and joe manchin, the senator from west virginia, he will not act. even after the humiliation and what he dragged the country through in 2013. is not. senator manchin reiterated today that he doesn't support background checks for all gun sales, which is something that has already passed the house. it passed the house even with some republican support, which means joe manchin is to the right of republicans. if he alone changed his mind on this and decided that he really does care about this, that actually probably would be enough to get that one reform over the finish line, which if he changed his stance on the bill itself, if he found it in his heart to support background checks, given that, and his stamps on keeping the filibuster rule in place so that majority votes don't count even for his own legislation, those two issues alone, joe manchin holds the fate of this in his hands. he promised this was an issue that moved him, in tears, as a parent, as a grandparent, he promised that he could get it done. he could get it done, actually, now. if he want

clearly chuck schumer's being very careful in the senate to keep joe manchin in the fold. to peter's point, i remember reporting a few years ago about questions about whether manchin was going to switch parties. the reality is his state's gone so to the right that there's no way democrats are going to own that seat if joe manchin isn't sitting in it. so how does president biden navigate this relationship? >> well, i have been told by white house officials that they are spending a fair amount of time on outreach to joe manchin. but you know, when you look at the messaging from the white house, for example, on the filibuster, who came out first and discussed moving to the talking filibuster? it was joe manchin. and then you heard president biden echo similar language. what about the priorities we are hearing from the white house? obviously, there's this big focus on immigration because of this terrible situation that's unfolding at the border. but if that wasn't on the table, what the white house would be talking about now is covid relief and infrastructure. what's an issue t

find a northwestern mutual advisor at nm.com >>> well, it sounds like senator joe manchin has been listeninguest discussing how to change the so-called filibuster rules in the senate. here's what senator manchin told chuck todd yesterday. >> if you want to make it a little bit more painful, make him stand there and talk, i'm willing to look at any way we can, but i am not willing to take away the involvement of the minority. >> congressional scholar norm ornstein appeared on this program thursday night suggesting changes to the rules that joe manchin might be able to accept, even though senator manchin wants to preserve the senate minority's right to filibuster in some form. senator manchin might have been listening to what norm ornstein had to say thursday night, or even more likely, he probably did read norm ornstein's op-ed piece in "the washington post" entitled, "democrats can't kill the filibuster but they can gut it." in that article, he talked about changes he thought specifically joe manchin might consider and which joe manchin appears to be now considering. and so joining us now is

in that op-ed, he talked about things he thought specifically joe manchin might consider and which joe to be now considering. joining us is norm orenstein, and norm, when i listened to joe manchin i thought, this is a huge public breakthrough in his thinking about the senate rules, and two, i thought, he's been reading and listening to norm orenstein. >> i thought the same thing, lawrence, and i was giddy, as a matter of fact. we've still got a long ways to go and we'll see what details work out. but i consciously, and al franken and i have been talking to senators and we've been talking this through for a while as well, but consciously wanted to look at something that i knew would resonate with people like manchin and sinema and feinstein and some others who were not going to be willing to completely abolish this rule 22, but would actually make a real difference in terms of giving democrats a fighting chance and more to get some top priorities through. you know, something else i thought along those lines in the last day or two, gabby giffords is now spearheading the effort in the hou

what is joe manchin up to?clearly he was trying to signal to the white house and to his fellow democrats you need to take me seriously, i'm here and i'm going to flex and you need to be working with me closer in the coming weeks and months. clearly joe manchin going into these talks was pushing the white house to cut a bipartisan deal with republicans. he expressed concern about the broader $1.9 trillion bill package number, he wanted more slimmer targeted checks, and, you know, this bill was largely a progressive win. i mean, again, wn hour, that wa included in the bill and, sure, progressives were not happy about that, but overall this bill has a lot of progressive wins, the size of it, the expanded child tax care credit. joe manchin who was a moderate from west virginia who wanted something different, he clearly was not super happy about that. so tying up the senate for ten hours was perhaps an annoying way for him to remind chuck schumer and joe biden that, hey, you need me here going forward. >> and republ

