county has been apprehended. a lot to cover. with all that let's hand it over the chris in prime time. >> thauthorities in the area dot believe this is a coincidence. it does seem as though there's some kind of connection. the question, is what? is it opportunity or bias? we'll pick up the story and monitor during our hour. anderson, thank you. i am chris cuomo, and welcome to primetime. eight people killed now in a series of three shootings at spas in atlanta. at least four of the victims are asian women. the question of course is were they targeted? one suspect has just been app re apprehended. when we get more information we'll bring it to you. from that story to absolute bias. democrats have to see and deal

with this absolute bias and what they're going to get from the other side of the aisle. why am i saying this? the media is all atwitter, literally and figuratively that mitch mcconnell, whied some new threat. here it is. >> nobody serving in this chamber can even begin -- can even begin -- to imagine what a completely scorched earth senate would look like. the senate would be more like a 100-car pileup. nothing moving. >> now, not only is this not true, but it is not to be believed. i don't know why anybody is seeing this. with any type of sense of a appre apprehension. it's being viewed as a threat. it is not a threat. it is a promise from a political conniver without equal who's

made a legacy of beating the democrats. he eliminated the filibuster for supreme court nominations in 2017. hello? why would you listen to him about this? why would you even consider what he's saying? that was scorched earth. no one can imagine it? you lived it, democrats. you've lived it with him. he refused to even meet with a president from your party's supreme court nominee. remember his reasoning. it was too close to an election. then what did he do? he confirmed his own party's nominee in record time during an election. millions of americans had all right voted. why is anyone surprised by what he says or does? why would you even weigh his words? why would you even put it into the calculus of what you need to do to get your agenda done? be more like him when it comes

to understanding manipulation of the power. he only does scorched earth. show me mitch mcconnell acting in bipartisan fashion on any regular basis. scorched earth is passing unpopular, unpaid for tax cuts for millionaires without a single democrat vote. scorched earth is burning millions of struggling americans by holding relief hostage, and why? to protect corporations during a pandemic. do you really think mcconnell is going to work with the democrats on hr or s-1? this is a holy war for the opposition party. expanding voting rights is an extenchle threat to a party banking on white fright. trump admitted it himself tonight while again pushing the big lie.

here's the proof. >> i think it would a disaster for our country, and it would be very unfair, and our supreme court and our courts didn't have to courage to overturn elections that should have been overturned. >> can a republican win again if hr-1 becomes law? >> if they allow that to happen, if it's allowed to happen, i think your republicans will have a very hard time getting elected. >> just to remind the open minded, it was courage that the courts, even judges picked by trump, didn't bow to fealty, that they upheld the law. that is courage. now, look, you just heard trump say it himself -- if hr-1 or s-1, the senate version. hr is the house version. if it becomes law, republicans may not win elections. he answered a loaded question. why? because this was a fox person and they're all about spreading

the vision -- can a republican win again if voting is expanded? of course they can if they don't constantly make white people afraid of diversity. you don't demonize people of color, maybe they'll vote for you. improve their lives. try that. this is why the right, the trump faction, the opposition party, are all trying to resurrect jim crow laws. laws design in the reaction to post civil war reconstruction to stifle integration of minorities. in 43 states. it's going ton on right now. by the way, the filibuster was born during the jim crow period to allow the senator who is didn't want progress to slow it down. that's where it comes from. it's not in the constitution. just as now in the last wave of politics it's about suppressing the minority vote, this time to block biden's agenda. now, the savvy members of the

opposition party say, no, no, no this is about election security. show me how cutting out minorities makes the election safer for anyone. second, if security is such a concern, then why are they all so quiet tonight? we have news of a newly declassified report from u.s. intel that russia attempted to interfere with our election again in the 2020 race. isn't this an election security threat to address? this is a hint to the quietude we're experiencing on the right. the report says putin -- a range aimed at denigrating biden. to spread disinformation against biden. that russian proxies who, quote, met with and provided materials to trump administration linked people. that's why they're quiet. that's why there's no outrage from the right, no calls for

