david perdue and kelly loeffler, both facing runoff elections on tuesday. the races will determine which party controls the senate. watch the rally life from the city of dalton in northern georgia starting at 7 p.m. eastern on c-span, online at c-span.org or listen on the free c-span radio app. >> jacqueline alemany joins us now. she's authored of the "washington post" power of colin. for those who have not read it, what is power up? >> guest: hey, everyone. and for having me. power up his "washington post" early-morning newsletter that covers everything going on for in power centers about washington come sometimes we are focused on day of news come sometimes with something a little bit more feature looking ahead but this many monday morg after taking the last two weeks off, thank you very much to my

bosses, there's obviously a ton going on looking at the week ahead. >> host: the headline, trump divides republican party on his way out of washington. take us through it. >> guest: as we lead with, leave it to this president to everything possible to divide the republican party on as we have the door and by before darth two georgia runoffs that we determine control of the senate, happening tomorrow in georgia. trump's last-minute 11h hour demand. not0 stimulus checks, after having participated in negotiations for several weeks, followed by him forcing the ofate to override his veto the defense bill. arelatest exercise, what we seeing play out, is the electoral college challenge, which will culminate with a joint session on wednesday. wranglings have been -- the president has been

wrangling republicans to contest the electoral college results. he found quite a bit of support in the house. we have a count on the washington post.com. two senators, led by ted cruz and josh howley of missouri are spearheading the effort on the senate's side of the chamber. and it is unlikely that this is going to actually materialize. procedurally, it is difficult. the house is controlled by democrats. there will not be the votes for this to follow through. but, it is detrimental, nevertheless to american democracy and our electoral process. host: this was all happening before the tape came out. we spent the last half hour of the program talking about that phone conversation between the secretary of state in georgia and the president that happened on saturday, obtained and released by the washington post yesterday. how do you think that will impact both the georgia runoffs that are happening tomorrow, but

also the effort to object the election results come wednesday in that joint meeting? gardnery colleague, amy had the scoop obtaining this hour long phone call between brad raffensperger and president trump. and various members of the , a conservative theer, and some staff on secretary of state's side. we have not heard much from republicans yet in response to the president's threats toward the secretary of asking him and really warning him to find a votes that are not missing. the results were decisive. joe biden won the election. he won georgia. there has been quite a bit of

litigation, no election fraud happened that was identified. there is consensus, republicans are split. privately, you have people like mitch mcconnell warning republicans to not sign onto the electoral challenge. that is not helpful for the party, especially before an election. you have other republicans who are -- a call like this, hearing from the president's mouth these conspiracy theories and debunked claims bolsters what they are doing. i imagine we will see a lot of reporters asking senators and lawmakers on the hill today for their response to this. are calling for a criminal investigation. a member of george's board of elections has called to open a criminal probe because the

president is attempting to tamper with election results, which legal experts say veers into questionable legal territory. host: in the mitch mcconnell leadership era, explain how unusual this republican senate split is. a hallmark of the trump presidency has been that republicans, in general, have trump'sd in many of orth th -- unorthodox policies and way of doing things very we have not seen much pushback -- things. we have not seen much pushback in general. he is leaving the white house in 17 days. joe biden is the president-elect and won the election decisively per year sing republicans pushback. mitch mcconnell realized that there could be some potentially devastating-

outcomes from the president's behavior right now, in terms of republican control in washington. he is worried about these two runoff races, which will determine control of the senate. senators david perdue and kelly loeffler, if they both lose to jon ossoffocrats, and raphael warnock, democrats will have control of congress. is also 2022 race was that -- races that mitch mcconnell is worried about. along with leadership positions in the senate, including roy blunt. they are up in 2022. mitch mcconnell has always been strategic in his maneuvering. that is what he is thinking ahead to while the president is not getting much foresight into anything and is burning the white house down on his way out. host: jacquie alemany is joining

us, the author of the washington post power up column. ahead of a very busy week in washington. we will get to the phone lines to call in. .emocrats, (202) 748-8000 republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 748-8002. jackie alamein he will be with us until about 8:45. -- jackie alamei

the weekend before the, leading up to the election in november. the president went to rome georgia and rallied and the were about 30,000 people that came out during the pandemic to rally behind this president. his appeal is undeniable. if anyone thought trump come him losing the election would make a big dent or be the end of trumpism i think a lot of people were mistaken and republicans to understand that which is why obviously there is a schism in the party and use some people hugging the president and others backing away. david perdue and kelly loeffler have had to do a tricky dance because of the dynamics at play. they obviously don't want to fully embrace the precedence claims because that would mean potentially weakening their own

