mitch mcconnell. the last fully honorable thing mitch mcconnell did in the senate was in 2006 when he proudly voted to reauthorize the voting rights act. then with the obama presidency came mitch mcconnell's vow to block barack obama's re-election by trying to block every single thing on president obama's agenda in the united states senate. instead of using his powers as senate majority leader to tame donald trump, mitch mcconnell became trump's errand boy. long before tonight, mitch mcconnell had become the most dangerously malevolent senate leader in history. he fought to preserve the trump presidency in two senate impeachment trials when he knew donald trump was guilty as charged. it has been disorienting and inexplicable for those of us who knew the responsible, professional mitch mcconnell of his first 20 years in the senate to watch him destroy the senate as majority leader, destroy the senate. he did that. and so none of us were ready for the apparent reappearance of the old mitch mcconnell, th

for mitch mcconnell. the last fully honorable thing mitch mcconnell did in the senate was in 2006 when he proudly voted to reauthorize the voting rights act. then, with the obama presidency came mitch mcconnell's vowed to block barack obama's election by trying to block every single thing on president obama's agenda in the united states senate. instead of using his powers as senate majority leader to tame donald trump he became his errand boy. mitch mcconnell had become the most dangerously malevolent senate leader in history. he fought to preserve the trump presidency into impeachment trials when he knew donald trump was guilty as charged. it has been inexplicable for those who knew the response of mitch mcconnell of his first 20 years to watch him destroy as the leader. none of us were ready for the apparent reappearance of the old mitch mcconnell, the one we used to know. it happened last night when mitch mcconnell became one of the 17 republicans voting to proceed in the infrastructure bill. people wh

mcconnell loves our program.o get a lot more money. i didn't vote for it, but you're going to get a lot more money. >> he told me he wasn't going to get a single vote in order to allow me to get with the help of everybody here that $1.9 trillion tax cut -- excuse me -- program affecting economic growth. look it up, man. he's bragging about it in kentucky. >> kentucky will get close to $700 million. >> he's getting $4 billion. it's amazing. >> if you add it up, $4 billion. my advice to the legislature and others, local officials, spend it wisely. >> joining us now white house reporter for "the atlantic, peter. thanks for being with us. it's pretty amazing to watch. that it encapsulates something you captured in your piece. he doesn't care about hypocrisy. only cares about a win. he goes home to kentucky and says, hey, i got some stuff for you even though i said no. >> for mitch mcconnell, the game is what's important. he plays it well and has been playing it for the a long time. he's going to become the world's lo

mcconnell has been fully against this.to speak. it has become painfully obvious, they have to change their tune on this. >> coming up, an update on team usa, the latest from the summer olympics, including simone biles' decision to withdraw. morning joe is coming right back. >>> t back >> from prom dresses to workouts and new adventures you hope the more you give the less they'll miss. but even if your teen was vaccinated against meningitis in the past they may be missing vaccination for meningitis b. although uncommon, up to 1 in 5 survivors of meningitis will have long term consequences. now as you're thinking about all the vaccines your teen might need make sure you ask your doctor if your teen is missing meningitis b vaccination. what the world needs now...is people. people who see healthcare a little bit differently. where technology helps doctors provide more precise care... leading to faster, better outcomes... and puts improved health in all of our hands. because seeing a healthier world isn't far in the future. we'

you know what mcconnell says?>> he's bragging about it with kentucky. >> he's a great thing for kentucky. that's amazing. >> the total amount that'll come on our state. >> check out mitch mcconnell, you have seen it on tv. >> mcconnell add miting he tried to block money from his own people. tomorrow he'll meet privately with civil rights group on voting rights. it comes as republicans push new efforts to restrict voting. texas governor gregg abbott told republicans to revisit a proposal in a special session. bishop william barber is joining me now. keech chair of the poor people campaign. his organization is launching a new series of events. they're aimed at protecting vote rights. thank you so much for being with us today. i think that congressman jay powell represents the energy i got when it comes to putting pressure on this administration. i want to play this script and i want to get your thoughts. >> this is urgent. but in full view of the american people who are watching their rights to be stripped away. >>

you do know mcconnell very well.pressure from donald trump to get rid of the filibuster when they briefly had full control of washington, but you know, mcconnell is an institutionalist but also can be an opportunistic. i found this quote from 2005 when mcconnell is the senate majority whip. democrats are in the senate. and they were blocking some of then george w. bush's filibuster. mcconnell advocated before harry reed the so-called nuclear option saying this -- the majority in the senate is prepared to restore the senate's traditions and prez dense to ensure regardless of party any president's judicial nominees after full and fair debate receive a simple up or down vote on the senate floor. it's time to move away from advise and obstruct and get back to advise and consent. i mention that only to say there was a time in his career, same man, same senator, when he was before the escalation that we're currently living with seemed very open to mending if not ending the filibuster. >> he has never been open to ending or

