mitch mcconnell cried. he cried on the senate floor after listening to the farewell speech of the retiring and utterly undistinguished republican senator from tennessee, lamar alexander. mitch mcconnell cried. for lamar alexander, who isn't sick, who wasn't dying like the 3,046 people who died in this country today from covid-19. lamar alexander hasn't suffered at all during this pandemic, hasn't lost any income, isn't worried about the rent. and that's who mitch mcconnell cried for. the one time we have seen him cry. lamar alexander was a fully reliable tool of mitch mcconnell in the united states senate. lamar alexander had no guiding principles stronger than doing what mitch mcconnell wanted him to do. and nothing could be more important to mitch mcconnell, more endearing to mitch mcconnell, than that kind of blind loyalty to mitch mcconnell and his mission. mitch mcconnell's mission was described today on msnbc on nicolle wallace's show by steve schmidt in one of those extemporaneous short speeches of h

what is mcconnell going to do? one of the hardest, most difficult parts of this for the majority leader is the fact there are still a large number of conservatives, fiscal conservatives in the conference who are lukewarm on the president's proposal, and putting something on the floor that divides your conference is never a great idea when you're the majority leader. we are watching at noon to see whether or not mcconnell gives any indication of where he goes from here. you can also expect that senator chuck schumer, top democrat, will try to get unanimous consent agreement to just pass this house bill on the floor for those $2,000 checks, whether or not he gets that of course is unlikely. any one senator could object, brianna. >> what are democrats planning to do? you said republicans could object to this. but what are democrats trying to do to put the pressure on republicans when it comes to increasing the amount of relief checks? >> reporter: what can always happen the end of the year when there are a large numbe

mcconnell killing the $2,000 checks? >> yeah, i think that you have seen him creep toward this position and the reason why, we've paid a lot of attention to the fact that there were 44 republicans in the house that voted for it . and mcconnell closed the door to any possibility of 2 thoid ch$2s happening. but the most interests element of this, that prurd has made clear that this something that he wants. afd bernie sanders was on the floor with a poster board of president trump's tweets . and mcconnell hats made ths mad that the skurl twochedule won't this bill. and at least two items complete nonstarters for democrats. and so that leaves us at square one which is the $600 checks in the pilbill. and probably nothing more than that. >> and we want to bring in mj lee and also david gergen. david, it sounds as though president trump htweeting for te $2,000 stimulus checks. but mitch mcconnell has slammed the door on this seeming to be saying no covid relief but we'll give i the crazy election talk next week. >> what a miser

will senator mcconnell the republican leader of the u.s. senate allow this body to vote on a bill which will provide $2000 per person to working-class families all across the country? that's what this whole debate is not whether you like the bill, not like the bill, that's not what it's about. the housedid the right thing. it's now down to the senate to have that vote . so madam president, i ask unanimous consent that at 3 pm today, thursday, december 31, the senate proceeds to consideration of calendar number 645 hr 9051 two provide a $2000 direct payment to the working class. that the bill be considered read a third time in the senate and vote on passage of the bill and that if past a motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, further that following the ofvote on hr 9501 ascendant resume consideration of the message on hr 6395 the national defense authorization act and senate vote on passage of the bill. the objections of the president to the contrary notwithstanding. all with nointervening action >> is their objecti

there are options that mcconnell does have. whichever one he decides to choose hopefully will unfold relatively soon, kasie. >> so monica alba, it is president trump that has put mitch mcconnell and senate republicans in this difficult position and you can underscore just how difficult that position is by how hard it is to explain exactly what's going on. they have to sort of turn cartwheels here to try to figure out what to do to try and send the right message and also figure out what policy they want to present. and i think it's important we underscore to everybody, if president trump had wanted these $2,000 checks, he had literally months to tell congress that that's what he wanted and he had a republican party in congress that was basically willing to be strong-armed into whatever he wanted them to do on this front. so i guess my question for you is, as this is all playing out, how focused is the president on it? what is the next tweet coming from him on this process or is he just entirely focused on the question of the ele

liberty. ♪ >>> developing overnight, prrp going after senate majority leader mitch mcconnell after mcconnelllicly congratulated president-elect joe biden. cnn has learned that mcconnell also urged republican senators on a private conference call not to join house members on january 6th to object to state electoral results. doing so would be fruitless, he said, and force them to cast a politically challenging vote against the president that day. joining us now to talk about this and more, we have cnn national political reporter, maeve reston. also with us, cnn political analyst, toluse olorunnipa, a white house reporter for "the washington post." well, maeve, this is interesting. it's interesting to see how all of this is playing out behind the scenes. mitch mcconnell, i mean, okay, i guess better late than never. he after more than five weeks finally acknowledged that joe biden will be the next president. and then president trump didn't like that and he tweeted, mitch, 75 million votes, a record for a sitting president, by a lot. too soon to give up. republican party must finally learn to fi

