i'm here with amy walter of the cook political report with amy walter. and tamara keith of npr.ns us from dayton, ohio. hello to both of youtam, in dayton, and amy walter right here in the studio. amy, let's pick up where yamiche was reporting. what does it say that senator chuck grassley, longest-serving republican in the senate, who back february said that president trump was irresponsible, and i'm quoting here "encouraged his own vice president to take unconstitutional actions." now in october, he is happy to have his endorsement? >> amy: he gave you the answer. i wouldn't say no to someone who has a 91% approval rang among republicans in this state. donald trump easily won the state of iowa, even as polls during the end of the 2020 campaign showed it may be a lot closer. the senate race showed polls being close, ended up not being close at all. he knows exactly what he needs to do to win. and that's where this energy that we're seeing on the republic side is coming, the primary base, people who will show up, go to conventions and primaries. if you're a republican and you're

amy walter of the "cook political report wh amy walter." and tamara keith of npr.hello to both of you on this monday. good to see you, so let's just dive right in. tam, it was our lead story tonight. the standoff between president biden and the senate minority leader mitch mcconnell pointing fingers at each other over something we know has to be raised. the debt ceiling, it can't sit where it is, it has to go up, so what is this all about? >> every time there is a debt ceiling fight there are fingers pointed everywhere. and it is all about spending that has already happened. this isn't about spending that is coming in the future. this is allowing us to pay our bills as a country. but president biden and mitch mcconnell has exchanged letters and words and they are not seemingly looking for a path out of this, they are both dug in, the question is does the public care. maybe not right now, if the u.s. defaults on its debt, the public will suddenly care a lot. and then they will start wondering whose fault it was and right now they're pointing in opposite dreks trying

here to talk about it all are politics monday team, amy walter of "the cook political" report with amyter and tamara keith of inner p.r. hello to both of you on this monday. good see you. let's just dive right in. tam, it was our lead story tonight, this stan off between president biden and -- and the senate minority leader mitch mcconnell pointing fingers over something we know has to be raised the debt ceiling, it can't sit where it is. it has to go up so what is this all about? >> every time there is a debt ceiling fight, there are finishings pointed everywhere. and it's all about spending that has already happened. this isn't about spending that's coming in the future. this is allowing toupee our bills as a country. but president biden and mitch mcconnell have now exchanged letters and words and -- and they are not seemingly looking for a path out of this. they're both dug in. the question is, does the public care? maybe not right now if the u.s. default ons its debt, the public will suddenly care a lot and they'll start wondering who's fault it was. and right now they're pointing

with amy walter."npr. >> woodruff: hello to both of you. it is time for politics monday, amy and tam, welcome back. so, tam, let's start with where we think we are. i see you wincing already. we heard lisa reporting that they're back at it, and there has just been a report i think from cnn that senator sanders and senator manchin met today. they said afterwards to reporters they're going to keep meeting, keep talking. but at this point, how worried ould president biden be? >> tamara: and i think you've asked that question maybe three weeks ago -- >> woodruff: sorry about that. so sorry. >> tamara: i think that there is, from outside, certainly a perception there is not a lot of movement. and senator sanders complained there is so much focus on the fight and not enough focus on the content and what's in the legislation. but part of the problem is that the fight is about what is going to be in the legislation. and they simply haven't agreed yet on what will be in it. so will child care be for everyone? l

to analyze this make or break week, i'm joined by amy walter of the cook political report with amy waltereith of npr. hello to both of you, it is politics monday. so amy, let's talk about this build back better, i remember asking the two of you about this, i remember tam, saying as i asked her about this, i will not forget thalook. >> but there does seem to be as lisa desjardins was reporting earlier in the program some movement of forces at play. >> you have so many forces at play. you have congressional democrats who are wore he-- worried about a real deadline at the end of the month with transportation fundinrunning out. you have the president who is looking at wanting to go overseas with a victory especially on something like climate change. and you have the governor race in virginia with the democrat saying i need to have some momentum so that democrats in my state feel good about what is going on across river in washington. feel like biden is actually getting some stuff dun. president biden is actually coming not far from where we are sitting right now on tuesday, tomorrow to try to

amy walter, publisher of "the cook political report."itol hill correspondent garrett haake, john podhoretz, senior writer for the "commentary" and kim atkins stohr from "the boston globe." kim, i -- garrett, i want to start with you because we have this sluggish economy due to covid. the president's agenda feels a bit clogged up. what is the mindset of democrats on capitol hill? do they see the forest now through these trees of obstruction if you will? >> i think they will. democrats promised the world to their voters coming into the last election cycle. now they're trying to figure out what they can still deliver on. they've left some priorities by the wayside. the guns bill, the voting rights bill that will get a vote this week that they don't think will pass. all the marbles are on these two big spending bills right now. they're just pretty well stuck. i think everyone understands that the reconciliation bill is probably too big to fail. they will all survive or fail and if they don't pass that big bill in some capacity, probably ever

