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the news continues. let's hand it to michael smerconish and "cnn tonight." >> anderson, thank you so much. i'm michael smerconish. at any moment we expect to house to hold a vote whether to hold mark meadows in contempt of congress. the top members of the bipartisan january 6th select committee scoffed at his claims of immunity over former president trump's exposed executive privilege. >> he told us the day before his deposition the same day his book was published, that he would no longer cooperate with our

investigation, and that he wasn't coming in to be interviewed. if you are making excuses to avoid cooperating with our investigation, you're making excuses to hide the truth from the american people about what happened on january 6th. you're making excuses as part of a cover-up. >> if the house does vote to find meadows in contempt, the justice department will soon consider indicting him, like it did with steve bannon last month. today the committee's vice chair, liz cheney, shared more damning texts, flooding meadows phone coming from fellow republican lawmakers while the heart of our democracy was under attack. >> quote, it is really bad up here on the hill. another one, the president needs to stop this asap. another one, fix this now. >> remember, those are fellow republicans serving in congress begging for an end to the violent insurrection. but also keep an ear out for what congresswoman cheney implied again this afternoon. >> and mr. meadows' testimony will bear on another fundamental

question before this committee, and that is whether donald j. trump through action or inaction corruptly sought to obstruct or impede congress's official proceeding to count electoral votes. >> that language, her word choice appears to be cheney signaling to the doj that she believes trump himself could be responsible for a more serious crime, obstruction of congress. take a look at this section of the law defined in part as, quote, whoever obstructs or impedes the due and proper exercise of the power of inquiry under which any inquiry or investigation is being had by either house or any committee of either house or any joint committee of the congress. is that the potential end game for the committee when it comes to the former president? unclear.

but for tonight, meadows should consider the case of steve bannon who now faces up to two years behind bars and up to $2,000 in fines. the contempt law actually allows a fine of $100,000 for each count. that could mean having to sell a lot of those new books. in the doj indicts meadows, he would be the first white house chief of staff charged with a crime since h.r. haldeman. other members of the january 6th committee are revealing even more text messages from meadows' phone. for a report on that, we go to paula reid on capitol hill. paula, we're waiting for the critical vote. it occurs to me that we saw nine republicans join democrats to vote to hold steve bannon in contempt. i'm wondering what's the over/under for tonight. >> that's the big question. that's something we're really watching. we have to remember that the meadows situation is different than that of steve bannon because steve bannon, he really tied up that contempt case with a bow for lawmakers, made it a lot easier for them to cross the aisle. here, meadows has engaged with the committee and provided

thousands of pages of records. the case really is different. it could make it more difficult for some republicans to support referring him to the justice department for criminal charges. but the house select committee over the past three days, michael, we have seen they have been making their case certainly in the court of public opinion about why meadows should be held in contempt. now, they argue that, look, you clearly handed over thousands of pages of documents. you didn't think those were privileged. you should at least come in and answer questions about these documents and over the past three days they have slowly been rolling out new details, some of them truly shocking. tonight we're learning more about the kind of messages that meadows was receiving, including a new text message from an official in georgia. now, meadows received this text message according to the committee during that january 2nd call where former president trump was pressuring george officials to, quote, find votes.

and in this text message, the official told meadows, quote, we need to end this call. i don't think it will be productive for much longer. now, this is significant because this committee is not just interested in january 6th, not just interested in the insurrection. they are also investigating the days and weeks leading up to january 6th, and efforts by meadows, by trump, by anyone else to undermine confidence in the election. now, another new revelation tonight from the committee, a text message that draws the first definitive connection between meadows and a former top department of justice official, jeffrey clark. clark while at the justice department was a big proponent of using the power of that department to help pursue trump's efforts to overturn or undermine the election. and in this particular text message, someone is referencing rumblings that clark could potentially be appointed acting attorney general, and this unnamed person texts meadows saying, quote, that's amazing. i'm personally so proud you are