>> i hope mcconnell will do things in a bipartisan way. >> and with the chairman committee ship spent the bottom line is every two years we have a robust discussion in the caucus and what should be changed and what should not be changed and we will have a discussion in the next few week weeks. >> it is your letter more than that? to get mcconnell or the white house to move the bottom line is it is the effort to get things moving forward is for the proposal to the bipartisan group of senators i encourage the democratic senators to sit down and negotiate it is a good effort. i haven't seen all the details yet but when they can get together that's a good thing i hope leader mcconnell will heed the call. >> we hope they will give us a response so we can get something done. >> let's hope we will negotiate every time he does and a partisan way it has not worked in the news democratic house. >> and encourage members to me with republicans but this is $1 trillion less is that funding experience with a bipartisan proposal. >> and with a your question of mcconnell to jam up things i do remember

mitch mcconnell or donald trump? >> i think what joe biden has to do is reach out and become as close as he possibly can to the republicans and mitch mcconnell's caucus that might be willing to not always do the party line to get things done. i think you'll see joe biden trying to really seriously talk to people like rob portman and people like lisa murkowski and people like, you know, john thune and others who, you know, now mitch is pretty good at keeping everybody in the corral and that's what you're seeing now. he was having difficulty keeping everybody in the corral on denying that joe biden had won this election. so he finally capitulated because he had real friction in his caucus over people saying, wait a minute, we can't keep being quiet about this. so in -- i can't overstate how important the georgia elections are. it is going to make a big difference to -- as to the role of mitch mcconnell going forward. >> so, claire, let me start with you, then, is how this covid relief deal came together, is that the mo

but mitch mcconnell, he doesn't say it explicitly. he speaks in his mitch mcconnell way. but if you read between the lines he's pointing out you guys didn't ask for this sooner so of course it's a lot harder to bring it to a vote right now. but i think the president is kind.95 this mentality where he's not really looking out for mitch mcconnell's republican caucus. he is in a burn it all down kind of mindset so far that he has been ever since he lost the election. the only person whose political fate he's concerned about right now is his own. yes, he is going to georgia on monday to campaign for david perdue and kelly loeffler. but as we saw with the president's only one other appearance he made in georgia on behalf of them, a lot of his rally had a lot more to do with his election loss than it had to do with the fate of the senate and what's going to happen. so i think that's the concern, and i think mitch mcconnell is aware of that. >> absolutely. it seems to all come down to soothing that ego, soothing those hurt feelings as he just can't get over the fact that he's lo

mcconnell is a genius i . he is is undmisunder is matines the people of georgia. >> a number of war zones around the world announced the troop plans and the cyber attack attributed to russia. >> what's your reaction to that? these are about sharing information intelligence on the most severe threats to the country's national security. should that stop? it is extremely troubling. in terms of transition and some of these agencies, the reality is the transition does not make all that difference of how the new administration operates. in the area of national devefen and the vary of vaccine distribution, you need the most seamless hand off that you can have. more broadly protect americans from the external threats that we face and so i am extremely troubled by that. i have not seen the reporting, jim. i would say the pentagon, the trump administration and the biden's transition people, they need to be together everyday to ensure that we don't miss a beat as it relates to pulling one of the most sacred duties and th

mcconnell's made no bones about it. this defense policy bill is extremely important to national security, in his view. many republicans share that view and they will willing to rebuke the president in a pretty significant manner in order to ensure it gets put into law, jim. >> all right, the sausage making is getting very 2020. phil, thank you for that. >>> in a hard-hitting speech an hour ago, president-elect joe biden slammed the trump administration's plan to distribute the coronavirus vaccines, warning it is falling far behind. let's go to cnn's m.j. lee in wilmington, delaware. this is concerning. president-elect biden says at the current pace of vaccinations, it will be years, not months, to vaccinate the american people. >> that's right. just another reminder of how much is riding on the successful distribution of this vaccine and biden essentially said today, donald trump is not getting the job done. he said, look. the numbers speak for themselves. at this point in the year, many, many more americans should have

