independent senator bernie sanders on the show tonight. we are keeping an eye on the senate's end of the year legislative business. >> reporter: centers have a lot of work to do but not much time to do it. two major funding bills are in limbo and those senators hope to come to agreement before the new senate is sworn in sunday. >> let's talk about covid-19 relief. >> reporter: mitch mcconnell on the floor just hours ago announced he will move forward with the covid-19 relief package that includes $2,000 direct payments but there's a catch involving the president's wishlist. mcconnell says to get the $2,000 checks democrats must repeal section 230 of the communications decency act which protect big tech companies who censor speech online, donald trump says company like twitter and facebook unfairly censor republican perspectives that have been for years. the majority leader wants a bipartisan study examining the integrity and security of the 2020 presidential election. >> the senate will not split the issues donald trump linked together jus

vermont senator bernie sanders.lcome back to "special report." >> thank you very much and happy new year to you. >> bret: happy new year to you, sir. you've called president trump a racist, a sexist, xenophobic, religious bigot, demagogue, a liar. now you say he's a visionary when it comes to 2,000 -- >> i didn't say visionary. no, i didn't. i think president trump is the most dangerous president in the history of our country but he happens to be right on this issue. i think he is correct in saying that we are living in a terrible terrible economic moment for tens of millions of working-class families. we fought very hard to get the $600 direct payments. trump is right in saying it's not enough. we need to go to $2,000. i didn't say he was a visionary. he is right on this. >> bret: obviously speaker pelosi, senator chuck schumer, treasury secretary debated this with republican leadership for a long time. they cut a deal for the $600 stimulus check. did they just waste their time and cut a lousy deal? >> look. when y

i think they're pretty reasonable and i can understand why the work for bernie sanders are those with gore and you probably would not be that pleased for some of the moves you know more reasonable picks that we feel like biden to has made the only one that you know i disagreed with pretty much was the john kerry. climate i feel like they may have been. too but someone a little bit more per se of that would have been to the progressive base how joe biden going to like it i really feel like that was one seat that he actually could have put someone that would have been a progressive there that see. let me just holes for a moment i'm bringing janet yellen janet yellen would be if she. replied i come west to be the treasury secretary so it would listen to what she had to say. in a action will produce a self reinforcing downturn causing yet more devastation. and we miss we risk missing the album to redress deeper structural problems inequality and stagnant wages especially for workers who lacked a college education. communities that have seen industry disappear with no good jobs replacing l

first, what would a bernie sanders is labor secretary mean and are you satisfied with the cabinet so clubs having senator sanders is labor secretary would change everything. as we know the senator is always been equated to the house of labor. even in the last presidential run when the walmart workers could have -- from any of the 25 or so candidates running on a democratic platform come they chose bernie sanders to come to the meeting of stakeholders and represent them. he has been on the streets without a house of labor. not just in the senate, talking about it come he has been on the streets with the workers. he's the ultimate champion of the workers. his vision for labor, $15 hour minimum wage, making sure people have a right to form a union, you name it, he has been there. he would be an extraordinary labor secretary. in terms of the cabinet picks so far, yes, i agree with the senator there have not been a lot of progressives put up thus far. we have to do better. i would love to see stratification economist derek hamilton, people like michael render a.k.a. killer mike. my god, w

why didn't you listen to bernie sanders and say $2,000?ree to this deal, it went through, it got compromise, they passed it in both chambers. and now you're going back and the president agrees with you. >> that's the point, my view has always been as you well know that the $600 was not adequate, i wanted more. you make a fair point. the point also is the president is telling republicans in a very strong way in the senate, do the right thing. do it asap was his term, do it as soon as possible and the president is saying that and you've got to present elected that, you have the house having voted on it, let's do it. >> bret: let me ask you two other things, do either of the democratic candidates down in georgia ask you to campaign for them in the final days? >> did they asked me to go to georgia and campaign? no they did not. >> bret: does that tell you anything about them or where that race is? >> no, i think that race is very important and i would say to our friends in georgia that it is terribly important that we elect warnock and ossoff