change. that's election security. it's not about election security. these laws all over the country from the opposition party are not about the red menace, but what i say trump meant as the brown menace -- minorities. trump is gone. but what remains in his ranks is as rank as he was. not doing what it takes to get these laws -- all over the country, 250 plus, if you don't get these x'd out, minorities will be put back 50 plus years. now, that might be what some mean by maga, being great again, but it means nothing good for this country or for democrats if it happens on their watch. pu pundits and party members are saying, democrats have a lot to think about. what should we do next? what's next? what options are there? let's ask the better minds. david gregory and brian fallon.

d. greg, is my analysis of mcconnell and this kind of feigned surprise at what he's saying now, do you see this as unexceptional as i do? >> yeah, i do see it as unexceptional. this is about the votes and this is about power politics. we are well into this era of power politics. brian will weigh in on this, by suspect given the democrats i know there's a lot of frustration that republicans have played power politics better than they have in congress. mcconnell of course is the ultimate player in that. and so, yeah, he'll issue these warnings saying that all kind of things will happen, and democrats do need to remember that what they achieved today will ultimately be used against them when republicans are back in control and they have to make a determination about whether it's worth it. calculation now is on the filibuster, how do they reform

it? where do they have the votes? it's a simple numbers game they're playing and that's the calculation the president will make. >> first things first -- brian, do you believe that looking at how to stop state laws should be the next big effort for congress? >> absolutely. and as democrats -- let me just say that this is a very narrow two-year window, and maybe not even two years when you only have to senate by a 50/50 margin, and you have lots of senators over 70, some of whom have republican governors that their state. it just takes one senator falling, god forbid, for the majority to flip in the united states senate. we can't act like we have two years. whatever narrow window of time we have, we have to get it right in pursuing democracy reforms lake hr-1 and the john lewis voting rights act that's the last bulwark to the 253 bills that have been introduced seeking to suppress the vote.

mitch mcconnell knows this. he's viewing this in apocalyptic terms. if hr-1 passes, if d.c. is added as the 51st state -- you have in the united states senate an institution that is designed to prop up minority rule already through senate mall apportion where largely rural white states like wyoming have some of the statement senate represent takes as california. on top of those rigged rules in the senate that already create the imbalance, you add the filibuster which is an added tool of the minority, and it's no wonder we're preor dained to have permanent gridlock. mitch mcconnell's thoughts are going to fall on deaf ears, and i think he's misplaying it. if he was clever he would be strategically releasing some republicans to work with democrats on some measures, not all of them, but just enough to have them to take the wind out of the sails of those like

myself who point out the republicans are blocking us on everything and using that argument to rally support among democrats. if joe manchin had a negotiating partner on some of these bills it could really slow things down, but mcconnell only has one setting, block everything and, that's back fired. >> the question is, how do democrats get it done? we don't believe they have 50 votes within their own party to get rid of the filibuster. the president had a nice modification, maybe, tonight. w listen to this, fellas. >> so, aren't you going to have to choose -- i know you have been reluctant to do away with the filibuster. aren't you going to have to choose between getting rid of the filibuster and advancing your -- >> yeah, but i don't think you have to get rid of the filibuster. i think you have to do it in the old way, that is a filibuster you have to command the floor. >> you're for that reform,

bringing back the talking filibuster. >> i am. that's what it was supposed to be. >> see, look, david, i think they have been behind the law. the question -- we all love george. he's a friend of mine. but it was never binary. it was about massaging the filibuster maybe as a oneoff. joe manchin told you he's open to that of by saying i don't want to just get rid of it. he talks about the birdbath, senator of west virginia, his af affinity to him. there are other forms of the filibuster. is this an option short of getting rid of it, the nuclear option? >> yeah, but it's emerged -- manchin forced its emergence because they didn't have the votes without him. senator durbin is talking about that today. that's what biden is jumping on to because that's where the

