ron brownstein and former advisor to george w.h and john mccain and executive producer of "the circus" on show time. that letter was like duh, yeah, of course we need -- [ laughter ] here is what is happening. we need more time. good evening, gents. so the president, you know, went to capitol hill trying to rally the troops. you heard from biden. he's pledging this is going to get done regardless of the timeline. this is a really messy process. maybe i'm not categorizing that right but i don't izing properl there is the big divide. is the president right? will it happen? >> you will think it will happen for the reason we talked about all the way throughout. it's really not in anyone's interest in the democratic party to have it completely collapse. don, this is tough. they're trying to make great change on a slender majority to borrow a phrase from thomas jefferson and that is difficult. you know, in the 21st century, because the country is so deeply and stably divided, it's been really hard for either party to generate any kind o

let talk more from the perspective of ron brownstein, this is indeed a nail-biter, ron.ntic." everyone knows that by now but we like to remind. early voting ended yesterday with more than 1 million early votes cast. what does that tell you about the enthusiasm at the polls? >> yeah, well, look, you know, it's becoming a common feature of our modern politics that democrats are voting early and republicans are voting on election day. i think democrats feel they have a substantial lead among that early vote, but as you say the overall election is a nail-biter. there is no escaping the shadow of the president in modern u.s. elections to answer the question you asked before. i mean, know, for terry mcauliffe, joe biden being at 42% nationally, only at 43% in "the washington post" poll in virginia that came out a day or two ago, that's a tremendous undertoerks and it's a warning to democrats. win or lose, this is going to be a close election, much closer than 2020 was in virginia and what it basically says it that democrats have a year to rebuild some of president biden's appr

let's dig in on what's happening in this senate dysfunction with the professor, ron brownstein. you. >> good to see you. one impassable ron to another. >> well done. well played. well done. let's herd some cows. >> yeah. >> why the senate is so gridlocked. what happened? >> look, the long term trend, the change in the senate is that it is now more closely divided than it used to be but also more deeply divided than it used to be. chris, it's become very hard for either party to get very far above 50. if you look at this entire century, we've only had three majorities of 55 or more in the last 22 years. in the 20 years before that, there were seven majorities of 55 or more. in the 20 years before that, there were nine majorities of 55 or more. both sides can't get very far above 50, and at the same time it's become harder for either side to get support from the minority for anything that they want to do. so, what that means is that you don't -- you know, you're not very close to 60 on your own, which is what you need to break the filibuster, for everything in reck sill yag. and i

let's bring in now cnn senior political analyst and senior editor, ron brownstein. ially important right now because we're learning they're trying to find 10 republican votes. is it a surprise to you that mitch mcconnell didn't have ten votes when he made the deal? >> it has to underscore from the outside how radical the posture mitch mcconnell is taking here. he is saying on the one hand that democrats should supply all the votes to raise the debt ceiling. and on the other hand, republicans should maintain a veto about whether they should do so with the filibuster. it would go to december, but it's worth noting that democrats had five chances in this country to filibuster when a unified control of government sought to raise the debt ceiling, and they never did. so this is a big escalation in the political conflict between the parties. yes, democrats have sometimes voted against raising the debt ceiling when republicans controlled all the branches of government, but they did not make it impossible for the majority to do so. they did not filibuster it. if mitch mcconn

. >>> and joining me now from los angeles to discuss, cnn senior political analyst ron brownstein. to see you, ron. let's start with the differences between democrat progressives and moderates. given that and almost total republican opposition, can you see joe biden getting a meaningful amount through congress of his agenda? >> throughout this process, i believed in the end, something will pass. probably not $3.5 trillion. but something very significant, because it is the -- it is in the interest of all democrats to pass something. they're all better off if something happens if the whole thing collapses. i think that's being called into question a little bit now in the case of the senator from arizona, kyrsten sinema, who is so aggressively positioning herself against the party in the way this is unfolding. you can imagine how it might possibly -- she might decide it is in her interest to sink the whole thing. but on balance, it seems in the end, democrats would be better off than doing something than not. and therefore, logic would assume they'll find a way through this. >> and wh