at the tip of the sphere. now, the committee emphasizing it's clearly important to talk to meadows about this, especially if he was the, quote, tip of the spear for some effort to install a trump loyalist at the top of the justice department. now, there's more, including another text message from approximately november 4th, so after the election, where an unnamed lawmaker texts meadows with a strategy for how to help trump potentially just toss it to the supreme court to figure out who won the election. one of the committee members explains what they found. >> on november 4th, a member of this body wrote to meadows, here's an aggressive strategy one day after the election. why can't the states of george, north carolina, pennsylvania, and other republican-controlled state houses declare this is bs? where conflicts in election not called that night and just send their own electors to vote and

have it go to the scotus, the supreme court of the united states? >> michael, of course all of this evidence we just laid out, this is what meadows handed over voluntarily. makes you wonder about what he could potentially be withholding. but over the past few days, the house select committee laying all these questions that we would ask meadows if he was to come and answer questions in a deposition really trying to hammer home the point of why he cannot defy the subpoena and come in and answer the questions. if he thinks there's an issue of privilege, he can raise that to that specific question, but they're arguing he needs to honor the subpoena, come and answer questions. if he doesn't, they argue he should be criminally charged. >> when do we get to find out who was sending these texts? i want to know their names. i'm kind of shocked that 24 hours have gone off the clock and we don't know any of them

thus far. >> reporter: it's a great question. first, you have to wonder, well, are some of these people cooperating? was this part of it deal that they wouldn't reveal it? is it part of the storytelling here? clearly they're weaving a narrative. they are potentially reviewing those over the next few weeks. but it's a great question, certainly one a lot of people are asking, especially some of the text messages we heard last night, including someone apologizing to mark meadows following the insurrection that they weren't able to turn the election for trump. truly shocking that that was the reaction on january 7th. >> yeah. who is that individual? paula reid, thank you so much. we know the names of the fox personalities. why don't we know the names of the members of congress yet? we should. the house is expected to hold a vote on mark meadows being in contempt of congress before this night is through. but is his claim of executive privilege necessarily baseless? ken gormley is a constitutional law scholar, president of duquesne university. he's also the author of "the

presidents and the constitution." ken, it occurs to me the president has a job to do. he's entitled to privacy. congress has a job to do and part of that is to conduct investigations. so how do you square the two? >> that's exactly right, michael. first of all, we're talking about a former president here. and the sitting president has waived the privilege. then you have the fact that mark meadows has already cooperated with congress and provided documents. it's hard to turn off the spigot. he has written a book about a lot of this. on the other hand, you have congress and they're really at the core of their functions here, they have a constitutional power to hold hearings, to investigate, and make determines at any moment in history to address problems. we did it -- they did it after the disputed haste election in the 1870s. they held hearings and passed the electoral count act. they did it after the civil war when you have had private groups like the kkk committing atrocities.

they held hearings. i've read them, they're powerful. they passed civil and criminal laws still on the books today. so they are at the core of their powers. i think that mark meadows is on a very weak executive power trajectory here. >> does it matter what the subject matter is? in other words, in this case the subject matter is the election, the election of 2020, these texts are being sent to meadows about what transpired january 6th. does it weigh into the decision about whether there's privilege? >> it makes a big difference because look at the constitution. there is nothing in article 2 that talks about the powers of the presidency that talks about trying to influence the outcome of elections one way or the other. that is candidate trump acting. that is not president trump acting. and so mark meadows is having

his communications with candidate trump about that subject, which even further weakens any claim for executive privilege here. >> we're watching these events play out. i'm transfixed by these things, but when i step back, i say to myself, maybe this is just the preamble because i'm sure paying close attention are folks at the justice department. and then you heard what i just revealed and discussed in detail about liz cheney, which sounded awfully like the statute i was quoting. what do you think the justice department appetite is for what we're watching tonight? >> well, i have to say that i've been following this, and the last day or two has been like a