i hope leader mcconnell will heed that call. assuming that leader mcconnell has not responded -- sen. schumer: not yet. we hope they will give us a real response we can get something done. next question. >> engaged on this? sen. schumer: let's hope he will negotiate in a bar partisan way. thus far, every time he has done it in a partisan way, it has not worked. there is a democratic house. they need democratic votes in the senate. >> you said you would encourage your members to meet with republicans. this proposal is a full trillion dollars less than what you are proposing. is this something that you think -- sen. schumer: bipartisan proposal. again, what is needed to get things done. one thing i noted about the earlier question about mcconnell and whether he will jam us and those things, remember there were republicans in that group. while it is not what we had asked for, there were republicans that stood up and said they wanted this amount of money. i would not assume that everyone will go down the path of mitch mcconnell this

mcconnell just brought it to the floor about three weeks ago. it all has to do with money for his lobbyists, money for rich corporations. we are in a pandemic. theleefully calls himself grim, wants to bankrupt the states. his own state takes more money out of the government then puts into it. i don't know, people, wake up. they have a lot of money. is the richest person out there. perdue goes to a meeting on the pandemic and was out buying medical stocks to enrich himself. host: there are senate republicans who have said they would support the legislation 275-134,house passed, the cash act, to increase payments, and they include senator leffler of georgia who is facing a runoff, along with her colleague senators sonny perdue -- senator david purdue. marco rubio, republican of florida, also said he would be in support of these checks. josh hawley and lindsey graham all saying yesterday they could support it. doug fisher republican from nebraska according to reports sounded open to the $2000 checks, but did not want it tied to the other legislatio

the ball is really in mcconnell's court. as you said, we'll hear from him on the senate floor within the next few minutes. shortly after that, we can expect senate democratic leader chuck schumer to offer his unanimous consent request to go ahead and for the senate to pass the $2,000 stimulus checks. of course any one senator can block that and we compaexpect to be done. there are a few dynamics that are at play here just developing in the last hour or so. the georgia runoff, the two republican senators who are fighting for their reelection, they came out in a tweet and said that they are going to back the president, they say, and back the $2,000 stimulus check. so does that give mcconnell any sort of incentive to offer a vote, an up or down vote on the stimulus checks? because we know that senator bernie sanders of vermont is planning to force one. but the question is, mcconnell always has a plan up his sleeve, he always wants to do what is best for his party, for his conference. so could we see him offer several votes, one

what's mitch mcconnell doing? >> so, look, there's real concern about the deficit and i voted for the $2,000 checks when they came up, i guess, yesterday or the day before, but, look, i mean, we're coming out of here with $29 trillion in debt, we're going to have to make some sacrifices. i think there is a legitimate question about what the size of that check needs to be, but, you know, my view on it is it's a time where we are in such a bad position that if you are going to spend money and put it in people's pockets so they can spend money it needs to be now and i don't know if mitch mcconnell is just slow-walking it or whatever, but keep in mind, i mean, the president has just gone after mitch mcconnell now, you know, and gone after anybody that's ever done anything good for the president because he cannot take personal responsibility for his loss. he's got to put it on other people. >> from where you sit are you seeing republicans distance themselves now from president trump? i mean, for instance, voting to ove

what is mcconnell's goal here? it seems like this is just a big mess and politically it is hard to see what the benefit is for mcconnell. >> it is a big mess. we're doing the final hours of the congress, and the newly elected congress comes in to force at that point. anything done, not finished by then, has to start all over. look senator mcconnell obviously is taking the heat for the position that a lot of republicans have. they don't think they should go to $2,000 stimulus checks. these are not necessarily targeted for people hurting the most they signed after holding it has damage it includes increased payments for unemployment. the checks are of a different category. they do not depend on whether or not you suffered anything as a result of the pandemic. what senator mcconnell is doing it taking the heat. they don't want to look like they're being ungenerous but they also have problems with the policy of it. the president of the united states made it complicated to begin with. he could have said in in the negoti