our next guest has been listening to joe manchin and has come up with a way for joe manchin to keep hisse about the filibuster rules, but shift the burden of how the rules are enforced in a way that would allow the democrats much more opportunity to maneuver and proceed on the senate floor. it is an he will fwant solution and i would feel embarrassed for not having thought of it myself were it not for the fact that he has been studying the united states senate longer than i have. joining us is norm ornstein, congressional historian and scholar at the american enterprise institute. his new article in "the washington post" is entitled "democrats cannot kill the filibuster, but they can fwut it." norm, let's get to your two biggest ideas. let's start with the present and voting way of determining the threshold here and how that actually used to be rule. >> so, lawrence, the last time the filibuster was changed for legislation in a fundamental way in 1975, the lore is that they lowered the threshold from two-thirds to three-fifths. but it didn't work that way. it was before this, two-thirds

joe manchin today, it may be someone else tomorrow.fficult to get some of these things done without filibuster reform. right now, almost anything is going to have an extraordinarily enormously difficult time, excuse me, getting through the senate on any given day. 50 is a hard thing. and i think filibuster reform is something that will have to be taken very seriously by democrats. the challenge is, joe manchin mentioned he had no desire to see the filibuster change. so i think there will be a really difficult time period. it's why you see the biden administration flexing its muscle on executive orders. it's why you see the bulk of the legislative activity done will be through the process of budget reconciliation that only requires 50 votes. there's a limit to what you can do in budget reconciliation. but it's going to be the way you're going to have to go on a lot of these things. regardless of what lindsey graham says, he's lucy with the football over again. and joe biden has decided he's not going to be charlie brown over and over ag

the existential threat came from senator joe manchin, democrat of west virginia. he's up for re-election in 2024, in a bright red state that voted for donald trump this past november by 40 points. november by 40 points. he's been wooed by republicans to get him to back their plan for unemployment benefits, $300 a week through july. finally agreed to $300 per week through september. plus tax benefits. and the challenge of keeping party members in line all the way to the finish line hasn't gone away. today's job numbers added a new dynamic to the situa unemployment holding at 6.2%. that went over pretty well with wall street. the dow surged to a gain of 570. still, as we've reminded our audience so many times, the market is not the economy. the market is not main street. today, the president insisted the good numbers don't tell the real story. >> today's jobs report shows that the american rescue plan is urgently needed, in our view. our economy still has 9.5 million fewer jobs than it had this time last year. and at that rate, it would take two years to get us back

right now, it's all about democratic senator joe manchin. democratic leaders are racing to keep manchin from joining the other side of the aisle about extending unemployment benefits. the fear tonight is that the moderate west virginia senator will side with republicans. that could put biden's first major piece of legislation in jeopardy. and adding to the nail-biter, republicans are now down one senator. senator dan sullivan is flying home to alaska tonight after his father-in-law passed away. there is so much going on. let's go to manu raja. is there any sign where this is headed tonight? >> reporter: things are stuck right now. in fact, that's the words of one democratic senator involved in the negotiations, telling a republican senator, john cornyn, who just told me moments ago he's been told they're stuck. and behind the scenes there is a furious effort to win over joe manchin, to get him behind this proposal that was reached as a last-minute proposal between the white house and democratic leaders to extend jobless benefits at $300 a we

about this you've got a great headline out if i may as it's called raise the minimum wage stop the joe manchin presidency is very provocative and is a right word sitting in joe mansions office i would sort of take this is more compliment than critique in a way because you compliment him for deploying power his political power right now in a way that other advocates for workers in a 15 dollar minimum wage have not had the guts to do yet i mean it's a real slam against some progressives in the senate i'd love to get your snap shot in my one of my getting that right but you know i think in this when you look at it you're basically arguing that this is an end of the world issue that they have to act with greater backbone and severity which meant vote against the covert relief bill unless it has the $15.00 minimum wage built into it so so tell me what your thinking is in this to go to such brinksmanship regarding this particular issue. well to be clear i'm not arguing that progressive democrats should take down the covert relief bill i mean i worked in the house for 5 years and what i was arguing a

it seems there is a breakthrough here with senator joe manchin of west virginia, and the senate majority leader chuck schumer. we're being told by several democratic aides that manchin has agreed to the extension of unemployment benefits through the covid relief package through september, the beginning of september and september 6th i should say for $300 a week. the original plan was the end of september. there is going to be a tax credit available for people that receive the benefit for $10,200. that was also an issue that manchin was concerned about. manchin was considering supporting a republican alternative to this provision that was offered up by rob portman of ohio. that would have cut off the benefits through july at only $300 a week and also, not provide that tax credit. so this appears to be enough for manchin to cut off those benefits a little less than a month earlier than what democrats had originally intended but this was a long day, john, of a lot of anxiety for democrats that were concerned that they were not going to be able to cut this deal with manchin, and he was singl

