th senator mcconnell held a news conference. sen. mcconnell:. merry christmas, everyone. looks like it is getting close. i thought this would be a good time to sum up my view of the year. kentucky, i just got off the phone with the head of the red cross down there about what they are involved in, which is to make sure that everybody has a place to be. we think everybody is under a roof somewhere. i will be going down tomorrow and again on saturday to tour the sites and check with the first responders and the local officials to make sure they are getting everything they need from federal agencies. shifting now to the year. i think the big story of the year is inflation. one way to look at it is the four year inflation rate is like a tax of about $3500, compared to what things cost pre-pandemic. a $3500 increase in the price of everything we depend on. that is directly up to be able, as larry summers warned and repeated over and over again, to the 1.9 rescue package, that flooded the country with money. we thought it was a mistake. remember where we were, we had three vacci

mcconnell: good try. [laughter] >> democrats are having concern about the lasting of this expenditure held tax credit, part of the american muska plan. -- american rescue plan. [inaudible] sen. mcconnell: i can tell you for sure, i think it goes until january 15 and i'm sure there will be a debate about the enhanced portion of it. there have been concerns about lack of work requirements, for example. i think it will be discussed. we will see what happens when it gets to the cliff that is built into the bill. you already had one. i will come back in a minute. >> mr. leader, we have seen covid case numbers spike in recent days. here in d.c., there are 500 cases yesterday, tripling the case rate a month ago. if we continue to see this sort of rise, there is speculation that congress may need to step in with more aid in the public health realm, perhaps the economic realm. what is the appetite on your side for delivering additional covid aid should it be necessary? sen. mcconnell: let me tell you what i can te

do you think mcconnell heard these text messages? because the timing was certainly peculiar given that he was asked a question publicly about the january 6th committee, jesse, and he said i'm interested to see what comes out of this, and it was literally after cheney had read the text messages. do you think to a certain extent mcconnell felt as if the republican party had been caught with their pants down finally? >> well, i don't think -- i'd be shocked if he hasn't already seen or at least heard of those text messages. so i don't think it drove what he's doing. the only thing you can really trust mitch mcconnell to do is exactly what is expedient to him and the republican party at any given moment. we can all send him a christmas gift, card, for telling the truth and stating it the obvious right now, but the reality is, you know, he wasn't there when it counted. he's now trying to, you know, back pedal and talk about what we all already know. and what we need from him is actually to get his republicans in line to state the obvious.

another problem that frankly mccarthy and mcconnell are going to have, and mcconnell is just the more strategic player in all of this, is there's about to be a lot of republican primaries where some trump-endorsed candidates are going to lose, and if then they claim those elections are stolen and there will be a republican fight that is going to be relitigating in some ways 2020 where the election being stolen won't make a lot of sense in a lot of places. so i think mcconnell is setting the groundwork for that as well, and saying, no. our elections are fair. there is no lie, and so the republican primaries are going to move forward as well. >> meanwhile, yvette, you have this effort, actually this pretty strategic effort by trump to go after the people that stood up against him in challenging the election. >> mm-hmm. >> in 2020, not just the members of congress that voted to impeach him, but these officials, people like brad raffensperger and people repeating the lies about the election. >> retribution is classically trump, and it's his m.o. and his thing, and we're not surprised and

mcconnell: i think he has a pretty reasonable request. he is trying to get a vote on nordstream 2, and frequently, these tactics are used, i have used them occasionally, to get something you want that is not unreasonable. i think what senator cruz is trying to achieve is fine with me, i think it is not unreasonable. thanks a lot. s not unreasonable. thanks a l [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2021] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyl cable satellite corp. 2021] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its >> senator mcconnell is traveling around his home state of kentucky today to view the damage of last weekend's tornadoes. he will not be in the senate today for the 22 votes on executive judicial nominations that are planned in the chamber today. other senators are also not taking part. the first vote of the day, 80 senators cast votes. as always watch the senate