mcconnell says nothing about that. why is that okay? >> well, i mean, he says every single day and has, you know, for months on end that people should get vaccinated, he's been vaccinated, everyone should get vaccinated. >> that's different. >> i've personally talked to him about it. >> that's different. >> so i disagree with our assessment. >> that's not my assessment. it's not that he says get vaccinated. it's that he says nothing about the people undermining the vaccine without basis. that's what i'm talking about. he does the same thing with the big lie. he says, there wasn't any election fraud. it is what it is. he doesn't say anything about the fact that his party is overrun with people questioning the election. what kind of leadership is that? it's not enough to say get vaccinated. you have to say, this guy's lying to you. it's not enough to say the election was good. it's, these people are lying to you. isn't that the bar? >> i mean, chris, i think mitch mcconnell's been very clear how he feels about the election. number one, th

so this just seems to be mitch mcconnell's doing what he's always done, trying to obstruct, disrupt. matches. if you were to actually not support raising the debt ceiling, you would wreck the u.s. economy, even as you get close to that point, even as you were to pull the trigger on, it that could create lots of uncertainties and lots of damage in the economy. i hope other republican senators will rein him in, or themselves. >> this is usually something that people play around with, this is not usually the leader who is involved in it. let's talk about the infrastructure bill, the bipartisan bill that had a procedural vote that did not succeed, many did not expected to succeed, a group of senators from both parties were working on, it seem to think that this was not the end of the road for that. but where are we, there is pressure from progressives in the democratic party to not continue to scale back on the infrastructure deal, there's pressure from conservatives in the republican party to not put more into that infrastructure deal than feels like what we all know to be infrastructur

but i think mcconnell is playing it straight.ers who really want this bill. and, you know, he's got a lot of projects in kentucky he wants to see some funding for. this is an old appropriator, this is how mcconnell came up, came up on the appropriations committee. he's interested in this. there's not a bill, hearing rumors there's problems with the pay fors and certain titles in the bill. so we're waiting to see what happens. but i think mcconnell is playing it straight right now. >> earlier in the show we talked about the eviction moratorium. give us an update. does it look like the democrats will be able to pass an extension to cover the rest of the year? >> the eviction moratorium runs out on saturday, it does not look like democrats will be able to do this. the house is taking up this issue today. we're not sure it can pass the house. it's clear it will not get through the senate. there's not going to be any republicans -- or most republicans are not going to vote for it in the house. there's not enough support in the senate.

they know who and what mitch mcconnell is.heir 3.5 trillion, they're going to lose the bipartisan deal. are they cool with that? is that the route they want to take. they are not going to get both. >> reporter: they say for the $3.5 trillion bill, it doesn't matter. they know, there's a feeling in the senate and house, some of the progressives know that they're probably going to lose one if not both in 2022 in the election. they're saying we have to make sure we get that human infrastructure bill. they care about the infrastructure bill, hard infrastructure, but are focused on the climate change stuff, trying to pull kids out of poverty, all those things. a lot of progressives are okay with losing the hard infrastructure bill because for them, the focus is on the more expensive, expansive bill. and they said for months now that democrats and the white house should stop playing games with republicans, start negotiating with republicans and do what they can, prove to the american people when democrats are in power, things change

so mcconnell was like go as far as they can.believed that schumer would allow it to happen in the end. >> let's keep playing this out. let's say this does get through the bipartisan plan passes, perhaps sooner rather than later, labor day, let's say. how does nancy pelosi handle it, the speaker. is it good enough to the the framework for the plan her progressives or do you think we won't see anything passed in the house until later this year? >> if the senate passes the bipartisan infrastructure deal, if they pass that, then pelosi will have to pass it in the house. she'll have to do it in the house. because she'll need it. she has a big chunk of moderates in the house also in her party who want this. the blue dogs, there's several other moderate members who want this. she'll need that to pass. now remember, they pass a budget resolution, that $3.5 trillion if they pass that. it's going to take them months to actually draft a reconciliation bill. pelosi can make the argument, if she has the bipartisan infrastructure framework th

mcconnell is trying to have it both ways.al and reckless statement he made today because, you know, when republicans were in charge in 2016 for president trump, they of course cut taxes for the rich. they increased the debt by $2 trillion, but then they proceeded to raise the debt ceiling when president trump asked them to. now that we have a democratic president in the white house, they're threatening to not support that, and, of course, that would jeopardize the whole faith and credit in the united states. that would totally bend the whole economy if the united states falls on its obligation. >> is it a game of chicken knowing that he doesn't want that to happen or that biden doesn't want that to happen and you all don't want that to happen? is he saying you need to get serious about making up the infrastructure bill differently? >> i don't know if it's about the infrastructure, i think he's just trying to wreak havoc during the time that president biden is in office. after all, it wasn't that long ago that mitch mcconnell