a state and make joe manchin less relevant. just for our audience, you understand this is nbc's reporting, this bill that brian kemp, the governor of georgia has just signed, would dramatically limit early voting required for runoff elections. limit the election that elected jon ossoff and reverend warnock, require mail-in voters to have their driver's license numbers or documentation instead of signature verification. they would limit drop boxes. you can guess where they're going to limit them, jason. it would allow the state to take over local elections. basically meaning that you couldn't have another close election like what you saw there because the state, brian kemp, could simply take it over and put in the result he wanted. kemp finalized the bill just over an hour after it cleared the general assembly. the legislation passed along party lines, 34-20, meaning local elections count here, 100-75 in the house. the georgia bill according to cnn underwent major changes going from a narrow bill into a sweeping omnibus package

now, t west virginia democrat joe manchin.a divided senate, he showed last night why he may be the most influential figure in all of washington. manchin secured a deal to run unemployment benefits into september and secure a cap on taxing those benefits. but the deal also reduces the extra jobless benefits to $300 a week, not $400 in the house bill. so these changes in the senate bill, that could create a problem in the house of representatives. it has to go back to the house of representatives so the house and senate are are in sync. will liberals be able to stomach those changes. so far we've seen progressives, they're pretty irate that there is no increase in the national wage standard in this bill, that was stricken from the legislation when it came over from the house of representatives. this is going to produce some headaches for nancy pelosi, speaker of the house, and also president biden as they try to move this final version through the house of representatives next week. alicia? alicia: you mentioned the senators are

why did you not sort out your differences with joe manchin ahead of time? >> people have new differences all the time but the overwhelming point is everyone in our caucus realizes we have to pull together and get it done and we are a team. sometimes it takes discussion. sometimes it takes work but we don't let our differences stop us from achieving success. >> shouldn't that have been resolved in the front end? >> people come up with different ideas at different times and still have to take everyone into account and pull together as a team and that is what we did and no one will pay attention to the fact -- i don't know, no one. that 8 hours is meaningless compared to the relief the american people will get into help us get to that, unity, unity, unity. that is how we got this done. >> do you expect the house to pass what the senate just passed including amendments that may not be as palatable? >> i spoke to a number of people in the house over the last few days, they feel like we do, we have to get this done. it will not be everything everyone wants. no bi

joe manchin and what he represents used to be mainstream.here used to be a lot of joe manchins in the senate and the house. today all gone. and isn't it nice, at least i say, that power can be vested in the hands of an independent thinker? >> now, a lot of democrats want to beat smerconish over the head right now, ron, because they thought that manchin was like dynamite, trying to blow up the process, making it about him. i think a lot of the criticism was unfair, but that's party politics. so what does this tell you about the state of play in the senate and the significance going forward? >> well, first i think the toll, the changes that manchin exacted for his support were really minor by historic standards. if you look back at the 1993 clinton bill, economic plan, the 2009 obama economic plan or the 2001 bush tax cut, which may be the most relevant precedent, also in a 50-50 senate. two republican senators made him cut it by 25% to get their support. can you imagine if joe manchin had demanded a 25% cut in this bill? i think he asked for

so they needed to make sure that the joe manchins of the world could get behind it.upport an alternative amendment on jobless numbers, that could -- such a delicate compromise on the democratic side and realizing they could do it with just democratic votes in this process, they'll get it almost certainly to the president's desk in a matter of days. the question will be will it turn the economy around and help deal with this pandemic and how will the voters respond, fred. >> obviously, manu, the white house will think that 12 hours was worth the wait. in fact, let's go to the white house, and joe johns joining us now. we are expecting to hear from the president momentarily. this is what he was waiting for before he makes his way to delaware. >> reporter: our hope is to hear from the president right now. we do have some reporting on that, waiting for it to get cleared. i can tell you that it would be surprising if the president did not talk about this first piece of legislation to pass both the house as well as the united states senate presuming that's what's going to