mcconnell held a 30 minute leader and tried to get him to buy into a debt ceiling deal. mccarthy informed mitch mcconnell the proposal wouldn't fly in the house and republicans would bail on the defense legislation according to a gop lawmaker who later heard about this conversation. our chief congressional correspondent manu raju joins us now. this is your reporting. it's an interesting relationship to borrow a phrase from a previous dynamic, who knew, it's complicated. >> reporter: it's playing out on the senate floor, the senate is going to vote on a fast track process to allow the debt ceiling to be increased on a simple majority threshold, a long way of saying there's a deal to default on the national borrowing limit, and who may cut that deal. mitch mcconnell worked behind the scenes with chuck schumer the democratic leader, and he tried to bring mccarthy in the fold as you noted there. mccarthy did not want to go in the initial plan, mcconnell and schumer worked on a separate plan to move this forward. mcconnell is in a different position, politically and also inst

don't ever question mcconnell. i worked with him. you don't want to mess with him. >> a republican explaining you don't want to mess with him, independent analysts say this is what he does. he certainly has had some winning. not every narrative lasts forever. in september, he was vows a big fight over the debt. he said republicans would simply not help democrats avoid default. he said his was willing toe court crisis. start a global financial crisis if need be. >> they will not get senate republicans' help with raising the debt limit. >> fact check -- false. democrats got help from republicans. mcconnell blinked, then many on the republican right were upset. trump said mcconnell folded -- this is what's oz interesting. he said, well, okay, i won't do it again. told biden when it came time to avoiding the next default, i will not provide such assistance again. well, that's not true. the tactition doubled down on something, and then blinked over the relatively arcane issue. they are going to raise it, supporting what

that's why mitch mcconnell is mitch mcconnell. he's done a really good job of beating back any potential people who are going to beat him in a leadership race. but what is worrisome for him is if this becomes a trumpian litmus test, there's races i n un the omicron variant expected today. we'll hear if current vaccines work when pitted against this new variant. >> plus, former minneapolis police officer derek chav sin set to appear in court. he's expected to plead guilty now to violating george floyd's civil rights. will that change his sentence. >>> and president biden on his way to kentucky to see firsthand the devastation from the deadly tornados there. we'll take you there live just ahead. ...so at at&t everyone gets our best deals. aren't others doing that? others say that, but not everyone gets the best deal. like what if i give you a lollipop... but then i give you our best lollipop. that's not fair. at at&t we think it's only fair that all customers get our best deals, and you get a choice of plans. she said everyone? it's

mcconnell is in the game. i think trump needs to be very mindful of how he goes after mitch mcconnell. >> the plot thickens, and we will keep a watch on it with both you guys, elise and kurt. thank you so much. >>> it is more bad news for donald trump, wikileaks founder julian assange getting much closer to being extradited to the u.s. our national security analyst will explain why he says trump better hope assange never sets foot on u.s. soil. firefighter maggie gronewald knows how to handle dry weather... ...and dry, cracked skin. new gold bond advanced healing ointment. restore healthy skin, with no sticky feeling. gold bond. champion your skin. want your clothes to smell freshly washed all day without heavy perfumes? with no sticky feeling. try new downy light in-wash scent beads. it has long-lasting light scent, no heavy perfumes, and no dyes. finally, a light scent that lasts all day. new downy light! i thought i was managing my moderate to severe crohn's disease. then i realized something was missing...

and right now the trump-mcconnell feud is starting to reach new heights. politico is reporting the former president has been lobbying to oust mcconnell from his leadership post. but only two candidates have said so and no sitting senators said they would do so. the grand total is zero. joining me now is a former republican congressman. he was republican but is no longer affiliated with the republican party. david, is mitch mcconnell sending signals there will be a criminal investigation at some point of donald trump for the insurrection? >> look, zerlina, i think mitch mcconnell hopes something takes down donald trump. the disdain from mitch mcconnell to donald trump is real, but let's not give the majority leader too much credit. he's still about a 6 or 7 on if mccarthy scale of bowing to donald trump when he needs to. this is a minority leader who would gladly accept hershel walker, dr. oz from jersey or pennsylvania or wherever he is if it would elevate mitch mcconnell to the majority in the u.s. senate. i think personally he would wish donald trump wou

