i'm in for alyssa menendez. thank you for being with us. remember to catch "american voices" every saturday and sunday starting at 6:00 p.m. eastern. for now, "politics nation" with reverend al sharpton. good evening and welcome to "politics nation." tonight's lead, a break. and right now, even i need one. because even with this last live show and these last two weeks of 2021 i've already begun for the political reckoning promised by the coming year. starting with the fall out over what appears to be the failure of the build back better act. senator joe manchin telling fox news fittingly this morning that

he will not support the president's $2 trillion megabill reportedly telling democratic leadership just minutes before his announcement. i can't imagine the bind this places that leadership in. as now, in addition to their numbers in both house and senate, the center piece of the equity agenda promised by the biden administration won't be there for democrats to run in next year's midterm elections. but even that seems extraneous at this moment. because basic questions like the sanctity of the vote, a woman's reproductive rights, and the legal limits of law enforcement are still being settled politically. on that first question, what i haven't gotten as the senate now pivots to voting rights, is an

explicit answer on is whether or not there is even enough time to counter the national surge in republican engineered voter suppression legislation or whether the emphasis on infrastructure was worth the federal voting protection bills that have been killed or rendered inert. one thing i do know is that it will be black house democrats that will be expected to have all those answers next year, even as i suspect some of them are asking those same questions. joining me now, congresswoman terry sewell, democrat of alabama. thank you for joining us, congresswoman sewell. with this news that senator joe manchin will not support the build back better act, has the

democrats' most compelling initiative aimed at black voters died with midterm elections in less than a year, hbcu funding, housing assistance, obama care expansion, all of that presumably dead as polls show black voters losing faith in the white house and congressional democrats? your response, congresswoman >> i am equally as disappointed in joe manchin's decision today, announcement today he won't be supporting the build back better. what i know for a fact as you laid out there are so many good parts of this bill that he can't imagine any senator being able to go back home especially in a state like west virginia that has so many needs just like my state of alabama. i can tell you it would be a hard press for any senator to go back and tell the people that elected them that they are not in favor of lowering prescription drug costs, they're not in favor of lowering child costs, they're not in favor of

lowering health care premiums as well as providing paid family leave. these are critically important parts not only of the biden agenda but very important parts of any democratic agenda that's about helping families and moving americans forward. so i also don't want my constituents to feel like we're not giving up the fight. we are not giving up this fight. if we have to go back to the drawing board, and work with manchin and sinema to get something that will pass i know this president joe biden and this administration and house democrats are prepared to do what we need to do to fight for all of the american people on this agenda. >> you know, congresswoman, i don't have to tell you state republican lawmakers are going after minority districts, drawing up electoral maps designed to dilute concentrations of voters of color or to handicap black and

brown democrats by slashing their districts. as i mentioned at the top, what i would love to hear from at least one lawmaker is whether or not it was a mistake to prioritize this binding agenda, infrastructure, and the bbb over voting rights. >> you know, this lawmaker happens to hail from selma, alabama. i not only represent the amazing people who make up alabama's 7th district today i stand on the shoulders of the legacy of those foremothers and forefathers such as john lewis and amelia boynton robinson and so many unknown heroes who sacrificed so every american can have the equal right to vote. nothing is more important and fundamental to this democracy than the sacred right to vote and we cannot, we must not, we will not give up this fight.

voting rights is essential. as you rightfully said, this is the first time in my lifetime we are actually going through redistricting without the full protection of the voting rights act of 1965 i am rolling up my sleeves as i know my other cbc members are as well and most house and senate democrats want voting rights. it is about us getting this rule change that is necessary in order for us to even debate and vote with 51 votes to approve the john louis voting rights advancement act. >> and you and others were joined in your district in selma to go across the edmund pettis bridge every march and commemorate that day that amelia boykin robinson and john luis

were brutalized on that bridge and now all of that is in jeopardy unless we pass that bill. what does it mean for your constituents? you brought up your constituents as you always do, that the final expanded child tax credit payment went out this week? >> i can tell you that 90% of the children in america benefited from this child tax credit and that includes 76,000 households in alabama's seventh congressional district, $188 million returned to families with children in my district. it is critically important that we expand and make permanent this child tax credit. it is too critically important to lifting children and families out of poverty and so it is another one of those very important pieces of legislation we cannot give up on. in terms of the voting rights act, i can tell you that my constituents know very well that we must continue to mobilize and

