can you talk about his wife as well, gail connolly manchin?n in as the cochair of the capital region mission. that commission is supposed to promote economic development. how is the closing of a plant, shifting it overseas, helping the economic development of west virginia? katherine: theronies are really thick here. it seems to be that this mylan pla in morgantown has been used as a kind of family enterprise, prior to this. gail manchin plays a cameo role in the epipen scandal, because she was on a school commission that was trying to get the u.s. government to mandate that schools purchase the epipen when it was at that inflated price. the approach to this pharmaceutical manufacturing has been to sort of milk this plant and its products for profit, which has benefited the manchin family and shareholders, but not benefited american patients to this point. juan: and joe guz, could you talk about your efforts to try and reach senator manchin about this issue and what kind of response you have gotten from him or his staff about the fact that all

what would you like to discuss with senator manchin? manchin to understand what is happening in our state and what the impact of this bill and the legislation we're fighting so hard for would be on our voters and how hard it would be for hardworking folks to go vote, for people who work two jobs and have family and kids who are disabled to go vote, that would subject our voters to intense intimidation by poll watchers. one of it things we want him to understand is the legislation being offered would allow people like the insurrectionists of january 6th who want to go be poll watchers stand inches of voters and cast their ballot and intimidate them with election judges having no opportunities to meaningfully kick them out of the polls. and that is terrible and intimidation in its worst form, and we're determined to stop it. >> representative dominguez, you succeeded by your first walkout in changing this legislation in some ways including removing the kind of provision that president biden today said is the worst thing that is being cons

what would you like to discuss with senator manchin? >> we just want senator manchin to understand what is happening in our state. what's the impact of this bill and the legislation that were fighting so hard to be on our voters. and how hard it would be for hardworking folks to vote, for people who have families, kids. who are disabled. that would subject our voters to intimidation by poll watchers. lawrence, we want him to understand that the legislation being offered would allow people like the extraction us of january six want to be poll watchers to stand within inches of voters as they cast their ballot and intimidate them with our ally election judges to have no power to kick them out of the polls. that is intimidation in its worst form. we are determined to stop it. >> representative dominguez, you succeeded by your first walk out and changing the legislation, including removing the kind of provision that president biden today said that is the worst thing that is being considered by republican state legislatures and actually did

manchin knows this. he has talked about raising the corporate rate to 25%, which is not the 28% joe biden has talked about. he has talked about rolling back some other trump tax cuts for the wealthy. he has not been on board with bernie sanders and his $6 trillion package that sanders is trying to sell this week. he hasn't given his blessing to all of the things joe biden has proposed, for trillion dollars over the next eight years. their childcare subsidies, community college and big climate initiatives. the climate piece i think might be the hardest to get past joe manchin. when this guy ran percent of first time around, the climate bill passed the house. that was a signal to these west virginia folks that he was going to have their back on issues he cared about. host: now he serves alongside major pusher of that bill in the house. guest: this reconciliation package, coming at it from a different angle, it will be pageantry. it will be more clean energy incentives you still have to figure out a way to

it is a terrible look for joe manchin.s democrats who are fighting hard for federal legislation and to stop the texas legislation, it sends the wrong message about what democrats should be about. >> yeah, we should note you just said something also important here i think substantively. right now we have the huge reconciliation package, the big infrastructure bill. there's a question about how aggressive it will be in the climate aspects, and here you have what would be the 50th vote for this. as "the texas tribune" reports, the host committee includes titans of the texas oil and gas industry. some of these donors made occasional contributions to democrats who are either moderate or serve on committees with oversight of the energy sector. gives you a little window into what the sort of climate hawk forces are up against. >> oh, it does. i mean manchin is there, chairing the energy and natural resources committee in the senate. the letter that went out, the fundraising letter said that joe manchin has been a good friend of t

joe manchin seems to be on board. he has been opposed to including climate in reconciliation. we'll see if the lives of millions of documented immigrants in this country are also going to be dependent on what deponent what democrats may choose or may choose not to include in the package or how joe manchin might be feeling that day about protecting millions of undocumented immigrants living in this country in uncertainty. >> one of the things that struck me in your piece and one of the reasons i wanted to talk to you even before this daca news broke is there's so little understanding on the part of many about why people in this country are undocumented. as i was watching yesterday, many of the daca recipients, many of the dreamers i follow contend with that news. they kept coming back to explaining to people why they can't just apply for citizenship, why that is not an option, why the system does not work that way. and you wrote in your piece for the "atlantic," quote, the end of the trump presidency may create the imp

