and barely a drop of olive oil. it's butter, it's cheese, it's buckwheat, it's polenta. it's completely different than the diet of the south. >> stanley tucci, thank you so much. i want to tell everybody to tune in to "stanley tucci: searching for italy." now it's time for chris cuomo. >> i have to tell you, that series, i'm hearing a lot about it. >> a lot of good things. >> everybody loves tostanley tucci. one of the immutable truths, as mike nichols told me, the famous

producer we both knew well, is that everybody loves italian food. stanley showing how it is really part of our culture, as italians, italian-americans, you wind up dealing with cheach oth and dealing with moments and dealing with rituals through food. i loved hearing you say that. so what would you be eating in bologna? >> don't you have a show, don't you have something to do? >> i do, but who wants to pass up a chance to talk to you? have a great weekend. i am chris cuomo, welcome to "prime time." there really is more light ahead of us now than darkness. there will be tough times. we're not out of this. but there is cause for hope. the fda is on the verge of authorizing a third covid shot for emergency use. that means we get to use it now. now, you know the talk about the johnson & johnson one. it's a single dose vaccine, okay?

so j&j got the advisory panel's approval tonight. so it could be going in arms as soon as next week. the other plus of this is, so it's one shot, doesn't need to be stored as cold as other things, right, so you can keep it a little bit more easily, you waste less of it, it's good. and it has held up well on most present variants. look, you have to be careful about these things. they know it's safe but they don't know everything. from the president we heard both optimism and caution about the road ahead. >> the third vaccine will make even more rapid progress in getting shots in arms. cases and hospitalizations could go back up as new variants emerge. and it's not the time to relax. we have to keep washing our hands, staying socially distanced, and for god's sake, wear your mask. >> whew, lucky he isn't at cpac,

you could get stoned for speaking science at what's become the trump show, where former conservatives have turned into conspiracy theorists. many lawmakers are skipping out on the house debate tonight going on right now for pandemic relief. talk about choosing politics over your duty to people. while the gopq debates who loves people the most, the house is scheduled to vote on biden's $1.9 trillion covid relief bill. the democrats are the inside story here. they are moving forward, it seems, but the minimum wage could be a sticking point of division in that party. speaker pelosi says they will not rest until a $15 minimum wage guess passed. but i don't see how that gets passed as part of this. why? the senate parliamentarian, okay, that is the person that decides what meets the rules in

the senate for different procedures. they say the minimum wage doesn't pass the test to be included in what is called reconciliation, which is a shortcut process that democrats are using to avoid a filibuster by the right. house democrats, house democrats, on the loud left flank, they say no, madam vice president, reject the parliamentarian in your role as the president of the senate. the white house says, no, we're not going to do that, we want to stick by tradition. so how does that play on the left? democrats say, well, maybe we'll try to add it on as an amendment. not likely to pass. so assuming the left can make peace with one another about the minimum wage, even without the wage hike, this bill would be a huge boost in direct aid to small businesses, another round of direct payments, $1,400 in a check to those making less than

75 grand a year, $2,800 for couples making less than $150,000 a year. there's also dpadditional help r the unemployed, the uninsured. it is important to know that absent from the voting, i know i said it, but think about it. we're in the middle of a pandemic. they've delayed help for a long time. and the house is going to be minus a dozen members from the right. they all signed letters saying they can't attend due to the ongoing public health emergency, meaning the pandemic. it's a lie, because they're at cpac. if there's an ongoing health emergency, why is it okay for them to be there? they're just lying, because that's okay in their ranks. senator ted cruz, in the middle

of a pandemic, talking to this crowd. listen to what he says. >> now they're saying everybody can get immunized. we can have herd immunity everywhere. and we're going to wear masks for the next 300 years. and by the way, not just one mask. two, three, four. you can't have too many masks. how much virtue do you want to signal? this is just dumb. >> agreed. what he is saying is just dumb. it's actually more than that because he's not a dumb guy. for senator ted cruz and an emerging number on his side, it's not babout ignorance. it's arrogance. he actually believes this is the way to go. play to the lie. play to the division.