briefly we'll hear from the house chaplain, later house speaker nancy pelosi, senator mitch mcconnell, senator schumer, and then president biden as well will speak before a benediction by the chaplain. joining us is david gergen, who served a good number of presidents during his time and i know encountered the senator in your work. i wonder in moments like this, it feels like we have a eulogy for the man but also the eulogy for a time in washington where folks like this were able to speak to each other and work together. >> yeah. that's such a good observation. bob dole was one of the last warriors of world war are ii and that generation remains revered through this day as setting the gold standard for how people ought to work with each other across the ail, how we're all americans, and as the saying goes, we all came in different ships but we're in the same boat now. >> in the same boat now. i agree, put it so well, a eulogy for the time that so much has changed. david, give us some of your observations, too, of the late senator bob dole, what it was like to engage with him and how o

i think mitch mcconnell hopes something takes down donald trump. the disdain from mitch mcconnell to donald trump is real, but let's not give the majority leader too much credit. he's still about a 6 or 7 on if mccarthy scale of bowing to donald trump when he needs to. this is a minority leader who would gladly accept hershel walker, dr. oz from jersey or pennsylvania or wherever he is if it would elevate mitch mcconnell to the majority in the u.s. senate. i think personally he would wish donald trump would go away. but politically, he's not going to be the one to get rid of donald trump. that's obvious of him having it both ways throughout the first years of donald trump and now throughout the years after. >> i love reality checks. they're really helpful. who do you think is more powerful among republicans now? do you think it's still donald trump? mitch mcconnell obviously has a lot of power over his caucus, but with them fighting, who's in charge? >> yeah. this is an interesting dynamic, zerlina. i confess having run for the u.s. senate, we had

we end on mcconnell. let's start on mcconnell and what he has said the piskt he has made essentially when it comes to this investigation which had a lot of folks scratching their heads wondering where is this coming from? saying this. it was a horrendous event and think what they are seeking to find out is something the public needs to know. this is something he said to spectrum news. what do you make, juanita, of this pivot we are seeing from the senator? >> i am stuck on the fact that now he thinks it's something the public needs to know after whipping republican votes against a bicameral commission, right? like he impeded that process and stopped it. he also didn't find it horrendous enough to convict trump during his second impeachment hearing about this. so i'm really confused about where this is coming from mitch mcconnell, especially when he is someone who knows how to say no comment when he doesn't want to talk about something. so i feel like this could be mcconnell being petty, trying to take dig

a tweet from litter mcconnell yesterday morning. president biden will be heading to -- a tweet from leader mcconnell yesterday morning. president biden will be heading to kentucky tomorrow. this from the floor recently. [video clip] >> i am working to ensure every resource possible is deployed to the state. kentucky's congressional legislation has sent multiple letters, and in response, president biden cut through the red tape to improve our request at an accelerated pace, providing rapid support we need to recover. i am especially grateful to the work of the dhs secretary and the fema administrator, who visited kentucky yesterday to survey damage and help relief efforts. fema has already sent two incident management teams and --, an urban search and rescue team, and an army corps temporary power team. they have turned to fort campbell into a staging ground for relief and supplies. i cannot be more grateful for their swift and decisive response to this crisis. even in the face of such tragedy, we can be confident that kentucky will

mitch mcconnell needs to stop bailing the democrats out. mitch mcconnell is breaking his word. mitch mcconnell is lying to every republican, and he is scheming with pelosi and schumer behind the scenes and he is giving them a lifeline when they totally, completely, have kept republicans out of the budgetary process. he gifted them with more time to raise the debt ceiling after two months of saying he wouldn't, giving them a window to pass build back better socialism. he promised he would never do it again, and guess what, mitch mcconnell, now ready to capitulate one more time. he just needs nine other senators to help him. lindsey graham tonight was furious. take a look. >> to the leadership on both sides, like you. senator mcconnell has been a great republican leader. minority leader, majority leader. but this is a moment where i want to be on the record to say, i don't like this. what we've done is allowed the house of representatives to change a senate rule. no matter what the subject matter, that's not a good idea. we set in place a process that allows our democratic collea