three year old daughter with her to washington, some of the texas democrats met with senator joe manchin today. manc >> did you press them on the idea that you guys are trying to make a carve out on the filibuster to try to pass this. >> we didn't discuss the filibuster. >> not at all? >> no. >> a lot of people have discussed the filibuster with senator manchin, he knows everything better than we will ever know, will leave the tactics up to him. >> are you convinced that what he is trying to do will protect which are trying to do? >> yes. he believes in the same voting rights then we do. >> joining our discussion now texas taped representatives, celia israel and erin zwiener. representative israel, were you surprised that your colleagues did not ask joe manchin about the senate filibuster rule?

and that frustrated people like joe manchin.ke for the house writing and passing the voting rights act? >> i think senator manchin has laid out some things he would support and kind of lists. i think it's one that we should adopt and put into legislation as quickly as possible. when it comes to hr4, restoring the john lewis voting rights act, we're going to move pretty quickly on that. there have actually been discussion information the last few days to move up the timetable. we're trying to make sure we have the right evidentiary record making as foolproof as possible because we know it's going to be challenged in the supreme court. the redistricting data, for example, will be going out very soon. it would be good to have the voting rights back back in district before they're drawn. and there are other things, like what's happening in texas, we have what has to be cleared by the department of justice first. so, i think we need to move quickly. that's something i've been pushing for. and i'm going to continue to push for because

let's bring in west virginia democrat senator joe manchin. tenet or, thank you for being here. >> good to be with you, bret, how are you? >> bret: i'm great. we want to talk about what peter just talked about about crime and the back-and-forth and all of that but i want to talk about the legislation that's coming up and that is this week there was a lot of back-and-forth about whether president biden was going to sign a bipartisan infrastructure bill if it didn't -- wasn't tied to a reconciliation bill much bigger down the road. there's no word that moderate democrats are saying that maybe that reconciliation bill can go forward but can only be $1 trillion or less. is that true? >> well, i don't know what the [indiscernible] law will be. first of all there was never doubt my mind the president biden didn't support the bipartisan infrastructure -- we will call the traditional infrastructure, roads, bridges, water, and all those different things that we have done. this is the greatest, largest bill that we've ever done infrastructure in the his

even when we talk to manchin the last time.hat have online voter registration. when it comes to the state of texas, they won't even give us a hearing on an online voter registration bill. so you tell me if they really want to give us access or if they're doing everything they can on diminish paigs participation. or when they say you can't send a ballot by mail application out. if do you send it to someone who is qualified to vote by mail, guess what will happen. you'll be committing a crime and we'll lock you up. that's what we're talking about when we're talking about voter suppression. >> texas state representatives, thank you both very much for joining our discussion tonight. >> thank you. >>> joining me now, richard blumenthal of connecticut. today he met with the texas delegation. thank you very much for joining us. you chaired a subcommittee hearing today on voting rights. what was the most important point you think was made in your hearing today? >> well, first, let me pay tribute to those brave and persevering texas leg

then he could go be a bridge to joe manchin and tried to bring joe manchin on board and saying hey, lookginally heard about. here are some things we could sell as moderates. they don't yet have marc a deal, they are talking about hammering out something tomorrow night. they really want to have something ready to give to the budget crunchers of the staff, on thursday, so they can have the weekend to really righted and be ready to go as soon as next week with the committee. with joe manchin here, he is sort of still his own planted. the senate, ever senators their own planted. joe manchin is almost his own galaxy right now. when you talk about something like climate change, to get this gun board, this is a guy who before he ran for senate, when he ran the first time around, he took a copy of the campaign trade climate bill, the biggest in history, and he shot it with a gun. that sent a signal to people that they could trust him to take over their interests. to get him on board, you are gonna have to do some things in there, that make him and make west virginia feel like they are getting so