joe manchin is your savior.re republican, this is the guy you have to persuade to be on your side. arthel: we got that but i'm asking, maybe perhaps he's listening to both sides perhaps, maybe he can be an example for the future, back to the future where people actually listen to each other on both sides and came to compromise. >> i agree with that. i think he does want to not be a partisan one way or another. he has his views, he comes from a conservative state, he's a democrat in that state. he's shown he is not afraid to. pressure his own democratic caucus. the positions that might upset him. arthel: for how can senator dan of alaska had to return home because his father-in-law passed. senator sullivan voted yesterday morning. we want to stop and take a moment to offer condolences and prayers to the sullivan family. i do want to ask you, as to the effect on a vote count, vice president harris was not needed to break the tie, which is the gate however, did this work in vice president harris' favor somehow, she

and joe manchin runs the place.sues, clearing the way for democratic unity. they'll need it, considering democrats face an obstinate republican party. republicans led by senator ron johnson will use a number of procedural moves to delay the final passage by days or even weeks. joining me now is katie porter of california, member of the house oversight committee and former deputy chief of staff to senator harry reid and author of "kill switch," a must read. congresswoman, let me go to you first. this delay, ron johnson went on a right-wing radio show and said he's going to make senators read the entire bill out. it could be up to days. they're going to try a lot of tricks. you have constituents who i'm sure need this money, need this relief. put for us what does this mean for real people, the delay? >> for real people, this is every minute, every hour, it means people are going hungry. it means they're getting further behind on their rent. they're worried about losing their car. this has already taken far, far too lo

senator joe manchin throwing a major, major wrench in the works.sident's covid-relief bill. a nine-hour standstill. nine hours, over his objections. fellow democrats caught off guard really in a last-minute compromise keeps the whole thing from blowing up. what -- what -- there's so much drama. didn't we think, like, after the trump era that the drama like it is not going to be any drama. it's going to be acceptably and welcomingly just kind of normal? well, we got anything but. this is the first big test, though, for the democratic majority. with their biggest priorities on the line, no margin of error. 50-50 split senate. everything is riding on covid relief and on voting rights. that, as the gop just can't get past its own crazy. on the eve of march 6th, two months since trump-supporting rioters stormed the united states capitol. i -- i can't get over that video. look at the guy kicking the door. i just can't get -- and breaking the windows. every time i see it, it's like the first time. them fighting police. hunting lawmakers in the halls. cong

of minimum wage increase in it in other words that they have not been willing to behave the way joe manchin has behaved now the reason they haven't is because there's good stuff very good things in the covert relief bill that progressive support but the bottom line is if you're not willing to make demands and say that you have specific . things that you want in a bill and that you will withhold your votes for those things until those things are added to the bill then you should not expect to have them added into the legislation rachel from an economic perspective if there were to be a deal and joe manchin won the day on and you know $11.00 compromise or someone in there what would be the economic ripple effects from your perspective from that. well $11.00 per hour would be less harmful than $15.00 per hour you see fewer jobs lost you see fewer price price increases that are impacting families and workers but the reality is it shouldn't just be what works for joe manchin and for west virginia residents it should be what works for everybody across the 50 us states and so i think that what the

they did not have joe manchin's support at the beginning of the day. they did have 49 other democrats on board. manchin was not going to be ruled by the party. he pushed back and let all the negotiations behind the scenes and joe biden called him and met privately with chuck schumer, rank and file democrats hesitate with him and rob portman, who was the ohio republican who has the alternative plan. he was getting enormous pressure on both sides but ultimately decided he is going to cut this this deal that will most likely pave the way for the deal's passage, and as i said, a daunting series of amendments. we'll see if anything changes. you can ly tell, it's an unpredictable process. >> manu, you are the man. why has it been so hard for democrats to get this passed. it's not just manchin. and they have issues in the house. they have issues in the senate. i think manchin is more of a proxy than we are told outright. what does it mean, moving forward, it's to the enact the biden agenda. is it about getting rid of the filibuster? 50 votes from members on th

wow, does this underscore the prominence of this moderate democrat, senator joe manchin. his strategy clearly worked. he is happy with getting a little bit more in that bill. but what does this say about his continued prominence and power moving forward? >> i mean, this really is the opening act of the proof of how much power joe manchin will wield in this 50/50 senate. people have been talking this since it was clear it would be a democratic majority basically on a razor's edge. but we saw in this massively important bill to president biden how much joe manchin can flick his finger and have everything come to a total stand still for hours on end, they set a record yesterday for how long they left a vote open because they were trying to have these negotiations. we saw, this is the proof, basically, that he is going to have to be the person who blesses these deals if the democrats are going to keep their majority together and move these things forward, otherwise they'll be in jeopardy. >> what did this vote-a-rama tell you about the dozens of amendments that, you know, the