mock science. mock safety. look in the face and laugh of what got us here. he's echoing the same nonsense that harnessed the denial that led us into the depths of this problem. you know why? his goal is to sound just like this guy. >> when you have 15 people, and the 15 within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero, uh, that's a pretty good job we've done. we're going down, not up. we're going very substantially down, not up. we have it so well under control. >> remember, it's not that it was early. it was a lie. it was wrong and he knew it. that's why the faces behind him were always the interesting ones to watch, everybody like this. because they all knew it was a lie. that was the past. but you have to remember it because if you don't learn the lesson, you make the mistake again, as we see with cruz right now. however, he's not in control.

which means that doing the right things for a period and having a rollout for the vaccine is helping get the pandemic under control. because look, 15 cases ballooned to nearly 30 million. half a million lives gone. half a million families broken, unable to mourn, largely forgotten. we didn't have our first memorial until just a week ago. you must remember the pain and the loss. and now, there is some hope for a brighter future ahead if we do the right things. let's bring in the better minds. manu raju and van jones. manu, that's good on the vaccine. the fight that we're watching is on this pandemic relief battle. what is the state of play in the house right now? >> we're expecting a pretty late night, a very late night, this could stretch past midnight, 1:00, 2:00 a.m. on the

pass this bill. we do expect it to pass very narrowly. democrats need a majority of members presenting and voting to pass this bill. that means, according to jim clyburn, house majority whip, they can only lose three votes total. we expect them to lose one, maybe two, perhaps even three, but that's it. still, democratic leaders are confident, they believe they have the votes and will get it through. and despite the concerns about the senate parliamentarian's ruling that this will be stripped out, the $15 minimum wage will be stripped out, they're still including that in this bill because their party, mostly on the left, are pushing this and are strongly behind the $15 minimum wage. that will be part of this larger $1.9 trillion package that affects virtually all aspects of the economy. but then the tough part will begin after this very narrow vote when the senate will strip that out and they'll have to figure out whether they get 50 votes in the senate to get it

through. you need 50 democrats to join hands and vote for this and kamala harris, the vice president, breaking the tie, getting it through the senate next week, and all the anticipation and hope for the democrats to get this done by march 14th, that's the date, chris, when so many people's job benefits are set to expire. not much time here, democrats are confident they'll get it through but just on their own because republicans are voting en masse against this. >> they're not even there, they're not even voting. as manu has heard, van, you too, and me, some off the left flank feel they've been duped, that the senate let this happen, they knew it would go this way, they're not really fighting, they're not doing what they could. let's listen to a couple of voices on the left about how they feel about the politics of this minimum wage. >> well, the president was also disappointed in that outcome. he supports a $15 minimum wage. he supported it for many years. he believes it's critical, and that nobody in this country

should work full-time and live in poverty. he was also disappointed in the outcome. but he respects the senate's process. >> democrats are unified about raising the minimum wage. if we can't do it through a reconciliation bill, we'll figure out another way to do it. there may be things in this reconciliation bill that we can do to set the stage. >> this is an advisory opinion from the parliamentarian. there is precedent in our history, vice president hubert humphrey disregarded the parliamentarian's opinion, twice. voters are not going to understand if we go back in two years and say, you know what, there is a parliamentarian who told us we didn't do it so i'm sorry, we can't deliver what we promised. >> so van, where do you come down on this and where do you think it ends up? >> well, look. i think that the progressives are correct in that it is very, very hard. this is why people voted. people crawled through broken

glass, voted in the middle of a pandemic, stood in long lines. people worked incredibly hard to get the democrats a majority. black voters, young voters, progressive voters. and i think it's suicide for this party not to do everything it can to deliver on the stuff that's going to make a long term difference. obviously this package is needed. but the reality is, in two years the checks that are coming will have been spent and what do you then say to a midterm democratic party base if you haven't fought 'til the last dog barks on some of this structural stuff? americans haven't gotten a raise in a long time, $7 an hour, it doesn't make sense. this is a big, broadly popular

policy needed, in red states and blue states. >> 56% in the most recent poll say they believe in the minimum wage. manu, how much echo effect is there to the words of representative jayapal, what is the chance that the left flank will say, no, you know what, you're not getting our votes because we vote on this bill, you're sending it over there, you know it's doa. >> i think very little, chris. >> why? >> because they know there are so many other things in this bill that they view as very significant and central to getting this economy back going, whether it's money for state and local governments, whether it's $1,400 in relief checks for people over a certain income threshold, extending jobless benefits, nutrition assistance and the like. there are so many provisions in this massive proposal, they can't afford to sink it over the $15 minimum wage. and in the senate there just is not enough support in order to get this through. there is, as congresswoman jayapal was saying, certainly