so i think this is sort of a real opportunity for manchin and the democrats. want to mess this up. there's a lot of momentum to do something, but, you know, right now is when negotiations are really starting to hit the road. the next month is going to determine whether joe biden's, you know, presidency is big and bold or whether it is going to be sort of, you know, a trillion here, not a radical change in american government. >> we are days away from knowing. steven dennis, eugene robinson, thank you both for joining us tonight. >> great to be here. >> thank you. >>> and after the biggest protests against the government in cuba in the last 60 years, occurred this weekend, republicans are cheering on their support of cubans standing up for freedom and democracy. democracy is, of course, the form of government that republicans are now opposed to in this country. that's next. with dupixent i can du more... yardwork... teamwork... long walks.... that's how you du more, with dupixent, which helps prevent asthma attacks. dupixent is not for sudden breathing problems

no redlines means joe manchin is on board with this bill. yes, he's gonna want to see the details, sure, they all want to see the details. but he is on board. senator manchin had previously indicated that he didn't want this bill to go much above two trillion dollars while bernie sanders insisted that it should be in the six trillion dollar range. and now they have both compromised to get to this point. and as of tonight, not a single democrat has laid down a red line that will prevent this bill from passing. senator sanders framed this bill's place in history this way. >> i would say the most consequential piece of legislation being proposed since the great depression and fdr. it is complicated, it is difficult, but i believe that it is with the american people want. and i hope very much that if we all see -- if we are successful, people will say that this is the moment where we restored faith in our government, that it can work for people, not just the wealthy. >> i find it easy to describe the process that we are seeing here, but it is di

joe manchin. have you had a conversation with joe manchin? has your group talked to joe manchin, and do you think he understands how serious this matter is and what role he can play in fixing this? >> well, i'm not troubled by u.s. senators coming to the state of texas to raise money. it happens virtually every week. we had a very productive meeting with joe manchin. i wasn't there, but we dispatched a delegation of our members. joe manchin is a former secretary of state and values voting rights. that was the big takeaway from this meeting. and we're going to continue discussions -- pardon me -- on the hill with senators and representatives to make sure we get meaningful legislation that protects the freedom to vote for millions of texans. >> representative anchia, it's good talking to you again. i never thought we would be talking as regularly as we are, but this is a going and we are appreciate the efforts you are taking in order to take our democratic voting rights. raphael anchia of texas. john capeheart will host a town hall to push back

i keep pointing out joe manchin

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it's on kyrsten sinema and joe k manchin. you're right, we only have 40 votes.t's your responsibility not to go out and get 60, but it's your responsibility to go out and get two and make it 50 so we s actually have -- if it's that consequential, if you're going to get a speech that that's consequential, get two votes. >> you're a young political talent. you could be sitting in that chair one day. tell me exactly what that means. what does that look like? how does he compel joe manchin who has made very clear that he's never going to vote -- he said again today never against the -- how does he compel him to do that? it seems to me he's doing what he can do, which is to turn up the heat rhetorically and work behind the scenes to try and move manchin and sinema to a place where, you know, where they are willing to consider this if they can. and the fact is, joe manchin isn't being hurt politically in any way by taking the posture that he's taken. i get frustrated with this notion that, well, just do something. you've got to do something. nobody knows who is saying

america with a senate deadlock at 50 50, the ballots of our democracy lies in the hands of senators manchinand senator cinema. this is time to take a step forward for our country, our democracy depends on you. we need you to be here for our democracy. let's end the filibuster, let's

. >> let me just start by asking how the meeting went with senator manchin today. >> i thought it went well. we were able to have dialogue with him. and tell him about our plight in texas and the urgency that we see in the federal government legislature up here passing the bill to protect voters' rights of americans. >> senator manchin came out of that meeting and said he was in total agreement with you and the other democrats he met with on the need to protect voting rights. he said that he has an idea of legislation that should get support from every senator, that could get 100-0 bipartisan support. i have to ask if he shared with you and your colleagues what that is. it sounds like -- it sounds wonderful, but it sounds a

did senator manchin mention that? >> no, sir. >> were you surprised to discover in the "texas tribune" report that he's having a fundraiser in texas earlier this evening with people who support governor and lieutenant governor and supported donald trump? >> i have not seen the list, so i'm not sure who's on there. i know that a lot of people come to texas to raise money. >> in fairness, it is a bipartisan list. former mayor bill white is on that list and other democrats are on that list, but it's such a striking juxtaposition. did you ask him about senate rules and the 60-vote threshold and what that would mean to voting rights? >> well, we focused mostly on substance of the bill and we're leaving the tactics and the senate procedures to him and leader schumer and others in the senate. we wanted to make sure that we made our case, how much of a time constraint we're under. this special session will end in a few weeks and we know that u.s. senate may be taking a break in august. it's right around the same time , so we