that are impacting families and workers but the reality is it shouldn't just be what works for joe manchin and for west virginia residents it should be what works for everybody across the 50 us states and so i think that what the procreate compromise would be is to tie whatever the federal minimum is set up to the locality based adjustment the federal government already does this with their own general schedule the scale and so they allow for differences in the cost of living across the united states you know what's going to happen here is a lot of unintended consequences especially in lower cost areas i was looking just at the child care sector in essence a relatively low wage sector $15.00 per hour there would mean a 21 percent increase in prices 43 percent increase in mississippi so we're talking about thousands of dollars more per year for a lower income and middle class working families and that prices them out of being able to afford other things and it makes the situation completely different in terms of whether they are even able to work to get much david how do you see locality ba

>> listen, joe manchin is a professional politician.m not going to get into a food fight with joe manchin. i mean, absolutely, margaret, we have handled the cares dollars here perfectly. and absolutely this state is being managed very well. now, along the way, you know, if joe wants to continue with all of his political rhetoric and everything, i can't do anything about that. like i said, i'm not a politician. i think his statements are ridiculous. >> brennan: so you would stand by the $100 million on roads? >> we spent $50 million of the cares $1.25 billion on medical access roads to be able to help people in west virginia to be able to get to a medical facility. our roads have gotten in such terrible state, and part of it on joe manchin's watch. and we spent $50 million on the road repairs, yes, we did. >> brennan: i want to ask you about your state and its response to covid. as we introduced you, you have loosened business restrictions, but you have kept in place a mask mandate. and you said the lifting it was kind of a macho thing.

amy: so jonathan, once again, senator joe manchin is the center of attention in a 50/50 senate. he's got moreower than anybody . how does he keep using this? and what do you think he does going forward and the reaction to him from some liberals? jonathan: well, anybody who has been to the great state knows there's quite a few roads and buildings named after robert c. byrd which was the great long-serving senator out there at one time democratic leader. if manchin who knows his politics back home pretty well, if he plays his cards right, i think there are going to be a lot of cards nad after joe manchin here when all is said and done because he's allowed leverage. he's right in the mid of the caucus, amy. i was right in the capital hi. and i asked a couple of g.o.p. senators. i said, do you think at some point the left could drive him away from the party and you guys could take back the majority by, you know, making him republican? and both of the plugged-in senators said no, joe is a real democrat. we can want get him over. but why would he want to switch anyway? he's got so muc

and they needed joe manchin's vote because it's as 50-50 senate.shouldn't have been the provisions. there were eight democratic senators who vote against the minimum wage in my view including kirstyn sinema with the downward thumb. on manchin's point about the minimum wage, this idea he was on the sunday showing, saying $11 is fine with me. we don't need 7.25 which is what it was and-11 should be enough to avoid poverty which is an absurd statement for someone who is report reportedly $7 million, $8 million. you live on $11 an hour and tell us whether that's a poverty wage. $15 is the compromise. if the minimum wage had tracked with productivity growth it would actually be worth $24 an hour today so 15 is the compromise. for him not to go to 15 i think it's outrageous and moving the $400 unemployment to $300 a week, what does it achieve? how do these people sleep at night? did he cut $100 from unemployed people's income? >> yeah. >> i find the whole thing distasteful. >> i spend so many hours wondering how many of our lawmakers sleep soundly at nig

we're not pleased with joe manchin. and quite frankly, i want to flex a little bit and say if joe manchin continues to do this, just remember, biden won georgia. it's not to say that west virginia can't be taken over there is a whole lot of states that can be in play, and some of this is about galvanizing progressives to remember that we actually do have a different playbook that we can play from now, and we've got to be thinking of the long game in terms of saying to people government ought to work for you. and when we see these senators who make it harder for you to get ahead in the middle of a pandemic, we should be trying to figure out how to remove them from office. so i think that we got to stop playing with joe manchin, and i think we got to stop talking about his power because he's -- i don't see that as a narrative of power. i see that as a narrative of subverting the will of the people, and that's the thing that i want to call it. >> well, i hear you on that. that's why we have you on, for the perspective. i g