organ insist that voting rights stay a top priority. it should be the number one priority frankly of this administration and i was happy to hear president biden say that it was a top priority just this past friday in south carolina state. i know and you know that we have to, very rarely does a change appear in the halls of congress without the agitation, the intentional motivation and mobilizing and organizing of grass roots activism. i am so grateful for your continued support in this endeavor and i can tell you that we, if they can change the rule as they did last week in order to lift the debt ceiling so we won't default on our bills as a nation, we can damn sure increase or change the rules so we can pass voting rights so we can ensure the full protections of the voting rights act of

1965. nothing is more imperative or more important >> i ensure you the civil rights leadership and national action network is joining aggressively in pushing that they get this filibuster adjusted or revoked. we must have that bill passed and martin luther king iii and andrea king saying there can be no king celebration without this legislation. thank you for being with me tonight. joining me now is my political panel sarah longwell director of the republicans for the rule of law and publisher of "the bulwark" and the democratic strategist, president of the amara strategy group. let's start with the apparent demise of the build back better bill. the president spent considerable political capital and time on this social spending package perhaps at the expense of other

priorities such as voting rights legislation. do you think it was a tactical error on the part of the white house and the democratic leadership in congress? >> i definitely think so. in the sense that joe manchin has proven himself to be before to be the definition of -- this is exactly why the progressive congressional caucus held back on the vote for the bipartisan infrastructure bill if they couldn't get a vote on the build back better bill which should be reminded this is part of joe biden's a signature piece of his agenda is to pass the build back better bill. they went to the table with joe manchin as good faith actors and joe manchin until this past week as we now know was negotiating with the white house saying he was working hard to get to yes and then he went on fox news sunday without any word to the white house and said he couldn't get to yes. so they have egg on their faces and have to figure out, you know, what they're going to do in the meantime. certainly there is a political

will still from the house who did pass the bill to make it happen but right now the biggest losers of course are the american people who could have benefited from a bill that worked on disabled care, expanded benefits for elder care, the expanded tax credit as was discussed in the previous segment, family leave, climate change, so many other big ticket items that are important certainly to many voters and the democratic party. >> and the progressives in the house that they complained so much about went ahead, some kicking and screaming, and passed the infrastructure part with the promise that they would do that in the senate. >> yes. >> and with manchin's announcement this morning that has not borne fruit as of yet unless we can see something happen. sarah, with the collapse of the build back better bill negotiations that they were going around that bill, the long simmering tensions between progressive and centrist

democrats, now seem close to boiling over. take a listen to this congresswoman from this morning. >> my lack and deficit of trust was about senator manchin. he has continued to move the goal post. he has never negotiated in good faith. we cannot allow one lone senator from west virginia to obstruct the president's agenda, to obstruct the people's agenda. jake, all i want for christmas is a senator that has compassion for the american people and not contempt. >> now i can understand the congresswoman's frustration and share it as well but we need to remember as we beat up on joe manchin we may have the white house concerned about whether it back fires because tomorrow he can wake up and decide to be a republican and you know what happens then. mitch mcconnell then becomes the senate majority leader just with

one defection in the senate and the very next day like it or not biden has to work with him to get anything done. your thoughts? >> that is exactly right. joe manchin is from a state that voted for donald trump by 39 points. and they are going to need him in the future. i mean, if they are going to get anywhere on voting rights, they need him to not just support it but before a rules change or a carve out of some kind which is a pretty heavy lift for him. i have been surprised by how tough the white house came out after joe manchin especially because, look. there are ways you could go back to him and say, well, what about passing the stand alone child tax credit or some of the other things that are popular about this bill? the point you make is really right. i generally don't believe people would go around switching parties but joe manchin is the one case where you could see him

whether for re-election purposes or because he feels too beat up by democrats for actually switching parties and in the 2020 elections giving mitch mcconnell what he needs to be back in charge. >> that is scary. but we need these bills passed and manchin needs to understand that. let's turn now to another brewing crisis that could soon overtake any legislative disagreements. the resurgence of covid-19 being driven by the new omnicron variant. the administration got good marks for its handling of the pandemic early on. are they still making the right moves? >> i think that they absolutely have to seriously be worried about making sure he has a good response to the pandemic because