supporters confidence in the electoral system, may be deterring them from turning out tomorrow, internet is always a big question in special elections always generally lower than it is during our regular election. but at the same time to realize the president's base in georgia is still strong and they do need to support them in some regard. that's why when the stimulus checks conversation sort of wrenched and the relief bill came up you saw david perdue and kelly loeffler all of a sudden had a finger up to the wind and changed their mind and came out to support the $2000 to checks which is something new for people who a privacy considered themselves fiscal hawks. i think we will see again a lot of claims from this president that have not penned out about election fraud. that would be quite a bit of fact checking, but i think will also see some of the same

all-time hits we see from this president when he usually goes and rallied spiritedness thrive off of these rallies. it's where he feels like he's usually at his best. >> host: we will be airing that on c-span 7 p.m. tonight the president and dalton georgia. the president-elect joe biden also scheduled to be an atlanta today as well. all eyes on the peach state this week. jacqueline . jacqueline alemany complaint calls for you. robert in california democrat you were up first. good morning. >> caller: good morning. i just don't understand the obsession with donald trump. every day that goes by the is less and less significant. this notion that this was some kind of a threatening call is ridiculous. i listen to the call twice. i'm not a trump supporter, and only basically did was make his case for the boating and he

talked about that he won the state by hundreds of thousands of votes and the georgia officials on the call basically politely said we disagree with you. the call went nowhere. now the democrats are once again at the national level attacking trump. it's almost ridiculous. he's going to have this rally tonight. 3 million people have already voted. this election has already been decided. him going to atlanta tonight is almost meaningless. >> host: do you think this story and the president's complaints about the needed that will likely come today at that rally is only going to help him with his base in georgia? >> caller: i don't think it matters. he's not on the ballot. what his base thinks but doesn't think really doesn't matter anymore. >> host: does it help perdue and loeffler who president trump is going down to georgia for? >> caller: i think that trump

is going there for trump. i think, personally i think he cares less if perdue and loeffler wins. he's a desperate to stay in the media limelight. think about, what is he going to influence tonight went 39 people have already voted? it doesn't make any sense. thank you i think you're dead on, robert. the president doesn't have all that much of an interest in the outcome of these races or believe the republican party, his primary interest is himself at the moment. the separate issue is a substantial amount of the republican party believes these baseless and unsubstantiated allegations and accusations of election fraud. a lot of people, you are able to call out the facts here listening to that audio election is over. much of what the president said is flat-out false but a lot of

people listen to that aunt came away from it feeling like that to believe the president, that that further reinforces a lot of the conspiracy theories that they are reading online. on the flip side of this you're completely right. democrats at this point i think should be focusing on mapping out the next four years, assuming power in the house, white house, what they're going to do with this, how they're going to maneuver a potentially republican-controlled senate. but i do think it would be, we would be doing our jobs as media if we didn't collect potential legal questions that the audio raises. that are subject to prosecutable discretion, but the call was a little bit inappropriate and some are saying that it definitely violates certain u.s.

codes. and use actually people who are democrats who are nonpartisan figures already calling to open up investigations. the problem with this president is it's not just a one-off, right? he is chipping away at our democratic norms, and when these falsehoods and mistruths and inaccurate information are repeated time and time again it makes its way into the mainstream and becomes common, commonly held belief among a substantial part of the party. that's what you see the media going out of their way to constantly fact check and you know, it is of the news of the republican party where this party is going post trump. >> host: bob, independent, louisville, kentucky,. >> caller: thank you for taking my call. what i want to say was that

these six states that's in doubt, i'm surprised that somebody don't come up and ask, let them six states revote. hell, that would eliminate all of conspiracies. and hell, it wouldn't take two days. and what state wouldn't want that anyway? >> host: bob, would you like to see a revote in kentucky? >> caller: well, , no. no. i'm talking about the six states that are, you know, they are saying there is fraud. >> host: i get your point. i just didn't know if i revote is something to think would be fair after you cast your vote on election day. >> caller: i think it would be fair. i mean, if everybody suspects there is corruption, why in the hell not revote? and i mean, no machines. let's and vote only suspect

that's bob, independent. jacqueline alemany? >> guest: yeah, bob, you know, i i think the kan argument we are hearing here is what about all other all of the republicans who won races in those states? do you want those races to revote as well? >> host: we will go to hollywood florida republican. good morning. >> caller: good morning. my question goes to the lady. i want you to explain to me why -- [inaudible]