there's precedent in the senate to overturn the ruling of the senate parliamentarian. but that has not been done since 1975. and senators on both sides are very reticent in going down that path because it could create chaos in the way the senate operates. and on top of that you have the more immediate problem, if they were to take that route, overrule the parliamentarian, then it will probably cost you votes on the back end, senator joe manchin and krirs tyrsten s who will vote against the bill because the parliamentarian maneuver was done. there is some talk about incentives to penalize companies, tax them, if they don't give their employees $15 an hour. but that runs into the same problems in the democratic party, getting enough support, and does it pass the rules. >> van, the importance of this issue to people who think like

you within your party was made clear to me today, somebody said, look, i don't have to tell it to you, stevie sung it to you. they were talking about "living for the city" that stevie wonder wrote in 1973, the lyrics of the key part, you know the song, i know the song, his father works some it is a for 14 hours and you can bet he barely makes a dollar, his mother goes to scrub the floors for many and you'd best believe she hardly gets a penny, living just enough, just enough for the city. we all know how the song ends, people get caught up in the game and victims of circumstance. if democrats don't do something about it, you're not keeping your promise. >> i can't argue with stevie wonder, i can't argue with you. listen, this is a big deal. there is real pain at the bottom for both parties. people want to be able to work

and they want to be able to earn their way out of the bottom. obviously it's tough, progressives don't want to blow up the deal, but if we don't show backbone and resolve, i'm always for the people at the bottom, this isn't just politics, this is real people's lives on the line right now. >> manu, you're smart as hell but you're too young to embrace that song. you've got to get realizing on it, you've got to listen to it, especially when the guy says, new york city, just like a picture. manu raju, van jones, god bless, have a good weekend and thank you. the big news on this third covid vaccine matters. it's on the verge of approval, we don't want to get ahead of it, but it looks like it's moving the right way. johnson & johnson, one and done. the efficacy rate is not as high as the other two brands in the testing phase. what is the difference, what

does it matter, and the big question is, what does this vaccine mean for variants? sanjay, next. what do you look for when you trade? i want free access to research. yep, td ameritrade's got that. free access to every platform. yeah, that too. i want to know what i'm paying upfront. yes, absolutely. now offering zero commissions on online trades.

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good news friday. you don't hear that too often. why? well, we have taken another step closer to a third vaccine in the united states after an fda panel recommended it for emergency use. we need to take it in with other encouraging trends. like what? well, vaccine numbers overall are getting -- really ramping up by a multi factor. 75% of the 94 million doses so far have been administered. that means, as you see down there, about 7% of the population already fully vaccinated. i know that's not where we need to be but it's much farther

along than we were two months ago, if you think about it. vaccine hesitancy, going down. now at 55% among u.s. adults, up from 34% in december. 34% said, yeah, i want it. now it's over half. do we have to do work on that? yes, especially in the hardest hit communities. and that's a problem we're not really dealing with yet. as you go down the socioeconomic scale, people are more hesitant about the vaccine. they're getting less attention. they're getting less supply. and that's going to be a problem. know that now. covid cases, dramatic decline. hospitalizations, down. deaths, down. could this be the beginning of the end? sanjay gupta joins me now, good to see you, doc. let's start macro and get to micro. macro, is this a real move towards baseline of no more pandemic or is it just a temporary lull? >> you get right to it, chris,

that is the question. i think that my guess is that the metrics that matter will continue to go down. people are concerned, and i think understandably so, but these variants in terms of overall case numbers going up again. they've plateaued, they've been going down. i don't think that's because of the variants yet. when we look at the variants around the country, maybe 10% of the country, you see these variants. florida is the highest, 20%. so i don't think that's what it is so far. i think some of it is the surge that came off the holidays, that's sort of starting to flatten out. we'll see what happens, with these numbers over the next month. what we're going to look for, and i think we've been saying this all year now, chris, is the lagging indicators, hospitalizations and the tragic deaths. i think we won't see the proportional hospitalizations and deaths, and that's the good