>> so lauren, we saw what joe manchin can do. riday, although in the end, he gave progressives almost everything they wanted. but going forward, how much influence does senator manchin have on the biden agenda? >> reporter: i think he's shown time and time again not just on the coronavirus relief bill, but also what you saw that joe biden -- or excuse me, that joe manchin is not going to sit idly by. he is going to have a say in the president's agenda going forward. i think that's true of infrastructure, even if they use a process known as reconciliation, the same process they used for this covid relief bill, joe manchin is going to have a say. i think you'll say that with gun legislation. whatever biden wants to do, he cannot ignore his moderates. that's the lesson, as all of his democratic colleagues were watching very nervously on friday, to see whether joe manchin was going to sink this bill. something that democratic leadership thought they had on lock. obviously, joe manchin playing a very key role here, john. >> lauren fox,

. >> reporter: zeroing in on one senator, senator joe manchin. he has not signed off on that deal in terms of the federal expanded unemployment benefits up to this point. right now, sources are telling our colleague, manu raju, he's leaning toward a republican proposal related to that $300 enhancement. how this all ends is very much up for debate. the reality is that democrats can not pass this bill without senator joe manchin. so a lot of effort from the white house and on capitol hill to try to bring joe manchin along, jake. >> one of the most powerful people in washington, d.c. right now. phil mattingly, thank you very much. let me discuss with our panel. abby, let me start with you. they said president biden will fight to pass this $15 minimum wage increase but as several noted, angus king and others voted against adding this to the relief bill. kyrsten sinema said it should be separate from the relief bill. what do you take from all of this? >> i think it's pretty clear that the biden administration doesn't want this bill held up because of

joe manchin is on record opposing that. you could get rid of the filibuster tomorrow and still not pass that bill. what we need to do is try to find a place where we can land, a place where there's common ground. i have long believed as i've told youed many times the place where we ought to get that done is requiring background checks on commercial sales. that's where i know senator manchin is. there are republican senators who are interested not because it is some banked shot to protect the filibuster but because there is substantive support. >> is your issue with the house bill, do you share their same concerns on y this issue of private sales or do you think there is a way to include some form of a background check in that, too? >> there are different mechanisms that make this possible that weren't possible before. you're not goingib to get to 60 votes with legislation that requires when a father wants to sell hisa gun to his son to ha to get a background check. soch i still the think the best way toll do this is focus o

they need joe manchin, they need bernie sanders, they need angus king as an independent as well. they need everybody they can get in order to deliver on the promises that president biden ran on and won on for the american people. he also needs republican buy-in on some of this, and i, quite frankly, am a little bit perplexed and i think amanda may be right about the reset, but there is a lot of things in this bill that republicans could have gotten their arms around even though it was a big spending bill. i think the challenge for both democrats and republicans now is can they work together on issues like immigration, on issues like voting rights, on issues that are going to be major spending bills yet to come. the president has already started reaching out to republicans on infrastructure. so i think now that we've gotten impeachment behind us, the insurrection, we're examining, and now we've got the covid package. now you're going to see, i think, a lot of trying to bridge these gaps between republicans and democrats, because that's joe biden's strong suit, i believe. >> amanda

but there's quite a bit at stake for the biden administration in how joe manchin, senator joe manchin, handles some of these questions in a 50-50 senate. i mean, what is the likelihood that they can do anything beyond these two big budget bills, which are likely to be this covid relief and then the infrastructure package that you mentioned, that they can use rules to only pass things with 50 votes? they really only get two shots at that before the midterm elections. >> yeah, you're exactly right, kasie. and it's been fascinating to watch joe manchin wield his influence and navigate these contours, especially as it relates to the filibuster question. you know, because if biden really wants to be pushing anything through here with legislation that probably, most likely, will receive zero gop support, it's going to get stuck in the graveyard that is the senate without 60 votes. that's why we've already heard the conversation as it relates to voting rights and some other issues outside of covid relief shift towards making exceptions to the filibuster. you've seen some prominent senators l