mcconnell knows it. up. listen. >> honestly, it never occurred to me we'd have difficulty getting people to take the vaccine. so clearly, we've got a job to do to try to convince reluctant americans, of all types. >> listen to mitch. not enough people in his party, though, are echoing this. you got someone, like senator rand paul, whose primary concern is spooking people with fear mongering about big government and losing liberties. the reality is the people who are unvaccinated are stifling the liberties of those who are trying to keep themselves and the ones they care about protected. the reality is mcconnell can, and should, call out the bad actors, as well. you have to drown out those bad voices. if they're not going to follow, if they are going to seek advantage, use your power. now, do they care about being on mcconnell's bad side? i don't know. that's going to, probably, come down to what that means with trump. if trump could put as much attention into the vaccine that he helped make happen. the t

i'm glad to see others nationally doing that like senator mitch mcconnell.that we're doing, we're doing vaccine opportunities at popular concerts like garth brooks like gucci mane if you know hip-hop we're trying to reach out to as many people as possible and vaccine mandates for our own city employees or high levels of testing to make sure folks know that this is important, this is vital and more than anything, it is fundamentally not political. there is not a leader in the country who wants to shut down their city and make people wear masks and do anything under the sun, but we do want to make sure people are safe and we do want to make sure we're not seeing the same level of hospitalizations as we were before and i emphasize that and there are people filling up our hospitals and our health care institutions are saying they need support. this is a big challenge for us in middle america, and i hope more people would heed the moment. >> the st. louis cardinals have decided on masks. >> i've heard that and more institutions throughout missouri are doing so in

you know, he is very close to mcconnell. if mcconnell wants to pull the plug, this is an easy way to do it. >> the way that i read the portman thing, and we will find out tomorrow or maybe never find out. the other republicans decided rob is the one that knows the details. i'm going home. you negotiate it. and more a matter of they basically limits to attention spans, just hand it over to rob and let steve handle it for the other side. >> that is certainly some of the way that the psychology in the meetings work. as it works, you know it works. jim is not wrong about this. not only does it make it easier for mcconnell who will happily roll on portman with portman saying he will retire. no personal politics. he may be the best republican to deliver a deal, and the easiest republican for the rest of the party to cut loose. he is a rhino in donald trump's eyes and one not running for re-election. frankly who cares. >> thank you both very much for starting us off tonight. >> thank you. >> thanks lawrence. >> coming up, parents a

democrats fail on the bipartisan front and they planted all on mcconnell and trump. they passed the democrat only bill, they take credit for it. i think that the only way that it works for republicans is they sit down for inflation which is really with the parties doing at this point anyway. they're praying that the beginnings of a significant inflation spike by the time he gets to the midterms and then they ride fear of inflation and all the traditional dynamics of the outer power party to be able to take control of the house for sure and the house likely but eventually the senate and they're basically just saying they're not gonna get reelected on the basis of what we've delivered and we're doing this based on how we can scare the voters and how democrats are managing the economy. >> we have a report tonight saying that the bipartisan group has basically handed over the negotiations tonight to rob portman basically went on with steve machete and you couldn't ask for more experienced and steve machete in a situation like this to deliver this deal. those to people if

mcconnell loves our programs. you see what mitch mcconnell said? >> so you're going to get a lot more money. i didn't vote for it. but you're going to get a lot more money. >> he told me he wasn't going to get a single vote in order to allow me to get, with the help of everybody here, that $1.9 trillion tax cut -- excuse me, program-to-for economic growth. look it up, man. he's bragging about it in kentucky. >> kentucky will get close to 7 or $800 million. >> it's a great thing for kentucky, getting $4 billion to help poor. it's amazing. >> if you add up the total amount that will come into our state, $4 billion, my advice and members of the legislature and others, local officials, spend it wisely. >> white house correspondent for nbc news, monica alba was with the president in illinois yesterday, and she joins us now. i take it the president is selling the plan to the american people, what was the response? >> reporter: this was part two of this major pitch on the road. last week we saw the president traveling to

senate minority leader mitch mcconnell made these comments earlier. they write that congress suspended the debt limit for two years in 2019 as part of a broader agreement on overall spending levels brokered by then treasury secretary steven mnuchin and house speaker nancy pelosi. that suspension is set to expire july 31. the limit will be reinstated at roughly $28.5 trillion and the government will no longer be cap -- tap bond markets to raise cash to pay its bills. the senate minority whip, here's what he said yesterday on the floor. >> the crisis spending is for just that. a crisis. at least it should be. unfortunately, democrats have never met a temporary government dollar that they didn't want to keep spending. temporary government programs aren't really a thing for my friends across the aisle. and so as the crisis was waning and our economy was rebounding, democrats bound on the crisis democrats doubled down -- democrats doubled down on the crisis spending and passed a massive covid relief bill filled with unnecessary handouts. hundreds of billio

