let's bring in senior political analyst john avlon and white house correspondent john harwood.ave to be careful here because they're both named john. so i have to say last names. good evening, gentlemen. good to see you. so, mr. harwood, this is all about making a deal. so who does president biden have more leverage to pressure here, the progressives or the moderates, to get in line to pass the bill -- these bills? >> well, look, the reality of this situation, don, is that every member of the democratic senate has a veto, and any group of at least four house members in the house, democrats in the house, have a veto as well. so with majorities this bare, everybody's got leverage, and president biden has to bring all of them along. now, one of the challenges here is you can't negotiate with somebody who doesn't tell you what they want. and so far, the progressives in the house have outlined what they want. even to some degree, the moderates in the house have outlined what they want. but senators joe manchin and kyrsten sinema have not. so the efforts right now pushed by the house

. >>> i want to bring in now cnn's senior political analyst john avlon. he is now with a new weekly video series on cnn digital that will examine the rise of extremist groups here in the united states. it is called "reality check with john avlon: extremist beat." john, congratulations on that. thanks for joining us this evening. congressman adam schiff, a member of the january 6th select committee, spoke to chris cuomo earlier tonight, and here's what he said about the subpoenas to meadows, bannon, scavino, and patel. here it is. >> they're all very close to the former president. some were in direct communication with him on january 5th, on january 6th. they are reportedly in communication about how to overturn the results of the election. mark meadows, for example, involved with the justice department, trying to get the justice department to put pressure on georgia to decertify the results of the election. >> so these guys could be facing a whole lot of trouble. how do you see this all playing out? >> well, i think it indicates that the commission is sta

john avlon with a reality check. >> this is a make or break day. because less than 24 hours, we're going to know if the u.s. government suffered another self-inflicted shutdown. we'll know if democrats can come together to pass a landmark infrastructure bill while paving the way for a biden-defining budge 9th. we'll also have a better sense whether the u.s. could default on its debt for the first time in our history. so, yeah, some days matter more than others. and this is as big as it gets on capitol hill. yes, joe biden's democrats have a razor-thin manager anyone congress. but here's what's really frustrating. we're as close as we have been in a half century to major infrastructure investment and closer than ever to a debt default. for all our divisions, these should be areas that unite us as americans. they have been broad areas of consensus for both parties. forget all the jokes about infrastructure week because this has been a big goal going back decades. >> this bill, which i look forward to signing, will speed the repair of our aging roads,

. >> john avlon, cnn talked to bob c costa tonight in the president's attempt to overturn the election. this is what he said about the subpoenas. >> the question is, of course, what happened and ultimately what did trump know, and we describe an extraordinary phone call between bannon and trump right before the insurrection in which bannon, who is the former top aide to trump, told him he had been fired by that point, but as you know, in the trump world you go and you come back. and bannon says to trump, we will strangle the biden presidency in the crib. and that is a foreshadowing, of course, of the violence that we saw the next day. >> steve bannon knows a lot about what went down during this crucial period. the question is, can he be compelled to talk? >> it's an interesting question because he was not serving in government at that time unlike the other three. but i think the revelations in the woodward and costa book are one of the things that brought bannon back to the fore. he is talking to the president. and his comments to the president about strangling the biden administration

john avlon with the reality check. >> all roads to the democrats' chance of success this week seem towest virginia, whose senators joe manchin in a make or bake position for the biden presidency and the razor thin democratic majority. there's been a lot written about the red state democrats disproportionate influence, much along the lines of the kanye west lyric "no one man should have all that power." there might be strategic symbiosis here. west virginia would benefit big time and democrats benefit big time from more red state representatives. the reason they can't afford to lose a vote is because they literally have no margin for error and right now the clock's ticking as they count the hours. so let's start with facts first. west virginia is a one-time democratic stronghold that swung right going from an all-democratic house delegation in 1998 to an all republican state in 2014. manchin is the only democrat in the state's congressional delegation winning re-election in 2018 between donald trump's two 68% wins. no joe manchin no democratically controlled senator. john denver called