bombshell. it has been shocking. and it reminds me of actually the disclosure of the white house taping system during the watergate hearings. i don't think once you kick open that door, michael, that you can close that door anymore. i think there is going to be a lot of pressure for congress to start connecting these dots and getting the evidence. and i do think that the justice department is going to be looking carefully. as you know, h.r. haldeman ended up going to prison after watergate for obstruction of justice, for perjury. so just because you were chief of staff doesn't get you off the hook. and just because you were once president of the united states doesn't get you off the hook if there were crimes being committed. so i think we're getting into very serious terrain here, and i don't think it's possible to unring this bell now that this information is coming flooding out. >> quick final question. you've already told us that you don't think that meadows has a strong claim here for executive privilege. whatever that claim is, it's stronger than the claim that bannon had, right? >> absolutely. steve bannon put over to the side because he wasn't even a federal employee. mark meadows, although he was, i think it's pretty weak. i think he's playing with fire here. he could end up just like h.r.

haldeman and end up going to prison and that wouldn't be a good outcome for anyone. unless he decides to plead the fifth, i think he's going to have to end up in front of that committee testifying. >> ken gormley, president of duquesne university. thank you so much for being here. >> always a pleasure, michael. here's some of the social media reaction to the program thus for. what do we have, vaughn? >> hard for me to see, but you i'll turn my head. his positional reversal from the information in his book and the papers he submitted to his 360 reversal into silence. what caused positional reversal? ken made a similar point, but

why do we necessarily -- let me give the benefit of the doubt for a moment. well, he wrote a book and handed over, what is it, 9,000 documents. therefore, he's waived his executive privilege to the extent he ever had one. why isn't the answer he handed over what was not subject to the executive privilege, and those things that are subject that pertain that the confidences he was relying on -- i don't think it's necessarily an all or nothing. i agree, this vote is a foregone conclusion. he will be held in contempt tonight for sure. but i don't know that it's a baseless or laughable claim that he's asserting. one more if we have time. would it be wise of meadows to reverse course and plead the fifth now there's talk of a criminal case? what harm could it do? i think that the real -- i'm not giving you a direct answer. i think it was ken. but let me make a larger point. as i said to ken gormley a moment ago, i think we're watching small stakes play itself out in front of the congress. if i were mark meadows i would be far more concerned with what liz cheney indeed telegraphing to the department of justice. put two and two together. if i were meadows, i'd be worried about doj much more so than what comes from the

congress. again, we're going to bring you the contempt vote as soon as it hands. we thought it would have happened by now, but it ought to happen tonight. as it happens, you can't talk about january 6th without talking about or at least thinking about the former president. but something's happening in this country well beyond donald trump. and my next guest will tell us why our nation may be in the middle of a radical shift, an anti-democratic movement. that's next. . we're standing by for a full house vote to hold mark meadows in contempt of congress. one thing is clear, president trump's inner circle and those around it knew that january 6th was a danger to democracy, but that effort to subvert elections is not over. it's taking place in races for

positions that most of us have no clue who holds. think local election boards, in some cases, state legislators. you've seen the map of the 19 states that have passed new voting laws, but we rarely discuss what those laws do. so let's change that by bringing in someone who knows what's at stake, david leonhardt of "the new york times." welcome.

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we're standing by for a full house vote to hold mark meadows in contempt of congress. one thing is clear, president trump's inner circle and those around it knew that january 6th was a danger to democracy, but that effort to subvert elections is not over. it's taking place in races for positions that most of us have

no clue who holds. think local election boards, in some cases, state legislators. you've seen the map of the 19 states that have passed new voting laws, but we rarely discuss what those laws do. so let's change that by bringing in someone who knows what's at stake, david leonhardt of "the new york times." welcome. you say there's an anti-democratic movement afoot. so take me to the front lines of that battle. where are we standing and what's going on? >> i think it's important to really focus on what are the most radical versions of this movement. it's not trying to bar mail-in voting. mail-in voting seems to be an "a" successful way to expand democracy, but that's a legitimate thing for the parties to fight over. it's not even some of these fights over voter i.d., making sure voters are actually voting as who they are is a legitimate thing for the government to do. we're talking about a much more radical set of issues here. we're talking about in swing states, particularly where republicans control the state

