our next guest is v nyack with the center for american progress action fund.

he serves as their president. guest: good to be here. host: little bit about the fund. tell people what it is. guest: it is a our mission is simple, which is to improve the lives of all americans. we celebrated our 20th anniversary this year,successesd of, in -- including americans. plato huge role in the passage of the american character and defense of it. we work on a suite of issues from national security, edation, dem reforms, and proud of what we have done, andll. host: when it comes to this time of year politically, up to a presidential nominating contest, what was the action fund involved with? guest: we do a range of things. the communications

inastructure has changed a lot in the laswe invest a lot in meg research, trying to understand where voters are at, how to talk to voters, a kind of messages an we have a huge digital communications on what is called the organot just paying to put t in front of voters, but actually create content that gets shared organically and working with a lot of our partners in the progressive space to do that. finding americans' whose lives ha policies and have something to lose by, often, conservative or republican policies. also the core operation involves a lot of policy thinkers, so we can do a lot of really pfuanalysis on the impacts of policies, both for the good and bad. host: on the idea of messaging and storytelling, what was the

messaging and storytelling out of iowa yesterday? guest: i think it is pretty clea the one that has been playing out for several years, and they think really hard to deny, which is has taken over the republican party. i think it is it -- it is as simple as that. have this faction donald trump has l, not only at the elected r level, but that base of voters has grown. it is this extreme faction that now actually runs the republican party. i think the largest take away from last night is how much that is sort of the party is, and caucuses are really theyou are asking peoplee out at a specific tand it is much more of aen is. i think that is sort of the largest take away here. that is something we have known for a while. there was this sense that after

nu republicans sort of got rejected in the midterms in 2022, that the party my chart a different course. last night was a reminder they haven't. this is just who they are. host: was it the number that donald trump won by yesterday? guest: it is a few things. yes, the horse race side of th hand donald trump was the incumbent. he has been president. ■mhe in 2020 unopposed, so from the perspective of an incumbent it was a pretty poor showing to only get half the vote. from the perspective of an open primary race, which it -- which is how most of the media treated it, it is an impressive victory. but this is not a guy whwahe wa,

and continue to be in the political conver. with a grain t some of the telltale signs of maga work revealed there, which is had two thirds of the people who caucused yesterdayo not believe joe biden wons@ in 2020. that is a very extreme view in america, to continue to believe that joe biden did not win legitimately in 2020. you have two thirds that think that, even if donald trump were convicted of a crime. so, a court of law has that he has conducted crimes. two thirds say he would still be fit for president. and then you have 60%, i think, support a ban on abortion. stripping away a fundamental right women■us. also the revealing of where the base of the republin party is

today. host: what does that mean for president biden as he goes on with his reelection campaign? guest: i think a lot of where they started to draw of this sie the election has sort of officially begun, is, this is not a traditional election choice between two parties. this is going to become framed as a choice between these maga lieve in what has made america america, which is the notion that ppl decide. that power resides with the people and we are a democracy. in which the way we decide elections is not through political violence, but through casting ballots. in the majority decides. that task ahead of joe biden and progressivesnight that anti-maga coalition, which includes republicans, independents, and democrats.

one of the telltale signs from and seltzer, nbc news, and others over the weekend percent of nikki haley's voters say they would vote for joe biden. in 25% of people who said they were going to caucus said they would vote for someone other than try. now a minority in the republican party, but there is this faction of voters who did no wants to take the country. i think that is going to be an important part of the conversation. just looking back at the threats donald trump posed leaving a violent insurrection, stripping away the right to abortion,goin. i think that is going to be an important part of the conversation. host: if you want to talk to him about the results in iowa you can do that on the lines. (202) 748-8000 free democrats. for republicans.