we know mcconnell and trump did not get along. mcconnell was grateful of what trump did. but, mcconnell we remember after the 6th quick to denounce the former president even though he had a sense that he would vote for him again. there is a suggestion here that he's trying to find and a little daylight and wedge issues as he looks towards 2022 and if hopefully he thinks become majority leader again. watching this committee, i am struck by how they're laying out their investigation in a very skillful way. they'll give you a couple more of mark meadows tidbits are provacative and unlike some of the impeachment hearing. i am curious helene, that you have a sense of this process is beginning to affect how the country as a whole is looking at january 6th. there was the initial horror and a partisan reaction, do you have any sense of a broader revulsion that's returning as people think about this. >> that's such a good question and i don't know. it's so hard to get -- i tend think that it's still pretty partisan. i think that and you talk about, can you believe it was a year ag

. >> mcconnell told him two things. he said first, i'm going to put out a statement that says we're going to fill the vacancy. second, he said you've got to nominate amy coney barrett. >> less than a year later, justice barrett appeared at an event at the mcconnell center at the university of louisville. that's right. the mcconnell center at the university of louisville. she told this to the ground. my goal today is to convince you this court is not comprised of a bunch of partisan hacks. now, where would anybody get an idea like that? never mind. the polls show that the majority of americans oppose overturning roe versus wade. opponents of roe have become the dogs who caught the car except in this case, they have no idea how to drive it. more like dogs playing poker at this point. if roe is struck down or gutted, other states will likely outlaw abortion. does anybody have a plan for how to enforce that? what can democrats say at this point? life's a mitch, i guess? but the harsh reality is that democrats have been outm

mitch mcconnell is the republican leader of the u.s. senate but on the issues that matter mitch mcconnell is an instrument of the left. mcconnell knew that tim helped organize donald trump's political rally in washington. there was nothing illegal about that. it's a constitutionally protected behavior. the partisan lunatics on the january 6th committee objected to this and mitch mcconnell took their side as he has from the beginning. he convinced the dole family to cancel tim's contract and he made sure the story made the "new york times" and knew this piece would destroy tim's life and it will. it will mean no more corporate clients and no more business and no more income for tim. even by mitch mcconnell's standards of viciousness, this was a cruel thing to do. it was crushing the weak on behalf of the strong and for no real reason but simply because he doesn't like trump. this is hardly something that mitch mcconnell has done something vicious. going forward we will tell you about it. why wouldn't we? if you wondered why there is a ma

minority leader mcconnell speaking on the floor and scolding you. have you ever talk to mcconnell about that moment in his decision to scold us as a female senator he's upset you were breaking some senate norm. >> guest: i was reading coretta scott kings letter back then the senate judiciary committee about jeff sessions when senate was debating whether or not jeff sessions a sitting senator should be confirmed as attorney general at the united states. no he's never said a word to me about it. we exchanged pleasantries but no. if you had a chance to sit down talk to him about that moment what would you say? >> guest: think about what i was trying to do. i was reading a letter that coretta scott king had written from the heart about jeff sessions talking about what it had been like when he had been the u.s. attorney in alabama. she talks about in this letter about how he frightened elderly black voters. how he bullied people. and how in her view he should not be entrusted with a federal judgeship which is what we were talking about at that moment. i

as a mcconnell watcher, sam, what's your bet on mcconnell? does he do the right thing? or does he join the gop nihilism caucus? >> i think they'll have a very small shut down. to suspect that joe biden would sign this government funding bill and restrict his ability to fight the pandemic is ludicrous, frankly. it won't happen. this seems to me to be traditional congressional the tricks. to throw stun saying look, we're going to stop all funding for the government unless you and these private mandates for vaccinations. it's hard to imagine that mcconnell can wrangled ten republicans to eventually see yes, will allow this bill to go through. >> so, sam, back up just one second. our closing seconds of the segment. you feel we will go to the brink and indeed, go officially to a shutdown period before pressure brings both sides together? >> yes, it's possible they cut a deal before then. it's not likely. but i would not be surprised, honestly, if we had 80 or two of the government shutdown after which everyone comes to their senses. >> great, thanks tonight to our starting l

