If it's Monday, voters are fired up. Our new NBC News poll shows interest in the midterms is higher than it's ever been.

With early voting now in full swing in many of the most critical states, Americans are eager to cast their ballots, but they're as angry and polarized as ever.

Plus, it's still the economy. Jobs and cost of living are top of mind for voters in our

poll. What does it all mean for the midterms? And the U.S. and NATO reject Russia's claim that

Ukraine is planning to use a dirty bomb, fueling new fears of just how far Russia is willing to go

eight months into the war.

Welcome to meet the press now. I'm Kristen Welker. We are just 15 days out from the 2022 midterm elections, if you can

believe it, and voters are voting as we speak. Early voting is now underway in 31 states.

And data from our partners at Target Smart shows that more than seven and a half million votes have

already, voters have already cast their ballots. Now, according to our new NBC

news poll, voter interest is at an all-time high with a majority of Americans saying,

these congressional elections are more important than past midterms. And our poll shows voters

are both energized and polarized right now with voters in both parties, seeing the other

side as an existential threat

to the country. Take a look at some of these figures. 81% of Democrats and 79% of Republicans

said they believe the political opposition poses a threat that if not stopped, will destroy

America as we know it. And for the third straight time in our poll, voters say threats to democracy are the most

important issue facing the country.

President Biden tried to fire up Democrats at the DNC headquarters today.

But we just have 15 days until one of the most important elections in our lifetime.

And it's going to shape the way this country looks like

for the coming decade, for real. Everybody wants to make it a referendum, but it's a choice

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