will look at the role of the financial giant blackrock in the biden administration and speak to bernie sanders' former press secretary about why she opposes neera tanden to run the office of management and budget. >> question the value of representation of politics, bu is important to he appointees o actually represent the interest of the communities of eir -- because of what they look like. that is what is being ntested right now, in parcular, neera tanden, o has demonrated over the course of her careea real willingnesso change wit the political wind and support lot of conservativeolicies keutto the global safety net th would n benit a majority of americans are facing an unprecedented crisis in this moment. amy: than "the deadre arising: the life of malcolm x." >> to bring about the independence of people of african descent here in the western hemisphere and here in the uned states. and bring about the freedom of these people by any means necessary. amy: we will look at a major new lateaphy of written by the pioneering journalist les payne who died in 2018. we will speak to his daughter, tama

bernie sanders' isn't, but i just put that out there. but i appreciate both of you coming on to talk about this, linda, michelle. we'll have to leave it there. thank you so much for your insights. that is "all in" for this evening. be sure to check out my show streaming weeknights on peacock, including tonight's special report, an entire episode dedicated to the victims of covid-19. 50 stories of 50 lives lost. i really do hope you watch that. but of course not before you check out my very good friend ali velshi, who is hosting "the check out my good friend, ali velshi, who is hosting "the rachel maddow show" tonight. good evening, ali. >>> what a pleasure, my friend. have yourself a great evening. and i won't see you again, so have yourself a great new year. good to see you. >> you, too. happy new year. >> thanks to you at home for joining us this hour. rachel's got the night off and we've got a lot to get to, including the news that republicans have decided to put one last speed bump in the road to joe biden's inauguration as the next

senator bernie sanders, thank you so much for your time. we appreciate it. >> thank you. >>> ahead, is there any hope for speeding up the process of getting the vaccine to people? i'll talk to a member of biden's covid advisory panel about what could be done, right after this. are you one of the millions of americans who experience occasional bloating, gas, or abdominal discomfort? taking align every day can help. align contains a quality probiotic developed by gastroenterologists. it adds more good bacteria to your gut, to naturally help soothe your occasional bloating, gas, and abdominal discomfort 24/7. support your digestive health with align, the #1 doctor recommended probiotic. try align today, the pros in digestive health. also try align dualbiotic gummies to help support digestive health. welcour new virtual classes were designed for you andving? millions of seniors like you. you can now choose from thousands of live virtual classes every week. get moving wherever you have an internet connection. and when you're ready, enjoy access

that includes senator rand paul and also senator bernie sanders. bernie sanders has indicated that his problems with the national defense bill, something that he didn't support anyway, but he's trying to leverage that for an up or down vote on a $2,000 direct stimulus check that is also in the senate's purview now as well. another thing that senator mcconnell just said which was very interesting to me is that the senate would begin focusing on the three issues most important to the president, on section 230, the stimulus bill, and voter fraud, which he calls voter fraud, anyway. so we're going to be watching how mcconnell deals with that, andrea. >> and senator schumer, leigh ann, is now on the floor saying that there is support for the senate on the stimulus bill, he wants to push that forward as a standalone bill. let's listen. >> the defense bill and the $2,000 checks before we go home. we will start the process on overriding the president's veto of the defense bill tomorrow. today, at the end of my remarks, i will ask the senate's consent to ta

and chuck schumer they have more venue for bernie sanders than they ever did for donald trump it's true yeah absolutely i mean i think that progressive like i said the progressive people are fractured or aggressive they're absolutely fractured so you're going to see some progressive as they are right now they're building to build a 3rd parties are building to built whether it's new for the people's party or whether it's all the other 3rd party congress that's what they're trying to do they're no longer trusting in the democratic party you're still going to see some of that wing try to reform the party and rely on getting people like a o c n. you know what omar and the squad but a lot of people are also done with the democratic party because they feel like bernie sanders was cheated flights they feel like obama and clinton still control the democratic party which they do and they see them as ingenuous not at all taking any actions to actually give any policies in the middle of a pandemic or seeing 0 action to take care of people's health care i mean if that doesn't do it for progressives

the president has re-tweeted his support for bernie sanders on twitter. donald trump, bernie sanders and the democrats are on the same side on one issue, stimulus checks. senate republicans now have to decide when it comes to two issues, the stimulus check and the defense bill, whether they stand with the president or the republican party and their stated goals. there are 22 days until joe biden is president. he says the civilian leadership of the defense department and the office of management and budget are not working closely enough with his transition team, something those offices deny. and just a week nm the georgia elections that will determine the future of the senate. if both democrats win there, the senate will be controlled by the democrats. if one loses the senate stays in the hands of republicans. so our eyes are on congress this morning, so many strange bedfellows. we're tweeting about it. i'm @scottmcgrew. >> thanks so much, scott. 6:44. the covid surge continues and a lot of people are turning to testing but not exclusively because they fee