here's what's going on with mcconnell. if mcconnell over the christmas break stumbled upon a magic lamp and a genie came out of the lamp and he had three wishes and no one would know he had those wishes. the first one would be to take stephen breyer's seat and be able to appoint another conservative to it. that's what he cares most about. the second thing he'd wish for is that donald trump would just go away. mitch mcconnell understands that what donald trump precipitated on january 6th was horrible. it was because of donald trump that the senate chamber that he so loves was breached. it was because of donald trump that he is not the majority leader right now. those two georgia senate seats were lost because of donald trump's actions between november and january 5th. in private there's no love lost. the problem is the thing mitch mcconnell cares about the very most, being majority leader, being able to appoint those judges, requires him to play ball with donald trump. if he was the one to push donald trump overboard, it wo

how serious is mcconnell? >> reporter: mcconnell remembers what happened when jim jeffords decided to caucus with the democrats and changed the 50/50 senate to the control of the democrats. he wants to see the same happen with manchin. they've sat down behind closed doors in mcconnell's office talking about a wide range of issues and undoubtedly this has come up. at the same time, mcconnell today dangled an incentive for joe manchin to break ranks with his party, saying come over to the republicans and you can still chair the senate energy committee. >> i've had the conversation with him off and on with him for a couple of years. >> would he get to keep his chairmanship of energy? >> that's something we've talked about. obviously he enjoys being chair of the committee, it's important to west virginia. >> reporter: it's unlikely manchin will become a republican. he supports the affordable care act, he opposes the 2017 republican tax law. he voted to convict donald trump twice in his impeachment trials. and he h

president joe biden and mitch mcconnell are among the speakers. senator dole served in the senate for 27 years, including 11 years as republican leader before leaving in 1996 to run for president. he passed away december 5, 2021. this is an hour and 20 minutes. >> ten hut. >> march. march. march. >> present arms. >> ready, step. >> present arms. ready, step. ready, step. ready, step. ready, step. ready, step. ready, step. ready, step. ready, step, ready, step. ready, step. ready, step. ready, step. ready, step. ready, step. ready, step. ready, step. ready, step. ready, step. ready, step. ready, step. ready, step. ready, step. ready, step. ready, step. ready, step. ready, step. ready, step. ready, step. ready, step. ready, step. ready, step. ready, step. ready, step. ready, step. ready, step. ready, step. ready, step. >> forward, march. >> forward. forward, march. >> ladies and gentlemen, please rise. >> forward, march. >> ladies and gentlemen, please remain standing for the invocation delivered by house chaplain margaret grun kibben. chaplain kibb

i guess mitch mcconnell was a slow stone, slows down, slows down. the country needs is the country is behind it. it's one of those things that is so interesting to me. all this talk about labels and the progressives and so on. but the truth is that progressive rescue package that joe biden led in congress passed, it's really popular. and the pieces of the infrastructure plan and the childcare plan, and a wealth tax those things are really, really popular as well. so it seems to me the folks who are out of step here are the elected republicans in washington not republicans across the nation but the guys in washington. and joe biden, my job as a senator his job as president to do the things the american people need us to do and want us to do. and do it now. so what i was running of time from one last question for you. that comes from my father spoke closely over there he was struck as many americans were the first watch having. [inaudible] , hundreds and hundreds of people thousands of people did he ever nip anybody question expect note not bailey. i

what mitch mcconnell has done is incredible. he gave away our biggest and strongest bargaining chip. we could have gotten rid of the build back worse bill as i call it and that is what it is, we could have won everything and he gave up. the best chip that we had. it's not even the debt ceiling ship. it's not even believable what he did and he ought to be replaced as the leader. he leads by handing out campaign contributions to senators. what he did by giving up on the debt ceiling and by the way i know plenty of democrats, the democrats cannot believe they got it and he got nothing for it. he would have been able to absolutely kill that. now they are going to use it for the supreme court and even worse than that they are going to use it for the voting rights which is a disaster for our country and disaster for the republican party. laura: i don't think that's going to pass but arizona and west virginia, your message to the voters in both states because kristen sinema seemed a little stronger on the spending side of things than j