votes are. i think biden thinks this is a dangerous play because he comes from a different political era. what brian said at the end of his last answer is interesting. you're right, manchin doesn't have a negotiating partner because republicans made that decision and leadership's made that decision. that basically, the next election is five minutes from now when you haven't even split in the senate. there's a narrow amount of time for the president to get something through, like a big bill like covid relief buck they can block him on other things. republicans have been to clear at saying what they talk about as election security, they apparently aren't concerned about foreign countries interfering in our elections, but about what he call election security, which is not true. it's really just a zero-sum game, which is they're worried about the fact that they can't get republicans elected if everybody has an opportunity to vote. it's pretty clear what they're

talking about. >> let's see democrats massage this issue and find a way to get together and get this done. because brian, us a said, they do not have as long as they may suspect. david gregory, brian fallon, i didn't have as long as i thought either. i have to go. we have breaking news tonight. that's why i have to move on. an eighth person has now lost their life in back-to-back shootings at three spas in georgia. in crimes, there are very rarely coincidences. they have a suspect in custody. is that person connected to other attacks? what was the motive behind these attacks? was it the same? we have a team on the scene with a live update next.

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as we are on tv. at least eight people dead in a series of shootings. at the same kinds of locations, spas in and around atlanta, georgia. at least four of the dead are asian women. we do not know the race of gender of the others or the relationship of those people to this crime. the questions are obvious -- were these coincidence? likely in a moment was this coordinated criminality on the basis of bias or opportunity? ryan young is on the scene. ryan, what is the latest? >> reporter: that's a great question, chris, and that's what investigators are working to find out now. i can tell you this, though, one of the reasons we haven't found out the race and ages of the first shooting scenes is they haven't told all the family members yet, the folks who have died. the loved ones have been lost. the assist tough day especially when investigators are having to make those phone calls. i'll step out of the way. you can look at the active crime scene that's going on.

we have the information, the cherokee county sheriff's department telling us they have captured a suspect. robert aaron long, 21 of woodstock was involved in that first shooting scene. that's who investigators were looking for. we know four people are dead at that scene, and then this is the scene in atlanta where there are two separate shooting scenes. you have the gold spa and then the spa across the street. three women shot in one location. another woman shot at another location. we know the suspect was caught in chris county, which is about two hours away from here. there was a small vehicle pursuit, i'm being told by sources we were able to talk to, and they were able to capture him. not sure if they have been able to speak with him to figure out what a motive is. we have not been able to connect him to this scene at all, but i can tell you law enforcement in the metro atlanta area was working with the theory they were looking for that man, 21 of woodstock, they were looking for

the four-door hyunday tuson. obviously with these different sites there were a lot of people concerned about the targets of this. as police got that investigation going, they say it was surveillance video that pointed them in the direction of who this person was. chris, cherokee county is about a 47-minute drive from where i'm standing now. two hours away from here is where the suspect was captured, so i'm not sure if there was any online threats made before this happened, but it's obviously something that investigators are going through. where i'm standing is near buckhead. this is pretty much buckhead. this street right here would be busy normally. they've shut this down as they've done the investigation. there were witnesses to the shooting that they were speaking to, but obviously right now the focus is on that motive to try to figure out exactly why a person or persons were involved in the shooting and would target these places. like i said, three in this

building and one across the street. horrifying for the folks who had the witness this and the families that are finding out about their loved ones at this hour. >> we know they placed him at the scene but don't know if they can place him in terms of criminality. there was a pursuit, which is suggestive. then the big questions remains -- was he a customer? was it about being disgruntled? was it romance? or was it bias? ryan, if you here anything, let me know and i'm come right back. be well. let's talk about the crisis impacting tens of millions of americans. those are the stakes. it's not all black people. it's not all minorities. but more than 250 bills in 43 states will drag this country far from the goal of a more perfect union. it will drag it back maybe 50 plus years, because that's the last time we have seen this in