he was upset with mcconnell over that and upset with how mcconnell conducted himself and with the speechred on the floor on january 6th about the importance of certifying the results of a free and fair election and not trying to contest whit there's no evidence of fraud. >> here's the best part of having both of you. nick is granting us two segments for this discussion, so we are not done with both of you yet. >> lucky us. >> lucky me. coming up next, the lies about the november election, whether the former president really believes them. we're going to ask. diabetes made food a mystery. everything felt like a “no.” but then paul went from no to know. with freestyle libre 14 day, now he knows how food affects his glucose. and he knows when to make different choices. take the mystery out of your glucose levels - and lower your a1c. now you know. try it for free. visit freestylelibre.us ♪♪ subway has so much new, i couldn't fit it all in the last ad... yep, so let me finish this. there's new hickory-smoked bacon, fresh mozzarella, smashed avocado...you know what, there's a lot! but it all

bill, mitch mcconnell stood on the senate floor and defied donald trump today. the final vote was 67 to 32, 17 republicans voted for the bipartisan bill and, as i said, the one senator who was absent, republican mike bronze, also supports the bipartisan bill. in itself rhetorically press conference after the vote, republican mick romney said this, >> sometime ago, ted kennedy made a line about the celebration like this, he said something of this nature, all applied in this way, when chuck schumer and mitch mcconnell vote for the same bill, you know one thing, one of them hasn't read it. but in fact, both of them have, both of them have been very involved, we let them know what's going on in this process -- >> mitt romney is a first time legislator. almost all the senators who negotiated this bipartisan bill had never really legislated before in the united states senate because the leadership of both parties in the senate have taken all the legislative powers away from most senators. none of the committee chairmen have the kind of power that they used to have, an

but that is side, i think mcconnell is in a very tough place on this one. something he's not used to doing. you're absolutely right, he can command his troops and keep this from happening if he really really wants to do that. but remember that mitch mcconnell also cares about winning a majority in the senate in 2022 and he has some vulnerable senators. and if they're on record as opposing infrastructure, all of those things that are popular in their states and popular with those voters as the poll showed, that's gonna be a bigger problem for him. so i don't think that he's gonna pull out all of the stops to kill this, and if it goes through, and it goes to the house, nancy pelosi's gonna sit on it and wait until we see that larger package happen. and one other big point which is you need all 50 democrats to get the second part of this package. you are not going to get the 50 unless there is a clear belief among the recalcitrance that they have done everything they can to get this bipartisan deal done. so they're real reasons to move that forward, to get the

listen to his take. >> mitch mcconnell loves our programs. did you see what mitch mcconnell said? he told me he wasn't going to get a single vote in order to allow me to get, with the help of everybody here. look it up, man, he's bragging about it in kentucky, it's a great thing in kentucky, it's getting $4 billion to help, it's amazing. >> that's not the right read. mcconnell's not saying he loves the policy. he's saying it's bad policy. but he knows how to have it both ways. he's saying, look at all this money that's going to come in, you're going to get it. so they know it as a matter of fact and they will attach it to him telling hthem that. there will be currency for him in that. but he gets to check the box of opposition, i didn't vote for it but it's coming anyway. it's working for him. so biden is aware, right, he called it out, played to the irony, but does he or do he and the democrats have an answer that will help them win in the midterms? because the democrats to my eye seem more intent on giving the party of trump more chances than to secure another chance for themsel

it passed with every democrat and 17 republicans including minority leaders mitch mcconnell signing on. >> despite the popularity of it and the need for it, washington hasn't been able to get it done. this time we're going to get it done. >> it's a matter of building a relationship and having trust. i trust each one of them with my political life, i really do, because i know we want the same thing, what's best for our country. >> this group of senators is proposing to the olympic committee that the next new olympic sport be closing a bipartisan infrastructure deal, and i think tonight we -- what's it called? stuck to landing. >> one step closer. >> one step closer sticking to landing. >> i'm not entire liar sure that joke worked. still they need to clear final votes in the senate and house. president biden celebrated by saying, quote, this deal signals to the world that our kmoc democracy can function and deliver and do big things. not everyone is agreeing to it. during trump's tenure in office he was unable to finalize an infrastructure deal and it became a running joke on this show a