mcconnell doesn't even mention his name. what does this tell us about how they view their party's future? >> yeah. we talked about this a little bit earlier, but it's the party -- the party is following the voters or where at least the activists are. you could see mccarthy and mcconnell sort of jumping to the beginning of the parade thinking they were going to lead the rest of the party, including the voters down that path, right? we cannot -- this is not acceptable. we cannot accept this from the president of the united states, even someone that we really like, like donald trump. they look backwards and they realize, wait, no one is behind us. guess this isn't going to work. everything has sort of gone from there. so, my expectation is -- or i think the expectation was that, one, that was going to happen. it didn't. before that, before january 6th, it was that trump was going to lose by a significant margin, that would help sort of break the spell as it were about donald trump. that didn't happen either. so now they see whe

it's not even that mcconnell was saying we're not doing it right now. then there's the issue of the environment we're in, because joe biden is presiding over an economic rebound in some ways. the jobs growth is better, the stimulus spending is out there. but there are a lot of problems, including inflation, including what i was just discussing with the cdc chief about the risks with covid. and so it may be that america looks like it's in a rough place going into next fall, that's entirely possible. that goes to what some republicans have been caught saying not on the record, which is just maybe root for chaos and do nothing. here is republican congressman -- this was a leaked video. take a listen. >> i don't vote for anything in the house of representatives right now. 18 more months of chaos and the inability to get stuff done, that's what we want. >> chaos, that's what they want. >> yeah, and it's always been a party that is very focused on what they're against but not really what they're for. we're seeing it even encapsulated in the abortion debate th

senator mcconnell has been on a tour of the damage. met him there. my dad and i looked at some of the storm damage there. talked to the mayor and police chief and folks working to rebuild the town. it looked like there was a lot of stuff there. the donations of things, basic living necessities have been overwhelming. the things i heard yesterday was financial resources. there's a lot of portals to donate money, but also attention. there was a lot of talk in town yesterday when the storms happen, we pay attention for a few days and then look away to something else. when you look at the devastation, you realize we're going to have to pay attention to this for years. that's how long it will take this town to rebuild. mcconnell and the mayor and other folks yesterday were talking about not looking away from dawson or mayfield or the other little towns. they need our help today but also six months from today, a year from today and so on. >> that's a good point. we cannot forget. and we've got you to nudge us a bit if you think we're slacking on that end.

mcconnell, how this guy can stay as leader is beyond comprehension. this is coming not only from me, but virtually everyone in the republican party, trump wrote on thursday. he is a disaster and should be replaced as, quote, leader, asap oh, coming from everyone in the republican party? well it is coming from trump and friends. attack have been amplified by fox news hosts tucker carlson and sean hannity who have gone after mcconnell on the air. a show, announcing would go on regularly highlighting problem against mcconnell. but inside the capitol, conservative senators shrug the question, revealing a lack of appetite even among the gop's antiestablishment wing and continued support for mcconnell as a leader. antimcconnell sentiment has yet to become a dominant theme on the campaign tread ahead of 2022 elections. republican campaign staffers said only candidates received one or two questions about mcconnell. like i said, it's just impotence. irrelevance. impotence. political impotence. can't sell seats. his endorsed candidates lose. his demands to thro

senator mcconnell: on april 14 1969, senator bob dole delivered his first floor speech. he said, quote, the task ahead is monumental. and this was before bob knew he'd end up leading a conference of 53 senators. years later, after he had become leader, bob described his senate management challenges with his trademark wit. if i'd known he said we were going to win control of the senate, we'd run better candidates. [laughter] i swear, bob could have made it as a stand-up comic. but in that speech, bob was earnest. he was already championing a signature cause, helping americans with disabilities. the task ahead is monumental, he said. but i'm confident there are forces in america ready and willing to meet the challenge. bob dole himself was certainly proof of that. that made yerch speech came 24 years to the date that he sustained his combat wounds in italy. bob had already risen to a monumental task. he'd taken the fight to the nazis, and he nearly paid for it with his life. through all his decades in public service, bob dole knew exactly where he came from. a son of dust