that mitch mcconnell. asking what happened to the moderate he originally voted for. the one who attended the march on washington as a young man and publicly disagreed with reagan about sanctioning south africa over apartheid. but once president obama was elected he watched that mcconnell fought obama on every single issue. the writer cited mcconnell saying that the single most important thing we want to achieve is for president obama to be a one term president. in his rebuke. in his defense mcconnell notes that he voted for trump's criminal justice reform bill and one of the former staffers made history as kentucky's first african-american attorney general. daniel cameron. the attorney general accused of lying about the breonna taylor case but a grand juror. reform? that passed after mcconnell refused to bring it up during the obama administration. we could go on and on. in 2018 he said blocking a supreme court nomination was his biggest accomplishment. it wasn't anything on civil rights or help the americ

but this is how mcconnell plays. he will continue to do so as long as he is in power. >> in this election, georgia was not going to be bullied. georgia wasn't going to be silenced. you know who did nothing why trump and others were trying to wipe out every one of the five million votes you cast in november? your two republican senators. they fully embraced nullifying nearly 5 million georgia votes. you might want to remember that come january 5th. send me these two men. we will control the senate, and we will change the lives of the people in georgia. >> it matters. i would like to argue to you that it really does. bipartisan ship is good. balanced interest. but that does not happen. not anymore. the money that states need to get it to the needy. right now the answer is yes. we need all hands on deck for this to work out as it is. do you know how hard this is going to be? as amazing as it is that the vaccine was made and seems to be safe, that is the easy part. the vaccine, the gift will be worthless if it does not g

this is a pure political calculation by mitch mcconnell. today was really his last off ramp before january 6th. as you pointed out, if he continues to say that, you know, president trump may have won this election, then on january 6th, if any republican senator joins the challenge, then we're going to have a vote in the united states senate. and mitch mcconnell and republican senators would have to vote to overturn the elections in pennsylvania, wisconsin and other states if they are going to continue to pick with the trump lie. so mcconnell recognized that today was really his only off ramp. >> there is, you know, while this is happening there is these sort of parallel tracks, which is that there is very urgent legislative business to be done on some kind of relief package, some covid relief package. mcconnell saying today that -- that something will be hammered out. i have covered this so much i start to feel like i'm losing my mind because i have just gone around, around and around for months. but where are things from your perspective?

it's a big deal mcconnell said this. we are still hearing from some senate republicans who'ven last night were saying that well, yes, the electoral college has spoken but the legal process has to continue. i would follow up and ask when does the legal process end. the electoral college has spoken. is that january 6th when congress comes in or january 20th when president-elect joe biden is sworn in? they didn't have an answer. mcconnell is leading his party this morning saying that joe biden is the president-elect. >> and i think important to note, this normally would not be news. normally this wouldn't be something we'd put a breaking news banner up to talk about. it's an indication of how extraordinary this year has been given the president's refusal to accept the results. we'll check in later in the broadcast on this story. we want to turn back to the pandemic. right now you have hospitals all across the country getting ready to receive the vaccine. that rollout is ramping up. a lot of places getting their first shipme

we know mitch mcconnell.e's told us who we are and he's telling us again. >> let me see if i get donald trump's pitch to georgia voters on monday straight because donald trump is going on monday as is joe biden, last day of the campaign before the election. donald trump is going to go to georgia on monday. he's going to say elect these two republican senators who now suddenly say they agree with me that you should get $2,000 checks. elect them so that they can keep mitch mcconnell as the majority leader who will prevent you from getting $2,000 checks? >> yes, it's madness. it's madness, lawrence. i'll say i actually don't know that i necessarily know what it is donald trump is going to do on monday. i think he's a total wild card in this scenario. and i think that argument you just laid out would be the logically consistent but obviously illogical piece of politics he would have to put forward if he was describing the situation honestly. but exactly what he does, the extent to which he tries to put the boot i

i hope leader mcconnell will heed that call. reporter: you responded to your. >> not yet we hope you will. not yet. we hope they will give us a real response so we can get something done. next question. go ahead. let's hope he will negotiate a bipartisan way. thus far every time his son and a partisan way it has not worked. there is a democratic house. they need democratic votes in the senate. reporter: you said you encourage members to meet with republican republicans. but this proposal set for as a full trillion dollars less than what you are proposing. is it something you all think >> the bipartisan proposals again are what is needed to get things done. [inaudible] sabbatical head amy. >> one thing about the earlier question about mcconnell and whether he will jam us and those things, i do remember there were republicans in that group, righ right? and while it is not nearly what we asked for, there were republicans it stood up and said they wanted this amount of money. so i would not assume that everyone is just going to go d