>> host: what do you think he meant? what are you concerned about? , i don't know. that's what i want this lady which is well educated, for the newspaper, explain to me. thank you. >> guest: i'm sorry, i missed your question. >> host: he was concerned about some of chuck schumer statements. we can go to patty and harrisburg, pennsylvania. a democrat. >> caller: good morning. pennsylvania proud. we have voted for joe biden and very proud of that. i think trump is so out of control. they really should vote for the 25th amendment because you has 26 days. i was shocked but not shocked when i saw the news and her the news, his threatening people in georgia. he lost.

what more does he want? he really doesn't want to be president because he just wants the power. that's an ego thing. i think he is a very dangerous man. >> host: jacqueline alemany? >> guest: you know, you did make a valid point, there's been quite a bit of reporting over the past really six years since the president started running for this office, for this position that he actually wasn't all that interested in the role of the presidency, but more of the process and then the title. we do note that the president himself was quite surprised when he did win as with the people around him. i think at the tail end of his for years we are seeing him relinquish the role that he did not enjoy playing. you are not seeing someone who is seeped in policy, , legislatn big you are seeing someone who

is singly obsessed with overturning the result of the election, who does not like being a loser. and it's not really, doesn't have any regard for any constitutional boundaries, norms, or really the raging pandemic that is killed almost 350,000 americans. that is also what i heard from a handful of senate republicans yesterday when i was working the phones come calling a about the electoral college challenge. one person told me, one when se gop member told me this whole saga was quote-unquote embarrassing for republicans as they are so focused on this issue that is basically conspiracy fears while the pandemic rages. a member of their own party just recently died from covid-19. >> host: i i want to come back to headline of today's power up column about this divided

republican party that you talk about especially on the senate side. if republicans are able to maintain control of those georgia seats, the runoffs that happening tomorrow, what does this mean next week for mitch mcconnell as ahead of the republicans in the senate? and a month from now after donald trump is out of office. is there any lasting impacts, you think? >> guest: that is the key question. i think that you have a handful of people who are presidential hopefuls with their eye on 2024, including the two people who are spearheading the electoral college challenge, senators ted cruz and josh hawley. then you have people like senator tom cotton who also has been rumored to be interested in a presidential run, has bigger aspirations than the senate, who alleges originalist thinking yesterday and said he was

against the electoral college challenge because it's not caucuses role to challenge the outcome -- congresses rolled to challenge the outcome of the election. i think that is going to be a constant push and pull we are going to, how republicans try to appeal to trump's base, who can out trump each other. at the end of the day it's still going to be very valuable for whoever is running for whatever race really up and down the ballot for trump to support them and come out and campaign for them. we know this president can be transactional and vindictive, quite frankly. we saw him after roy blunt came out against the electoral college challenge, encourage governor christie know on two primary him. that's something that i think that the president keeps score and tabs on. but at the same time if the

cinema to mitch mcconnell has retained control of the senate, it's going to be helpful for the republican party and its going to put a big roadblock in joe biden's agenda going forward. i think we know that democrats write a going to want to come in and try to push through more release two americans during the pandemic, whether that's more direct stimulus payments for a whole other additional package that's given to local municipalities and states which we know states governors have been begging for. but i think the biden administration, blossoming biden administration has been bullish on this idea that joe biden is going to be able to work with mitch mcconnell and is finally going to be the democrat that's going to strike some bipartisan agreement. but i'm a bit more skeptical of that. i think we, it's going to be come something we'll all be

watching closely how that will plant. >> host: you mentioned tom collins objection to this ever to overturn election results. an interesting way to describe his opposition from the homepage breitbart is what they write. senator tom cotton became the first republican senator on sunday night who's actually support of president trump's agenda to oppose the challenge of the electoral college issuing a statement saying he concernedt would create a dangerous precedent the democrats would -- >> good morning. we had our inaugural house democratic caucus meeting for the 117th congress. we are excited come looking for to getting to work with president-elect joe biden and kamala harris, his partner in the white house, to build back matter for the people and to make life better for everyday americans as we deal