or will he be convinced by the pitch from leader mcconnell? >> mike: it's interesting you asked about senator john thune. thune could be the next republican leader after mcconnell familiar -- but if he retires that hurts them on the hill. the secret service said billion dollars have been stolen from the covid relief funs. >> sandra: and mexican cartels and the rise of drug production south of the border and much is thanks to china. brandon judge joins us next. veteran homeowners. while some banks and lenders are raising their rates newday is holding the line with their two and a quarter refi. that's 2.25%, with an apr of 2.48. this is their lowest rate in history. the newday two and a quarter refi can cut thousands of dollars off your mortgage payments. there's no money out of pocket and no up front costs. lock in your rate. small businesses like yours make gift-giving possible. now, comcast business has an exclusive gift for you. introducing the gift of savings sale. for a limited time, ask how to get a great deal for your business. and get u

amid all the stonewalling even mitch mcconnell now says the investigation into how the u.s. capitol was invaded just might be worth while. joining me now is the assistant professor in u.s. history at the university of chicago, and author of "bring the war home" the white power movement and parliament military america. professor, thank you first of all for joining us tonight. we wanted to have you on for sometime so you can illustrate the link between what happened on january 6th and the documented growth of white supremacist terrorist groups and activity in america certainly since 2016. but before i get to that in ernest, i want to start with the premise many of us saw in that "the washington post" op-ed this weekend. three retired military generals all saying we saw an attempted coup in january and bad as it was it was practice for 2024. your response, professor? >> this is an alarming editorial for anyone. i think regardless of your politics when we have commanding generals sounding the alarm about problems in the chain of command, about infiltration of armed services by m

that was mcconnell back in may. yet today, maybe coincidentally on the heels of those dramatic revelations revealed this week from the select committee thanks to documents, especially those text messages turned over by exwhite house chief of staff mark meadows mccanals is saying something different quote, it was a horrendous event, and i think what they are seeking to find out is something the public needs to know. this stands in stark contrast to his counterpart in the house, top return kevin mccarthy working to undermine the investigation including by threatening companies that comply with the probe. but the committee'swork is proceeding undeterred. today roger stone appeared for a deposition. he attended the rallies on january 5th and 6th and used members of the oath keepers as his security guards. at least one has been charged in connection with the january 6th attack. stone tell reporters today he invoked the 5th amendment for every question asked of him by the january 6th committee. the progress of the january

host: what you make of senator mitch mcconnell's move to agree with democrats on a one time vote to avoid the filibuster that would allow democrats to raise the debt limit with a simple majority? guest: first, i will note that leader mcconnell has a long history of saying the federal government should not default on debt. that we need to address the debt limit. the consequences of not doing so are catastrophic for the u.s. and global economy more generally. in that sense, the fact there was some sort of deal reached is not surprising to me. since the way or the form of the deal, this one-time exception to the filibuster for this measure to increase the debt limit, was a history of these kinds of procedures in congress. there are other times when congress has come together and said we will carve out specific pieces of legislation from the filibuster and often we have seen that happen when one or both parties are trying to avoid blame, trying to keep their fingerprints off of something that they see as unpopular, and a special procedural maneuver they think and help them. even in that histo

on this, did mitch mcconnell give up leverage ? >> let's keep in mind the debt ceiling is in a such devastating position because democrats have spent trillions already on things like, that $1.9 trillion spending bill that had nothing to do with covid but bailing out failed states and giving people money not to work. when donald trump was president, there were three different budget cap and spending and debt cap agreements that were reached between trump and speaker pelosi. you had a time when republicans and democrats work together to determine whether the spending caps we should have to control spending in washington and deal with the debt that goes with it? that has happened at all this year, democrats have been on a reckless spending spree, and not once have they sat with republicans to do with the debt that they are wrecking up. families know this every day, because if they are maxing out their credit card, they do not just apply for more and send a bill to their kids, they figure out how to put a limit on spending. that hasn't