well, we saw it on s 1 where manchin got onboard.an of joe manchin, but the stuff he offered was reasonable, a building block, better than nothing, and yet he couldn't get a single republican on board. even if he says the john lewis bill was more important, he has one person on born, lisa murkowski, as far as i can see. they're never going to have their realization. forget the republicans in good faith. i mentioned this on the show before. kerstin sinema, 2010. there's a video that's gone viral online. she said we must forget about the full option of 60. we must use it for good. that's the kyrsten sinema i agree with, 11 years out of date. one thing i would say important, joe biden. let's not let joe biden get away with it. sorry, the president has a responsibility here. it's been four months since he said he supports it wrchlt is the bully pulpit? where is he using his leadership to say get rid of this filibuster? >> if it's going to happen, maria, and, again, this is where, you know, this all comes down to, these sort of procedural

what does joe manchin have to say about that?oday to talk about it. >>> speaking of west virginia's senior center, today joe manchin meets with a group of texas lawmakers who left their state to lobby washington on voting rights. what it means for the future of the filibuster and the republican efforts to change election rules across several states. >>> also, the u.s. military is sounding new alarms about the american withdrawal from afghanistan, after 20 years of blood and treasure, will that country soon belong to the taliban? >>> and a military matter closer to home as the top u.s. general sounds off on donald trump's attempts to subvert our democracy? in the reported words of the joint chiefs chairman, they may try but they're not going to f'ing succeed. joe has the morning off, and willie those quotes attributed to general mark milly. they're something. and there's a lot. >> astounding quotes coming out of the new book "i alone can fix it". we'll talk to the authors in a moment about what was happening and what general milly

i have a bad feeling about manchin on this. may be i am wrong.learned from the washington examiner that us border officials are expected to reveal soon that they encountered 190,000 illegals in the month of june, that is the 450% explosion over last year. this comes as the democrats try to shove mass amnesty into the so-called reconciliation bill. do arizonans care about this? christian cinema was going to be this great moderate force, an interesting person and a pretty good politician. >> thank you for having me on. what arizonans care about our public safety. they care about our communities. we are on pace to have 2 million people illegally cross the border, these are record amounts of people crossing and right now the cartels take advantage of it. they are moving more drugs in america than cvs walgreens combined and this will have a devastating impact on their neighborhoods as far as public safety. also talking about a fiscal impact. this reconciliation bill is an attempt to concentrate power and wealth in washington dc because these folks wan

joe manchin cannot live with?w, a red line being drawn by either sanders or manchin in a way that prevents the two of them from coming to an agreement. and to me, they represent both ends of the democratic party in the house and the senate. if they can get together on something, that is going to be the bill. >> i think that's right. i think that one of the issues will simply be the size of it. the number manchin has thrown out is $2 trillion. the number that bernie has thrown out is $5 to $6 trillion. i have a suspicion that both of them are at a negotiating position. funnily enough, president biden, who seems to have a knack for finding the center of the democratic party, proposed something around $4.5 trillion. there will be arguments about the number, about the size of the increase in the corporate tax. but they're not arguing about whether to raise it. manchin -- >> i think we have a -- >> -- and on -- i'm sorry? >> go ahead, e.j. >> i'm sorry. they're in the same ballpark there. and on a lot of the substance,

doesn't seem if manchin and sim sinema are listening. and joe manchin isn't just opposed to getting ridn' of the filibuster and not r keen on dealing with climate change on carbon emissions in this reconciliation debate. you're in a state that's on fire and what's your response to seeing your fellow democratic senator joe manchin on a fund-raising tour in texas taking smiling pick taurus with republican oil and gas donors? >> yeah. ias again, california is not just literally and figuratively on fire,fi but california has led e way in terms of policy and not just ideas. california's shift to renewable energy has proven that, yes, it can work. you can create good-paying jobs along the way, and it serves as a model for us to build on for a national plan and that's what the debates and discussions are all about, and with all due respect to my colleague senator manchin. he was a key player in putting together the bipartisan infrastructure package. we knew -- most of us knew that that wasn't going to be enough, and as a member of the budget co