lauren, what is mcconnell going to do here? >> essentially mcconnell is making it very clear to the president that he doesn't intend to take up a stand-alone bill any time soon, despite the fact president trump has threatened republicans on twitter essentially asking them that unless they have a death wish, that they should bring up this bill. mcconnell has always played the long game when it comes to demands from those within his own party, especially when it comes to president trump. and while, yes, he did file legislation yesterday that would essentially give him an out card if he needed to bring something to the floor, there is no indication at this time that they will even vote on that piece of legislation. essentially what it would do is tie together several controversial provisions with that $2,000 check. essentially it would make changes and get rid of section 230, which would protect companies like facebook and twitter for what is posted on their websites by third parties. and also would include a provision to establis

and giving democrats control of the senate and we'll know mitch mcconnell's fate in just one week. leading off our discussion tonight, zerlina maxwell host of "zerlina" on peacock and errin haines, editor at large at the 19th, and an msnbc contributor. zerlina, i want to begin with your reaction to what we're learning about the breonna taylor case. apparently the officer who fired the fatal shot will be fired. >> sitting here today, it feels like the bare minimum. certainly after a case in which a sleeping woman is murdered in her bed, there needs to be some sort of systemic accountability. that's what protesters are asking for and certainly her family needs justice. and justice is not the -- in the form of losing your employment when you killed someone in their homes, in their bed, in the course of that employment. and in this particular case, one of the most egregious facts is the officer who received the harshest punishment, he shot a wall and yet the person who shot breonna taylor and killed her only loses his employment reportedly. so that is not justice, lawrence. >> errin ha

it's what mcconnell always does.ean, when there's a fork in the road and you can decide one side is corporate interests and the other is working families, mcconnell always takes corporate interests and that's what he's doing here. he knows that the public overwhelmingly, including republicans, support the $2,000. i've been calling for it since march. he knows that's popular, he knows people want that. he knows that enough senators would vote for it if it pasted so he's going to block it. i mean, it's what mitch mcconnell does. he uses senate rules to obstruct popular kinds of things congress might consider doing and he end up always helping his rich friends become richer and his powerful friends become more powerful. >> let me ask you, though, has the leader outmaneuvered the democratic leadership here? he would be forcing democrats to still cast a vote against $2,000 stimulus checks or accept a voter fraud commission, repeal tech company immunity. i mean, we know he is a master operator of senate rules here, but i w

can mcconnell control the vote or not, michael? >> you know, it's not only those who are there in washington today, and all eyes seem to be on rand paul, but also republicans who are coming in and are the exfactor, the unknown, all it would take is one to join forces with the house member and all of a sudden, you have now got a vote in both chambers and guesses who presides in the senate? that would be vice president mike pence. talk about an uncomfortable moment for him. >> hm-mm. well, when you are betting on mitch mcconnell to make sure that biden gets safe passage, you know just how deep in the river stix you actually are right now in the political reality. thank you both. thank you for the points andthe context, appreciate you. >> thanks. >> okay, maybe a member in a senate in a done disaster scenario can do something positive. can get behind the radio leaf holdup on the bill. and see what really is going to make a difference here. democrat chris murphy has been loud on relief. and he is here next. how about no no uh uh, no wa

to mitch mcconnell anything anymore. protecting his 52-member congress, on winning those two seats in georgia right now. mitch mcconnell's conference, don, i think this is really important, they've had five republicans come out and say they support $2,000 checks. that leaves 47 republicans who are not coming out and saying they support those checks. if you want to know where mitch mcconnell is going to go, why he's presenting an alternative piece of legislation that democrats call a poison pill, it's because he's trying to protect the majority of his conference. that could change. right now more than likely no stimulus checks, at least at the $2,000 level, are coming any time soon. >> it's still not an enviable position for mitch mcconnell to be in right now. fighting the president. leaving office. he has to garner, figure out how much support the president still has, even though he's leaving. there's a lot of calculation that he has to do before he figures out what his strategy is going to be. >> no question. it's compl

