselves, the group’s leaders told NBC News.

“We’re speaking up and asking our leaders how they plan to stop big polluters because it’s time for our representatives to represent our interests, like you know, our kids having a future,” says Dr. Joellen Russell, a climate scientist at the University of Arizona and a founder of Science Moms, in one of the group’s ads.

The ads, shared first with NBC News, also urge viewers to swap out carbon burning cars and appliances for better, environment-friendly alternatives, and to share information about climate change with friends and family in-person and on social media. The ads will run across digital platforms and steaming services. 

Science Moms launched in 2021 as a $10 million educational campaign of Potential Energy – a nonprofit, nonpartisan coalition aiming to tackle climate change by targeting mothers.

The group has said it will be the largest climate change educational campaign since former vice president Al Gore’s $100 million effort around the issue in 2007.

The Democratic National Committee launched a new digital ad campaign Wednesday, targeting voters in swing states ahead of Tax Day.

The ads, which will run in North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Wisconsin, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Arizona and Nevada, will put a spotlight on a tax plan released earlier this year by Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., which could result in raising taxes for over half of Americans. 

The ads will appear in Google Search results when people in those states search for tax services. 

One ad says, “This Tax Day, don’t forget: Republicans want to raise YOUR taxes. Can you afford it? Millions of Americans could see a bigger tax bill if Republicans win control in DC.”

Scott, who is the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, Senate Republicans’ campaign arm, said he released the plan by himself, independent of his leadership role within the party. Still, in this ad campaign, the DNC is tagging Republicans in general with having a plan to raise taxes on voters.

The ad buy is part of a larger strategy heading into the fall midterm elections to highlight what Republicans could do if they took control of the House and Senate in November, a DNC aide told NBC News.

This isn’t the first digital ad campaign the committee has funded attacking Scott’s “plan to rescue America.” 

In February, the DNC targeted The Villages retirement community in Florida with digital ads highlighting Scott’s proposal. In March, they took over the homepage of the Louisville Courier Journal with ads telling viewers that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., planned to raise taxes and make health insurance more expensive.

McConnell and other Republicans have disavowed Scott’s proposal, with McConnell telling reporters, “We will not have as part of our agenda a bill that raises taxes on half the American people.”

White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain says the administration is facing challenges in getting their message out on the economy and other domestic issues at a time when the public’s focus is largely consumed by Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the continuing war.

“Obviously, what dominates the news, understandably, is the war in Ukraine," Klain told NBC News in an interview with the Chuck Toddcast.  "And I don't know how successful we were in getting all these domestic things … out to the American people to hear, given what's going on in Ukraine,” he said. 

But Klain promised a “robust” domestic agenda for the administration between now and the November midterm elections. 

“I think we have a robust agenda between now and November, that does include the reconciliation bill, but not only the reconciliation, but we need to get Covid Relief done,” Klain said. 

Listen to the full Chuck ToddCast: 

He also listed a litany of other priority items for Biden and his team, including a bipartisan innovation bill focused on creating jobs in various tech sectors, funding for access to mental health care, supporting cancer research and allocating more military aid to Ukraine.

“Congress has been very generous so far. But if it goes on, we're going to need more help, because these weapons are not free,” Klain told Todd.

Klain did, however, acknowledge the short time scale with which the administration has to work with before November’s elections.

“The point is that 2023 is next year, he said. “We need to deliver results for the American people this year. And this year really means you know, five remaining months, one of which is August, when very little gets done. And so we really have to move the key pieces of legislation left to be moved through the House and Senate with tempo.”

Democrat Cheri Beasley is launching her first TV ad of the North Carolina Senate race, highlighting her legal career as she focuses on the general election. 

“This is the road I used to take to the Fayetteville courthouse,” Beasley says as she drives a white S.U.V. in the ad, shared first with NBC News. 

“As a public defender, I represented North Carolinians who couldn’t afford a lawyer – because everyone has a right to representation, no matter who you are or where you’re from. As a judge and Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court, I led with a commitment to justice and integrity,” adds Beasley, the first Black woman to lead that state’s high court. 

“It’s the same approach I’ll take to the Senate, because Washington isn’t listening, and I’ll be a voice for all of North Carolina,” she says. 

The ad is part of a six-figure buy on statewide broadcast networks. Her spot is also a sign that Beasley is focused on introducing herself to general election voters as Republicans battle it out ahead of the May 17 primary. 

GOP Rep. Ted Budd, who has former President Donald Trump’s endorsement, and former Gov. McCrory are locked in a competitive primary, which also features former Rep. Mark Walker. If no candidate wins more than 30 percent of the vote, the primary will head to a July runoff. 

Beasley cleared the field on the Democratic side after posting strong fundraising numbers and racking up local endorsements. She raised more than $3.6 million in the first fundraising quarter of the year, her campaign announced last week. 

North Carolina has featured close, and expensive, races, but Republicans have found success in the Tar Heel State in recent election cycles. Trump won the state by 1 percentage point in 2020 as GOP Sen. Thom Tillis won re-election by 2 points, defeating Democrat Cal Cunningham, whose campaign was upended by allegations of an extramarital affair.