news. if cases go up but not hospitalizations and deaths, that will be an important indication. >> they say the j&j authorization could happen next week, how soon before you see it start to make an impact on ameherd immunity? >> that may take a while. somewhat surprisingly, they'll only have 3 to 4 million doses coming out right away. they say 20 million by the end of march. that will make an impact. if you look sort of in the april time frame, you're talking about 220 million shots between moderna and pfizer. that would be 110 million people. and maybe 20 million more shots from johnson & johnson, which would be 20 million people. that's 130 million. it's still not herd immunity. but chris, i have to tell you, herd immunity is what people pay attention to but that's not that important a switch. you're going to see improvements all along. will johnson & johnson make an

impact right away? probably not. but it will make an impact earlier than mid- to end of summer when we will reach herd immunity. >> how much does the mask-mocking that we're seeing from ted cruz and the other geniuses on the right, how big a mitigator effect is that to our progress, if they keep push that masks are nonsense thing? >> look, it's totally ridiculous. chris, the thing is, if you leave aside the vaccines and the monoclonal antibodies and all the things we're spending tons of money on, billions of dollars, masks alone, especially high filtration masks, in riskier situations when you're around a lot of people, for example, would probably work faster and more completely than even the vaccine would. there are people who say that it could essentially bring this pandemic to an end in four weeks if people wore high filtration masks when they were in public that. look, we've been saying that all along. we're the home run nation,

right? we like the touchdowns, the home runs, the knockout punches, that's the vaccine, i get it, but it also means we don't lean into the basics and the basics are really important. a lot of countries around the world that arine idoing so well they don't have vaccines, they didn't have vaccines when they were doing so well, it's because of masks. the fact that we mock it is painful because it could be helpful now, but also because it makes me think we didn't learn one of the most valuable lessons for later. >> let's put up efficacy one month after vaccination. moderate to severe versus severe only. you see pfizer is two doses, two doses for moderna. 66. should people be worried about the difference in efficacy one month after vaccination with the single shot versus the other two? >> you know, chris, when you look at the right side of the screen now, the idea that 85% protective against severe disease, i think that's

critically important. and no hospitalizations or deaths at a month out with the johnson and johnson vaccine. >> that's really the key, right? >> that's the key. >> you may still get sick but you won't get that sick and you're not going to die, literally zero. >> yeah. look, i don't want to minimize moderate illness, it can be pretty bad for some people. you, my friend, know it well. but the severe illness, the hospitalizations, the deaths, that's the sort of thing, my parents both got vaccinated, they're in their late 70s, they're in southern florida, they were worried for a year. they may get sick, they may have to go in the hospital, if they went on a breathing machine, they knew the odds were against them. they wake up in the morning not having to worry about that. regardless of if it's johnson & johnson or the other two, i really do think that's the key. >> so the time frame now based on fauci and you're seeing calculations if things hold, late spring into the summer, you'll start seeing big numbers

here of people who have a big degree of protection and we'll see where that takes us. dr. sanjay gupta, appreciate you. have a good weekend. >> have a great weekend, you too. cpac, why am i talking about it? it is the laboratory for the pain to come in this process. they won't even vote on the pandemic bill tonight in the house because they would rather be at the church of trump. no matter what he does to that party, no matter how he splinters off what used to be the republican party, they are pushing his big lie at an annual conservative gathering. do you remember the party of character counts? a new segment for you tonight to bust open some of the low lights as michael smerconish and i will debate right and wrong. what is working for them? or is it really working? next. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

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for conservatives, what used to be conservatives at cpac, 2024 can't come soon enough. they want to start right now. what does that tell you about the level of cooperation you'll see in congress even on the pandemic? here is your answer. a dozen of them didn't even show up to vote on the bill today. senators hawley, cruz, they're making clear that trumpism is the future of the party. lies about rigged elections are the order of the day. it's all over the place. that's why i wanted to bring in my friend and mentor, michael smerconish. let's take a look at -- well, it's true. let's take a look at what they're doing and why it makes sense for them or not. number one, keep pushing the big lie. exhibit "a." >> on january the 6th, i

objected during the electoral college certification. maybe you heard about it. i stood up and i said, i said, we ought to have a debate about election integrity. >> the reason that people stormed the capitol was because they felt hopeless because of a rigged election. >> democrats, not republicans, installed ballot drop boxes on sidewalks where nobody oversaw them. how many fraudulent ballots got deposited in these boxes unchecked and then got counted? who knows? >> why does this work? >> so what's most offensive to me is josh hawley. i have to say this, chris, as you know, the expression, all politics are local. he said at cpac today that he was fighting for the rule of the people. well, i'm the people. five people under my roof as pennsylvanians voted lawfully by absentee ballot. he wanted to disenfranchise us.