this country, where there are laws by design to suppress the vote. so, how do you stop it? state by state will take a very long time. most of these ledgetures are one by republicans so you would have to fight it out in the courts. lengthy process. hr-1 in the house, s-1 in the senate are the for the people act. the name doesn't matter. the impact does. without it, the republican party as mission is clear -- make sure people who can vote now who helped biden win can't do so in the future by purging voter registrations or by imposing stricter i.d. requirements. for those who still acan, give them fewer options and less time by closing polls early, shortening early voting windows, getting rid of popular options like voting by mail. we need to be clear about who we're talking about -- it is about stopping black people from

making their voices heard. the bill, the opposition decries, as the written hand of lucifer. that's what they say. what would the bill really do? it would demand everybody get equal time and access. in other words, everybody can vote by mail. every state must allow 15 consecutive days of early voting for ten hours a day. no cutting out sundays just because you want to stop souls to the polls, black churches tradition. more polling places to make sure we don't have to see repeats of this. what do you think? you think it's a coincidence that when you're in lower economic areas they don't have as much access to polls? then they want a rule in these places that you can't give people waiting in line like that food or water. come on. all this talk about ensuring confidence in elections rings hollow.

you know why? number one, we know that's not what this is about. that's what this tells you. you know what else? there was silence on the report that the kremlin continues to -- interference in the election that would hurt biden and helped trump. if this were about security you would be focused on that, right? the for the people act will increase -- these bills do not. for a party that claims to be so focused on it, why not back a bill that demands a paper trail and higher standards for all voting machines? they don't do that in these other bills. it would let voters and officials track each ballot in the mail, give states the ability to do more robust daudis of election results. until then it's up to them to fight for a country that's truly by the people and for the

people. that includes focus like the new friend of this show, ceo of the new georgia project. welcome back to "primetime." good to see you. let's pick up this fight with what the next step is. first, i've heard democrats, pundits and party types saying, biden's got figure out what's next. he's got a lot on his agenda. do you believe anything should come before this fight and hr-1/s-1? >> no, not at all. i understood the need for emergency relief, for american families that are suffering that we are very much still in the middle of the pandemic. georgia is the last state in terms of vaccine distribution. so i understood the importance of it, the primacy of getting covid relief out the doors, those $1,400 checks have been hitting people's accounts this weekend. folks have been all over twitter thanking georgia voters for making it happen. and now we have to get to the business of protecting our

democracy. i don't think that there's anything that is more pressing and more urgent than making sure we have a federal standard for elections and that we don't let republicans play politics and get into the way of a justice agenda. >> if they don't change the filibuster, they likely don't get this done. what would that mean? what does a state by state effort look like if these bills get passed? >> i mean, you mentioned it earlier -- we are going -- there are 43 states that are currently delivering anti-voting bills, and it is going to take an extraordinary amount of time to work those bills, to fight them in the legislatures, or to fight them in court. and with hr-1 and hr-4, and filibuster reform, we have a clear path to protecting our elections to protecting our democracy, and stopping these nonsense attacks that are based on disinformation, that are based on lies, that is a naked

attempt for the republicans who lost and lost badly and lost repeatedly and will likely continue to lose unless they moderate their positions and move closer to something that the american people actually want, that this party of no, the sort of toddler politics where they throw themselves on the ground and just flail around, stopping the people's work from happening, is not going to cut it. and then, i think that democracy reform, filibuster reform, passing senate one and hr-4 are of the utmost importance in this moment. i think there's concern about whether or not we can get policing reform. >> right. >> my folks, we are desperately looking for americans to get a wage increase, because americans haven't had a raise in 12 years. the minimum wage is still $7.25 an hour.