the success of his administration will in part balance on this. counting on enforcing vaccination, trying to provide incentives is not enough. we need to have other methods that contain the spread. such as making sure the mask mandates in all forms of public transportation against a busy holiday season where people are seeing families for the first time in over a year, extend through the spring. making sure the at home tests are more available and are much less expensive than they are right now. i am hearing they are running out and they cost about $25 or more per box. some families i know they're offering reimbursement of insurance and the administration negotiated that but quite frankly some people can't afford those costs up front. can the administration work with companies to reduce the cost so people can get hold of these tests and safely gather with

their families going ahead into the holiday season and being sure they are containing the spread? these are additional measures i think he should be containing and insisting upon in his address tuesday because it is that critical. >> in a bizarre interview made public this week the former guy donald trump drew upon numerous jewish stereotypes during a rambling rant about his support for israel. i'll spare you the details but many comments were considerably worse than those made by progressive democrats that republicans have tried to gin up in major scandals trying to make them major scandals in most cases. the gop continues however to rely on trump to keep their voters engaged and excited but is an often unfiltered and

unhinged ex-president more a liability than asset at this point? >> you'd sure like to think so. unfortunately trump has always been a casual racist, casual anti-semite, casual even in the way he talks about violence. what surprises me is the way republicans don't say anything anymore. not just are they quiet about it but now they emulate it. you see people like lauren boebert, marjorie taylor greene. i mean, paul gosar goes to a white nationalist conference and kevin mccarthy is not saying a thing. and so i don't know what to say about what this says about the modern republican party but i do know that the -- that voters don't seem to be holding them accountable anymore for this kind of behavior and, even worse, it seems like this is the new strategy to attract voters is to talk like this. the only thing that gives me solace is this is the kind of

thing that really turns off college educated suburban voters, swing voters, but, yeah. i think the republican party would really like -- there are parts of the republican party that would like donald trump to go away but then this other part of the party gets more like him every day. >> on friday, former minnesota police officer kim potter broke down in tears as she testified at her trial for manslaughter in the death of daunte wright who was shot and killed during a routine traffic stop. her testimony comes the same week another minnesota cop derek chauvin pleaded guilty to federal charges in the death of george floyd. we've seen efforts to enact police reform at the national level stall out at the moment. do you feel some measure of justice is being done in the courts? >> we'll see. certainly in the case of the potter trial she seems to be

taking a pang out of the rittenhouse playbook sobbing really hard but she is a 26-year veteran who has been training officers on how to respond in situations like the one she was in and, you know, it is quite frankly not adding up and we'll see if there is any accountability that i think the da did a very good job of questioning her on and holding her to account but we'll see if the jury holds her accountable for her actions and what happens, you know, in regard to reviving of police reform. it was certainly a major disappointment we couldn't even get a bill to be considered before the floor given what happened to george floyd and many others including daunte wright since then. >> thank you for joining me. after the break, many u.s. companies have gotten behind black lives matter but are they ready to rise up and empower

their own black employees? i'll give you my take. later, nearly a year after january 6th insurrection, new questions about who was responsible for the deadly riot and what should be done about it. but first, my colleague richard lui with today's other top news stories. >> good sunday to you. i'll start with breaking news. about an hour ago we learned new jersey senator cory booker tested positive for covid-19. senator booker says he started feeling mild symptoms saturday. the senator recently got his booster shot and massachusetts senator elizabeth warren also testing positive as a breakthrough case and says her symptoms are mild. both booker and warren saying they are grateful for the vaccination's protective qualities. dr. anthony fauci says he is concerned the new wave of infections could put an increased strain on hospitals and added the new omicron variant is raging around the world and called on more americans to get vaccinated. responding to the omicron wave

doctors now warn two covid therapy drugs probably will not work against the new strain. regeneron and eli lilly say tests show their drugs are not as potent against omicron. they're working on new drugs but will take a few months for those to get going. glaxosmithkline has a drug that works well against omicron but is not widely available in the united states as of yet. more "politics nation" right after this break. reak psoriasis really messes with you. try. hope. fail. no one should suffer like that. i started cosentyx®. five years clear. real people with psoriasis look and feel better with cosentyx. don't use if you're allergic to cosentyx. before starting get checked for tuberculosis. an increased risk of infection, some serious and a lowered ability to fight them may occur.