standby brian, john avlon is joining us now. i got a cue that you are here, i am not sure where you are. tell us where you are and what you are experiencing? >> reporter: new york. i am outside the city right now. as you know, don, i work for the mayor of new york for many years, i am looking at this from emergency management and infrastructure perspective. folks who don't understand, super storm sandy was a cannery in the coal mine. we have seen in recent years and months routine storms flooding the subways which are already over taxed and you see the videos of water rushing down. this is not only in low-lying ar areas. as brian just pointed out, this is not only the most densely populated regions in the country, we are seeing north carolina overwhelming new york city streets and subways. it just does make the urgent case that our infrastructure is not prepared for this new normal. it is overwhelmed by the climate crisis. the damage from this is going to be a ton of water. gallons of water flowing into new york city in a few ho

i'm john avlon. i want to talk to journalist ken burns.ur shared legacy. now he has new insights to share as he prepares to debut his new tv series about the life and legacy of mohammad ali and why sharing the boxer's life of legacy and unity remains so important today. take a listen. >> this is a story about a man who intersected with all of the most important issues of the second half of the 20th century, a man who was the greatest athlete of the 20th century without a question, who intersects with what the role of sports is, with what the role of race is, about the discussion of politics and war and faith and all of these things. he redefined black manhood, and all of a sudden, in our moment right now, he seems incredibly relevant. >> one of the contemporary themes that jumps out, and you're right, your films have a tendency to somehow surf the news cycle despite being planned a decade out, is that in being so uncompromisingly himself and really upsetting the white power structure of the time in the process, that his, ine is, in e uncan

and that's your reality check. >> you know, john avlon, it seems like good politics would be keepingld vote for you maybe. just a thought. >>> up next, does race play a role in all the attention given to the gabby me tito case? >>> breaking this morning, former president trump suing a member of his own family. i'm so glad you're ok, sgt. houston. this is sam with usaa. do you see the tow truck? yes, thank you, that was fast. sgt. houston never expected this to happen. or that her grandpa's dog tags would be left behind. but that one call got her a tow and rental... ...paid her claim... ...and we even pulled a few strings. making it easy to make things right: that's what we're made for. usaa. what you're made of, we're made for. get a quote today. you need an ecolab scientific clean here. and you need it here. and here. and here. which is why the scientific expertise that helps operating rooms stay clean is now helping the places you go every day too. seek a commitment to clean. look for the ecolab science certified seal. in the race to succeed, does somebody always have to fail? let'

we are back with maggie haberman and john avlon.h mcconnell is someone they don't want to go up against and major trump allies are getting on board with this. >> i think this is trump trying to flex a muscle, trying to stay relevant, frankly, and his ongoing personal animas with mitch mcconnell. i don't think there is, a, hess not having any luck trying to recruit a challenger and, b, if you read "the wall street journal" story, the trumpiest candidates in there who would be the likeliest to go with him still wouldn't say whether mcconnell should go. i think donald trump has to be careful. his power is not the same in the senate and isn't the same in terms of trying to overcome mcconnell. we have seen that on a number of occasions. so i don't know, you know, whether there's a long-term goal here. my sense is this is not been met serious around trump. it is something he is talking about. this will be potentially for him a test that points to less strength than he would like to show. . >> well, that's exactly the point, avlon. why is

john avlon with a reality check. >> reporter: our constitutional crisis is already here.s the title of a powerful op-ed published in "the washington post" by robert kagan. in it, he points out that the founders did not foresee the trump phenomenon, they anticipated the threat of a demagogue, but not of a national cult of personality, nor did they foresee members of congress would refuse to check the power of the president from their own party. that's, of course, what happened over and over again. especially when republican leaders decided to oppose impeaching ex-president trump after the attack on our capitol, which ultimately could have disqualified him from future office. instead, they helped the big lie metastasize inside the gop, fueled subversion efforts. but while the founders didn't foresee this challenge to our democracy, the civil war generation did. and it is written in the constitution. the 14th amendment, section 3, which reads in part, no person shall be a senator or representative in congress or hold any office, civil or military, who having previously taken

john avlon, margaret hoover. let's do it again soon. thanks so much. >>> coming up next -- kids ages 5 to 11 may be able to get the covid vaccine by halloween. here's what we're learning after the break. you're live in the cnn newsroom. so you can focus on what matters most. that's how we've become the leader in 5g. #1 in customer satisfaction. and a partner who includes 5g in every plan, so you get it all. i see you found the snacks. mmm, delicious! i need this recipe. everyone thinks i made them, but it's actually d-con. what was that? judy? d-con. mice love it to death. i wonder how the firm's doing without its fearless leader. you sure you want to leave that all behind? yeah. stay restless with the rx. crafted by lexus. experience amazing at your lexus dealer. ♪ ayy, ayy, ayy ♪ ♪ yeah, we fancy like applebee's on a date night ♪ ♪ got that bourbon street steak with the oreo shake ♪ ♪ get some whipped cream on the top too ♪ ♪ two straws, one check, girl, i got you ♪ ♪ bougie like natty in the styrofoam ♪ ♪ squeak-squeakin' in the truc