and we won't be able to make progress on any of those much-needed policy reforms if we don't have the right to vote. if the american people don't have to right to participate in our elections free of intimidation and if every vote is not allowed to count, if people are not allowed to participate in our elections in the way that they choose, the entire agenda is at jeopardy. >> right. >> so i think that the right to vote is the antecedent. >> just to remind people, i understand democrats are worried about what message it sends if they mess with the filibuster. what message does it send to the all-important african-american voters that helped biden, that helped sustain democrats if in this biggest struggle of their political existence, they don't get it done? thank you very much for giving us the state of play.

you're always welcome on the show. >> thank you, chris. good night. this country has been making big gains when it comes to the pandemic, and that's good. feel good about it. but that doesn't mean that the fight is over. there is a new spike in europe. now, ordinarily, let's be honest, precovid -- ah, new hampshire, south america. we're kind of an island here. no, we're not, and what happens there will be here next. how are we handling the warning of the wave of variants? next. i think the sketchy website i bought this turtle from stole all of my info. ooh, have you looked on the bright side? discover never holds you responsible for unauthorized purchases on your card. (giggling) that's my turtle. fraud protection. discover. something brighter.

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the least likely to say they'll seek a covid vaccine. a big part of that is messaging. today after being berated for his silence for months about the need to take the vaccine, trump finally said this -- >> i would recommend it, and i would recommend it to a lot of people that don't want to get it and a lot of those people voted for me, frankly, but, you know, again, wie have our freedoms an we have to live by that, and i agree with that also, but it's a great vaccine. it's a safe vaccine, and it's something that works. >> look, he started off the right way. it was a little bit muddled, but here's why -- first of all if you're a trump supporter and believe this is deep state b.s., we just told you, take the vaccine. listen to him. the easiest case study on why we need to vaccine is europe. covid cases are surging there

right now. top experts like dr. fauci are warning -- see them? that could be us. listen. >> >> when you see a plateau at a level as high as 60,000 cases a day, that is a very vulnerable time to have a surge to go back up, and that's what exactly happened in europe. >> the proposition is simple but serious -- will we learn from our covid history or repeat it? we've come a long way from the winter peaks but look how we compare to several countries across the atlantic. every time we saw a new wave over there we not only followed with one, we outdid it, in cases and deaths. experts say the latest surge across europe is driven by these new variants, the one they call the uk variant. some places have no choice but to lock down again. half of italy's 20 regions, including rome, milan, venice,

they all went into a new lockdown just today. people are banned from leaving their homes again. this time with the provisions for work and health reasons. germany and france are considering new restrictions because cases are exploding. about 100 covid patients in paris were evacuated from the region because hospital there is reached their breaking point. the czech republic, already in a strict lockdown for the last two weeks. these places have vaccines. see, there is a lot of misinformation on the internet. they don't have to intervene. it's not true. this is a race between the vaccine and the variant, and if you don't keep doing the right things and rely on the vaccine saving you, you will wind up in the suck again. many european countries lag behind the u.s. vaccination rates. true. bureaucracy, shortages, political infighting. they have problems there hopefully we're moving past, but

vaccine hesitancy is hitting them hard. at least 16 european countries are suspending a primary vaccine, astrazeneca. why? concerns at blood clots. are those legitimate? we're going to break down what the science tells us. we're going to take a segment and look at this, because you have to have confidence. nobody wants to you take something that's going to hurt you, but it all underscores why mitigation measures and getting more shots in arms fast is crucial. 12% of the u.s. population has been vaccinated. we need like five times that. the number of daily vaccines are getting better by the day. i'm just telling you, it's not fast enough. it is not enough to keep new hot spots from occurring. we're going to take it to a top health priority for the reality, next. ♪ ♪ ♪