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since the black lives matter protest in the summer of 2020, corporate america has gone to great lengths to demonstrate support for civil rights. the 50 most valuable companies in the u.s. have pledged nearly $50 billion to racial justice causes since the death of george floyd. and buzz words like diversity and inclusion are now familiar fare on many annual reports.

we should applause these efforts but that doesn't mean we shouldn't also hold these companies up for closer scrutiny. i've told you before on this program about how much of the many allocated for antidiscriminatory causes remains unspent or could have been deployed more effectively. now reporting shows many of these companies embracing racial justice publicly remains stubbornly uninclusive at the highest levels of their own work force. according to "the washington post" the same 50 companies that put billions to heal our country's racial wounds just 8% of c-level executives are black. nearly one-fifth have no black executives at all. make no mistake, you cannot create a culture of diversity if

you do not have people of color in positions of authority. what can we do about it? for starters, check out the data for yourself. same "the washington post" study cites five large companies where black people make up 20% or more of their top executives. consider them rewarding them with your business. if a company you know isn't making the grade reach out and voice your concerns. help them to understand one of the first principles of rising up, public demonstrations, are great, but sometimes the most powerful impact you can make is to get your own house in order. we'll be right back.

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welcome back to "politics nation." with three weeks from the one-year anniversary of the january 6th insurrection, recently we've seen several new

developments in the house select committee's investigation of the day. newly released records records detailed conversations between the white house chief of staff and outside media personalities and lawmakers while the capital was under siege. and even as more damning evidence comes to light trump acolytes continue to defy subpoenas and invoke the fifth amendment. amid all the stonewalling even mitch mcconnell now says the investigation into how the u.s. capitol was invaded just might be worth while. joining me now is the assistant professor in u.s. history at the university of chicago, and author of "bring the war home" the white power movement and parliament military america.

professor, thank you first of all for joining us tonight. we wanted to have you on for sometime so you can illustrate the link between what happened on january 6th and the documented growth of white supremacist terrorist groups and activity in america certainly since 2016. but before i get to that in ernest, i want to start with the premise many of us saw in that "the washington post" op-ed this weekend. three retired military generals all saying we saw an attempted coup in january and bad as it was it was practice for 2024. your response, professor? >> this is an alarming editorial for anyone. i think regardless of your politics when we have commanding generals sounding the alarm about problems in the chain of command, about infiltration of armed services by militant right

and white power activists intent on overthrowing the united states, this is an enormous threat to the american people and to democratic systems of governance. january 6th is not just about white power and militant right activism. part of the reason the work of the commission is so important is we really need more information about exactly what happened that day. we know that this represented the collision of three different streams of extremist activity, the trump base, qanon, and finally organized white power activism. but what we don't know and what we need with these subpoenas is more information about how it was allowed to progress to the point that the capitol was overrun, people were put in danger, and people lost their lives. these questions are not just a matter of partisan politics but a matter of understanding an attack on our democracy. >> now, what do you make of mitch mcconnell's comments this week suggesting the house select

committee's work is in the nation's interest after having blocked the initially proposed bipartisan committee himself? >> i have no idea how to make heads or tails of what mitch mcconnell is doing at any particular moment but the reason this is so important is we have an opportunity right now to understand what happened january 6th. as the op-ed by the three generals shows us as we've seen over and over again this is a movement of people that is main streaming, that is getting into our elected officials, it is getting into our main stream politics, it is growing in size. it is getting more widespread popular support. all of those things are enormous red flags for further violence to come. we should remember january 6th was not designed as a mass casualty event but meant as a show of power and recruitment and radicalization action. it was carried out by a group of activists that has used the same

playbook that guided january 6th to do exactly that, to plan mass violent events in other contexts. bombings, assassinations, infrastructure attacks, and have imagined how they might provoke civil war. we know that is exactly what they're interested in doing again. these things are as i said not a matter of partisan politics but attack on democracy and whether we can keep it safe. >> professor, i want to get you on another topic briefly. what was the significance of last month's verdict related to the events in charlottesville nearly five years ago? a federal grand jury finding that the hate groups that planned the unite the right rally were liable for some $25 million in damages to those harmed by their activities that day and those groups intended for provocation and violence to be the result of that rally. what does that mean in your