>> you don't because it's cynical, self defeating circular logic. >> john avlon, thank you very much.uys. >>> up next, what donald trump heard from kevin mccarthy just before joe biden became president. >>> and the lawyer now accused of trying to orchestrate his own murder. ♪ limu emu & doug ♪ got a couple of bogeys on your six, limu. they need customized car insurance from liberty mutual so they only pay for what they need. what do you say we see what this bird can do? woooooooooooooo... we are not getting you a helicopter. looks like we're walking, kid. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ i was drowning in student loan debt. then i discovered sofi. lower interest rate. my principal is going down. sofi is a place where you can start to tackle those money goals today. ♪ find your rhythm. your happy place. find your breaking point. then break it. every emergen-c gives you a potent blend of nutrients so you can emerge your best with emergen-c. go with simparica trio it's triple protection made simple! simparica trio is the first and only monthly chewable

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john avlon has a reality check. >> tax the rich. gala. was it liberal elitism or even a possible ethics violation. here's what's not debatable. the dress got more mainstream attention put forward by house democrats last week to raise taxes on the rich. even on some news, coverage was nearly neck and neck. don't get distracted. pay attention to substance. even if it's an opening bid with a lot of obstacles ahead, this is a very big deal. it would raise $2.1 trillion in new revenue from the wealthiest americans in 10 years while making a trillion in cuts, some would benefit lower income families, like making the child tax credit permanent. the balance for domestic spending that president biden is betting will rebuild the middle class. don't forget the american revolution began as a tax protest. even when it's directed at the top 1%, talk of raising attacks is always going to provoke serious add gentleman. you will see this is in most cases either return to or reduction from where rates were under obama and clinton. they saw record gro

and joining us now to discuss this cnn senior political analyst john avlon and new york times washington post correspondent maggie haberman. i wonder what you thought, john, of the speech? >> it was a great speech. it was a strong speech. it was a speech that i think the country and republicans needed to hear on the 20th anniversary of the attacks. the fact that the former president who presided over the beginning of 9/11 and war on terrorism drew a direct line between the spirit that foreign terrorists and domestic terrorists resemble. the fact that he drew a line from shanksville, the plane was directed to the capitol the january 6th attacks on the capitol is something that's important that republicans need be forced to confront going forward. >> i have to say the mere choice to do it, george w. bush knows that this is the biggest platform he gets every year. he went in there with this really well-written speech, carefully, precisely written, maggie, children of the same foul spirit. those are some words for the former president to deliver. >> john, you're right. and it's also striking

joining us now, john avlon, the host of "reality check" with john avlon, extremist beat, a new series on cnn digital. john, the thing about the audits, notably those targeted counties in texas are blue dots in that state. they're zeroing in on regardless of the state wide election. >> color me shocked. >> the results don't matter here though, do they not? it is about propaganda. it is about perpetuating a lie and it almost doesn't matter what you find. >> it does matter, but this is part of the disinformation course. this has always been about sewing the seeds of doubt and reducing confidence, not only in the 2020 election, but in our democracy. that's why this matters so much. the reason the fact that even this partisan sham by the cyber ninjas couldn't come up with a tally that fulfilled their wishes with regard to the hand recount should matter to the extent that every single person, politician, fan boy, fan girl, online who is putting their hopes on this needs to recognize the fact that the results didn't bear out what they were told. they have been lied to from the beginning to t

. >>> want to bring in maeve reston and john avlon. yes, california is a blue state, very blue.ut also, yes, funky things can happen in off year special elections, as i said before, look at alabama. look at doug jones winning in alabama to phil jeff sessions senate seat. strange things can happen. if the issue was democratic turnout in california where you are, maeve, democrats turned out. >> they sure did. i was talking to advisers over the last couple days, we were talking about democrat apathy, in the end, it was really just that earlier on a lot of democrats were not even aware that this election was going on. you know, the newsome campaign really only had like ten weeks or so when they actually had a date and could begin calling and reaching out to voters and saying, this is how you vote. this is when you're going to get your ballot. this is what you need to do. and once that began to happen, at the same time that larry elder was rising in the polls, newsom had the perfect foil, he finally had a target in the election. my approach to the coronavirus and keeping you safe is