so the president re-tweeted support for bernie sanders earlier on twitter.sum up, president trump, bernie sanders and the democrats are on the same page on a single issue and senate republicans now have to decide when it comes to the stimulus checks and the defense bill, whether they stand with the president or the republican party. there are 22 days until joe biden is president and he says civilian leadership in the office of management and budget are not working closely enough with his transition team something those officials deny. there's just a week until the georgia elections. the senate will be controlled by the democrats. if one loses the senate stays in the hands of republicans. definitely congress in focus this morning. we'll be watching all of it and talking about it on twitter. i'm @scottmcgrew. >> thanks so much, scott. 5:45. the covid surge continues and people are turning to testing not exclusively because they feel sick but to see if they're in the clear to celebrate new year's eve with friends or family. public health officials say that's mi

senator bernie sanders joins me next to respond. sanders joins next to respond. future, without sacrificing what's most important to you today. because with fidelity, you can feel confident that the only direction you're moving is forward. to fight wrinkles? it's what i use! neutrogena®. the #1 retinol brand used most by dermatologists. rapid wrinkle repair® visibly smooths fine lines in 1 week. deep wrinkles in 4. so you can kiss wrinkles... and other wrinkle creams goodbye! rapid wrinkle repair®. pair with our most concentrated retinol ever for 2x the power. neutrogena®. - hey kaleb, what's up? how you doing? - hey, i'm good, guess what, i just had my 13th surgery. - really? i just had my 17th surgery. - well, you beat me. - well, i am a little bit older than you. - yeah it's true. how are you doing? - i'm doing good. i'm encouraged by seeing how people are coming together to help each other during times like these. - kind of like how shriners hospitals for children is there for us. imagine if i couldn't get my surgery. who knows w

there are enough republicans to override that veto, but essentially bernie sanders is warning that he is not going to allow the vote to happen tomorrow unless he gets an agreement from mcconnell that mcconnell will put the $2,000 checks on the floor for a vote. that essentially gets us to new year's day for potential vote on this. brooke, stay tuned. there isn't as much clarity as i wish that i could give to people that are desperate to know whether or not they're getting the money anytime soon. >> i was just talking to matthew cox was his name, lost his job, his word was insulted, insulted by congress and what they're doing. lauren, thank you so much. we will stay tuned. republicans discontent with this president. it has always been there. we had four years of anonymously sourced quotes from members talking about how erratic, irresponsible this president acts. now, more and more of what was private is put on the record when it counts in votes. 130 house republicans voted against the president's demand to raise stimulus checks to $2,000. 109 house republicans voted to override the pre

to vote on repealing the president's veto as soon as tomorrow but now it sounds like senator bernie sanders is going to slam the brakes on that trying to force an up-and-down vote on stimulus this week. >> alicia: mike emanuel in washington, thank you. steve harrigan is live in atlanta. >> early voting continues here in georgia where more than 2.3 million people have already voted. you compare the pace of the general election in november, it's a 75% clip. one area where there has been heavy turnout among voters are the democratic suburbs around atlanta. republican kelly loeffler says it is crucially important that the stakes of these races set for january 5th, the stakes she says could not be higher. >> the early voting is open here until thursday. we need georgians to get out and vote because we have to make sure that we have a firewall to stopping the radical agenda of chuck schumer pretty wants to fundamentally change this country. >> she has had her opponent, the reverend rafael warnock is to radical to represent georgia. who was appointed by the governor. >> kelly loeffler has a proble

what bernie sanders is saying.den is one of the democratic elite who helped sink bernie sanders campaign and a hippy puncher who fights with the left and much more. she is already taking it from the left. forget the republicans for a minute. the bernie sanders folks are not happy. >> well, some bernie folks. it's laughable to call her elite because she was raised in massachuset massachusetts. she was raised in bedford, massachusetts on public assistance when her parents got divorced and achieved the american dream. got into ivy league schools and worked in politics. republicans will really oppose her. bernie sanders won't suppose her. warren and brown support her. that's not going to be the problem here. it will be republicans in the senate who gave donald trump a pass on everything they are accusing her of including tweeting. >> dana: i won't play this because i don't want to take up your time. lindsey graham said that republicans better make sure that they get out and vote in the georgia run offs on january 5th t