mitch mcconnell stood on the senate floor and defied donald trump today. the final vote was 67-32. 17 republicans voted for the bipartisan bill. and as i said, the one senator who was absent republican mike brown also actually supports the bipartisan bill. in a celebraory bipartisan press conference after the vote republican mitt romney said this >> some time ago ted kennedy said something of this nature, i will apply it this way, when chuck schumer and mitch mcconnell agree on the same bill they haven't both read it but in fact they have and know what's going on in this process. >> mitt romney is first time negotiator almost all of them had never legislated in the senate because the leadership in both parties in the senate have taken all legislative powers away from most senators. none of the committee chairman have the kind of power they used to have. so senators are not experienced legislatures any more. it is wrong to use the word legislature only to mean the people elected to positions in legislative bodies. the reality is the staff, the senate and ho

mitch mcconnell thinks that's waste of time and money. transportation secretary joins me on that. >>> plus ♪♪ okay. new york celebrates the hee roys of the pandemic. the worst continue to spread lies about the vaccine. covid deaths are now almost exclusively among the unvaccinated. the reid out continues after this. reid out continues after this people everywhere living with type 2 diabetes are waking up to what's possible with rybelsus®. ♪ you are my sunshine ♪ ♪ my only sunshine... ♪ rybelsus® works differently than any other diabetes pill to lower blood sugar in all 3 of these ways... increases insulin... decreases sugar... and slows food. the majority of people taking rybelsus® lowered their blood sugar and reached an a1c of less than 7. people taking rybelsus® lost up to 8 pounds. rybelsus® isn't for people with type 1 diabetes or diabetic ketoacidosis. don't take rybelsus® if you or your family ever had medullary thyroid cancer, or have multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if allergic to it. stop rybelsus® and get medica

he might -- >> mitch mcconnell is not going to lose his seat over this. >> right. right. leader, he's going to have to make a calculation about should i whip my ten republicans to pass this or will that give biden a win and make the democrats look good and make the democrats look bipartisan. mitch mcconnell doesn't care about policy. he cares about judges and winning and that's it. so he might be the roadblock there. fox and the republican media ecosystem may not want to give biden a win on this. getting to ten republican senators on this first bill is still a lot. doubling that number is significant. and then if they can't get to ten, i think manchin doesn't want to break the filibuster if it's a 50-vote thing, would he break it for 57? 58? there's a long way to go on that part of the negotiation still in front of us, unfortunately. >> do you see the roadblock the same way that tim does? >> i think whatever mitch mcconnell whatever says with a grain salt. vote no and take the dough. you heard him talking to lawmakers in connecticut saying you're about to get a lot of mon

the top house republican kevin mccarthy paint a similar theme and same for mitch mcconnell. then there is the newest member who was at it at a more loyal trump alternative to liz cheney famously over these issues. i am talking about congresswoman stefanik. these answers are not profile-encouraged but they matter tonight. republican leaders have not figured out a coordinated plan dealing with a probe that's damming for trump. while we can be as fair and legal as possible of the definition of incitement, he called those people to washington. everybody knows that. he gave them that rallying speech and they marched in and tried to overthrow your government and democracy. everybody knows that. it is in criminating for many elected republicans. not all but many. now, what did they do about all this? the republican party trying to sabotage the hearing that everyone just saw yesterday. they lost that gander when pelosi booted jim jordan off the committee. the republican party trying to argue this probe is automatically partisan. a couple things didn't work. now they're betting that

any minute, mitch mcconnell could pull the roll rug out.ven just that first step is not guaranteed. the budget resolution is going to be a bear to get paths. and that's just the easy part, doing the budget resolution. because it won't have all the details in. and then that final reconciliation bill, if you think about it, democrats have ten, 12 years of pent up things that mitch mcconnell has successfully blocked. and this is their one chance to do things that mitch mcconnell can't veto. so, every group out there who has something they want to do, on immigration, on the environment, on climate, on health care, i'm pre-k, on all these things -- this is your one shot. the thing is, nobody really knows right now, including joe manchin, how much he is going to let through that keyhole. this could very well extended three or four months before they get that final package written. ag writ>> i think that's the import scheduling thing we establish with john yarmuth tonight. this is not happening before the august recess. jonathan alter, steven dead

but i would like to see democrats do, mcconnell is gonna try to stop this because he thinks it is ino so, because it would work for hen. -- you begin to see this from the biden white house. they should dare mitch mcconnell and senate republicans to kill a bipartisan infrastructure bill, that depending on what pulling you see has as much as 16 approval, when americans know their bridges are crumbling, the roads are crumbling, they know they need infrastructure to compete with china, on the global marketplace. and they know that this is a bill that will create millions of blue-collar jobs. quite frankly, from a political standpoint i would dare senate republicans to kill a bipartisan bill that the vast majority of americans want. i would like the president to go on the road and make them pay for it in a way that the obama administration did not take it to the street and made republicans pay for blocking everything that he tried to do even though a majority favorite it. >> point of personal privilege, i have known political hacks, cornell, i would never list your names along there, so l