. >> i want to bring in now cnn's senior political analyst john avlon, and charlie dent, a former republicanongressman from pennsylvania. good to see both of you. john, new warnings tonight from the dhs ahead of this pro-insurrection rally this weekend, citing online chatter encouraging violence the day before. talk of storming the capitol. one user even commented on kidnapping a member of congress. is this an abundance of caution, or is this something more? >> it's an abundance of caution, but it's well deserved because of course they underplayed the danger last time around with disastrous results. so i'd rather have dhs and law enforcement paying close attention to the chatter and the threats around this, quote, unquote, protest than downplaying it again. and it does look like they are taking it seriously. but there's real danger not only from the chatter and the comments but from that combustible combination of counterprotests or folks trying to get ahead of it. so this is something for us all to keep our eye on as a country. >> charlie, even as the capitol is surrounded by fencing, the d

joining me now, john harwood and john avlon. thank you very much. preciate both of you joining me. john harwood, president biden is set to give a major speech tomorrow. what do we expect to hear from him? >> don, september is a critical month for joe biden on multiple fronts. one of them is managing the aftermath of afghanistan. another is trying to push this legislative program through congress by keeping his democratic party together. not an easy task. but what we're going to see tomorrow is an attempt to reset his effort on the absolute number one priority for his administration, the key to everything, and that's getting on top of the covid pandemic. the delta variant has scrambled their early success. so we expect him to lay out some detail on how he's going to act on six different goals or objectives in his plan. one is to beef up vaccinations. some sort of vaccination mandates, employers, that sort of thing. second is a plan for booster shots. third is ways to keep schools open. that's critical to parents and to children around the country. sch

joining me now, john harwood and cnn senior political analyst john avlon. thank you very much. i appreciate both of you gentlemen joining. good evening. john harwood, you're first. president biden is set to give this major speech on the pandemic tomorrow. what do we expect to hear from him? >> don, as you indicated a moment ago, september is a critical month for joe biden on multiple fronts. one of them is managing the aftermath of afghanistan. another is trying to push this legislative program through congress by keeping his democratic party together. not an easy task on such a large bill. but what we're going to see tomorrow is an attempt to reset his effort on the absolute number one priority for his administration, the key to everything, and that is getting on top of the covid pandemic. had a lot of success in the early part of the year but the delta variant has scrambled that. so what we expect the president to do is lay out some detail about how he's going to act on six different goals or objectives in his plan. one of them is to beef up vaccinations. some sort of vaccinat

i'm john avlon in for brian stelter. we are live in new york and this is "reliable sources."after journalists in court and the questions surrounding the murky legal funding of his lawsuits. >>> also a tv exclusive. we'll show you a new nyu study that shows just how much information dominates your news feed on facebook. >>> and ken burns has

john avlon with a reality check. >>> in the shifting landscape of american politics, there seem to bean party stood for small government. >> i believe today as i believed 25 years ago in small government. >> i want to restore to america the values of economic freedom and opportunity and small government. >> fiscal discipline and a smaller government. >> small government. >> small government. >> definitely a pro balance budget and pro smaller government party. >> this was the default argument that connected libertarians with evangelicals and the business community. they all said they wanted less top down bureaucracy and more local control. but that was then. this is now. because this summer we saw governors ron desantis of florida and greg abbott of texas trying to ban local mask mandates. threatening to with hold school salaries if local school boards bucked their state's bureaucratic dictates. not only that, these republican governors signed executive orders banning businesses from requiring proof of vaccination for customers during a pandemic and in return for their efforts, florida