legislature, but democrats are either competitive and joe biden won all these states, george, wisconsin, michigan, arizona, pennsylvania. basically these state legislatures and local officials are trying to change the rules to make it easy for them to overturn an election result after it happens. they are repeating donald trump's lies about the 2020 election and they're using that to justify these measures where they are disempowering the secretary of state or running for offices where they oversee voting in plain sight. essentially what it is, it's a campaign to put them in a position where they will win elections where trump failed, which is to undo a democratic election. >> for example, my home state, the commonwealth of pennsylvania, there's a move afoot to make secretary of state

an elected official. that's what you're talking about? >> yes. and the mere fact of being secretary of state an elected position is not in itself a threat to democracy. there is in many places where it is an elected position. you see people who are repeating lies about voter fraud, running for these positions. you see republican legislatures trying to move power away from jobs now held by democrats and give them to republicans. you see them running for low-level offices where they might be able to discard ballots. what they're doing as they do this is they're claiming, falsely, obviously, that donald trump won the 2020 election. and they're sort of laying the groundwork for doing something like this in the future. >> david, 60% -- you've seen the polling data. 60% of republicans believe the election was stolen. i don't believe the election was stolen. you don't believe the election was stolen. the evidence doesn't show that the election was stolen. let me make that clear. but those who are behind the efforts that you're describing, they think they're doing god's work, right? it's not as if they're out to

steal in their minds. they're trying to protect the system because they think it was stolen. >> i don't know what's in their minds, michael, right? i don't doubt that there are some of them who genuinely believe the election was stolen and some of them who don't care. i'm sure there are both groups of motivations in there. i think the important thing is the election day was not stolen. this is playbook that has been used in countries around the world when parties decide they want to get the rid of democracy. you played a lot of liz cheney's comments during the show tonight. i think they're really important because if democrats are worried about this, it is vital that they work with republicans with whom they disagree. if democrats say, wait a second, i can't work with him or her because he has a position on abortion or taxes or climate change, the way to stop anti-democratic movements, all

the scholars tell us, is to have cross-ideological coalitions fighting. liz cheney believes in fair elections, it seems, so do nearly all democrats. they can fight later over who wins elections. but what we need to have happen first is actually elections in the united states where the people who get the most votes get the electoral votes from that state. >> she makes your point because she lost her leadership gig for speaking out on issues just like this. david leonhardt, thank you so much. the essay is terrific and i hope people read it. what are your thoughts? tweet me. i love looking at it during the course of the program. this has just come in. where am i headed this time? oh, wow, very cool. i like that. i'm old now. i never thought i'd live to see an american that loses its democracy. i'm so glad my dad, a world war ii veteran, is not alive to see this. i'm 59. never in my life -- i've been paying attention since i was 18. never in my life, never until the very recent last couple of

years that i worry about -- the sort of concerns on my mind are heretofore third-world concerns. never did i worry in the united states about protecting democracy. so i share your consternation and your worry for what the old man would have thought. mine, too. we're following two big stories, the vote on mark meadows criminal contempt referral, but also president biden's fight to save his build back better agenda. the top progressive in the house is here. does this happen before christmas? and what happens if senator manchin refuses to budge? representative pramila jayapal joins me next. hi, my name is cherrie. i'm 76 and i live on the oregon coast.