senator joe manchin, holding up everything over jobless benefits.kly benefit and includes a cap on who is eligible to write off the benefits. the agreement shaves off a few weeks than what the departments were pushing for. next up, the vote-a-rama where the senates can present as many amendments as they want. so let's discuss, democrat senate chris van holland jones m -- joins me. good to have you on. >> good to be here. >> the bill was in a stand still for nine hours. are you sure at this stage that you can pass this? >> yes, don, i'm absolutely confident that we will get it done. look, i was here at 2:30 a.m. last night. will stay through the night in to tomorrow and through the weekend if necessary. and we willpass the american rescue plan. it provides desperately needed assistance to the american people. we will deploy and distribute more vaccines provide economic help and a life line. we are going to get this done. >> did you personally talk with senator manchin during the standoff, has he said anything about what his thinking is? >> not during

joe manchin said give that to me. i'm the one. i'm -- my way, this is the way we'll get things done. >> what we watched today really involved only one piece of what's been a big complex debate about gaunsd it includes just a few senators. yet, the impact seems so much larger in part pause of the emotion that helped make it happen. driven by their loss. >> i feel like i carry my daughter's spirit when i got into these meetings. i wanted them to hear me as a mother. i asked them if they could please give me something i can tell my son. >> surrounded by newtown families to talk about today's break-through on background checks but only a whisper could come forth. >> manchin, a democrat partnered with pat toomey, a republican, to forge a compromise today. >> i think the substance of the bill makes a lot of sense. to me, this isn't gun chrome. this is common sense. >> just like those already required when buying from licensed dealers. the law would not affect individuals who buy, seshlgs or give webs to families, friends, or even strang

but the reality is joe manchin knows that he's got a deciding vote.e can gum up the works, he can slow things down. and i think a key part of the report we just heard is joe manchin saying you didn't consult me. and that's kind of the political dynamic that we're going to see a lot more in washington, where in a closely divided senate, any one member can say, well, look, i'm a king, i'm a queen. if you don't come and talk to me, i'll stop forward progress on everything. that's exactly what joe manchin did yesterday. >> do you expect him to continue to play king, as you say, to remain a thorn in the side of democrats? because as you're talking about, unity, we're seeing cracks being displayed right now within the senate between the moderates and the progressives. what does this mean moving forward, i mean, in terms of getting things done? >> well, i think things will go slower than they would have, amara. i don't think it's ever in doubt that this relief package is going to get passed, roughly $1.9 trillion that are going to provide money to working fa

now i am told from multiple sources that joe manchin is concerned about that aspect of this proposal, the $10,200 of tax-free benefits, and as a result he's withholding his support for a critical amendment that would be added to the bill, and if he votes no, that amendment will go down. also on top of that, there's an alternative republican plan that would extend jobless benefits at $300 a week through july being offered by senator rob portman. that does not have the tax-free benefits as part of that plan. joe manchin i'm told is supporting the republican plan and republican leaders behind the scenes are trying to get all 50 of their members behind this alternative plan so the concern among democrats is there could be 51 votes to amend the bill with the jobless benefits and as a result throw this wrench by democrats to get this bill out of the senate and back to the house for final passage by the deadline of march 14 before the jobless benefits expire. this effort now behind the scenes is taking place to see if there's a resolution, and for more than three hours, bianna, there's been

moderate senator joe manchin a critical swing vote at the center of all. senator manchin joins me now. senator, you brought the senate to a standstill for ten hours on friday, threatened to side with republicans and did not budge until a call from the president and significant concessions were made. in the end, you got $300 instead of $400 for benefits. in this pandemic economy, you don't think people need more money. >> first of all, martha, it's good to be with you. next of all, i didn't do anything intentionally whatsoever, i did everything i could to bring us together and have more support. we have so many different ways that we're helping the public with this piece of legislation. it's not that i don't think -- i think that basically what would have happened, going from $300 to $400 are going to go without unemployment benefits for a while. also, we did things with child tax credits that we've never done before, which i'm so proud of, because we're going to help families with children, lift children out of poverty. also, martha, this was a targeted pie

we're back with our interview with west virginia democratic senator joe manchin.critics, the president's critics say, he's lost a step or two or more. there are even allies who are concerned that he hasn't had a press conference in the time he's been in office. you've worked with him. you've been with him. what do you think about president biden and are you concerned about any of that? >> the time that i've spoken to him and been with him he hasn't missed a step. he's very straightforward and we talk and have very direct talks. i know exactly where he's coming from. he knows where i'm coming from. the thing i appreciate most, he says, joe, i never ask you to go against your convictions and i said mr. president, i appreciate that because i wasn't. so we have had good conversations and there are things we agree and things we disagree. i think the keystone pipeline, he knows i support that i'm all in for an energy policy so we have things to work through. they are talking about big things infrastructure. i'm for all things infrastructure but we've got to figure out h