the number manchin has thrown out is two trillion dollars.wn out is 5 to 6 trillion. i have a suspicion that both of them are at a negotiating position. funnily enough, president biden who seems to have a knack for finding the center of the democratic party proposed something around 4.5 trillion dollars. and they're just gonna be arguments about the number. there will be arguments about the size and increase in the corporate tax. but again, they're not arguing about the different ways that biden wants 28. manchin -- >> i think we have a problem. >> -- there. i'm sorry? >> go ahead, e.j. >> i'm sorry, they're in the same ballpark there. and on a lot of the substance most democrats are for all these things, we want to expand health care. they want to expand childcare. they want to help people go to college and so i think the question is just how much can you fit into this bill? and how big can be? on the filibuster, i heard a fascinating thing today which is the possibility that they might only get five or six republican votes but several repub

if joe manchin votes for this, that's exactly with the voters of west virginia are going to get. if there should be no more bipartisan talks on anything, none, zero. it was so embarrassing to see how romney and company were snookered and that infrastructure deal. they so enjoyed the media adulation they got that they didn't see where this was going. they didn't see they were being used as props to set up the main act which is unfolding right now. somewhere tonight bernie sanders is smiling. and that's all you need to know, that's the angle. three of the senators under the most intense spotlight as i mentioned, manchin, kyrsten sinema, and kelly. to west virginians want a war on energy, do arizonans on the border want mass amnesty? we thought we would ask a few leaders from those states. journeyman i was the west virginia attorney general and the arizona attorney general. manchin has positioned himself as the kingmaker, the most important man in washington they described him as. what message should he be hearing from west virginians over this monstrosity of a bill we do not need.

>> i think the key with manchin is what is the number.h $3.5 trillion. i don't think he will. i think he thinks it's too big and too much. >> he has to get something in his negotiations. >> it was $6 trillion before. >> joe manchin is smart. he knows it was never $6 trillion. i don't believe he's going to agree to $3.5 trillion. it will be something less than that. will he vote for reconciliation? i think he will unless chuck schumer says $3.5 trillion or nothing. if he says that, joe manchin is going to go nothing. >> there's a process where you get close to the edge. you look over and run back. >> don't want to fail. >> the cost of failure is more politically and economically than the price of success. that's what will drive people towards it. the politics of success outweighs everything. >> point of agreement on the round table. let's move on. margaret, i was struck by pierre's piece on violence. all across the country, we're seeing rising gun violence in every state in the country right now, especially in the cities as pierre pointed

you know, manchin has his own views on this. he also has his own constituency, and, you know, i think he honestly believes this, that he doesn't want to erode the filibuster. i still have some faint hope that he and sinema, because of the extreme nature of what the republicans are doing and their recalcitrance, that they may step forward. manchin has proposed a bill, so he obviously believes reforms are necessary, and maybe he will vote to ultimately, at the end of the day, he will come around. but it's not going to be because, you know, the president gave him a -- i guarantee you that he and joe biden have spent many, many hours talking about this and other issues because remember he's trying to get these guys around his other packages here too that are also significant. so, you know, i just -- all i'm saying is, i'm telling you, having sat there, the reality of gov e governance, and i say this with great respect because i share your sense of urgency about this. and particularly i know your family history. i know how deeply you

he said, president biden could pick up the phone and tell senator joe manchin, we should do a carveout. i don't care whether he does it in a microphone or on the telephone, just do it. this is the frustration going from the activists standing outside of the white house all the way to capitol hill, to the most important voice in biden's ear on the hill. lauren, what's the impact of this? >> i think you are hearing from progressives and clyburn's voice is an important one, that they want joe manchin to change his mind on the filibuster. he is not the only one standing in the way of changes to that rule. i think that that's part of the issue here is that joe manchin's mind is likely not going to be changed. we have asked him every which way on capitol hill about the filibuster. he has been unequivocal that he's not going to change his mind even on the issue of voting rights. that leaves biden very few tools to use to actually pass this legislation. you are seeing his administration is trying to do as much as they can. but on capitol hill, i don't see that shift happening. >> to follow up,