. it was nikki haley yesterday talking about not only her campaign, but also how it contrasted with president trump and president biden. listen to what she had to say and get your response. >> our campaign is the last best hope of stopping the trump-biden night air. [applause] but it is more than that. ■hrebl have lost the popular vote in seven of the ntial elections. that is nothing to be proud of. we should earn the support of a majority of americans. [applause] all of the evidence says that if trump-biden rematch it is going to be another tossup election. it could go either way. we could have more disputes over

election interference. joe biden could win a game. --in a game. with kamala harris waiting in the wings. lord help us if that happens. and then look at what happens when i -- when i go head-to-head against biden. [cheering] [applause] we win in a landslide. it is not even close. that means no recounts, no lawsuits, and no doubts. host: again, that is nikki haley. guest: i heard a few things that were revealing there. she is making a that is, the republican party has become a minority area minor

itarian party. so, it really has be minoriard donald trump is fine h that. he doesn'ided by the majority. he only believes rightéi now tht the only elections that are legitimate are the ones that he wins. i think what is scary about that, he is not the only one that belies that anymore in the republican party. the second thing that i doin thi wanted to call it out, she graciously, as candidates do, acknowledged trump's win and congratulated him. i thought was rlingbo■q you coun drop when she did that. normally even up against each o, normally they are in the same party, you would hear people applaud politely, he won. it was so quiet.

theevularly among her supporters when she sort of acknowledged trump's win was revealing.9[ s to me the big question here really, not only for elected officials and voters, is, is power more important than, sort of, the country checkup -- the country? maintaining our core rights? a lot of people went along with donald trump because they were more interested in winning political power, which is really all that maga cares about. that same■ question that is goig to be posed to voters is, is the important than the country? host: we have callers lined up. sheila starts us off in ohio. the line for democrats. your first out. go ahead. caller:oo wondered -- this is a procedural if colorado or maine

or somebody kicked trump off the ballot, couldn't the republican party still nominate trump at the convention? youp6 know, a couple of death threats, you see how trump has a tight hold the congressmen and senators, the gop. it just seems like if they are a party couldn't they overcome that, and shouldn't he make sure he stays on the ballot somehow? thank you so much. guest:ent things that i think are important. when is this challenge happening at the state level where in colorado you have the supreme court decide that donaldbecauseo be on the ballot in maine the decision was made by the secretary of state, all of this looks like it is heading to the supreme court, obviously. i think most expectecide on the

removed from the ballot, given that he was involved in an insurrection. i think that is involved in a question you raised with your last guest which is, we have this nominating process, but the actual nominating process happens at the convention in july and when trump officially becomes the republican nominee. i still think it is unlikely, given where the republican party is today, with the is, where the core of the base is, that anything different happens therthat is a long time away. trump could easily be convicted of multiple crimes by then. still hard to imagine given what wehave seen for the last year, sort of the party rallying around him. but that iscomes the official nominee. host: you don't think it would

slow his progress? guest: the convention or the court cases? host: the conviction. guest: i think they could. i think they could with the general electorate. would it slowain, you should ben unfolding for 40 years now, but donald trump lost the election in 2020. that was a violent insurrection that led to 150 police officers being injured, six!jying. it was before the supreme court stripped away the right tan abortion in this country. so, i do think for the general election population he is actually going tbelar. i am happy to talk through some of the polling at some point, base it has made him only more popular. i think in terms of the nomination he is likely to continue to be the nominee. host: talking about pulling in popularity. you have seen the averaoval fore

biden, and those numbers of disapproval. you think of those numbers, and does it show problems for president biden's freelection campaign? guest: there are two reasons driving that. one is, americans have heard very little about what president biden has accomplished, which is disheartening in should be functioning in a democracy, people have -- having access to the same kinds of information. president■t historical measures, had two of the most productive years, particularly when it class, passing the infrastructure buildout is going to create millions of jobs, rebuilding our manufacturing capacity in this country with chips, clean energy, semi conductors. really, really exciting investments that are happening, and not ju in the midwest. parts of the country we have

seen all that out. -- hollowed out. he has taken the fight to the pharmaceutical companies for the first time. medicare will be allowed to negotiate the cost of prescription drugs. you were going to see costs seniors co dhe is the first preo take on the pharmaceutical companies and win that battle. there is a lot of great stories. americans have not seen thoseh; things. for a lot of americans prices about the economy, or in thisk l casei think it is a proxy of or whether they are feeling better in their own lives. president spinning a lot of time touting what he has got done, and what he wants to do to build the middle-class, lower costs by standing up to corporate greed. macon's understand one of the reasons their costs are up was inflation, but that the other

big driver of this is that corporations are making record profitally high. and at the end of the day the average american only cares how much they paid more work to do. a lot of great signs for president biden on that front, and for americans, which is that wages continue to rise higher than inflation. we are starting to see a lot of costs, including gas, come down. i think we are going to continue to see good times, but still a e for people hearing about these things. host: this is j line. good morning. caller: good morning. yes, mr. nayak, derogatory. that is make america great again. bidenin the toilet. in every single spectrum you