what joe manchin says now -- joe biden is not engaged on this. chuck schumer is not whipping this vote on getting rid of the fili filibuster. barack obama, who as you'll recall, spoke at the john lewis funeral and called on democrats to get rid of filibuster, he has not started barnstorming the country. that will happen soon, whaand w it does, that issue ripens, democrats will rally around this. >> i asked you about chuck schumer's approach versus mitch mcconnell's. but i mean, really, this depends on people like -- doesn't it depend on people like joe manchin and kirsten sinema in order to get this done? >> yeah, but like i said, i think the narrative -- there's at least three reasons why i think at the end of the day joe manchin and kirsten sinema are gettable. this issue is not ripened yet. all these bills chuck schumer is going to bring them up, he's going bring up hr 1, the voting rights act, d.c. statehood, and we're going to see republicans doing what they did this week, ron johnson forcing the covid relief bill to be read in full. they're

yet, joe manchin, who is often the 50th vote for democrats, he's using the old model.he's now saying he'll only back a bill from biden that he might otherwise agree with if it's deemed that it's not partisan, which he defines by the old model of getting republican senators to support it. so think about that. joe manchin's actual public position right now is that he cares more about what politicians in other states do than what his own constituents support. because we do know there are many republicans in west virginia. as i just showed you, there means there are many voters there who back biden on spending and gun safety and infrastructure and even the voting rights bill. shouldn't they matter more to manchin than whether an idea is supported by ted cruz or what mitch mcconnell does? i'm joined now by michelle goldberg. readers of michelle goldberg's columns will note she has tackled much more complex issues than this. this is a simple one. michelle, what gives? >> well, i'm actually not convinced that the majority of voters in west virginia support the biden agenda on

there's lots of things that joe manchin like it's a trump plus 25 state.re's lots of things joe manchin can't vote for and hope to get re-elected for in the state. the minimum wage is not one of those things. the minimum wage is popular basically anywhere. >> what you're saying it's popular across party lines regardless of how you vote. most republicans, independents, democrats, they all believe that the $7 minimum wage is just not sustainable. but this is the thing, chris, what i found really curious. every single senator that voted on the democratic side they're not up for re-election so they're basically voting that the voters will not remember them when they were up for re-election in 2024. that's one thing. but the other thing i find curious is that when sinema says she wants to have a stand alone bill because this is tied to appropriations, it's tied to financing, so to speak, it has to go and beat the filibuster. the filibuster which she supports. so it's kind of wanting to have it both ways but not speaking straight to the american people where she

>> you know, i think the president has talked to joe manchin. he's somebody he's spoken with a number of times over the past several months of his, two months i should say of his presidency about a range of issues including of course the american rescue plan, something that joe manchin supported. he -- i think the president sees and hopes that he's going to -- and knows that in joe manchin's heart he believes in the democratic ideals and the issues that the president and much of the party is certainly fighting for. he also recognizes that he has politics in his state and has to take that into account as he makes decisions. but the president's going to continue working with him. on a range of issues. i would say when he talked about the talking filibuster today and his concerns about that's how it was originated, it shouldn't be so easy to use the filibuster and use it as a way to block reforms and block progress, you know, that's something that senator manchin has talked about as well. so certainly that's on the president's mind and he's been wa

what do you make of joe manchin's claim that he essentially has a veto? s declared for himself a veto over joe biden's cabinet. he's decided he doesn't like neera tanden's tweets. therefore she may not have a job in the administration. he's decided he doesn't like the minimum wage being $15 an hour although there are a lot of poor folks in his state that would like to make the kind of money he and his daughter make. i bet lots of people in his state would like to have it, but he's said, no, you can't have that. he's also raised questions about deb haaland, another woman of color, and men of color as well. he seems to be standing in the way of a lot. do you think at this point democrats like him are as much an issue as republicans? >> well, i don't think so, no. i don't think there's any way you can compare him to republicans and the way they have stopped everything. but i certainly hope that he gets with the program, especially with the $15 minimum wage because i know the wages in west virginia are low, and so it's sad to think that he would stand and bloc