joe manchin has already talked about talking filibusters.mfortable with and other democrats are comfortable with to stop these wildfires that are going on right now, i think there's a good chance we can get this done. >> we shall see, and we'll have you back to discuss. thank you very much, doug jones. appreciate it. >> my pleasure, don. >>> the gop's got a new mantra, and it's all about denying racism exists. that's next. >>> plus, she said she was aiming for silver but suni lee is getting gold and making history. lysol spray. it's a simple fact: it even kills the covid-19 virus. science supports these simple facts. there's only one true lysol. lysol. what it takes to protect. -hey. -hi. whoa, nice car. thanks, yeah. i actually got a great deal on it too, although my interest rate is awful. have you checked your credit? i got like a free score from some app or something like that. but lenders don't even use that score. creditrepair.com has a free credit snapshot that can show you exactly what's happening with your credit score. and killing

manchin said recently. if that's $1 trillion or 1.5 or $2 trillion whatever that comes out to be over a ten-year period that's what i would be voting for to solidify his support democratic leaders have proposed including in reconciliation an $8 billion tax credit to spur green energy manufacturing in areas such as west virginia with high unemployment and recently shuttered coal mines. that's from "the washington times" focusing on joe manchin as we've been focusing so much on joe manchin amid these various packages that move through the senate, especially as democrats try to move them with just democratic support to avoid a republican filibuster in the senate. getting your reaction to all of it. james is a republican out of georgia. good morning. >> caller: good morning. you know, i'm just a little bit concerned about the way -- we talk about the taxes, i just heard you say joe manchin want a bill that would eliminate the trump tax cut, but the trump tax cut helped the working people and when they talk abou

number two, when is joe manchin going to have his own awakening? said his name more times in 2020 and 2021 than i said my wife and kids' names. i'm fed up saying their names. i just don't understand when they will get it, what it will take for them to get it. we were told when they try and do a deal, when they bring something bipartisan and it fails they will see the light. well, we saw it on s-1 where manchin got on board with a rrnl compromise. it was a building block for something better than nothing and yet he couldn't get a single republican on board. even the john lewis bill, he has one republican on board. i don't know when they're going to have their realization. they're never going to have a realization because it's never been a good faith argument on their part. i've mentioned this on the show before. kyrsten sinema in 2010, the video gone viral in 2010, she's saying we must forget about the false option of 60. we must use budget reconciliation for good as republicans did for evil. that's the kyrsten sinema i agree with 11 years out of da

manchin is at $2 trillion. he said he would be comfortable with something like that.mes he's at 6, sometimes at 10. that is a number that a lot of moderates aren't comfortable with. he knows that number's going to come down, and so does everyone el. so they're doing the dance they have to do. i think it's probably good for bernie sanders, he knows the moderates are going to come down and bring the number down because he can say, look, i tried, but all these moderates, i just couldn't stop them. >> fair enough. i don't think bernie sanders is going to be excited to say that. i take your point. in seriousness, let's talk about the crime challenge because this is rapidly becoming an issue that's going to become front and center especially after democrats -- obviously there's what happened in the wake of george floyd, but the defund the police slogan, there are a lot of democrats who are concerned that went too far essentially for the politics and they have to to be careful. the white house says, we're going to send money to those who need i. that's a change. >> press sec

manchin has a position now. we know what manchin would support.so you're really involved now tactically and booker is advising you guys in how to -- because the white house's answer today is we don't have 50. and so we can't talk filibuster reform until we get to 50. so your effort today is about helping to get to 50, and what you're saying, i want to make sure i understand this, on anything, anything to protect a state like texas from the most onerous laws, right? >> that's right. i need something. if we don't get it, i don't know what's going to happen in my state. that's how serious it is for us and that's what we need to impress upon them is that we need some kind of oversight. i may not get everything that i want. that may be one of those times that i have to settle for incremental change. but when you're talking about a state that says, hey, we want to take away 24-hour voting. there's never been that type of caveat. you only felt like that was necessary once harris county, the most populous county in the state of texas decided to open that

they have met with senator manchin. cherry looking to meet with senator sinema and they're looking for election -- to be passed. >> all we're asking them to do is make one exception to one senate rule to save american democracy. it's not that hard. it's a pretty light lift when you consider what's at stake. our national democratic peers hold majorities in the house, in the senate and they hold the white house. there are no excuses not to pass a voting rights bill to ensure that millions of americans in texas and in georgia are able to access their sacred constitutional rights at the ballot box. >> reporter: of course that one senate rule that state representative is talking about is the filibuster, calling on particularly senators manchin and senator sinema who have been the two individuals thus far to suggest they're not willing to upsend the filibuster, no matter what legislation is in front of them, calling on them to do so in this voting rights situation, not only to pass it for the people act but also the john lewi