to mitch mcconnell anything anymore. protecting his 52-member congress, on winning those two seats in georgia right now. five republicans have come out and say they support the $2,000 checks. that leaves 47 republicans who are not coming out and saying they support those checks. if you want to know where mitch mcconnell is going to go, why he's presenting an alternative piece of legislation, he's trying to protect the majority of his conference. that could change. right now more than likely no stimulus checks, at least at the $2,000 level, are coming any time soon. >> it's not an enviable position for mitch mcconnell to be in right now. fighting the president. leaving office. he has to garner, figure out how much support the president still has, even though he's leaving. there's a lot of calculation that he has to do before he figures out what his strategy is going to be. >> no question. it's complicated. you're dealing with the president, who is the president. everybody has watched him and operated under his leadership

mitch mcconnell in this sense, if donald trump is a fast terrorist, a fast racist, then mitch mcconnells taking a slower train toward racial revulsion. he is enacting some of the worst practices we've seen in the history of this nation in regard to a senator blocking the coming to fruition of legislation that could relieve the hurt and suffering of black people. and to proudly stand up and say that he wanted to make obama a one-term president, this shows us that the real religion in america is whiteness. the wheel politics in mitch mcconnell's orbit are whiteness. the worship of whiteness at the altar of whiteness and therefore donald trump is the product of a womb that has generated this disfigured third person in terms of politics, but mitch mcconnell is part of that couple. mitch mcconnell gives life and breath to the very denunciation of blackness that donald trump has been so vehemently denounced for and puts forward a black face representation in daniel cameron so there is a vent rillo kwix going on and mitch mcconnell's thoughts are coming through his tongue. this is the worst ge

mitch mcconnell, in this sense, if donald trump is a fast terrorist, is a fast racist, then mitch mcconnelltaking a slower train toward racial revulsion. he is enacting some of the worst practices we have seen in the history of this nation, in regard to a senator blocking the coming to fruition of legislation that could relieve the -- the hurt and suffering of black people. and to proudly stand up and say that he wanted to make obama a one-term president. this shows us that the real religion in america is whiteness. the real politics in mitch mcconnell's orbit are whiteness. the worship of white ness at th altar of whiteness, genuflecting before the god of whiteness. and but mitch mcconnell is part of that womb. mitch mcconnell gives life and breath to the very denunciation of blackness that donald trump has been so vehemently denounced for. and, look. he then puts forward a black-face representation, literally, in daniel cameron. so, there's siren trill quizm going on. this is the worst we have ever seen and pulling those strings is one of the most -- was one of the worst white supremacist

i want to read part of the mcconnell statement.hought it was interesting that he didn't get into what was traded for the president's signature. he did say, quote, the president's leadership has prevented a government shutdown at a time when our nation could not have afforded one. i'm glad that the american people will receive this much needed assistance as our nation continues battling the pandemic. one juxtaposition is the president's statement, which was very lengthy and revealed all of the things that he thought he was getting in exchange for his signature, including he said a vote on those $2,000 stimulus checks. we know there will be a vote in the house of representatives tomorrow. we expect that there will be a vote set up in the senate. just a reminder, as you know, there likely aren't enough votes in the u.s. senate to actually pass $2,000 stimulus checks. this was one of the sticking points all along. a lot of republicans didn't even support $1,200 stimulus checks, not to mention $2,000 stimulus checks. promising a vote an

the real politics in mitch mcconnell's orbit are whiteness.orship of whiteness at the altar of whiteness, before the god of whiteness. and thereof donald trump is a product of a womb that has disfigured this person in terms of politics, but mitch mcconnell is part of that womb. mitch mcconnell gives life and breath to the very denunciation of blackness that donald trump has been vehemently denounced for. then he puts forth a black face representation in daniel cameron. there's a ventriloquism going on. daniel cameron's mouth is moving, mitch mcconnell's thoughts are coming through his tongue. pulling those strings is one of the worst white sprupremacists that we've seen in the last 15 years in american politics. >> and you're writing about reckoning with race. talk to me about how we do that when somebody like this guy can start off at the march on washington at 20 years old and get all the way here, right, get all the way to the place where he's denying a black president's humanity and right to even occupy the office. if he can fall that far