could think of. number one, there was not an insurrection. who has been accusedif presidenn rridection, do youhink he would request 10,000 to 20,000 troops from the national guard on the day of his rally? do you really think hepatrioticl and make your voices heard a checkup does that sound like somebody who wants an insurrection? if i was going to rob a bank on thursday am i goinghe police on monday and say, you had better show up because i'm going to rob a bank? you said that biden's cognitive decline is a perception? a perception? the man can't complete a sentence. host:do you have a direct questn

for our guest or would you like to express that? caller: my direct question is, why are you lying to everybody? just like the mainstream media, all of the media. newspapers, everything. 97% of them are democrats. host:■ we will leave it there ad let our guest respond. guest: i wouldouple of is the challenge for that narrative when it comes to january 6 that is, we all watched it with our own eyes. i remember turning on the television set thatbeing in disf that this was happening in america. that you had a of maga supporters storming the capital, beatoporrifying. and with a very clear goal. they were trying to prevent the peaceful transfer of power. there is a reason they showed up

on that day. it was not a random day. he was the day with the house and senate were voting to certify the election. this is important, because tre are other actors in the maga coalition responsible. they showed up because josh harley -- josh hawley, ted cruz made clear they believed in the lies that the election wstolen,o challenge the election. that they were going to try to election. it gave these protesters who believed the lies donald trump and others had been telling. the second thing is, there has been a lot of investigations by doj. there are over 900 people who lty anbeen convicted. all sorts of crimes. the record there is really clear. the point i was going to make is evidence has now come forward of what

republican leaders actually thought during thosethey were h. they were calling donald trump, urging him to do something, and he refused. i think for a lot of people that was sort of the breaking point his culpability really kind of sort through the roof,■ which is not just that he assembled the crowd, told him it was going to be wild, sent them to the capitol knowing they were armed. but that while they were involved in this violence he sat on his hands. let america be attacked and did nothing. that is sort of where the majority of americans feel very uncomfortable with maga's willingness to commit violence to win elections. ■ayo turn's hear down your television, please.

i'm going to put you on hold. let's hear from carl. carl iar caller: hello. thanks for getting me on. my first question for this man here is, are you a democrat? do you consider yourself a democrat or aíí■@ republican, an independent, or nothing? now, you have all of the opinions -- you lied right off the hand they are talking about january 6. you said they were armed. there were not armed. not a single person■j armed -- s the police officer that executed this -- ms. babbit. they probably destroyed the film of that, which the january anyt.

and let's go back to president u+■trump. like the lady before said, he asked them to peacefully and orderly go to the capitol and make their voices be heard, which is -- and also another thing. he actually tried toonal guard . and nancy pelosi, the so-called democrats -- which, i do not call them democrats's, going by their actions. host: do you have a direct question for our guest? caller: our first question was, does he consider himself a democrat, republican, or independent? guest: the organization i work for is nonpartisan. that immigrants oftenter-left$a align themselves with.

i'm not uncomfortable saying that personally i am a democrat, but i think the thing that is reflected there by two republican collars we have is how much they sort of, you know, have is that donald trump has no culpability, that there is no accountability for anything. the one thing i'm fairly confident in is that if barack obama or joe■ biden, god for bi, had assembled a crowd that had rcement since 9/11 -- and we had seen windows smashed in the capital, and, you know, police officers and authorities di not feel like there was no accountability that should be had there. and that kind of how there is ts small wing of the country -- and it still is a minority, which we have to take heart in -- that they have believed this alternativt ise

stefanik, wh house caucus, two weeks ago said these people who had committed these crimes on january 6 were hostages. right? she was trying to turn the tabl, suggesting thato not onlyn political violence and have now been convicted of crimes, right? more than 900 people have either pled guilty or been convicted of crimes. she sort of -- views them as patriots and hostages, somehow. that is a warped view for the vast majority of americans. whether thxkere majority turns t is the challenge, to make sure we continue to have people who stand up to this extremism, this willingness to commit political violence. host: you were director of op for hillary clinton's campaign. on the larger issue you talked about president biden's approval ratings. which of the campaign do as far