i mean, mcconnell said -- this all started over the summer when mitch mcconnell said democrats have to raise the debt ceiling on their own. >> right. >> they decided to not do it in reconciliation, the fast track process. and mcconnell's hands were tied. and he was forced to blink. and that's the reality because mcconnell's not going to let the nation default on its debt. we've now seen that twice. so, the only other alternative is for him to participate in the process. and some of the anger that senate republicans have at mcconnell is that he said he wasn't going to do this thing that he ultimately did. but in mcconnell's mind, he wants to keep the attention on democrats, on what he thinks is their precarious political position and their large spending plans. we'll see how that all sorts out in the midterm election. but that's kind of the political dynamic here. and what's impressive, if there's anything you could take out of this, what's impressive is that mcconnell could get 15, 14 people to do this, to facilitate this process to raise the debt ceiling basically on a dime. that is i

i've worked with mitch mcconnell and find him to be a very nice man. i think the book is still, i'm very anxious to see if we can -- he won't taking directions from bush and i hope the next two years be better than the last two. >> 20 think our prospects are politically. the conventional wisdom is that we are going to pick up seats. >> i don't know how many, at least three or four. we are competitive in at least 11 seats around the country. we could get lucky. the reason i find this all important is i know barack obama. i know his intellect, his intelligence, his ability to make good decisions. when he was a brand-new senator, this young man i could see him i said he is going to be the person to do this and he did it well. john mccain does not have the temperament to be president. he is wrong on the economy and he votes with bush 95% of the time. >> you close your book on page 288 and 289 by this very simple ending to a wonderful story. my faith is best summarized in an inscription which the jews had from the nazis which is i believe in the sun even wh

so people kind of blamed reid retroactively for his change that allowed mitch mcconnell to change it, which i think is dumb because the universe in which mitch mcconnell does not bend to give neil gorsuch and kavanaugh on the court simply doesn't exist. reid prestruck by changing the filibuster for court appointments. and, as you say, that is why biden and as a first-year president, has appointed more lower court justices in his first year than any other president in american history other than george washington. so, there you go. >> linda, reid obviously had a very, very long career in washington, was really like a creature of the u.s. senate in the way that fewer and fewer politicians are. i don't know if it's a good thing or bad thing. although one thing i have learned about covering the senate is knowing how the senate works confers a lot of power. and actually not a lot of senators do. harry reid and mitch mcconnell, for instance, are two people that really understand how the senate works at a deep and granular level. that really does give you an edge. >> my favorite harry reid q

so mitch mcconnell has been on both sides of the argument here. but i'll take it. i'll take it. we do need reliable accounting of what happened from january 6th. if he is willing to say he is watching closely, it helps. >> you know who else may be surprised? donald trump. cnn has reporting that trump is annoyed with meadows and was blind-sided by his book and the materials he handed over. he writes a book where he makes all kinds of revelations and also hands over all kinds of documents and trump is surprised. >> apparently mark meadows is surprised that trump was upset by it. this is a man who demands ultimate loyalty from everyone. nobody knows that more than mark meadows, who sat by his side throughout january 6th. one thing we don't know is whether mark meadows took to heart the pleas from donald trump's son, laura ingraham, sean hannity and tried to make the case for trump. there is still a lot we need to learn about mark meadows. why would he be surprised that donald trump is displeased? >> i wonder what meadows thought was going to happen? i don't see a clear strategy her

meanwhile, minority leader mitch mcconnell seeing an advantage here. he says, there may be some incentives on the table. mcconnell has been talking about manchin switching parties for years. might we see that happen now? >> reporter: there is no indication it's going to happen, but manchin is always careful how he is wording and dealing with this, saying he's a democrat for now, and he hopes there are democrats with him that view politics around the country as he does, and if there's not, perhaps something could dcome down the line. he always leaves the door open to some sort of change. what he has floated in the past is if he were to leave the democratic party, he would still be some kind of speaker and not upset the balance. joe manchin and mcconnell saying essentially the white house has called him a liar, the most important vote in the senate and saying manchin would be welcomed in the senate republican conference. earlier today mcconnell also tried to sweeten the offer if manchin decided to move over, suggesting manchin would still be able to resu