brownstein, thank you so much for being with us. matt, over to you. >>> now to a key question for tens of millions of americans planning to travel back home this morning, when to leave to avoid delays. abc's zachary kiesch joins us with some answers. zachary, good morning. >> reporter: matt, good morning to you as well. you know, the ride home from grandma's crib really starts today for so many people. some hundred million people were expected to travel over this holiday weekend, and this is really the first wave headed home. travel platform hopper considers today to be the third busiest travel day of the year. translation, there's going to be traffic out there, and you should expect delays. at the airport, 2.4 million people are traveling, a pace we've really been seeing the last number of days. atlanta's airport is still considered by many to be the busiest. they're not alone. plan accordingly. if you have been driving around new york city the last number of days, it has been a dream, but the roads will start to see some traffic a

john brownstein, chief innovation officer at boston children's hospital. welcome, dr. brownstein. thank you for being with us. a new report estimates omicron could spread two to three times faster than delta. that is extremely concerning. what could that mean for americans as we are already seeing those cases rising? >> yeah, i know this is a lot to take in, janai. good morning. we have this recognition this variant is spreading faster than any other variant before. millions of cases will come in the next few weeks. so there's an urgency to double down on interventions. vaccinations are still our best weapon. 46 boosting if you're eligible. if you're gathering, testing. a test that takes three days to turn around will not give you accurate information because the incubation period for this variant is only a couple of days, so you need to get that information immediately. now is not the time to be complacent even though with all these tools we can still have a safe holiday season. >> that is reassuring to hear but there is still that report that estimated the risk of being reinfect

ron brownstein, thank you so much. appreciate it. >> i try.. >> thanks, ron. >>> social media, what do we have? this just came in. media starts talking about this way too early. joe has not even been in office for a full year, talking about trump running should not even be happening. especially when we find out more information about what really happened. sharon, you might not want to hear it, but you can't ignore it either. i mean, yesterday -- we referenced this last night, trump issues a statement and says he'll see you on january 6th because, as nancy pelosi wants it to be marked with a solemn occasion, donald trump has other plans. so that presents a very interesting question, doesn't it? what level of coverage do you give him for whatever he says on january 6th? luckily, i don't have to make that decision here. don't forget tonight's survey question at smerconish.com. i discuss this with dr. hotez earlier. really interesting question. should vaccination status be a factor when distributing limited supply of the new covid pill? so we have

. >> so joining me now cnn senior political analyst ron brownstein and kirsten powers.cted this, but here we go. kirsten, senator manchin is dismissing. this. here it is. >> they're pressuring you to change your position. >> no one pressures me. >> are you going to change your position on that? >> the way it's in the bill, the one year extension. >> so he is for the child tax credit, but he has been saying all along he had a problem with the price tag and the scope, so why are democrats surprised this isn't going anywhere? >> because the price tag has come down substantially. and at this point there is no reason for joe manchin to believe that this entire bill should be written to his specifications as if the only opinion that matters is his. i think there's a real problem with this, that he really has this idea that it's whatever he wants is the way the bill should be. and there's been so many accommodations made for him that it's time for him to step up and make some accommodations of his own. and honestly, at this point i think it would be better off if he just becam

and ron brownstein. the committee has messages they sent and received as the insurrection went on. what can they learn from those communications? >> it's important i think to break this story into three pieces. the first is the plan for the actual terrorist attack on the capitol and we know there are people in the criminal justice system that said trump sent us there. the second is the plot to overturn the actual election results and that's where someone like mark meadows, jeffrey clark, others that were close to the president and took steps to potentially overturn the election results bekcome relevat and in the january 6th commission stated officially that they -- that it has reason to believe members of congress were part of that plot. the third piece is the lack of security response. any of us who live in washington watching this on television jaw dropping where is the police force and how much was this plot? let's be clear. there was a plan to subvert an election and how much affected the lack of security response. these records are giving names. they're drawing connections bet