i applaud mitch mcconnell for talking to joe biden today. you know, it would have been better if it had happened earlier, but it happened. let's move forward. where we can find common purpose and common ground, let's do that. let that be our priority. >> so she's emphasizing the future and moving forward but not standing down on the fact here calling mcconnell out for taking 38 days, 38 days since we've known joe biden won, 38 days it took senator mcconnell to do this. >> the electoral college has spoken so today i want to congratulate president-elect joe biden. >> harris could have gone further. mcconnell's fanning of false claims and lies has done damage. today mcconnell is finally abandoning trump. he took it further than he did there on the floor. he told republicans not to challenge the electoral results taking a stand that that's it. the electoral college is it. we're done here with all of this. this as trump himself essentially not showing up to work at least to do his job. there has been nothing coming from the white house as the nat

one of those is mitch mcconnell.d the next steps that would unfold on the senate floor, with all the rules that can be used, and the strategy behind mcconnell's unwillingness to go so far as the $2,000 checks, but willingness, it seems, to give the president what he asked for, which is not only the $2,000 checks but two other more controversial elements that he is requesting, the social media liability protection being removed, and a commission on voter fraud. that makes it much harder for it to pass because democrats want no part of that. so will that make a difference for the president? what we can say is the $600 checks that were affirmed into law are in the pipeline now, those with direct deposit, for example, will see those more quickly. will it get plussed up to $2,000? that's an open question, but it looks like a long shot with the strategy that mcconnell is employing to bring those three proposals into one. >> what are the chances for those checks in the senate? >> mcconnell rejected a standalone effort to ra

with mitch mcconnell. getting inside donald trump's tortured adult brain is always an ugly mission. but to the extent he knew he was blowing up the relief package i think it's because he wanted to stick it to mcconnell, because mcconnell had the temerity. once the electoral college made it official to say joe biden had won. i think that's behind it. i think republican turn out will be strong, democratic turn out will also be strong. i think those races lean republican, but i think all the attacks on the voting system and can you trust the election may cause a haircut in republican turn out. and joe biden did about 100,000 votes better than jon ossoff did in november. so both ossoff and warnock need to up their game in suburban areas and match their turnout. i don't think donald trump is helping things much at all. donald trump is saying, yeah, give people money but it looks like a cluster. and i don't think it helps the two republican candidates who were just today running around saying donald trump is try

mitch mcconnell and the senate republicans. democratic leader schumer yesterday asked for unanimous consent to bring it up in the buffed byich was mitch mcconnell and republicans in the senate. in a block unit, they are in theyl -- in walking it, are in denial of the hardship american people are experiencing. healthwise, financially, in every way. they are in denial of that need in denying this benefit. i do hope that in the days ahead, we only have a few days in this session, that they will understand thend suffering that is going on in this country. i have said before, it is amazing to see the patients that some people have with other people suffering. senateepublicans in the seem to have and -- an endless tolerance for other people sadness. we urge mitch mcconnell to stop his obstruction and to bring that legislation to the floor of the senate. we urge republicans in the senate to encourage him to do so. note's really important to how important this money in the pockets of the american people are. if they have the resources,

he signed on to the mitch mcconnell cult. he did whatever mitch mcconnell wanted whenever he wanted it and today lamar alexander complained in his farewell speech that the united states senate no longer really allows senators to offer amendments on the senate floor the way they used to. but he didn't have the courage to mention that it was his dear friend mitch mcconnell who has been preventing him from offering amendments on the senate floor. mitch mcconnell was moved to tears by lamar alexander's speech. that's how much mitch mcconnell treasures his spineless enablers, his quislings who cower to donald trump. two hours before donald trump defaced the white house with his verbal graffiti about the election, mike pence did his duty as vice president and swore in the newest united states senator from arizona, democrat mark kelly. acceptance of the results of an election does not get more clear and more formal than that, actually administering the oath of office to the winner of that election. to find republicans who are willin

and senator mcconnell's in a dilemma because his caucus is not united.me republicans who oppose it and he has the power to call the bill. it really is senate republican leader, he has the sole authority to decide when and if we're going to call this bill. and if he doesn't call it soon, the clock will run out. we're to a new congress on january 3rd. >> who are some of those republicans, you think? >> that are for it or against it? >> no, that are for it that would go with the democrats to increase to $2,000. >> i think quite a few of them will, to be honest with you. across the board. take a look at the house vote. you know, when it was all said and done it was a very strong bipartisan vote. >> right. >> there were only two democrats who voted against it and 44 republicans, i think it was, who voted for it. i think that will be reflected on this side. and keep in mind, everything now is being measured against the state of georgia. >> yeah. >> january 5th special runoff. both republican candidates, both democratic candidates, have come out in favor of thi