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this new wave of covid cases is real. the variant is real. and it is crushing europe. ontario, canada, also declared a new wave tonight. you see what's going to happen. we heard it's here. you heard the cdc say the uk variant -- i don't mean to disparage the uk. it's just where it started. let's bring in dr. ashish jha

for how to tealdeal with this. it's not if, it's when. what is the likelihood that the vaccine evidfforts here before variants will force shutdowns like in europe? >> good evening, chris. it's going to be a close call. we are vaccinating really well. that's the good news. these variants are spreading quickly across the country. that's the bad news. and to me, i think the vaccine should win out. but -- here's the big but -- what texas, mississippi, other states are doing to relax and get rid of the mask orders and act like everything's back to normal, that is definitely coming down on the side of the variants. that is not helpful, and that is what i'm most worried about right now. >> you are open to the analysis of how, not just if, right? so you want to travel. okay, it's about how, not travel, don't travel, but travel

the safe way, and when you get to where you're going don't pretend there's no covid. that's the miami trial. >> absolutely. there's a lot we can do safely. we've learned a lot over the past year or so. the problem is, if we decide it's over, the pandemic is over, and go back to normal, we're really asking for another wave. we're asking for a lot more infections and i think that's going to be a real problem. >> astrazeneca. virtually all of western europe is not going to use the shot anymore. concerns over blood clots. warrante warranted? >> live looked at the data. i can't find anything that makes me believe this is because of the vaccines. they have had 30 or so cases of blood clots off 17 million people who have been vaccinated. doesn't seem it's any more likely than people who don't get vaccinated. until we find more data i would not have paused this thing.

they're going to do a deep dive. i think they'll come up with the idea that it wasn't from the vaccine. >> what does it mean for the emergency use authorization in the u.s.? >> our fda is really, really rigorous. they go through this stuff with a fine tooth comb. so if the vaccine is causing clots, like, our fda will identify that -- >> you know why i'm asking you, right? when people hear this, this is a reason not to take it. it was rushed. wasn't tested as much. >> let me say two quick things --. first of all, no concerns about blood clots for any of the three vaccines we have right now. not johnson & johnson, moderna, in the for pfizer. if astrazeneca were to get authorized here -- and that's a big if -- it would be because the fda did the thorough review. i'm confident in our process. >> there's a piece in "the washington post" that long haulers -- it's all anecdotal,

by the way, and the research i've done suggests it's correlation and not causation, but here's the headline. full disclosure, i don't like the headline but i'll take your word for the audience. people who have long haul who took the vaccine say their symptoms are subsiding after getting the vaccine. do you buy it? >> there's some good immune logic -- it won't help erving but there is probably a chunk of people who have long haul symptoms who i think it will help, but we have to carefully study this. >> when i read into the piece they don't have causative science in there. it's anecdotal. and when i talked to people researching and helping develop the vaccine, they said it's likely at this point that time is as relevant in what abates the symptoms as the vaccine. i'd love for it to be true. i can't wait until i get the vaccine.

i'm definitely going get the vaccine. i'd love for my long haul symptoms to get better but i don't want people to get false hope. we're just learning about it. the leg say of covid will be long haul. jha, love you so much. one of the reasons i love having people you on, you figured out how to did it at brown university and got the case count to zero. i know people whose kids go there. my doctor is one of them. you know how to get it done right. i appreciate your perspective. you pit it to work. be well, doc. think about that. zero cases at brown university just by doing the same things we're doing everywhere else. president biden kicked off his help is here tour today. he's selling the relief bill, but there's not much to sell. is that really his goal? popularity has been doing well. even in the states he lost. why? let's look at the numbers in terms of where biden's challenges are, where he's strong, where not, and why.

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t . president biden is out working the country. good, good. don't rely just on us.