senator manchin was gracious with his time, he sat down for over an hour. he wanted to know about things that were in the bill that the legislature has taken up twice and will take up again. my total of three times. we wanted to hear about things that were important to us, and we told him that having the provision in the bill, that congress can pass, would be pre-currents. that's important for state like texas that has a long history of discrimination, a gerrymandering, intentionally, and texas always ends up in courts when it comes to voting rights and all these issues. he was in agreement that something has to be done. we have to make sure that voting rights are protected. he knows that the voting rights act has been chipped away, before you know it, it will no longer is exist. it would be detrimental to states like texas and many others in the south. >> did senator manchin mentioned to you that he will be visiting his state as i would yesterday, and if i was coming to texas tomorrow, i think i would mention something like that. did he mention something l

but manchin did. the question is, what is in the john lewis bill?hen, will they break the filibuster to pass the bill or work a carve-out. even if you have a perfect bill, even if whatever comes out today from the eight that met with majority leader schumer yesterday, you still have to deal with how do you pass it. which is going to bring you right back to filibuster reform or carve-out for voting. >> there you go. the devil is in those very tricky details. we have also been watching, rev, this hearing with texas lawmakers. they have had some luck, i think, focusing attention on the challenges at the state level, as an example of why federal action is needed. add to that our nbc reporting that they're going to be meeting with the clintons and stacey abrams. they're going to make this big push. all hands on deck, essentially, but you know the reality of congress and what democrats and activists are up against. what's it going to take, what's going to have to happen for some real movement, do you think? >> i think that it's going to have to have susta

you can get manchin on board.ays it's great, let's do this. and then all the republicans say oh it's the stacey abrams bill. we can't touch that. but even if you get rid of the filibuster as elie pointed out, they're waiting for absolutely hacking to death. it's like what are we doing here? >> and it. let me just address one quick point that you and elie made a minute ago. i think that elie is right that they can't win without changing these rules. you're right that they're more competitive than they think. but the thing is it's been 31 years since a republican president won the white house with the popular vote with the first attempt. that is a long time. they know that, they're not stupid. they cannot win the white house. forget congress, the house which all sorts of gerrymandering. the senate which has this proportionality. they know they can't win the top office very easily. to come back to your point about manchin in the senate, number one the idea that they're gonna reject the compromise because stacey abram

manchin moved on the voting rights piece. but moving him on the phil buster but without a 50 vote at least hold that would have to fall from the sky, no voting rights in the senate. >> we spent a lot of time talking about the phil buster here. it's not in the constitution, it's a senate rule essentially, correct it's not a law, it's a rule, and that's right to change it takes only 50 votes plus one and the tie break there of the sitting senators. so if all democrats agree, and they're changing the rule, it's just that easy, it's been changed twice in recent years to allow for judges and supreme court justices, so the idea of modifying it is widely outside of the possibility. prisilla i understand you learned more about how the texas democrats were able to make their way to dc and it involves help from prominent folks like willy nelson. >> yeah, he matched donations for folks this that want to support them in dc. some of the other folks that are supporting those democrat lawmakers in dc are here at the state capital. now you s

a lot of people have met with senator manchin on this issue. he's not alone.ention, but there are others who are elected to change the rules. but is there any evidence on the table that any of them are willing to change their mind? and to my mind, i beat up the president a little bit there. is there anything he could do? if he looked into the camera and brought them into rooms and said i get it, but we must change this now? >> it doesn't seem like it. they have been working on him and they've been working on this issue for more than six months. since before this president took office. this is clearly going to be democrats' big priority and joe manchin and kiersten cinema, particularly manchin have made it clear they are not going to change the filibuster rules. he has gotten much more engaged in the issue since they started working on him. that's part of the reason why we saw him put out his own alternative. i think democrats want to continue to push this issue by potentially bringing that up and saying okay, republicans, we're coming part of the way in your d

what makes you think that senator manchin can get this done? on this with folks. i heard that from other sources and i think the fact that he's working on this, joe manchin wants to get something done. he sees what's going on in america and he wants to get something done. and i think the point of what i was trying to say is not just about with or without republicans. but it's about the fact that what's going on in this country is -- doesn't have anything to do with protecting the integrity of the elections. and i think democrats have not really voiced that message, that they've not really voiced the concern that -- limiting voting hours, limiting voting days, those kind of things. that's not going to protect from voter fraud. but national standards, uniform standards where the same voters in alabama are playing by the same rules as those in wyoming. i think that helps builds confidence. >> go with me here, senator jones. let's say no gop senators end up supporting the bill. do you except senator manchin to change his mind about the filibuster.