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local xfinity store today. we're awaiting a house vote on whether to refer president trump's former chief of staff mark meadows to the justice department for contempt of congress. will it get us closer to learning what exactly led to the insurrection and how to prevent another one? my next guest says our democracy barely survived january 6th. welcome progressive caucus chair pramila jayapal. congresswoman, thank you so much

for being here. we'll talk about build back better in just a moment. but as we're awaiting this vote, how many republicans do you anticipate -- okay. we're going to square out an audio issue. as we square that away, let me say we're awaiting a vote as to whether mark meadows will be held in contempt of congress. it seems like it's a foregone conclusion. what i'm eager to learn from representative pramila jayapal is exactly how many republicans will vote to be supportive of that move given that there were nine who voted to hold steve bannon in contempt. i think i have the representative now. how many republicans do you think will join democrats when the vote takes place and say that he was in contempt of congress? >> well, the only two we know, michael -- and it's good to see you -- are liz cheney and adam kinzinger. i'm hoping some of the republicans that were brave enough to vote for impeachment earlier in the year will also come along because clearly these text messages show that this was a pre-planned, premeditated role that donald trump was playing, and that the whole big lie has

been perpetuated by him and that people close to him, like his own son, were saying that he needed to do something when he refused to do anything. so i do hope that some other republicans will be courageous enough to stand up for democracy in the way that liz cheney and adam kinzinger are. >> shouldn't we know the names of the members of congress who were those texting mark meadows? we learned the fox personalities last night. shouldn't we know the members of congress as well? >> well, i think we will eventually. i do think that at this moment while the investigation is still going on, there's some sensitivity to that, that's why we have to be careful. but i do think it's important at

the end of the day for the american people to know exactly who was involved in planning this, exactly who was involved in perpetuating the big lie, and exactly who was involved in ensuring that these, you know, steals across the country were continuing. so i do think we will find that out. i just think we're in the investigative stage right now. >> one month ago you said that you had full confidence in joe manchin coming around and build back better getting passed. how do you feel tonight? >> i still feel that way. look, michael, most build back better was pre-negotiated, pre-conferenced with senator manchin and with the president. and i believe the president when he said that he had a commitment and that he had confidence that he would get the 50 votes needed in the senate. and i've spoken to the white

house again recently. i believe that still to be true, but obviously there are a lot of things that were added in the house, and we do have a little bit of negotiation that still needs to be done on top of the fact that the parliamentarian still has to review the provisions, but i feel really good we're going to pass build back better, that we're going to lower costs for americans, that we are going to help elders afford their prescription drugs, that we are going to ensure that every 3 and 4-year-old has pre-k, and that we are going to bring down health care costs by providing hearing aids for our seniors. so this is significant what we're doing in this bill, and all of it is paid for by taxes on the wealthiest individuals and corporations finally paying their fair share. that is something the american public supports and all of these things will help lower costs for americans. >> on that last point, and to the extent that senator manchin is looking for cover, he gets it, does he not, in those labor statistics that show inflation at a 40-year high, and the cbo score that says this is going to add $3 trillion to the deficit? >> well, the cbo score was a fictional score. let's talk about the real cbo score that said this would be

deficit neutral for the first decade and would actually help the deficit, cut the deficit by $2 trillion over the second ten years. the cbo score you're referring to was on a fictional bill. it was not on the bill we passed. it was saying if all the programs in the bill were extended for ten years, then what would be the effect? but they didn't anticipate, a, the fact that the programs expire. we're going to have to decide whether or not to extend them. and, b, they didn't take into account if we decided to extend them, we can pay for them in the same way we're paying for them now. so that is not a real score, and senator manchin should know that.

and the republicans who want to kill build back better and keep increasing costs for american people, that's what they're trying to do is make the argument somehow that this is hurting the american people when, in fact, if you care about inflation, michael, what you want to do is pass build back better, bring down costs for working people, and help ensure that it's all paid for by taxes on the wealthiest. >> final question. do you get it done before christmas? >> well, i think the senate is going to try to get it done before christmas. then it will have to come back to the house. and so we are trying to get it done before the end of the year when the child tax credit expires because, as you know, the child tax credit passed in the american rescue plan has cut child poverty in half. and we need to make sure that that does not go away, and that we ensure we continue to help families that are struggling across the country with the child tax credit.