as messaging is concerned, to communicate a different message there? guest: there is a few different things. oneons environment is so much more fractured that a lot of people can live in their own bubble. i think a couple of the last collars reinforce that idea, that you can sort of have a vision of reality, and be really shielded from a lot of information that is obvious to the vast majority of americans. as more americans start to pay attention to the election that will actually be a real benefit to the biden campaign. i think that is one dynamic that will keep shifting. but i think it was madeleat theo pieces to this. one is this notion trights and e in this country. both in the freedom to vote, the freedom, obviously, for women to have control over their own bodies in the doctor's office. and conversation they are going to drive his

being focused on building this middle class in thisountry. joe biden is -- everything he has done, the investments he has made, the fights he has taken on what pharmaceutical■& -- on what pharmaceutical companies havebee class in this country. that is how we grow a strong economy in this country. i think you will see them contrasting really starkly with donald trump's, you know, focus on helping the wealthy. his biggest accomplishment when he was president camino, even trump would mit huge $2 trilliot disproportionately benefited corporations, disproportionately benefited the wealthy, and had and average americans. i think you will see that story in the next nine months. host: i want to show you a headline from politico.

talks about jim clyburn talking about his concerns over biden's reelection campaign, among possibly losing african-american voters. some are andeoat is the reaction? guest: i think we have to take it seriously. the stakes in this election are so grave and critical that, you +■l i don't get over-concerned in the sense that the skies falling and donald trump is going to win. there are nine months to remind americans what the stakes are and communicate to them not only what joe biden has gotten done, but just as ita what joe biden and democrats want to do going forward, right? they have to continue to paint this looks like under a biden-harris administration in a second term. i think you are going to see a lot of that rollout in the next several months, of setting up priorities of whatheto restore t

have been taken away,contrast ty with what maga have done in the past, but things could get a lot worse, right? there is a real threat of a national ban on abortion. to this point the courts have stripped away that right, but ththee republan wants to passing national -- once to pass a national ban on abortion. there is a lot of risk about what america looks like under a second trump. our guest is navin nayak. wem terry in california. democrats lineyou are up next. caller: good morning, mr. nayak. i totally agree with what you are saying. first and foremost, the one country is that we bring back the law, or

-- business, i'm so sorry. i'm so nervous. we need to bring back the fairness doctrine in media. because a lot of this misreportings comiand if peopley stop and look -- i mean, we all sawh happened on january 6. they had a hangman's noose out there. how could you say that was peaceful? people ran for their lives. they are all trying to rewrite history. the other thing i want to bring out is, make america great again, or maga. get a lawyer. has done nothing but increase our costs. the fact that procter & gamble plays less in a percentage of taxes than i do as an individual is frightening. would see that because

of theax■j them, that is continuing to drive up our deficit. because we as an individual worker cannot pay back all of the percentages that this man has given procter & gamble, coca-cola, all of these large corporations. the other thing, cognitive decle it. the current, or former, president, he thinks he is running against obama. there is something wrong with that. obama was, what, 2008, 2016? host: caller, thanks. put a lot out there for our guest. we will let him respond. guest: thank you for the call. you know, trump sof campaigned as a populist. may forget this, but in 2016 he grand promises that he was going to raise taxes on the wealthy, he promised he was going to stand up to the pharmaceutical companies.

]pt only did that not happen, the opposite happened, r■he actr corporationsge corporate tax rah sent prophets for ceos, for shareholders, for the wealthy skyrocketing. and continued to raise costs. it is not like that corporate tax cut resulted in any -- for y americans. that is one of the contrast you are going to see in this election. joe biden is committed to asking corporations to paying their fair share, andake sure they stop price gouging consumers, that they stop ripping off consumers. oric, actually governed in the exact opposite direction, which is wealthy people like himself. he had the opportunity to raise taxes on the wealthy, to close loopholes. he consciously decided not to do

that, sort of enrich himself and make sure the elite wealthy victim -- benefit from our tax code. host: philip is iohio. you are next. caller: thank you for taking my call. mr. nayak, i have one question for you. you talk about the tax breaks for the wealthy. ■w taxes did joanne hunter pay when he was selling his vice presidency to all of the communists around the world? and also, now we know who started the hillary dossier. thank you for your work on the communists' part. guest: i think that is sort of a reflection of a loof and the rey are right now, which is really trafficking in trafficking in a politics