for once, mitch mcconnell is standing up to donald trump. we wondered when he would get all the trump train. it's taken 1,438 days. they didn't get off the train when he called or soldiers and our war dead losers, but this is too much. giving money to working class people who are in desperate shape through no fault of their own, that's too much for the republicans. here's the problem politically. he's got a runoff in georgia that will determine control of the senate. two seats down there. trump has asked for $2,000. david perdue has said he supports it, the senator in georgia says he supports it. will he vote with trump for the $2,000 or vote with senator mcconnell, his leader, who wants to tie it to this bill on the section 230, the communications decency act, to limit facebook and other social media? i don't know. that puts him in a terrible position. what about the defense bill? georgia is full of defense installations, one of the most patriotic states in the nation, home of ft. benning. do you vote with trump or the troops, david perdue

one big kind of pressure point coming up for mcconnell is next tuesday. the georgia runoff elections. two of his members are coming before voters and at least one of them needs to win in order for republicans to keep control of the senate. their democratic rivals there are pressuring them to support the $2,000 checks, pressuring the senate to take it up. those two senators, kelly loeffler and david perdue have gotten behind the idea of $2,000 checks. many other republicans like toomey and ron johnson do not. >> toomey set to leave the senate, not planning to run for re-election. sahil, let's jump ahead to next week because another piece of the president's demand here is related to the election and we know he has been focused on attempting to overturn the results of the election and republicans are, in fact, planning on trying to object to the certification process. josh hawley from missouri said yesterday he was going to go ahead and join in the house. what has the reaction been among other senators on the hill to those plans? >> hawley's decision to go a

do you think they will listen to mitch mcconnell? >> i think most of them will, because mcconnell himself held out and did the president's bidding. again, did everything he could not to pick a fight with the president in the immediate aftermath of the election. so the hopeful note is what we know about the history between mcconnell and biden. that's there, that's real. but there's another piece of this. you know, the more trump wants to act like a president in exile, as playbook -- from politico described him -- setting himself up for today, the more republicans understand that he has a choke hold on the republican base. and the more that that disinformation is put out there pb there's more and more energy against biden. and i just remember kevin mccarthy, the minority leader in the house, saying, look, if you've got a large majority of republicans who think that the election was stolen, that's going to be bad for biden getting something done. and let's not forget, it was mitch mcconnell who said he was going to do everything he coul

and mcconnell was correct. think the media is now truly focusing on if they're looking at mcconnell at all, basically the fact that they will say that he let this go on way too long. okay, a couple of weeks, fine. but another two extra weeks, giving the president cover to say that the election was stolen, that that as we have the balance of power in the federal government at stake, when it comes to this vote in georgia, that he gave that sort of questionable, is the election fair, is it fraudulent narrative to president trump and that could could very well hurt the republicans in the georgia senate runoff race. and so i think that this story is very much a bifurcated focus. they're looking both at mcconnell who finally congratulates -- finally, you congratulated but also now turning the he very important optics towards what's happening in georgia and that will play out. we'll see if trump's loyal followers believe trump and don't show up for the vote. howie: with senate control at stake. clarence, if the media

senator mcconnell on the floor not offering much clarity, so much in limbo, mcconnell saying they'll look at trump's concerns, i.e., $2,000 checks. how does mcconnell do this dance? is he just buying time? >> i think he is buying a little bit of time, brooke. the senate will clearly override the president's veto on defense authorization bill. with respect to the $2,000 checks, i think what the president has done, he divided senate republicans. i do believe if a vote is allowed on the substance of the bill, i believe it will pass simply because if you're kelly loeffler, david perdue in georgia, you only have one option here, that is to vote for this bill. this will be between now and the runoff election in january. i think you'll see a significant number of republicans in the senate prepare to vote for the $2,000. again, mcconnell has those that don't want to bring it up. he is trying to manage his internal caucus dynamics. democrats have leverage, they're using it. lauren pointed out, bernie sanders is using whatever muscle he has to delay the ndaa, defense bill, because that's impor