amy walter, you have been watching this race closely, the polls are very tight.slight advantage. what are the issues at the center of this race right now? >> you can see from vaughan's piece, mcauliffe, democrats are interested in this race. making it a referendum on donald trump is the right politics in terms of where the states hit. glenn youngkin knows the numbers are challenging for him. so he'll need to localize. he's talking a lot about schools and parents, trying to make it less about those national issues that mcauliffe has talked about and focus on the ground issues like people in the state. terry mcauliffe's theory was joe biden would be in a better place at this point in 2021 than he is right now. nationalizing the race at normal time would be good. he would have the energy of a democratic base, you don't like republicans and certainly didn't like donald trump, that would be successful. right now it's joe biden who's in the white house. the energy behind energy is not there and so the focus that youngkin has on local issues is the smart ones. he's stay

the american people, and as the members -- and to members of his own party in congress. 20 me are amy waltere cook political report and tamra key of npr. it's time for politics monday. welcome back. let's start with where we think we are. i see you wincing already. we heard lisa reporting that negotiators are back at it, and there's just been a report from cnn that senator sanders and mansion met today. they said afterwards they are going to keep meeting and talking. at this point, how worried should president biden be? >> you've asked to that question the three weeks in a row. from outside, there is the perception that there's not a lot of movement, and senator sanders -- sanders said, there's a lot of focus on the fight but not the content, but the fight is about what is going to be in the legislation. they simply have not agreed on what will be in it. will childcare be for everyone? will paid family leave fee for everyone? will universal pre-k be universal? will senior set a series -- citizens get their medicare expanded? >> they don't know. judy: i feel like i'm asking this question ever

so, with that let's bring in our panel amy walter. host of the guy benson show on fox news radio. and jonah goldberg editor and chief of the dispatch. amy scare politicians. >> absolutely. the history is midterm election. especially recent history. any president who has an approval rating that is under 50% and for the last four midterms every single president has been under 50% means they lose seats: in some cases oa lot of seats. by the election, of course, i think the bigger challenge right now for the president and his party. there has been a lot of issues, covid, afghanistan, the border. overall, you know, when the president ran as candidate, his message was i'm going to bring sort of normal back. life is going to feel normal in whatever way you thought normal meant. i think for so many people, certainly voters that i talk to, they are still waiting for normal to come. and whether that's on the economy. whether that's the end of covid. whether that's the end dysfunctional politics. haven't seen it. >> bret: guy, that's a good point

to analyze this a great week, i'm joined by amy walter and tamra keith of npr. hello to both you. litics monday. amy, that's talk about this build back better. i remember asking the two of you about this. there does seem to be as lisa was reporting earlier, talk about the forces at play here right now. >> congressional democrats who are worried about a real deadline at the end of the month, the president is looking at wanting to go overseas with the victory, especially on something like climate change, and you have the governor in virginia with the democrat who saying he wants democrats in my state to feel good about what's going on, to feel as if biden is actually getting some stuff done . president biden is actually coming not far from where we are sitting right now tomorrow on tuesday to try to rally support, but it would be more helpful if joe biden were actually getting a lot more done. judy: these international climate talks taking place in scotland, the president is heading over there. he's using that as a reason to say let's do something. >> certainly he is saying that is p

. >> joining me now, amy walter of the cook political reporter, sung minh kim of "the washington post," and molly ball of "people" magazine. we're learning that senator chuck schumer and joe manchin, one of those key centrist democrats the white house has been trying to rwrangle into lie for this package are headed to delaware where president biden currently is to try to meet with the president, work through some of those issues. sung minh, i want to start with you. you have been covering this particularly closely. i want to take a look. i want to take a look at what's in, we think. what's out, we know. the in is a little bit more in flux than what's out. universal pre-k is definitely in. expanded child tax credit, the shape of it still in flux, but still in. paid leave, a very much part of the debate. child nutrition programs, expanded medical coverage, very much a part of the debate. enhanced aca subsidies out for a matter of fact. corporate tax hikes, out. tuition-free community college out. the clean electricity program is out. where are we right now in terms of how does this get

amy walter is joining us, good to have you was. >> amy, there are a lot of democrats that are hopinghin and progressives can get together. right now they are the cross fire and we are looking at you tearing the gal. it's hard to run in virginia when there is chaos among your party in washington. >> we have known this. the party in the white house had almost lost the governor's race in virginia next year. the first person to break in in 2013. the other factor is that virginia is getting more blue and we are more polarized than we were even back in 2013, attachment to parties and for or against the other team is still really strong. the enthusiasm is a real challenge. if you have been around northern virginia and drive around in 2017, you can feel that antitrump, this is going to send a message for donald trump to vote for ralph northam and with biden struggling to get things done. >> we have this back and forth, manchin got the signed documents and he told the majority leader he was at 1.5 and he was very, very explicit of what he would vote for or what he would not vote for. chuck si