blurring but bernie sanders is a real person ok and he had real ideas and he was very popular in the last 2 election cycles we can talk about why he didn't come finish that go over the finish line but there is no doubt that he there is the he has a following or there is a following for many of his core ideas and that's not going to change go ahead yeah i mean it's absolutely not going to change i think we're missing the element of populism that's rising you're both on the left and the right i mean if you look at a lot of the rightly populous some of them are in complete agreement with some of the progress that is when it counts you censorship when it comes to being anti-establishment when it comes to questioning that narrative so it's actually something really interesting that's happening because the populism means well that people why did over 60 percent of people actually want a better health care system they want everybody to have health health care it's just you're exactly right the way it is absolutely frayed doesn't help and it's a lot of the people who did vote for obama did g

. >> senator bernie sanders is vowing to hold up a vote to override trump's veto of the massive military bill unless they vote on the $2,000 checks. and his frustration spilled out on the senate floor today. >> do we turn our backs on struggling working families or do we respond to their pain? >> mcconnell said the senate will vote on whether to override trump's veto of the defense bill tomorrow, potentially setting the gop up for its first major rebuke of the president during his last days in office. >> failure is simply not an option. i would urge my colleagues to support this legislation one more time when we vote tomorrow. >> the house passed an override of trump's veto on monday, causing him to lash out on twitter today, saying weak and tired republican leadership will allow the bad defense bill to pass, a disgraceful act of cowardice and total submission by weak people to big tech. with the financial stability of millions of americans on the line, the president spent today like he has more others in palm beach, on the golf course. now, jim, while the president has been here, he has

senator bernie sanders, sir, thank you so much for your time on this busy afternoon.appreciate it, sir. >> thank you very much. >> take care. >>> still ahead, democratic whip senator dick durbin joins us as well to talk about the battle over covid relief as well as the transition. >>> plus, we are, as we mentioned, awaiting remarks from president-elect biden. he's expected to give a stark uptake on the pandemic after meeting with his covid advisers. you're watching msnbc. we live in a world of fees. airlines, hotels, food delivery, and especially car dealers all charge excessive, last-minute fees. when you want something badly enough, it feels like your only choice is to pay up. but what if you had a choice to take a stand instead? at carvana, we believe in treating you better. with zero hidden fees, you can drive off without feeling ripped off. that's what it means to live feelessly. ♪ birds flyin' high, you know how i feel. ♪ ♪ breeze drifting on by you know how i feel. ♪ ♪ it's a new dawn... if you've been taking copd sitting down, it's time to make a stand. start

house's 1st official videographer and they are both new liberal obama and the new liberal senator bernie sanders although some more coming up in today's going underground 1st with the u.n. warning 200000000 more people could be pushed into extreme poverty by coronavirus the scale of the problem here in the u.k. the world's 5th largest economy is becoming clearer u.k. antipoverty ngo the joseph roundtree foundation says levels of destitution could be set to double in the wake of the pandemic with 2000000 including a 1000000 children struggling to eat stay warm or keep clean but according to the un destitution was already rising before the pandemic when un special rapporteur on extreme poverty and 21000 for the bolstered claimed britain was in the grip of an ideological project causing pain and misery well now its successor alleviate the shooter joins me now from brussels and they may thanks so much for coming on obviously brussels in the news here over. talks but just tell me what brings you to becoming special robert to an extreme poverty as we're hearing horrific exponential change in extreme p

bernie sanders did not win the primary. socialism was repudiated in the democratic primary.onse the ambassador. the second thing, she seems to have been marinating in president trump's world of alternative facts. it was south carolina, the state she was the governor of, that actually put biden into the lead. i guess, ipso facto, she is implying that some of her own state's residents are socialist, and when we talk about socialism, one of the hallmarks thereof is income redistribution. 13 of the 15 states, most dependent on federal aid, are red states. south carolina is in the top ten consistently, just as the senate majority leader requires $150 billion from other states to function. people want to get into a conversation about socialism and income redistribution, they might be very surprised about where that conversation leads. >> julie, i think it's intellectually disingenuous to say the presidential nominee, biden, is not a socialist. it was barack obama who said there's fundamentally no difference between him and bernie sanders. he's exactly right. they want to expand go