what's most galling is he kept with that plan even after the events of january 6 turned violent. this transcends the typically left/right debate over ideology and issues. we're talking about the rule of law being threatened and the ability to conduct elections lawfully in the future going forward. i mean, i worry about 2022. i'm sure you do. i worry about 2024, because they're just refusing to accept the result of an election despite the whole record. >> that's the play, though. the play is chaos. and they feel the same way about the rule of law that you do. they're saying you're the problem because you rigged it, all five of you in that smerconish household, you cheated, you cheated because you don't believe in the party anymore so you wanted to kill trump and it is us or them, existential, trial by combat. and that's what they're teeing up, which is why he gave the power fist to a bunch of people who would then become part of the insurrection.

that's your party. >> right. so what court judgment, what adjudication -- >> they never gave it a chance. no evidentiary hearings. you never gave us a chance, you shut it down, you rigged it. >> i know you're too smart for this and i appreciate the role you're playing, but the middle district of pennsylvania heard their evidence. that was the court where rudy giuliani had to face the judge and say, no, we're not asserting fraud. that which they were saying under the glare of lights was totally different from what they were saying in courtrooms. and that's what the record shows. >> and so many republicans, conservatives and smerconishes said, you know what, i just want you to know, that guy is not speaking for me, that guy, i don't know mat schlapp is in charge of cpac, that's not me. those are the only minds you can hope to change or bring back to

reason. exhibit "b," ted cruz, one of the smartest guys in the senate, says this about masks. >> now, i want to understand how this virus works. so when you walk in, you got to put your mask on. sadly, i've got two. you walk in, you've got to put your mask on, you sit down, take your mask off. see, apparently the virus is actually connected to elevation. remember, this is all about science. it may not be elevation. i think it's that there are hormones that are released in your thighs when you're sitting. so you can sit at the table, there's no virus being transmitted. but if you stand up, put the mask on. >> in truth, he's better as a comedian than as a politician, to be honest, his face alone is funny. he said you have to wear four

masks, for him it's true, one for every face he shows to the public. he's a constitutionalist, he's a populist. >> so here's the reason this one is appalling. that mask he's being asked to wear isn't for him. it's for you. and it's for me. and it's for everyone with whom he comes in contact. that mask is so that he doesn't next us. he's arguing today at cpac for his right to ninfect you and me. it reminds me of the tea party at the time of the affordable care act having been proposed, when the gadsden flags were all raised, "don't tread on me," people thumping on their chests about individual freedom and liberty. what were they fighting for? they were fighting for their right not to be insured so that they could then show up in an er without insurance and burden you and burden me because we're

responsible and we have insurance. it's completely illogical and, and, it's actually at odds with the individual freedom that they maintain their arguing for. >> it is fundamental, though, to a disinformation campaign. >> right. >> up and down. orwell fell short, as it turns out, on what doublespeak was. they've always been lying to you. everything they say is a lie. and if you don't agree with me, now here's the last one, i want to skip and go to point four. not only is the left crazy, but anybody who is not down with trump and the perversity that's coming out of my face right now, is the enemy even if they say they're a republican. listen. >> and the media, desperately, desperately, desperately wants to see a republican civil war. john boehner made some news. he suggested that i do something

that was anatomically impossible. to which my response was, who is john boehner? >> speaking of bombing the middle east, have you seen liz cheney's poll numbers? >> what's true in florida is true for conservatives across the nation. we cannot, we will not go back to the days of the failed republican establishment of yesteryear. >> so we're making up the civil war and then they attack other republicans in succession. this is where they are. i really believe the question has been answered about why the party is going. and you saw saw it, the good, the bad, and the ugly. >> brace yourself, i think i'm with cruz on this one. to the extent that he is saying this is not a civil war within the republican party, i think the civil war is over. i think there's already been surrender. liz cheney and mitt romney and