. >>> joining me to discuss, ron brownstein, senior cnn political analyst, from the atlantic.o familiar characters in all of this, sinema and manchin. big picture, one, is this going to survive eventually? does it really help democrats that much, given that folks don't seem that plugged in on it? >> right, well, look, the assumption has been all the way through that manchin and sinema in the end will agree to pass something along the lines of what we have seen. but, look, they have to handled this in a way to impose maximum damage and to undercut the bill as much as possible give than in the end they're still likely to support it. all the public has seen about this bill for month is the debate about whether it is too expensive, too big, going to contribute it inflation, even though most economists do not believe it will have that effect, given its time frame and the way it is funded. and all of that is not really being driven by republican critics. it is being driven by manchin and sinema. they have exacted a heavy price. joe manchin said he didn't want to do it in 2021. it lo

margaret talev, ron brownstein, thank you both for the time. >> thank you.hristmas eve. >> merry christmas. >> merry christmas. >>> weeks after a series of deadly tornadoes devastated parts of kentucky, one man is working to bring a little cheer to those in need this christmas. we'll introduce you to him, next. we're carvana, the company who invented car vending machines and buying a car 100% online. now we've created a brand-new way for you to sell your car. whether it's a year old or a few years old. we wanna buy your car. so go to carvana and enter your license plate answer a few questions. and our techno wizardry calculates your car's value and gives you a real offer in seconds. when you're ready, we'll come to you, pay you on the spot and pick up your car, that's it. so ditch the old way of selling your car, and say hello to the new way at carvana. ("jingle bells") ♪ (doors knocking and bells ringing to the music) ♪ - [announcer] this holiday season, give the gift of grubhub. is struggling to manage your type 2 diabetes knocking you out of your zone? lo

ron brownstein, always a pleasure.> just ahead here on "cnn newsroom," israel's prime minister warns that his country has entered a fifth wave of coronavirus infections. a live report from jerusalem on how he's managing the crisis. that's next. >>> and a surge in new covid-19 cases in south africa. what hospital admissions are down. the reasons why, ahead. blendjet's holiday sale is on now for the #1 gift this holiday season, the blendjet 2 portable blender. it packs the power of a big blender on the go, and it crushes right through ice. just drop in your favorite ingredients, even frozen fruit, and make a smoothie any time, anywhere. blendjet cleans itself. just add a drop of soap, water, and blend. recharge quickly with any usb port. order now on blendjet.com and get our best deal ever! with age comes more... get more with neutrogena® retinol pro plus. a powerful .05% retinol that's also gentle on skin. for wrinkles results in one week. neutrogena®. for people with skin. >>> back to our top story now, health experts

i see you there, ron brownstein, wanting to get in. so if meadows doesn't show tomorrow, he's going to become the third person held in contempt by the committee. on the other hand, you have top pence aide marc short who is cooperating. jamie gangel is reporting he might be able to share texts he exchanged with other white house officials around january 6th. so where does this all lead the investigation in your estimation? >> well, look, ultimately i think the trump strategy is the same as it often is, and kim pointed to it. it's to delay in the hope of -- you know, delay equals defeat for the other side and to outwait the investigators. and this committee is being thorough and dogged and systematic and aggressive, but it does face the limitations of the clock and of, you know, we saw today that the trial for steve bannon's contempt by a trump judge, the date was not set until july. so certainly someone like mark meadows and, you know, when you factor in appeals and so forth, are thinking they can outwait this. you look at all of this,

. >>> joining me now ron brownstein, senior editor at "the atlantic," senior political editor.n for a few years. >> yes. >> can biden and manchin get something done? >> if manchin wants to make a deal, there's a deal to be had. the question is whether in the end he wants to get to yes. certainly core to his brand from the beginning, his first race for federal office in 2010 has gn the guy he's the guy who stands up to liberal democrats and tells them no. remember, his first campaign he ran an ad with him firing a rifle literally at obama's cap and trade bill. so this step was in character for him to go as loudly as he could on fox and say that he's saying no. now, whether he can get to yes after that substantively, there is a deal certainly to be had. there's always a deal to be had. if he wants to remain in the democratic party, you certainly expect him not to sink their core economic agenda. the critical question is does he want to reach a deal because there is a deal if he wants it. >> let me ask you this, because mitch mcconnell was on hugh hewitt's show this morning talkin

to moderate the conversation is ron brownstein, senior editor at the atlantic. ron: good morning, everybody. thank you both for joining us today. susan, thank you for being here. >> it is good to be here. >> good morning. ron: thank you. let me jump right in. i think in one sense, both of you are focused on the same problem, innovative entrepreneurs, people of color, that cannot get access to funding they need to advance their ideas. lynier, you focus on those in the private sector. let me start by asking each of you to describe the funding challenges you see in these fields, so we can have a better sense of to the extent that we are looking at pendulum silly -- at fundamentally different problems. >> i'm happy to be with you all. in the social sector, we work to address and transform systems that perpetuate inequity, but the social impact space is not immune to the greater forces at play in our society and deep wounds, such as racism and bias. we see that when it comes to film -- to philanthropic capital, that there are troubling trends and we have profited fro