. >> nina turner, cnn political commentator, former ohio state senator, former co-chair of bernie sanders's 2020 campaign. welcome. >> thanks, brianna. >> i wonder what you think, maybe you can answer that question. what do you think so far of the choices in the cabinet? >> well, many of those are not necessarily progressive. they're hitting diversity marks slowly, hopefully it will come more quickly and surely, but i think, brianna, more important is not just the symbol but the substance. what i mean is just checking off boxes, that's not enough. in the time of this kind of crisis in this country, we do need people, regardless of gender, their race or ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation that actually understand and are committed to doing those things that lift the greatest number of people in this country. so it is an and, not either or,

prominent bernie sanders surrogate nina turner would run for fudge's congressional seat. in international news, ethiopia admitted federal troops fired at and detained u.n. workers in the conflict-torn northern tigray region for attempting to enter areas they say are forbidden. humanitarian groups have been trying to reach refugees and displaced people in the embattled region as they warn the situation is increasingly critical with shortages of food, clean water, and other necessities. this comes as reuters is reporting the united states believes eritrean soldiers have crossed into ethiopia to fight alongside the ethiopian military in its battle against tigrayan forces. both ethiopia and eritrea have denied the reports. ethiopia and eritrea signed a historic peace deal in 2018, ending two decades of hostilities. a new study shows the number of afghan civilians killed in airstrikes led by the u.s. and allies has risen by 330% since 2017. the udy, pubshed by the costs of war project at brown

even on google you'd say people searching things like is bernie from brooklyn is bernie sanders jewish i think you know because they weren't sure because kind of the consistent image that we kept pushing out almost precluded that he had a life before looking exactly like he looks now which is sort of the way he looks up from being mayor of burlington onward so i think not at 1st offering a strong biographical choice of bernie was a mistake and it was a stake that people like myself make should he have won the nomination one of our very 1st project was to make a comic book a biographical comic book explaining about bernie sanders childhood that we would release in many different languages and really flood the country with it and i guess i still think this is this would be a good technique in those kind of situation. thank you thank you so much and that's it for the show will be back on monday a quarter of a century to the day bill clinton and john major's military adventures in europe and it with millions killed all displaced in the dayton agreement signed to privatized yugoslavia until

you have new reporting on this. >> it's incredible how in confluence of events plays into bernie sandersheel house. i talked to an aide that's close to senator sanders last night, and he made it clear that sanders' number one priority is to get the checks increased from $600 to 2,000. it is remarkable about the political benefit that the democrats have here by forcing these republicans, particularly these two senators in georgia, hoping to be reelected, to come out and say where they stand, they support those $2,000 checks and as a side note to all of this, using the national defense authorization act is kind of the tool to force mitch mcconnell to bring this to the floor, also something that is easy for bernie sanders to do, because he's often critical of the pentagon and defense spending in general. so, you know, there's no doubt that sanders is much more concerned about getting that aid in the hands of every day americans. but he's not, you know, ignoring the fact that there's enormous political benefit here. not only in the short-term, by forcing those gop senators, not only to take

. >>> bernie sanders still in the run for a post at the biden administration.e next to tell us whether his members, a million strong, by the way, were onboard with that. rd with that. >>> there are now 39 days until joe biden is sbooworn into the l office and ethe former vice president is still building his cabinet. labor secretary. according to politico, include chief economist bill spriggs, andy levin, julie zhu, and senator bernie sanders and margie walsh. joining me now, richard trumka. thank for being here. is there a name that stands out to you? who do you want to see get the position and how important is it for you? >> very important decision because it affects our rights and enforces rights, also deals significantly with trade. look, we're looking for a cabinet, alex, that's diverse. and when we talked about diversity, we're not just talking about one that has about sex and race and gender and sexual entity. we're talking about economic diversity as well. we want people in the cabinet that really understand working people. and the people, i think, that

todd: you align with bernie sanders on the $2,000 part, not the other stuff., is this a sign there could be some bipartisanship with all these strange bedfellows heading into 2021 or is it a sign things are more messed up than we thought? >> it is the latter. this is something donald trump has been talking about for four years which he wanted to drain the swamp. there is a swamp in dc and that is the establishment republicans, establishment democrats and these are the people that have to go. i always talk about term limits, these people have been working together for decades so they are basically friends and do is they want always seem to forget about us the american people. >> i mentioned the effect this could have, what effect will this have in georgia. let's take a look at the polling as of right now and it is pretty close as you can see, john anthony fauci with the lead according to real clear politics and on the other front rafael warknock in the lead according to real pure politics. what impact do you think this has on next week's election because this i