you may see biden taunting mcconnell. >> mitch mcconnell loves our program.bout kentucky. >> it is a great thing for kentucky. it is getting $4 billion to help, that's amazing. >> the total am that'll come into our state 4 billion. >> check out mitch mcconnell and you will even see it on tv. >> not a single member of my party voted for it. >> politically this could backfire republicans, $4 billion to help people sounds pretty good to me. the question is what can democrats get done on housing education guns and more. joining me now is eugene daniels, msnbc's contributor. >> this monologue and the dark knight, oh, we should introduce a little chaos because chaos is fair. here is the thing. chaos by the republicans is not fair in this instance, right? there could be millions of people across this country who lose their healthcare access and unemployment benefits and don't have access to hospitals if they decide they don't want to do anything for the next 18 months. you are at the white house and at the capitol, are there any republicans in the blue states that a

. >> you know you ain't got to lie about mitch mcconnell. we all know who won the election. republicans are not letting it go. cornell, this is something equally disturbing. we see republicans running across the country as secretary of state. they are seeking secretaries of state positions in the hopes of overturning any election next year. i am an academic and you are a pollster, we get beat up with our predictions from time to time. what does it mean that we can have an election. we already saw what happened to brian kemp two years ago. what does it mean that we have a whole bunch of corrupt elections? does that mean all pollings are out the window? >> it means our democracy ends. every american and look congress and hats off to congressman lieu and what they are doing. it is enhancing millions of americans who don't believe the lie and are far worried about paying their kids' tuition and struggling with healthcare costs and infrastructure than donald trump being in power. also understand, my friend, this idea of this election being stolen, it does make sense to them withi

mcconnell promised to quote make it hard for democrats to pass a bill on party lines with trillions inhild care and other social programs not covered in the bipartisan infrastructure framework. president biden is touting that very plan across the country set to speak shortfully crystal lake, illinois. joining me is my colleague leighann caldwell. president biden said he might support the framework and throwing a wrench in the way of the democrat-led reconciliation bill so is the whole package in trouble? just the reconciliation bill? where do we stand on all of this? >> reporter: if the whole thing falls that's really bad news for democrats and president biden especially. the reality is that leader mcconnell as the ability to probably sink at least the bipartisan component convincing enough in the party to object to it. as far as this reconciliation bill is concern mcconnell yesterday spoke in the strongest terms yet that this is a major fight moving forward and that there's people that he says in the political center and some democrats in states who are not going to like what is in th

senator mcconnell: with total certainty, washington democrats no one of two things to be true. either american democracy is so sacral side that nobody can possibly question or badmouth it. our democracy is in total crisis. hanging on by a thread. only a massive sweeping parts and overhaul by democrats can save it. it can be hard to guess which of those opposite stories democrats will be shouting on any given day. the narrative flip-flops are at a dizzying pace. secretary clinton and a whole cast of senior democrats called this illegitimate. russia had probably or definitely hacked into our voting systems and changed the tallies. a conspiracy theory, a big lie. four years later, they kept insisting that democracy was broken and democrats had to overhaul it. hr one was written and introduced on that pretense. as recently as last summer when the 2020 election was looking close, democrats and cable news spent multiple weeks in federal hysterics over what they said was a massive secret election conspiracy revolving around the postal service. another big lie. it was one frantic meltd

what utter nonsense, mcconnell says. it would be laugh-out-loud funny if it wasn't so completely and totally irresponsible. wow. >> wow indeed. i keep thinking about joe manchin as you were reading that. his concern about pushing through a voting rights bill is that it would lead to more division. you have mitch mcconnell there saying he feels like joe biden's language was division around voting rights. democrats, of course, look at that and say that is mitch mcconnell. democrats obviously know where he has been and where republicans have been all along on this issue. the big question still remains, the filibuster and what joe manchin would do on the filibuster. he has been steadfast in saying he doesn't want to have a sort of special carveout on voting rights on the way they did with judicial appointments as well as cabinet officials in 2013 and 2017. that's been the big question. you saw joe biden, he's remained silent on the filibuster, essentially not wanting to come out and say it should be scrapped, a special carve