don't rely just on insiders, by pass it, go to the people. that's how you build a real mandate. especially when you have the kind of partisan poison going on in our congress. the headline is the legislative victory, the coronavirus relief package and he certainly has that. but there may be something else to celebrate, which is a boost in the polls in states where he lost. true? and if so, can we figure out why? that's where the wizard of oz comes, harry, what do you see? let's start with your first slide. >> it's true, christopher. it is true. look at these three swing states he lost back in 2020, iowa, north carolina and texas, lost them by anywhere from a point in north carolina, upwards of 8 in iowa, his net approval rating, minus his disapproval rating in all three of those states are in the blue, or in the green perhaps. >> why? >> why? i'll tell you why. the reason is, if you look in

each of these states what you see is on the coronavirus, his response is seen much more positively than his overall approval ratings. this is something we saw during the campaign, right, we saw that biden was able to defeat trump on who was best able to handle the pandemic and so far voters, even in these red swing states are liking the way he's handling it. >> that was the second slide. people can see the numbers if you put it up for them. >> this was separate. what's important, though, chris, that this is a national look. we can average a lot of polls nationally and this gives you a good indication and that is where he is seeing that growth isn't just in those red states but it's among republicans. look at that, his vote share among republicans in 2020 was just 6%. approval rating right now in 2021, 14%. >> how much of that is because he's not being compared to a republican? >> that's at least part of it. but also it comes down to the fact that at this particular point republicans, at least some

portion of that base, is willing to give him a shot. it's a small portion, but it's enough of a portion that right now what we see is that biden is doing well -- much better in those red swing states than he was doing back in november. >> so let's do apples to oranges. no pun intended. with him and trump. >> right, this, i think, gives you the whole thing, right, which is look at how much better shape joe biden is right now to go out and sell this relief package than donald trump would have been back in 2017 to sell whatever the heck he wanted to? his approval rating, 53%, historically that wouldn't be great compared to obama or bush at this point but compared to donald trump, in this very polarized era, the numbers are basically inverted. where biden has this rating of 53%. trump was just at 43%. and more importantly, look at this disapproval rating, 41% for biden, trump already had a majority of the country against him at this point. >> what do you see when crow look into the people who don't like biden?

>> you know, if you watch all these shows on fox news, you go down the cpac, what you saw was very difficult to get republicans too animated against biden, had to speak about other issues. dr. seuss, all that jazz. if you look at the strongly disapprove ratings, the people who really don't like joe biden it's 29% of the electorate. that's a fairly small portion in today's polarized electorate. donald trump's disapproval at this point was 43%, it was a huge chunk of the electorate that no matter what he did they were going to dislike him. that portion of the electorate for joe biden in the early days significantly smaller. >> so what do you think the strategy should be going out there, he already got the relief bill done. so it's not like he's selling it to them. they've already bought it, right, punitively through their representatives, of course just one side of the party. what do you think he should be trying to focus on out there? >> well, in selling it what he wants to do, remember, a lot of

the portions of this program run out in the next few months, right? he wants to go bigger. he wants to enact a program that doesn't just last the next few months he wants it to last the next few years and he's going to have a lot of congressional battles going down to chute and if he keeps them voting with him they have a small majority in the house and obviously a very, very small one in the senate. if these red state congressmen or these red state senators like joe manchin or a centrist like kyrsten sinema don't believe the voters are with them they're more likely to abandon on future legislative endeavors. it's important these senators and members of the house stay with biden, believe these packages are popular so when you go down the line and want to pass even more pieces of legislation, they will, in fact, do so. >> it's a good step-up move for biden. he's been laid back and we understand why. it's worked for him. but if he can get in front of the congestion in congress by going right to people and talking about what people want that is the origin of the bully

pulpit as theodore roosevelt dubbed it. thank you very much for taking us inside the numbers, whiz. >> even without my glasses, i -- >> lie to the audience. >> i wish i wore glasses, make me look so much smarter. >> that's the least of your problems. >> see you back in the office. take a break, when we come back, teeing up "the b1g show." (doorbell rings) thank you. can we be besties, simone biles? i guess? yessss! should we dismount now?

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all right, thank you for watching, time for "cnn tonight" and the big star, don lemon. >> i say, i'm wild about harry on your show. but let me just say, that was good. i'm watching -- and this divided political time, anything that's anywhere near a positive i think is the person is in a better spot than can be imagined because we're -- because think about the last -- era, the administration we just left. and what i will say as