then you have bernie sanders saying he will hold up the senate for days in order to guarantee a $2,000 check vote in the coming days. he will hold the senate in session until new year's day. obviously, something that nobody wants. so, we'll have to see how mitch mcconnell handles it. i mean, i do think that somebody will object to this. i don't think that people really care much about the president right now, considering that almost all of his allies voted against the $2,000 checks in the house last night, which was a pretty stunning result -- at least i thought it was. and senate republicans are going to look to the house to see how they voted. they were hoping for a clear sign one way or the other from house republicans, and it looks like this is a clear sign that republicans, generally speaking, are against these $2,000 checks, but i really don't have a good sense of how it would go if it came to a vote. obviously, it would need 60. so 12 republicans would have to join with all the democrats. >> so, i mean, the one question i really have here is, if you're kelly loeffler or david pe

>> look, i support bernie sanders' efforts here. i support the national defense authorization bill. but we want senator mcconnell to schedule a vote on the $2,000 individual payment. so what senator bernie sanders is saying is give us an up-or-down vote on that and then we can vote on the veto overriding the national defense authorization bill. my sense is this is an approach worth pursuing. i would like to see us override the president's veto on the ndaa but i also very much want senator mcconnell to schedule an up-or-down vote on the payments. >> i do want to ask you on breaking news we just got, "the washington post" and others reporting senator john haul jwl said he would contest the vote next week, which would be at least a delay to senator joe biden's victory. what is your reaction to that? do you fear or worry that there may be others that may follow suit now? >> this is just grossly irresponsible by senator hawley, going and undermining even more public confidence in our democratic process, siding with the false trump narrative that somehow the election was fraudulently won

you have this unusual coalition from bernie sanders on the left and josh hawley with support from thetration, the administration would like to see some sort of direct payments go out as part of a covid relief package, kind of put the issue back on the radar for congressional negotiators. but there's a problem here, there's not infinite amount of money to spend. republicans, it has been a constant tension for most of the republican senators getting more and more uneasy by the day about all of the money and federal dollars going out the window. that's kind of where the tension came yesterday where bernie sanders and his allies say it is a false choice, you can have robust stimulus checks and dole out unemployment benefits. manchin who is negotiating with republicans is saying there's kind of a ceiling for how much money you can spend. with the money that we have, we would much rather direct it towards unemployment benefits where it is almost guaranteed those dollars will be spent rather than checks for people that are not only unemployed but employed with a steady paycheck coming. >> my

to berlin because the brics it negotiations what exactly have you gone on to do up to helping bernie sanders and obama. well i'm trying to take a lot of the things that we learned in the campaign techniques we perfected 1st with obama and then under under bernie and use them to sort of strike back against the nativist populist far right way of happening all across the world so here in berlin i'm just a stone's throw away from a lot of the hot spots where we see the far right bubbling up and you really think it's no exaggeration the threat of the far right in europe today absolutely and i actually think when europe catches a cold it's america who sneezes rather than the other way around i think you'd be hard pressed to find a trump victory in 2016 without brecht's that 1st one and you will seeing that politicians are using this nativist rhetoric for electoral advantage. absolutely absolutely and especially with that with the pandemic really opening up some of us you know shining a bright light on some of the inequality that's happening you are seeing more and more right wing and far right win

because there seems to have been some road blocks in the sense that you got a curveball from bernie sanders of all people who threatened to pull off a vote unless senators voted on the $2,000 stimulus checks. how much does this complicate matters now? >> i think what senator sanders is trying to do is force mitch mcconnell to give the american people an up or down vote on that important bill to raise the amount of survival checks. they should do both things, this he should override the veto of the ndaa so we can take care of our troops and they should pass the increased survival checks. i think what senator sanders is trying to do is use a vehicle in the senate to force a vote, but mitch mcconnell has been grim reaper of legislation historically. there are hundreds of bills that we've passed out of the house that are sitting on his desk that he refuses to bring to the floor. this is just the most recent example. i think whatever method they can do to force a vote on both those things is a good idea. >>> let me move on to the conversation i had with highly decorated retired lieutenant colone