view? >> so there is a good news bad news outcome about charlottesville. on one hand we have a rare instance of a court holding white power activists accountable for the violence that they set out to create with those big settlements, the evidence of conspiracy between groups and activists, this is a good sort of momentum block for some parts of the movement. bad news is we are talking about an opportunistic ground swell of people that has for decades if not generations made a practice of shifting tactics to sort of take advantage of openings in public opinion. so what they got in charlottesville, in a unite the right rally was a very clear message they should not be rallying quite in that way. that leads to court casies, costly legal defense, and the public really didn't like it.

people were very, very turned off by the khakis and the nazi arm bands and klan regalia. that is not what we saw on january 6th even when people from the same groups and ideologies showed up. instead we saw mostly militia gear and uniforms. the thing we have to remember is that is one component of main streaming. right? figuring out how to use the prevailing window to recruit and radicalize as many people as possible. the other component of main streaming is how far extremists are able to get their ideology into our halls of government. there was a report going around not long ago -- >> and being accepted. i think that is the real danger. i'm out of time but we'd really like to have you back. we were happy to have you tonight. thank you for being with us. coming up, last week's deadly tornadoes in kentucky led to rare moments of partisan unity in the ruby red state. but also exposed the rank

hypocrisy of two powerful republican senators. i talked to a democrat who has been trying to change the political culture of the blue grass state. that's next.

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leaving behind death and destruction. i noticed that the tornadoes and their aftermath have generated a politically unified response while republican senators rand paul and mitch mcconnell have backed governor bashear's efforts. even a former legislator running against rand paul for senate praised the goffer's leadership and he joins me now. former representatives charles booker democrat of kentucky now a senate candidate. mr. booker, thank you for being here tonight. we saw the devastation from the tornadoes that tore across your state last week and what caught my attention is kentucky senator rand paul asking president biden for immediate federal assistance and biden of course declaring a federal disaster the next day providing kentucky with the full

range of emergency government assistance. but as many pointed out rand paul has a long history of opposing legislation to assist states who suffered from natural disasters like hurricane sandy, harvey, and maria. always opposing billions of dollars from going to assist americans in need. your reaction? first of all it is so good to be with you. you are exactly right. times of crisis, it is the character of hypocrites and rand paul has made a career for himself opposing relief for americans who need it most and in addition to the disaster relief he has opposed throughout his career he voted against 911 relief for first responders, against covid relief for people who need assistance and survival checks and care in the middle of the pandemic and so what i have been saying throughout all of this is we need leadership that actually cares about our lives,

that sees us and cares whether we live or die. rand paul thinks this is a joke. we'll remove him and replace him with someone fighting for us because what you're seeing in all of the coverage is not a hypocrite, a joke like rand paul but resolve. you're seeing a fighting spirit. you're seeing compassion from kentuckians who are standing together in the hard times because that is what we do. i am asking everyone to join us as we rebuild. this is going to take years. go to charles booker.org/relief to help us stand together as family to get through this, please. >> in 2020 senator mcconnell won the kentucky race against his democratic rival, roughly 60% to 40%. now the strong support rand paul has from the republican base will be hard to beat. some say that paul only has to run as a supporter of donald trump. we also know midterm election voter turnouts tend to be lower

than presidential election years. how will you gain support from those who do not usually vote in non-presidential years? >> kentucky is a disenfranchised state, a marginalized, ignored, abandoned state. what my campaign is doing is reaching out to the forgotten places. we are talking to people about issues that matter to them. folks having to ration insulin like i had to do as a type one diabetic. people losing jobs, homes, livelihoods. these issues are not partisan and if we actually run a turnout style campaign which means engaging people and going to communities we've forgotten about we can inspire a vision. that is happening now from the hood to the holler in my campaign people are believing that finally things can change. which is why people voted for trump. are organizing with me now. this is a new day and we will beat rand paul. >> during the summer of 2020 you