even mitch mcconnell, they just don't have the juice. the enthusiasm for the base is all playing itself out in orlando. and that's the concentration that then will drive primary voters. so to the extent he's saying we're trying to gin up a civil war, he might be right. >> except that wasn't his point, his point was that there is no division. your point is there's division, it's just ended, it's over, you now basically have a three-party system. we'll see what kind of legs real republicans can get underneath them. michael smerconish, as always, we benefit from your insight, i wish you a good weekend, brother, i'll see you on tv. >> you too, thank you. tonight, questions following the u.s. air strikes in syria. this is the first known military action taken by president biden. there was no congressional approval. is that okay? this is not a matter of how you feel. it's a matter of law. now, i think it is wrong for presidents to take power from congress even if congress is willing to throw it to them

because they don't want to own any hard votes. we have a former member of congress who is also a former defense secretary to talk to us about what this meant, what we saw in the trump administration, and what the right way is, next. i t to tracfone wireless to get more control over your wireless plan. they give you unlimited carryover data — you pay for your data, you keep your data. really? yeah, you just swap your sim card (whistles) you can also keep your phone, keep your number, keep your network, $20 a month, no contract. oh, but that case— (whistles) temporary— it's my daughter's old case— well, ok, you know. you do you. this is your wake-up call, people. tracfone wireless. now you're in control.

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how does the united states of america decide whether or not to use military action? well, by what we've seen in recent years, the president decides, does it, and if it's going to be a really long time, at some point he thinks about talking to congress and they usually will kind of give him a nod without actually debating or having a vote. is that the right way? nothing is free. there were people in the region, we have people there, civilians, contractors, people there. what if these kinds of actions lead to more military engagement? men and women when have courage that i don't, putting their lives at risk for the rest of us. now, technically, for the first 160 plus years, we followed the

straight constitution. presidents prepare to make war, then make the case to congress, and your representatives vote on whether or not to do it. then came korea and the cold war. takes us to 1973. congress didn't like exactly what's happening now, by the way. tried to take its power back. passed a law called the wpa, the war powers act. narrowed the president's ability to act. the president can do it if there is an imminent threat on u.s. people or interests. that interest, boy, did that get loosely interpreted. only one president, gerald ford, has ever bothered to even file the necessary report that you're supposed to engage the war powers act as president. so last night's so-called proportional response may have been the right thing to do because they were killing people that we care about. but was it imminent? was it on our people?

how was it in our interest? the contractors? okay, maybe. shouldn't somebody have made the case? was it like that when trump took out soleimani? was that imminent? the problem isn't that obama, biden, bush, clinton, they all did it this way. they had power that used to and is supposed to reside in congress. we're using an authorization for the use of military force from 2001 and 2002. they're almost two decades old. and they justify fighting terror. but we've had 41 million -- god fo forbid, 41 management operations in 19 countries. is it really all from terrorism that stemmed from 9/11? the threat that we attacked last night, iranian-backed militias in syria who bombed in baghdad,

those people didn't even exist when the aumf was written. take a look, the reality is whomever is in the office, and whatever letter is by their name, "r" or "d," they're going to use the power they have unless congress gets in their way. and congress doesn't do that because they don't want to own a vote ever since they took the one to go to iraq on bad intel about yellowcake and they got hurt and they don't want to do that anymore. let's discuss with someone who understands the issue much better and understands the considerations much better. senator, secretary of defense under clinton, secretary william cohen. good to have you back, sir. >> good to be with you. >> to give myself a chance in a debate that i am not on even footing, i just want to play with congressman schiff, chairman schiff of the intel committee, said about biden

interfacing with the gang of eight before they did this and his feeling about it. notification. it was done in a manner that is wasn't meaningful notification. we have gone back to the administration and tried to make sure where it's necessary in the future, that we get more effective notice in advance. >> okay. why is it okay? >> well, i think he's right. they need a bit more advanced notice. the purpose of the notice is so that people, a limited group of people, the big eight, so to speak, can have an opportunity to talk to the commander in chief to give perhaps a different perspective on whether or not military force should be used under those circumstances. the commander in chief feels that if he has to act at an appropriate time, that he can if the share all of the details with the big eight, and i