>> i take whatever mitch mcconnell says with a grain of salt.heard him talking to lawmakers and connecticut about, hey, you're about to get a lot of money! i didn't vote for it, but you're going to get money. suspended. he wants investments and kentucky. i think tim is right. and you are right. he's not going to lose a seat over this. but there are other senators who could be facing a challenge if they were not to be able to deliver something like this, a single legislative bill that they support in their own states. >> can a republican sell this by saying we do this for you, our constituents, but we held them off on the egregious spending, the way they see it, of the second bill. >> you could see some of that. again, in the key senate races not to get to in the weeds here, but wisconsin and pennsylvania is an open seat, as ron johnson will run in wisconsin to make bipartisan deals with democrats? that's not the ron johnson i've been watching. on an individual basis, might everyone or to republicans that make that case? absolutely. ten? ten is a

the question really is what mitch mcconnell is up to.g the great philosopher yoga beara, it is dejavu all over again. i saw this for eight years under obama where you'll remember he said his number one job is to make barack obama fail his presidency and mitch mcconnell has basically said that about biden as well, saying he is a hundred percent focused on stopping joe biden's agenda. what i would like to see democrats do in particular coming from the white house right now, mcconnell is going to try to stop this because he thinks it is in his political best interests to stop it because he thinks that stopped for him under obama, try to make him a failed president so if you go into the midterm they say they've accomplished nothing. but i think the -- you begin to see this from the biden white house, is they should dare mitch mcconnell and senate republicans to kill a bipartisan infrastructure bill that depending on what polling you see has as much as 68% approval when americans know their bridges are crumbling, roads are crumbling. they kno

so what's in it for mcconnell? mitch mcconnell is best known for denying bipartisan victories to a democratic president. he is self styled himself as the grim reaper of legislation, and he seems to be going or along with the thai priority of president biden. so why is that? and they're a couple of reasons according to many conversations that i've had with his top allies, and some of his critics. the first is that many republicans in his senate caucus want this bill. they are invested in it. that includes retiring members like rob portman, who is in legacy mode thinking of how he will be remember -- how you will be remembered. -- mcconnell is not omnipotent. he needs to give them what they want sometimes, otherwise his own position can be just paradise. the second reason is that mcconnell is eager to preserve the filibuster, and there to moderate democrats, kristen cinema and can -- they happen to be authors of this bipartisan bill, allowing this to pass will give them the talking point they need to go to progressiv

and i tell you what's irresponsible, mitch mcconnell.an effort to protect our most sacred right, as americans, the right to vote. listen. no matter what your political affiliation and your background. the right to vshould be protectd for republicans, democrats, independents. for all americans. and guess what? you should be able to vote freely. all americans, not restricted. i actually think it should be a day off. so that everybody can get a chance to vote. they can't say, hey, i got to go to work. give everybody the day off. let everybody vote. and mitch mcconnell would have you believe that is some kind of champion for bipartisanship. and we, all, know that that is bs. the guy who said that he is, 100%, focused on stopping biden's agenda. bipartisanship. okay. the guy who begged republicans to block the bipartisan january-6th commission, as a personal favor to him. okay. bipartisanship. the guy, who said this. >> as you look to what the majority leader has in mind for june, it's pretty clear, the era of bipartisanship is over. >> sorry

host: criticizing this was mitch mcconnell, talking about the plans of withdrawing. here he is from the senate floor. >> the president's plan to retreat is not clear-eyed or strategic. it is dangerous wishful thinking. as discussions with the administration are making clear, this discussion is not underpinned by a coherent plan to mitigate the geopolitical and humanitarian risks that our departure will create. when we are gone, after we leave, there is every reason to believe al qaeda will regroup in this historic safe haven. giving up the high ground while the enemy is still in the battlefield is not a strategic move. neither is banking on so-called "over the horizon" counterterrorism missions without a presence on the ground. if we have learned anything in the fight against terrorists, it is the importance of reliable access and local partnerships. give up the former, and we likely lose the latter. the military currently supplies both reconnaissance and strike missions against terrorists from within afghanistan. the country is not easy to get to. it's immediate nei

senator mcconnell failed to stop the investigation. we're going to learn what happened on january 6 despite his effort to stop it. during the first hearing of the select committee yesterday, we heard testimony from four police officers who battled the mob for hours on january 6. many of us witnessed it. two members of the capitol police force and two from the metropolitan police department of washington, d.c. testified. these officers were brutalized in hand-to-hand combat. some thought they were going to die. and they're still grappling with the physical and emotional trauma they suffered. officer harry dunn recounted yesterday how much or how the mob of the former president's supporters chanted the n word in his face. metropolitan police officer michael fanone testified that members of the mob attempted to steal his service weapon and kill him with it. he was dragged into the mob, tasered repeatedly, and beaten unconscious. he suffered a heart attack and traumatic brain injury. this is what officer fanone said yesterday and i quote.

