my guest today is the young democratic party congressman who represents this place, ritchie torres. young star of his party, but right now, he faces a troubling question — are the democrats bungling their opportunity to put america on a new course? congressman richard torres, welcome to hardtalk. it�*s a pleasure to be here. it�*s great to see you, congressman. i�*m tempted to begin by saying a year is an awful long time in politics. if we cast our minds back to january of this year, the democrats were euphoric. you were taking control of both chambers of the us congress. joe biden was moving into the white house. that euphoria has well and truly disappeared. what�*s gone wrong? well, we were never euphoric. i was cautiously optimistic and keep in mind that we were well aware of the congressional losses in the 2020 election cycle. we were cautiously optimistic that we could be to the 21st century what fdr was to the 20th century, that we could harness the power of this fdr moment to create a 21st—century social safety net to modernise american infrastructure. you know, the totality

this is congressman ritchie torres. >> hi, ritchie.id, right? >> i know a better world than your father knew. you know, i'm part of a long history, and many people had to suffer deeply and senselessly, and i'm just grateful that i can be who i am. i can be a member of congress because of the sacrifices that were made by people like your father. >> well, i think my dad would be extremely surprised and proud of -- of what's going on right now. >> we've made progress, but we also have a distance to travel. the mission is far we have to tell the story of the lgbtq community. people like frank and walter should be household names. >> appreciate you saying so. >> it's been hard to find records of victims after the arrests. many like walter left town and started over in new careers. some took their lives. too ashamed to tell families what happened. >> watch your step. you're going to love this. >> it's a hidden forest. >> a special few lived long enough to see justice done. including helen. >> at 90 years old you decided to sue. the united st

my guest today is the young democratic party congressman who represents this place, ritchie torres.

this is congressman ritchie torres. >> hi, ritchie.you. >> pleasure to meet you. >> you live in a better time than my dad did, right? >> i know a better world than your father knew. i'm part of a long history and many people had to suffer deeply and senselessly, and i'm just grateful that i can be who i am. i can be a member of congress because of the sacrifices that were made by people like your father. >> well, i think my dad would be extremely surprised and proud of what's going on right now. >> we've made progress, but we also have a distance to travel. the mission is far from accomplished. we have to tell the story of the lbgtq community. people like frank and walter should be household names. >> appreciate you saying so. >> an emotional all new episode of "s this is life with lisa ling" at 10:00 p.m. eastern right here on cnn. t's my only interest. i also love cooking with heart-healthy, idaho potatoes. always look for the grown in idaho seal. ♪ this holiday, let them shine like never before. ♪ this is how we shine. ♪ find the pe

. >> congressman ritchie torres, wish we had more time to chat.nor to be here. >>> a number of democrats want paid family leave. i'm going to talk to a kindergarten teacher who had to spend her entire life savings to stay home and care for her newborn. that story ahead. psoriatic arthritis, made my joints stiff, swollen, painful. tremfya® is approved to help reduce joint symptoms in adults with active psoriatic arthritis. some patients even felt less fatigued. serious allergic reactions may occur. tremfya® may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms or if you had a vaccine or plan to. tremfya®. emerge tremfyant™. janssen can help you explore cost support options. what happens if you ever need to miss work for a long time? why would i miss work? you could sprain your ankle... get hit by a school bus. get kicked by a horse. scurvy. plan today. feel comfortable about tomorrow. massmutual. >> man: what's my safelite story? my truck...is my livelihood. so when my winds