i think people would prefer lindsey graham over bernie sanders. thank you, good luck to you, merry christmas, and happy new year to you and your family. straight ahead, lindsey graham and what is happening in washington this weekend what he thinks about the all important runoff races in georgia. and later, legendary football coach lou holtz on why sports are so important, even in the midst of this pandemic. stay with us. ♪ ♪ sanctuary music (kids laughing) (dog barking) ♪ sanctuary music it's the final days of the wish list sales event sign and drive off in a new lincoln with zero down, zero due at signing, and a complimentary first month's payment. ♪ >> trey: earlier today mitch mcconnell blocked efforts by senate democrats when they tried to bring the hospital to the senate floor. that house bill boosted direct payments to $2,000 for certain americans in need. and while majority leader mcconnell says he will bring the president's request for more aid, president trump had strong words for republicans in the upper chamber earlier today. president

he has surrounded himself with radicals like kamala harris and aoc in bernie sanders. lot on the line in georgia. republicans need to wake up and get excited. this race is critical and so for republicans to have a check on a democratic trifecta. >> lawrence: the republicans what they need to do to secure the victory but where is warnock? he is m.i.a. do democrats have a problem? >> jessica: i don't think that he's m.i.a. the amount of advertising that i'm seeing. in terms of his schedule? i imagine he has a pretty strenuous get out the vote scheduled for the following days and i don't think he's hiding from anything. he's taken some really tough questioning head-on, explaining comments he's made as a preacher in his previous life. i don't really seem is hiding. obviously jon ossoff hasn't been hiding. david perdue won't even show up to debate him. >> lawrence: we have a beach reporter and they haven't been able to find him. the press pool has been trying to ask him questions about the scandal that's brewing and he's m.i.a. >> jessica: okay, well, i hope that he will ta

ask for unanimous consent today to override trump's veto of the ndaa but independent senator bernie sandersthat he will filibuster to delay the crucial vote unless the senate also holds a vote on the $2000 checks. sanders tweeted -- "if mcconnell doesn't agree to an up or down vote to provide the working people of our country a $2000 direct payment, congress will not be going home for new year's eve. let's do our job." keeping the senate in session would conflict with the campaigns of republican senators david perdue and kelly loeffler in the january 5 runoff races that will determine control of the senate. their opponents, democrats jon ossoff and raphael warnock, are both campaigning in support of the $2000 checks. this allomes aft psident trp's layed siing of t maive cod-19 reliebill sunday csed a lae in foroynt benits millio. heasolfing tough t weekenin flori. we areoined byhe nobel prize-nning economist joseph stiglitzcolumbianiversy profsor and ief econist for throosevelinstitut serveas chairfhe economicdvisers de prident bi clintonnd as chief ecomist of the world bank. his latest boo

that's what bernie sanders, an independent from vermont, is threatening to do. he is saying mcconnell, i want to make sure we're going to vote on the $2,000 checks, and if you aren't willing to put it on the floor, i'm going to make it harder to pass the national defense authorization act, override vote of the president's veto. that's going to be complicated, of course, because that could push the vote into the new year, new year's day to be exact. this is a time lawmakers want to be home with their family, don't want to be on capitol hill, but that's what sanders is threatening at this moment that would push the vote from tomorrow when mcconnell wanted to have it into friday. >> congress in on a holiday, i do not think so. we'll see. lauren fox, thank you so much for that. for more on how president trump is reacting to all this, i want to go to cnn's indicakaitlan co in west palm beach. the republicans are in a stuff spot, the president is keeping the pressure up, sending out tweets, rather harsh tweets aimed at republican leadership. >> reporter: aimed directl

bernie sanders policies have failed everywhere in the world. they have been tried.otism on the corner for everyone who falls under that of the governmental system or an economic system. so joe biden will have to deal with it. >> julie: sanders said on abc that he believes the progressive movement deserves seats in the cabinet and that they are going to stand up for american working families in this country. what is he trying to say about democrats? is he saying that democrats, your regular old democrats are not concerned about working families? >> well, i think that's exactly the case when you look at the joe biden administration and then i have to disagree a little bit with senator sanders. doug collins was chosen for secretary of the insurer and that was a historic choice especially given the last conversation of how american natives -- natives in the americas have been treated by u.s. government historically and the department of interior. aside from that, it is a cabinet right now that is responsive of big, big miss and the war machine and there are people being