you mentioned mitch mcconnell.ittle of what he had to say. >> these shots need to get in everybody's arm as rapidly as possible. to ignore you'll these other voices that are giving demonstrably bad advice. >> if you hear things from the media that suggests it's dangerous by that vaccine, they are not serving you well in that media. >> what has the driving force, the gravitas that can have the ability to prompt people who are vaccine hesitant to actually get a shot? >> you know, i think that's a good question. it's, frankly, a real question whether or not republicans are going to listen to someone like mitch mcconnell and what we are seeing now is really two americas. we often talked about the red america and the blue america. now we have the unvaccinated america and the vaccinated america. and there are two strains of the republican party as well. there are is main stream republicans like mcconnell who want people to get vaccinated, who are speaking out, who are urging it. but there are the populist trump republica

at any minute mitch mcconnell can pull the rug out.cbo score he can complain about and other things on process. just the first step is not guaranteed. that's the easy part, the budget resolution. it doesn't have the details in it. and the final reconciliation bill. if you think about it, democrats have 10, 12k years of pent-up things that much mcconnell has successfully blocked. every group out there that has something they want to do, on immigration, on the environment, on health care, on pre-k, all of these things, this is your one shot. the thing is, nobody really knows, including joe manchin, how much he will go through the key hole. this could extend three, four months, before they get the final package through. >> that's the important scheduling thing we established with chairman yarmouth tonight. this is not happening before the august recess. there's so much to do. jonathan alter, steven dennis, thank you for being with us. >> thanks. >>> we'll be right back. wright brothers? more like, yeah right, brothers! get outta here! it'

mcconnell's people will dispute that they say he'll just stand back and listen, the whole conference will decide. i think that's the underlying dynamic. the one thing that can save it, chuck, if republicans decide politically the better thing to do is let this go through, claim victory and beat democrats up on the big reconciliation package. >> as long as trump is playing the role he's playing, mcconnell has no choice but to let this deal go through. when we come back, why it's getting harder and harder to deny climate change wherever you live now live now ayitus my dvt blood clot left me with questions... was another around the corner? or could i have a different game plan? i wanted to help protect myself. my doctor recommended eliquis. eliquis is proven to treat and help prevent another dvt or pe blood clot. almost 98 percent of patients on eliquis didn't experience another. and eliquis has significantly less major bleeding than the standard treatment. eliquis is fda-approved and has both. don't stop eliquis unless your doctor tells you to. eliquis can cause serious and in rare cas

mitch mcconnell says if this collapses, we tried, we tried.iberal socialist, insert talking points in the house, made a big giant spending plan and then walked away after we tried. important chapter, but early. >> you know, it seems like we are -- certainly we can make this about trump, right? and if his influence is maybe waning, i think that's an open question. i want to ask you about, you know, what we've seen here in the last day or so when it comes to the commission or the committee on what happened january 6th and just the fact that we're living in almost this post-truth era. we actually have some sound from elise stefanik who is in republican leadership. let's listen to this. >> it is a fact that on -- that in december of 2020, nancy pelosi was made aware of potential security threats to the capitol, and she failed to act. it is a fact that the u.s. capitol police raised concerns. and rather than providing them with the support and resources they needed and they deserved, she prioritized her partisan political optics over their safety.

according to what you have learned, is mcconnell really going to give biden a win? that has happened already is just procedural. the text hasn't even been written yet. he's got all sorts of outs. >> that's right, stephanie. it is for real in the sense that mitch mcconnell is not working to kill this deal. that is according to many republican sources we've talked to. it is also true according to some democrats who are surprised by the fact that he's voting to move forward with this deal and he appears to have given his republican members the green light to support it. why is he doing this? why is the self-styled grim reaper allowing a democratic president to potentially get a victory? the reason is this is a major release valve on two fronts. there are moderate and retiring republicans in the senate caucus who want to actually do some big things and not just obstruct. that includes rob portman, who's in legacy building mode. this is a way for them to achieve something. there is also the incentive for mcconnell that he wants to preserve the filibuster. this gives mode

mcconnell is not omnipotent.on could be jeopardized. the second reason is he's eager to save the filibuster and there are two democratics who are supportive of the filibuster. passing this would allow them to go to the senate and say, look, it works. the infrastructure bill is popular, there's little opposition to it. and former president trump's missives have had almost zero impact on the caucus. so there's little downside for mcconnell to allow it to happen. >> in the less than a minute we have left, could you tell me, explain why kris sen sinema is threatening to scuttle the reconciliation bill? >> she said she opposed the $3.5 trillion price tag. she did not say why, identify policies she opposes because there aren't policies in the bill. it is currently kind of a concept. so that's her position, $3.5 trillion is too much. in theory $3.4 trillion could be viable for her. so she is not necessarily trying to blow it up all together. they wanted $6 trillion to $10 thrillon, and some progressives i spoke to inclu