understand that, i have been on both sides of the issue. i want to go back because there was a vote taken back during the first war in the gulf. and that's when president bush 41 was about to send 500,000 troops into the gulf. president bush felt he only needed u.n. authorization. i know that i made the case on the floor and with him personally that, no, he had to come to the united states congress to get authority to do that because we didn't swear allegiance to the u.n., but to the united states constitution and he did. he was afraid initially he wouldn't get the votes. he was going to go around it until he had to face up to the responsibility saying, no, you are making a big commitment here and you have to have us with you now on this takeoff. if this goes wrong, it's all on you without us and we are coming after you. we made the right decision to go after saddam hussein to drive him out of kuwait. that was a case which congress

said they want to be onboard, we are willing to take the responsibility that comes with it. since that time though address has very little influence over the executive. we can -- when i was a senator, we could cut off funds. not likely. we could try to restrict what the president could do when circumstances called for imminent action. so, basically, congress has given up that authority over the years. and as a member of the cabinet, i was quite, you know, not happy about it, but i understood that i was with the commander in chief. i wanted more flexibility to take action. but i also understood i spent 24 years on the hill and i understood why it's really important that you have members who are also elected to a co-equal branch who are going to be supporting the men and women who are going off to fight. they have to be part of it. so i think adam schiff is right. you need more notice than they got, and i hope that president biden will do this in the future. >> but -- >> go ahead. >> you understand the poll

policy and law better than i. it's not a notice provision. that is a work around. him going the gang of eight is not in the war powers act. it's not in the aumf. it's just an accommodation. i am going to give you a heads up, this is what i am going to do and why i am going to do it. if it's not imminent to our interests or our people, you have to come to us and let us debate it and say bloo we are supposed to do it. that's the way it's supposed to work. and we've had an extra, you know, an extra legislative change here where you have just given them the power to do it. my fear is it's never for free, secretary. so there is going to be escalation. things are going to happen. eventually there will be men and women in the way of lead flying around. and don't you think they should have to be counted in addcongre if people's lives are on the line? >> yes. but what is imminent when are

our interests in danger? if the iranian militia attacking the green zone, attacking some of our contractors or military personnel, you want to go back to the congress and say, by the way, i am thinking of kind of responding to make sure they don't continue to do this for the next ten days. you want to have that as part of a debate in congress or, rather, would you put that in the hands of congress saying the big eight, you represent your parties and your interests. we want you to know we're about to do this. if you have real problems on this, speak up. if you don't, we are going to go do it because we have to protect our people and our interests in that region right now. now, adam schiff doesn't have enough information about it. he doesn't know if it was imminent, if it was the right target. i happen to believe that secretary austin knows the right target because he spent most of his life as central command or in central command and knows exactly what's going on and where the interests are that the iranians are using to make sure they don't target our people and

our personnel in the regional. so we have more information to get. we need to know more how imminent it was whether more or better notice should be given to the congress. >> otherwise, they got to thchae the law. do their job or do don't do their job or change their job. thank you so much for your perspective on a friday night. appreciate you and be well. >> thanks. >> we'll be right back. something you want to hear right after this.

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here that trump gets a good start in the next election. remember his legacy. it's not just the pandemic that dragged on because of his investment and denil of the reality, but january 6th and no matter how much they ignore, blame it on somebody else, all their cries about being about police and caring about law and order are b.s. after that day and their silence thereafter. there were killers in that crowd that attacked our capitol. we have breaking news in the race to solve who is responsible for officer brian sicknick's

death. we can not lose site of the human price paid on that day. sources tell cnn the fbi has identified a suspect who may have been captured on video attacking several officers with bear spray. as we've reported, the working theory is that sicknick was among those exposed to it in a big amount and he had a deadly reaction. "the new york times" reports that there is also evidence the person talked about using the chemical to attack others ahead of time. we will stay on this. part of our coverage, of course, is watching cnn tonight with the friday night upgrade, aka laura coates esquire. >> chris, that is, if that's the reason, if that's how he died, that is stomach turning. >> tell them what it means if you know that the person was planning to use it exactly to do that beforehand. >> it sounds like a conviction to me. it sounds like a