. >> cnn senior political analyst and editor at "the atlantic" ron brownstein. you covered dole during the 1988 presidential campaign. there is a different era in american politics. i knew that campaign from reading 15 times what it takes by richard ben cramer and inside that book, i think i reread 30 times bob dole's experience in world war ii, how he was wounded and what he did to recover. what do you remember from covering that campaign? >> first, that analysis about dole is some of the greatest political writing ever. so i would commmend it to anyon for better understanding of dole. dole was a figure of a kind we don't have anymore in many different ways. i mean, he was an embodiment of the greatest generation, enormous suffering he went through and perseverance and determination to recover and build back his body and his life in the '40s and '50s. there was that cigar box they put out of the drugstore in his hometown of russell, kansas where they collected money to help pay for his hospital bills after world war ii and i remember i think i am right that in

. >> joining me now from los angeles is cnn senior political analyst ron brownstein.semary. >> after holding out for months, senator joe manchin now says he will not be supporting president biden's nearly $2 trillion build back better bill, essentially killing it off. the white house shot back saying manchin's comments are at odds with his comments with the president, where he pledged to keep negotiations going. so, what suddenly changed, and what happens now? >> yeah, it's a complex situation. i mean, first of all, it's almost unprecedented in two different respects what we saw today from senator manchin. first, presidents in their first year often have a lot of turbulence in getting their core economic agenda through. but in the end, ronald reagan, bill clinton, george w. bush, barack obama, donald trump, they all passed the cornerstone of their economic plan in their first year. and this would be, you know, a break in that pattern. and the other remarkable thing is -- i think if you could take a census of every elected democrat from the level of mayor up, mayor, go

brownstein, thank you for your time this morning. we always appreciate it. >> thank you, whit. >> linsey, over to you. >> all right. thanks, whit. >>> now to president biden who now says he will not accept vladimir putin's red line in ukraine as russia increases troops along the border. abc's white house correspondent maryalice parks is at the white house this morning. good morning, maryalice. >> reporter: linsey, good morning. u.s. officials say the situation there on the ukraine/russia border is growing more dramatic, that russia has significantly increased the number of combat forces there. clearly the fear is that russia could be preparing a full-scale invasion of ukraine. ukrainian officials worry that could happen as soon as next month. i asked president biden yesterday about this, what he plans to do about this. he told me he's been in constant contact with our european allies. >> what i am doing is putting together what i believe to be -- will be the most comprehensive and meaningful set of initiatives to make it very, very d

that is the subject of ron brownstein's new reporting in "the atlantic."stained exodus from power if they don't change course. >>> cnn's senior political analyst ron brownstein joining us now to discuss this. he's also a senior editor for "the atlantic." you know, you see this problem that democrats have and your point is that that they don't have to reinvent the wheel. they can just kind of take this time machine back to around the time that reagan won and there's a lesson to be learned. what is qit? >> look, first of all, good morning. for years, the only time bill clinton and the democratic leadership counsel, the centrist movement of the late '80s and early '90s, as you know, has been for people apologizing or renouncing things that they did on crime, on welfare, on trade, on other attempts to try to claim the political center. and now, really, for first time in years, you have a constellation of voices in the party, not as well organized as they were in the '80s and '90s, making the case that maybe clinton had a point. and that democrats need to try t

. >> so, now rob brownstein of the atlantic and my former colleague and the los angeles times refers to this book as the confirmation hearing. what did you come up with it was what i have here is nothing that wasn't available to the senate and that would be appropriate for giving. this is before the sexual assault allegations came up and i remember watching those hearings. and it suggested that he had been dishonest in his answers during his previous confirmation hearings to the dc court of appeals but i thought on that ground thereuc were things that what they had in 2018, what i have in h the book in the comprehensive form that didn't get much attention our e-mails that said it didn't happen in 2004 and a 2006 and from this time the bush white house showed that he had played a role in a number of the controversies involving the warrantless surveillance and the terrorist osuspects, some of the most controversial nominations of the book years -- bush years and he had nothing to do with the end f these e-mails proved otherwise. so, there was also in that time one of the things he test