. >> john avlon, good to see you. thank you. >> thanks, guys.sional leaders will get a security briefing. this, about a planned right-wing rally that is raising real alarm bells in the wake of january 16th. concerns about a repeat. we'll be live on capitol hill next. >> but first, a quick look at wall street. we are just moments now from the opening bell. the dow looking to rebound today after five straight days of losses. that is the longest losing streak for this february. investors ultimately anticipating the consumer price index, set to be released tomorrow, will show prices jump about 5% in august. this is how you become the best! [music: “you're the best” by joe esposito] [music: “you're the best” by joe esposito] [triumphantly yells] [ding] don't get mad. get e*trade and take charge of your finances today. when our daughter and her kids moved in with us... our bargain detergent couldn't keep up. turns out it's mostly water. so, we switched back to tide. one wash, stains are gone. [daughter] slurping don't pay for water. pay for clean. it'

let's bring in cnn senior political analyst john avlon and host of pbs firing line, margaret hoover.ked for former president bush. i guess this was sort of retort to that tweet the other day or that statement the other day that had cheney -- liz cheney and bush's pictures merged with one another. i didn't understand that. it was hunting. it w -- haunting. what did you think of the way liz cheney responded there? >> well, it's hysterical, completely tongue in cheek, completely trolling him. i think the real story, jim -- and i think the thing that really we ought to focus on and underline is the fact that george w. bush, a former president of the united states who by all accounts and by every measure has been enormously reluctant to weigh in to politics in his post-presidency, and that is out of respect for the institution and that is just a historical respect that his father and every president of the united states before him for the better part of the 20th century has had, to come in and fund-raise for liz cheney's re-election is a direct blow to donald trump, something that george

john avlon with a reality check. >> in 1972, when joe biden was first elected to the senate, the banliament funkadelic released the album america eats its young which contained a track called if you don't like the effects, don't produce the cause. it remains good advice, and it comes to mind as america barrels toward yet another self-inflicted crisis, courtesy of the debt ceiling. an an apocalyptic groundhog day. the usa is two days away from a government shutdown with potential default, three weeks away. no major other industrialized nation does this to itself and it is reckless for a country that serves as the main reserve currency for the rest of the world. there are a few edgy solutions to end the debt ceriling if congress can't reason together. republicans are refusing to help democrats raise the debt ceiling citing control of congress. but they're also filibustering the democrats' efforts which means nothing can be done without ten republican votes in the senate. self-serving circular logic, you betcha. this isn't even a stand for fiscal responsibility. in fact, it is the oppos

. >> john avlon and senior data reporter harrien ton. ben ginsburg was on earlier and called this a crippling low for the claims that the former president has been making. >> it's crippling low to the extent that even hyper partisans who bought into the conspiracy at the very beginning and did this fraudit without any experience could not seem to doctor results. the real deal, though, it's never just been about overturning an election. it is sowing seeds of doubt in our democracy. that effort will continue apparently as the president's own insistence occurs and greg abbott being asked to do, he is going to do whatever donald trump tells him to do in this case. that is a fundamental problem for our democracy. this whole process has been a sham. don't take total skepticism in the results but the real game is to initial people's in the democracy. >> it didn't need it from the cyber ninjas. there was never any proof. there were never any legitimate questions the likes of which they were raising about it. but, harry, but. >> but. . >> and. >>

joining us now cnn senior political analyst john avlon and vp of digital correspondent for the grio, natasha alford. it's 78% of one of the two major political parties in america who simply believe something that's not true. >> yeah. there's a word for that, delusional. and here is the deal. it's donald trump's fault. look at how donald trump has distorted the judgment, the character of one political party so quickly simply by repeating the big lie, amplified by hyperpartisan media and social media. it has gotten in the water. the rot is real deep right now. 54% of republicans say they think there's evidence. when 60 court cases show there is, in fact, none. the other thing i thought was really interesting other than the overwhelming conclusions of this cnn poll which is that democracy is in deep trouble right now in america, is how actually vast majority of unvaccinated, as well as white and noncollege educated voters buy into this b.s. >> what are the dangers, natasha, of this? >> democracy is at stake. i mean, it's pretty terrifying when you think about the fact that evidence and

john avlon with a reality check. >> that's right.pelessly, and even divided on major issues. it paints a picture of a country that cannot find common ground, can lead to civic despair about m mevg america's future. here is the thing. it's just not true that american s are divided 50/50 on most major issues. instead, there are sensible americans, supermajorities on critical issues. take a look at vaccinations, for example. currently 74% of americans over age 18 have received at least one shot according to the cdc. on the flip side a fifth of americans, 18%, can be described as vaccine resistant. of course, the unvaccinated can cause problems for the rest of us, by prolonging the pandemic, but they are a decided minority. get this, a recent poll found 60% of adults feel both students and teachers should be required to wear face masks while in school. about the only thing more il logical to be anti-mask and anti-vax in a pandemic is believing the big lie that trump continues to push. in june monmouth poll found that the election of pres