that's why it's so important we get it done before the end of the year, on top of the fact that, again, this is going to cut those inflationary costs that families are feeling and help the pain that families are suffering right now across the country. >> to be continued. representative, thank you so much for being here. >> thank you. some of the power grabs we're seeing in the country are easier to notice than others. but they all matter when it comes to elections. a number of competitive races simply aren't competitive anymore, and that is not by accident. david wasserman takes us through the newest battles over redistricting. that's next. you've been taking mental health meds, and your mind is finally in a better place. except now you have uncontrollable body movements called tardive dyskinesia td. and it can seem like that's all people see. ♪ some meds for mental health can cause abnormal dopamine signaling in the brain. while how it works is not fully understood, ingrezza is thought to reduce that signaling. ingrezza is a prescription medicine used to treat adults with td movements in the face and body.

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if politicians are really concerned about rigged elections, they need to take on gerrymandering. both sides are guilty of creating districts like these, broken puzzle pieces that look

more like rorschach tests. but republicans are going to new lengths to pre-determine outcomes. they control the redistricting process in far more places than democrats, and it has led to this, new political maps that kill swing districts from coast to coast. i've got the perfect person to break this down and how it can impact your vote. election expert david wasserman is the senior editor for the cook political report. david, thank you so much for being here. there are 435 congressional districts. how many do you anticipate will be competitive in the midterms? >> probably fewer than 40, michael. you know, one evergreen rule in politics is that parties hate drawing competitive districts. they hate having to spend money

on districts year after year when they can just draw it to be a safe seat. and so right now there are 51 districts out of 435 in which one party, either biden or trump, won by five points or less. we're likely to see that go down to the 30s this time. >> i have a chart prepared for me by you folks at cook political report, which shows the diminished number. what accounts for that? i mean, why have they decreased so much in the last 25 or 50 years? >> what's happened is americans choose to live in places where their friends and neighbors agree with their political and social values. we've seen a great self-sorting of the electorate and seen gerrymandering take advantage of that sorting, compounding that by segmenting voters into heavily red or blue districts where we don't really hold competitive elections between candidates of different visions and qualifications anymore. we're essentially holding census of how many people are wearing red or blue jersey live within a set of boundaries. we're likely to see that on steroids this cycle. you know, there's this battle playing out in state capitols right now that's not getting as much attention as the january 6th committee or fights over voting laws.

but it's far more consequential to outcomes. because they control so many more states than democrats, including big states like texas and florida, north carolina, ohio, and george whereas democrats only get to gerrymandering illinois, maryland, new york, and a handful of others. the biggest casualty in all of this is competitive seats. >> so i said both sides do it. the how many republicans control, how many competitive congressional districts will there be in the midterm nears? >> you know, right now texas has 23 republican members of congress and 13 democrats, members of the house, i should say. out of those 23 republicans, nine were representing seats where biden got more than 47%. but under the new map, there's only one district out of 38 in texas that is remotely competitive.

and so republicans essentially are playing keepaway in a lot of these large states that they control, and the result is that primaries are going to be tantamount to election in over 85% or 95% of districts next year. >> how about illinois? i want another example of a democratic state. >> sure. well, illinois right now is 13-5 for the democrats, but under this new map the democrats drew, it's likely to be 14-3. now, when you see safe seats drawn, parties don't have the incentive to recruit candidates with broad appeal. that means the primary, which matters much more than the general election in these districts, the incentive -- the way the candidates are able to get attention and stand out from a crowd is to go viral. and that likely means that we're going to see more marjorie taylor greenes, more donald trump-style candidates elected from safe seats. >> the fringes get rewarded, and there is no incentive to

compromise because all you got to do is appease the base who helped you win a primary because you're in a noncompetitive district. david, that was excellent. so glad to have you here tonight. >> thanks a lot, michael. what are your thoughts? reach out to me on social media. at the end of the program -- oh, we got one more. centrists are unable to win the primary, so our elected officials are more polarized. far left, far right, while most of the country is center left or center right. amen to that. there was something important that david just brought out. gerrymandering gets the attention, right? that's when the boundary lines every ten years based on the census are manipulated to suit one political party or the other. that's only half the dynamic. did you hear him also discuss self-sorting? more and more we are living among the like-minded. you know what's on the rise? blowout counties in this country. we don't redraw county boundary lines. there are 3,000 counties in the united states. look at maps and you'll see that they are now becoming