he has shared into prizes, first for coverage of the watergate scandal with carl brownstein and secondly is that the reporter for coverage of the 911 terrorist attacks and bob woodward has nixon ford carter reagan george hw bush, clinton, george w. bush, obama and trump as well as the cia, joint chief, hollywood and the supreme court and is most recent book which he co-authored and the moderator for our opening discussion is douglas brinkley, humanities and professor of history at rice university and professor douglas brinkleyt- is a best-selling author and grammy award-winning producer, and he served as presidential historian it both new york post new york historical and cnn is a frequent contributor to the new york times of theor washington post, the boston globe and he is the author of numerous books in his most recent new york times bestseller is american moonshine f kennedy andre the great space race and just before we begin, i ask that you please turn off your cell phones and other electronic devices and remember to keep yourc mask on. please note that with the exception of the hou

let's discuss the political commentators analyst ron brownstein and kirsten powers. you, if i can here. the white house put out a scathing statement. i'm sure we read it accusing senator manchin promised to don't conversations in the days ahead and to work with us to reach that common ground. if his comments on fox and it indicates an end to that effort, they represent a sudden and inexplicable reversal in his position and a breach of his commitment to the president and house and senate. they changed their tone today calling manchin and biden friends. what is going on behind the scenes? what are your thoughts? >> what we're watching is extraordinary in several respects. one, as you've talked about, west virginia is one of the states that would benefit the most from this bill. i mean, it ranked 44th in the share of kids in poverty, 45th in extreme poverty, 43rd in kids experiencing food insecurity. so there are literally thousands of families in west virginia that would benefit from the programs and the bill and very few who would be facing the taxes on the rich. ther

let's bring in margaret, cnn political analyst for axyos and ron brownstein and senior edit for for theo you both. i want to play more of this radio interview that senator manchin did today in which he talks about some of the strategy that progressives and potentially the white house took to try to get him to come on board. listen. >> they just never realized that because they figure, surely to gott god we could move one person. surely we to badger and beat one person up and get enough protests to make that person uncomfortable enough. and guess what i'm from west virginia. i'm not from where they are from and they could beat the living crap out of people and think they'll be submissive. period. >> margaret, the strategy that we saw from progress ifrs was to try to pressure manchin. he said i've been in the same place since march. and with phil there, as i mentioned, how does this statement from jen psaki if that is what they have to negotiate with. >> victor, it is really complicating messaging, isn't it? senator manchin is right, he's not running for president. he doesn't hold a natio

. >>> i want to bring in cnn's senior political analyst ron brownstein. i mean -- >> yeah. >> ron, come on. come on. >> as often the case tony's reporting leaves you breathless. facebook is an incredible c contributor to the strains we are seeing in our society. it is hard to think of a company since the heyday of the tobacco cover-ups of the 1940s that has behaved more irresponsibly on a sustained basis. it is remarkable to watch. week to week month to month the revelations. >> ron the holocaust invoked again and again. qanon congresswoman marjorie taylor greene the jewish space laser lady talking about vaccine nazis. senator ted cruz calling -- i can't -- look. >> yeah >> i don't have enough time and energy. i hate having to say all this stuff. he is calling them dangerous. chip roy calling them tyranny. what is happening? what is this rhetoric doing to the fabric of our country? what is it doing to the sane people? >> well i believe i wrote the friday before the election the 2020s will be the most dangerous and difficult decade for america since the 18

but ron brownstein said the moment manchin leaves the democrats he's no longer the swing vote.onder if you, in terms of reality checking this, see him going to the republican party or even going to be an independent in the caucuses with democrats as a realistic possibility. >> jim, i think this is mostly trolling from everything we hear from senator manchin's closest supporters and what he said publicly. they don't expect him to leetch the democratic party. they certainly don't expect him t to be a republican. we've heard if he left at any point he could adopt the sanders' model with a different ideology, but why would you do that? mcconnell would be crazy not to try because why not cree yas v year to date chaos in divisions and why not put a feeler out there in case manchin gets sick and walks away. but we are hearing he intends to remain and stake out the role he has. >> sabrina, it's been interesting to watch the administration's response to the omicron variant, because very quickly biden and others said we are not locking down. you know, go celebrate the holidays, make sure

i spoke with ron brownstein yesterday, wrote this sobering piece in the atlantic warning of what he calledhe great divergence, between blue and red states with basic civil rights like voting and abortion being reversed in red states and pointed out that the house has already passed laws on these issues, but, you know, of course these measures are all stalled right now in the senate and writes this, quote, that stalemate is raising anxiety among more democrats who fear the party is sleepwalking through an escalating emergency. what do you say to that? is your party sleepwalking d through this? >> absolutely not, but i do think we can do a lot more to have people understand exactly what is happening with voting rights and to have people understand why it's so important for everyone to be able to participate in order to make sure that we have a strong democracy where people are at the table being able to address the concerns in our society and in this democracy, but in addition to that, there are a lot of people who don't know what is in the build back better bill. they don't know and underst