were actively supporting the family of breonna taylor and the black lives matter movement. you spoke at the march on washington that we had in august and you marched in louisville with protesters. why is criminal justice so important to you? >> you know, over the last six years i've had younger cousins murdered every year. i have seen what it feels like to be treated as a deadly weapon before being seen as a human being and in working in every level of government including with men and women in uniform one thing i know for certain is we cannot arrest our way to a safer society. we actually need to fully fund community safety which means we address structural challenges we are facing. so for me this is a common bond across kentucky about how we realize healing which means we account for true justice and it is something that rand paul doesn't support at all. you know, when january 6th took place he called it a tourist visit. he wouldn't even applaud the men

and women in uniform standing up to protect him. he does the same thing here at home. i am standing with our local leaders to fight for world change and that's why they'll send me to washington. >> we are on the brink of seeing democracy as we know it in this country and in many cases more of an idea than the reality but even what we have seen erode before our eyes. if we cannot get the voting rights bill done, these state laws that are changing around the country where they are even engaging openly in nullification appointing local county election boards who will count the votes coming from republican dominated legislators, we are at a place that i don't think people understand the urgency of the moment. do you feel that you can communicate that to voters in kentucky that this is bigger than anything we've seen in our lifetime?

>> reverend, you are so right. we are fighting to hang on to our pursuit of democracy because we haven't realized it. one thing for certain, the people of kentucky know very well what it means to be ignored and that the ill effects of what it means to abandon a whole group of people and silence them. we are best positioned to tell the story about fighting for and realizing true democracy. that is why the first piece of legislation that i filed was for restoration of voting rights in the state house. governor brashear signed an executive order to restore voting rights. we are ready to do that work here and show how we build a big coalition to do that work at a federal level. >> all right. kentucky senate candidate charles booker thank you for being with us. up next my final thoughts. stay with us. ig, holiday shopping at amazon. so now they're free to become... the handbell hammerschteins. ♪ ♪ just pure artistry. there's a different way to treat hiv.

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go to operationsmile.org today and become a monthly supporter, or call. (gentle music) come on everybody, let's get to work. johnny, you're gonna be working with the number one choreographer in redshore city. wrong. i'm trying, he's freaking me out. tippy toes, tippy toes, i don't see your tippy toes. if you could just give me some dance lessons you would be saving my life. ♪ sky full of stars ♪ ♪ i think i saw you ♪ [ cheering ] that's my boy. two weeks from now, we'll be entering another year. and as we enter that year, we are facing some very dire and

very serious challenges as this year, 2021, comes to an end. we are looking at the very fabric of the american democratic experiment becoming more threatened and more at risk than we've seen in most of our lifetimes. the moves that we're seeing in georgia, in texas, north carolina, and ohio, where state legislators are actually openly engaging in moves to nullify voters and to gerrymander people that will not be represented by people of their own community and their own preference. we're seeing all kinds of impediments put up. we're facing, again, another wave of a variant that threatened our health with covid-19. and people resisting what needs to be done.

but we saw some bright moments that show us if we organize and if we don't fail to step up and be consistent, we can win. we saw derek chauvin convicted for the murder of george floyd this year. we saw the convictions of three men in the deep south, brunswick, georgia. that's why i have coming out at the first part of the year, next year, in the first week in january, my new book, "righteous troublemakers." i talk about ordinary people like pauly murray and people like corbett corbin and arianna that we talked about tonight in selma, robinson. people who are not household names but made a difference. you don't have to be a big name to make a difference. in '22 we all need to be ready. some of us will wind down for

the holiday. i'll be getting wound up so we can do what needs to be done. we are facing challenges. that does it for me. thanks for watching. next weekend we're taking a break with our regular "politicsnation" but we're on with our annual revvie awards, christmas day, december 25th, 2:00 p.m., and the following weekend, friday, december 31st, and new year's day, january 1st, at 5:00 p.m. eastern. it's a show where we give awards to the best and worst in 2021. you do not want to miss it. more news on msnbc at the top of the hour. stay right here.

it's the most joyous time of year. especially at t-mobile! let's go to dianne. i got the awesome new iphone 13 pro and airpods, and t-mobile is paying for them both! and this is for new and existing customers. upgrade to the iphone 13 pro and airpods both on us. only at t-mobile. ♪ ♪ ♪ hey google. ♪ ♪ ♪

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good evening, everybody. i'm