increasingly blowout. that means we are choosing to live among the like-minded. when a politician in d.c. helps bring home the bacon to when a politician in d.c. helps bring home the bacon to the constituents, they love to brag. but we're seeing a lawmaker take a victory lap for something they have no business claiming credit for. and that is tonight's "reality check with john avlon." he's next. as a dj, i know all about customization. that's why i love liberty mutual. they customize my car insurance, so i only pay for what i need. how about a throwback? ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty ♪ only pay for what you need.

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that we might lose them all. our engineers and operations team worked with cisco to do whatever's necessary and bring whatever tools we have to bring to tell the best story. between what's news and what's now, there's a bridge. cisco. the bridge to possible. a trojan horse for socialism. that's what paul gosar and his colleagues call president biden's covid relief plan. they voted against it, and yet months later they're singing a different tune. john avlon gives us tonight's reality check. >> that's right, michael. so paul gosar is at it again. no, not threatening aoc or calling members of the fbi and doj traitors or boycotting speeches by the pope. no. this is a different sin of blatant hypocrisy. you see, gosar is doing a victory lap for delivering federal cash to his

constituency, covid-19 funds to clean and provide relief for the kingman, arizona, airport. in a press release, he called it critical funding. what he failed to mention is that he voted against the legislation that made it possible. the american rescue plan. he said it's about funding democratic pet projects. the american people should be furious and called it a democratic spending b ing bonan. which is it, a socialist spending scheme or critical funding? he understands that he can vote no and still score the dough. and he's far from the only congressman to take credit for a bill he tried to kill. take congressman gary palmer who voted against the infrastructure bill. called it recklessly expensive.

and then put out a press relief, touting its benefits back home, saying funding the northern beltline has consistently been one of my top priorities. it will benefit the entire region and enhance economic development and employment opportunities. these are only a few blatant examples. i could be add in other sworn enemies of bipartisanship like kevin mccarthy. not a single republican voting for biden's american rescue plan. only 13 house members voted for the bipartisan infrastructure bill. and they caught massive flak for it from their colleagues. look, i know that cynicism passes for wisdom in washington for a reason. but this is ridiculous. and yet, it's the way we live now. kentucky democratic congressman john yarmouth didn't need a crystal ball when he predicted this back in march. >> what we are concerned about

on our side is the republicans are all going to vote against it and then show up at every ribbon cutting project that's funded from this bill and then take credit for all these great benefits that are coming to their citizens. >> and the reason he could predict it all is because we've seen this before. like during the obama years when republicans pursued a strategy of total obstruction during the fiscal crisis. yet one year after the passage of the recovery act, 70% of the house gop had taken credit for some kind of improvement in their home districts, prompting washington monthly to call them highway hypocrites. but this is much more than partisan hypocrisy. it's part of the zero sum game that stops people in congress from reasoning together in good faith. they care about deficits and debt when a democrat is present. they attack popular social spending bills as socialism run amuck and take a victory lap at home when the money flows in. it shouldn't be too much to

expect some constant. if a bill benefits your constituents, vote for it. there will always be tradeoffs, perfect is never on the menu but if you demonize a bill you can't turn around and take credit for it, at least not without getting called out for it and that's your reality check. >> john, nicely done. thank you. we'll be back with social media reaction to tonight's program. cough cough sneeze sneeze... [ sneezing ] needs, plop plop fizz fizz. alka seltzer plus cold relief. dissolves quickly. instantly ready to start working. so you can bounce back fast with alka-seltzer plus. now available for fast sinus relief. real cowboys get customized car insurance with liberty mutual, so we only pay for what we need. -hey tex, -wooo. can someone else get a turn? yeah, hang on, i'm about to break my own record. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪

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