. >>> i want to bring in now cnn senior political analyst ron brownstein. i mean -- >> yeah. >> ron, come on. >> yes. >> come on, ron. >> well, first, as is often the case, donie's reporting kind of leaves you breathless. facebook is an incredible contributor to the strains that we are seeing in our society. it's hard to think of a company since the heyday of the tobacco cover-ups of the '40s, '50s, and '60s that has behaved more irresponsibly on a sustained basis. it's just remarkable to watch, you know, week to week, month to month, the revelations. >> ron, the holocaust invoked again and again. qanon congresswoman marjorie taylor greene, the jewish space laser lady talking about vaccine nazis. senator ted cruz calling -- i don't have enough time and energy. you have all of these people. let's see. i'm going to go over it. i hate having to say all of this. chip roy calling them tyranny. what is happening -- what is this rhetoric doing to the fabric of our country? what is it doing to the sane people? >> well, look, i believe -- i wrote the friday before t

jonathan reiner and ron brownstein are both here. gentlemen, i'm glad to have you both here. and i want to start with you, dr. reiner, because, look, three times this week trump has been very vocal about how much he supports the vaccine, and this latest time could be the strongest he's come out for them yet. listen to this. >> the ones that get very sick and go to the hospital are the ones who don't take their vaccine, but it's still their choice. and if you take the vaccine you're protected. look, the results of the vaccine are very good. and if you do get it, it's a very minor form. people aren't dying when they take the vaccine. >> you know, that's quite a turn of events. he famously didn't get vaccinated in public, which was really -- dr. reiner, it was too bad because his support early on could have meant a lot more people getting the vaccine, but what did you think when you heard this today? what did you think when you heard it? >> i was glad to hear it, laura, but i was struck by the fact in the course of this year, we just passed the one-year anniversary of the first

is here and senior cnn legal -- excuse me, political analyst ron brownstein, i almost gave you a news essentially saying that income is in peril because republicans are rigging the system. what's your reaction? >> my reaction is it is bad form, in my opinion, to make this a partisan conversation, and the reason i say that is the minute you do that from a democratic standpoint, you walk into the conundrum of the following four words. where is the policy? you have a majority in the house that has passed the john lewis voting rights act, but you can't get it done in the senate, and so when you start talking about an administration that is currently more comfortable in terms of litigating their way around voting rights as opposed to legislating their way into voting rights, when you nmake i partisan issue it looks bad on your own party. while the rhetoric was correct, and i do think it's important to understand the gravity of what we're dealing with you walk yourself into a tenuous space because the question becomes what are you doing about when you have, you know, these legislators that

cnn's senior political analyst and senior editor for "the atlantic," ron brownstein, calls this the greate is joining us now. ron, your piece is frightening, but it's also sobering and, look, it's very much our reality, right? you write this, quote, the result through the 2020s could be a dramatic erosion of common national rights and a widening gulf of great divergence between the liberties of americans in blue states and those in red states. ron, talk us through this warning, starting with what we saw from the 1960s regarding laws having to do with segregation, abortion and same-sex marriage. where do you think we're heading? >> the basic trajectory of national policies since the 1960s, both from congress and the supreme court, has been to expand the roster of rights that are available to americans nationwide in every state. we saw that sbin the civil righ act and title 9 outlining sex discrimination in the 1960s, and the supreme court ensuring one man, one vote. stopping state bans on interrac interracial relations, and reo, and into this century with the supreme court decision nationa

john brownstein for some tips and best practices for you to use if you are going to the movies this holidayide in public right now. this is all about minimizing that risk, which means getting back to basics, that's washing your hands, that's maintaining social distancing whenever possible and that's wearing a mask. the blue surgical mask is a good one, the n95 is the best. both better than a cloth mask but no matter what, they need to fit for them to work. when you're booking your showtime earlier is better. the fewer the people, the better. so, if you get there at an early showing, there will likely be fewer people in the theater and there will have been fewer people in the space overall. also, a lot of theaters now allow you to book your tickets in advance online, so when you're paying for those tickets and you can see where everyone is sitting pick a spot away from where everybody else is. and if you live in an area where community spread is especially high right now, maybe you consider delaying that holiday season trip to the movies, but if you really, really, really want to go and get