The Cook Political Report rates the North Carolina Senate race as Lean Republican. 

Oklahoma Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt is fighting back after coming under fire from a trio of political advocacy groups pouring money into ads attacking him for being "soft on crime," among other criticisms.  

Three groups — Conservative Voice of America, Sooner State Leadership Fund, and The Oklahoma Project — have spent over $3.5 million so far this year to run commercials against the incumbent governor, according to AdImpact, an ad tracking firm.

Two of the groups, Conservative Voice of America and Sooner State Leadership Fund, have hammered Stitt for his mass commutation of low level drug offenders in 2019 and have aired some particularly gruesome ads on the air, holding Stitt responsible for the release of one man who allegedly went on to kill three people after he was released.

Stitt finally addressed the attacks directly in his own commercial this week, accusing Conservative Voice of America of using an actor in their ads attacking him, rather than a real Oklahoma voter.

He’s also released three other ads since the beginning of March promoting himself, touting his success at building a budget surplus and cutting taxes while in office. So far, though, his ad spending has been no match for these "dark money" groups. Stitt has only spent $489,000 on ads in the race, according to AdImpact.

Conservative Voice of America and Sooner State Leadership Fund are organized as 501c4 social welfare organizations, which allows them to operate without disclosing their donors. That designation also allows such groups to only advocate for issues but not promote one candidate over another. 

Sooner State Leadership’s website lists former state Rep. Trebor Worthen as its founder. Worthen would not answer questions about its donors, but in emailed statements to NBC News, Worthen said, “We are funded by business and community leaders who care deeply about our future and wish to exercise their First Amendment rights to advocate for policy changes that Oklahoma needs and deserves.”

Worthen added that the group is, “dedicated to promoting issues we care about and encouraging strong leadership in Oklahoma.”

Conservative Voice of America did not answer multiple calls or emails from NBC News.

The Oklahoma Project is a political action committee, or PAC, and does disclose its donors. The group has so far spent almost $450,000 on ads against Stitt and appears to be funded mostly by small dollar donors. It appears to be left-leaning.

One major donor to the group is Oklahoma Forward, a PAC funded by Tulsa businessman George Krumme, according to OpenSecrets. According to FEC reports, Krumme has donated in previous cycles to Democratic groups and candidates, including to the Democratic National Committee, Sen. Raphael Warnock's, D-Ga., 2020 campaign for Senate and the Oklahoma Democratic Party. 

President Joe Biden’s administration has sought to blame the recent rise in costs, particularly at the gas pump, on Russia’s decision to invade Ukraine, branding the spike as “Putin’s price hike.” 

But he has a lot of convincing to do. 

Just 6 percent of Americans surveyed in the latest NBC News poll conducted in March blamed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine for inflation, which hit a 40-year high of 8.5 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced Tuesday. 

The largest portion of Americans surveyed in the poll — 38 percent — blamed Biden and his policies for rising costs, while 28 percent blamed the Covid pandemic and 23 percent blamed corporations.

The survey, conducted by the Democratic firm Hart Research Associates and the GOP firm Public Opinion Strategies, also found that more Americans listed “cost of living” as the most important issue facing the country. One-in-five Americans listed cost of living as the most important issue compared to 14 percent who said the same in the January survey. 

A majority of Americans — 62 percent — also said their family income was falling behind the cost of living, while 31 percent said their income was staying about even, and 6 percent said their income was going up faster than the cost of living. 

The NBC News poll was conducted March 18-22 of 1,000 adults — 750 of whom were reached by cellphone — and has an overall margin of error of plus-minus 3.1 percentage points. 

It's one of the most expensive campaigns in the nation and Dr. Mehmet Oz leads the ad spending in the Pennsylvania Senate race, having spent $9.6 million on the airwaves so far, according to the ad tracking firm AdImpact.

And this weekend, Oz received the endorsement of former President Donald Trump, whom he has compared himself to due to their status of outsiders and having been television stars.

In all, more than $43 million has already been spent on the race by candidates of both parties.

Oz is the top spender in this race, but an anti-Oz group called Honor Pennsylvania is close behind him, spending over $9.5 million already. Oz’s top opponent, former hedge fund manager David McCormick has spent just shy of $7.5 million.

The top spender on the Democratic side is Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, who has already spent over $3.3 million.

But, these dynamics could all change in the coming weeks. Through May 17, the date of the Pennsylvania primary, McCormick has reserved the most ad time – $2.7 million worth of it. 

Rep. Conor Lamb, who is running against Fetterman, takes the next biggest chunk, having reserved almost $2.5 million worth of commercial space on TV in the coming weeks.

Oz trails, having just over $1.8 million reserved, while Fetterman only has $675,000 booked so far.

However, Fetterman and Oz could reserve more ad time ahead of May 17, and Lamb and McCormick could decrease their buys before their ads air.