do you think that manchin will ever support any reforms to the filibuster?o me -- >> oh, to you. >> last week. >> i was on vacation, i read the story. i skipped the byline. [ laughter ] of course he said it to you. >> when i talked to clyburn, he said he talked to manchin directly about this, they had a one-on-one meeting in the last month or so. and he left the meeting because manchin didn't say no and he didn't say yes. so because of that clyburn who met with manchin and their two staff, hopeful that they can get to some kind of agreement on this. clyburn has not directly brought this up with biden. but he's brought this up with everyone around biden, with cedric richmond, with steve brusheti, and also with vice president harris herself. so he says that they know how he feels. today the white house, again, said biden's position hasn't changed, that this is on congress. but the reason, part of the reason that clyburn is bringing this up isn't necessarily even because he thinks that biden endorsing will, this moment would necessarily convince manchin, but th

we are really grateful to senator manchin for his time.r national standards to protect our precious rights. we know that our community's vote has the power to change the trajectory of our nation. he understands that as a former secretary of state. he understands the sense of urgency for us, our mission. and we shared with him the fact that, listen, there are powerful forces in texas right now trying to roll back our rights. but we know that the power of the people is stronger. so we are thankful to him for his time and to the thousands of people who are raising their voices, who are speaking out because we left that meeting with hope, and really the same hope that we have felt on capitol hill. >> but representative tony rose, do you think senator manchin understands the civil rights aspect of voter suppression? >> he definitely understands the civil rights aspect of it. during our meeting, i would say the first three-fourths of the meeting he spoke and gave us his point of view of his position. and he was very clear and he's very supportiv

he was briefed about the meeting with senator manchin., thank you very much for being here. can you tell us a little about what your colleagues heard from senator manchin? >> i handful of senators visited with him, he expressed commitment to protecting voting rights in america and he believes bipartisan voting rights bill can pass. >> what's the mechanism for that. did they talk about the filibuster and how hard did they press him? >> well, i was told a little about that, but i am reluctant to talk about specifics now. he does believe, the senator believes there's a way forward, he is committed to that. >> in terms of how you are looking at the options on the table here, it seems clear senator manchin doesn't support for the people act in its entirety but is open to hr 4, john lewis voting rights act. he outlined principles he could support in a broader bill. what do you and your colleagues think is the most effective way for congress to weigh in in a way that would effect what's going on in your home state? >> i think legislation has to

joe manchin says he is still waiting for the details. now in a moment we'll be joined by someone who's key in all of this and was inside the room where it happened. senator cory booker, he's got some big plans we'll get into. we'll hear from him soon. we begin with michael steele, the former rnc chair and friend of "the beat," good to see you sir. >> good to see you, bro, welcome back to the neighborhood. >> good to be in the neighborhood. >> i am ready. >> i said mount rushmore level because it is a big deal. and so while the republicans may be objectively over stepping with the word socialism, it would not be wrong to call this a government or a large package. >> it even goes to one sense beyond the $1.9 trillion for tax cuts. you have this competing narrative now that the biden team is establishing that a firm across the country that they're going to be about middle america and the men and women who are raising families and putting kids through schools, they're going to provide the roads to get those kids to those classrooms and provi

for a senator like joe manchin, west virginia, i have not checked the stats, but there is not that many nature -- major cities which are bearing the brunt of this type of increase in violence, it's a rural state so i'm sure he is under less pressure to put in more background check laws and try to take illegal guns off the street. i'm sure that reconciliation package will have more funding for cops and making sure that they reform as well, because you don't want the repeat of where african americans in our country feel like the police are targeting them with george floyd and countless other instances over the years. they are trying to figure out exactly what's in that infrastructure package and how much money they should spend on childcare and other soft infrastructure because they have not finished that infrastructure framework for the overall package. they are trying to have the two things move it once even though biden has said that he wanted to sign just the hard infrastructure and having not tided as closely to the reconciliation act. host: i know you have a busy day and week ahead,