a former republican congressman and senior political analyst ron brownstein. the dream team. i know it rhymes. i meant it to. thank you. let's get at it. so i didn't say let's get after it because that's the other guy's saying. you know adam kinsinger. you know him very well. what does his decision lead to, what does his decision to leave congress say about the republican party today? >> well, i did serve in congress for eight years with adam kinsinger. we are close friends. i'm very sad about this. i'm not surprised. what is happening here, main stream, reasonable voices are being pushed out. while the most extreme voices are being embraced and uplifted. that's what is so troubling. people like liz cheney and adam kinzinger find that they're not welcome in the party. and bits creating a new movement. so people center right can feel comfortable in the gop and many do not. >> redistricting didn't help, right in. >> oh, yeah. he was dumped in there with darren lehood. we kind of expected that. >> so he said two down, eight to go. an apparently reference to the ten republicans w

. >>> i want to turn now to cnn senior political analyst ron brownstein and senior legal analyst elie honig. good evening, gentlemen. so here we go. the drama continues, and it's -- anyways, elie, the january 6th select committee officially saying they are moving to hold trump ally steve bannon in criminal contempt for refusing to comply with their subpoena, but this is an uphill battle. how long could i t how can he no? i mean when you look at the facts here, steve bannon has zero legitimate basis. he's saying executive privilege. he's saying attorney-client privilege. those things have no application to someone who is not an attorney and was not part of the executive branch. if merrick garland chooses not to charge this, where does that leave the committee? where does that leave congress? where does that leave our balance of powers? where does that leave the justice department? this is a really moment of truth for merrick garland coming up right here. >> elie, we know the strategy in trump world, right, is to try to delay at all costs. usually that's through, you know, extending lit

cupp and ron brownstein. to both of you, s.c. making an off hand comment but her comments stem from confusion over this new texas law designed to restrict how race and history are taught in schools. so is this where we are right now trying to both sides the holocaust? >> right, i mean, the ones who are really in the tight spot are teachers and they're fatheuriou about this because their hands are tied. they don't know how to teach history that happened when they have issues that only have one side and there are two reasons why this is happening right now. one is 2022 and the other is 2024. republicans in texas are trying to get voters there outraged about something and in this case, it's critical race theory and teaching racism in schools and culture wars and that issue, you know, to the hilt. what is interesting is that republicans sort of shot themselves in the foot with that really barbaric abortion law. abortion has been a very motivating, energizing issue for voters in texas for republicans and they essentially took it off t

it may have been ron brownstein. david axelrod. there's my memory. david axelrod just mentioned it.ber the affordable care act. there was a lot of wrangling, but i was also on the anchor desk the night that it passed. does anybody remember that? they just remember it's obamacare and the affordable care act, and it's the law of the land. >> no, that's exactly right. president clinton used to always say that presidents usually get one sentence, and if they're lucky, they get two. lin lincoln -- no, i don't think a couple of days, weeks, whatever the president said today matters very much. i think what does matter is that the democratic party and the president need to prove, as they put it, that democracy can deliver. and i think that this is an enormously consequential moment. i think one of the things i'd urge all of us to do is try to resist an analog instinct for analysis. that is, who's up, who's down, who won the week, who lost the week. that defined our ethos for a long time, but that was before 2017. >> it's like sports reporting, right? 50 yard line and they did this and these

joining me now is cnn political commentator charlie dent, a former republican congressman and ron brownsteinditor at the atlantic. and the new line said democrats stair to the abyss. so what do you mean by that and what is your sense of where the negotiations are now after everything president biden said last night at our town hall? >> yeah, what i mean by that, is that if you look at history, it is clear that big legislative accomplishment is not a guarantee of success in the midterm election. it comes next year. but it is pretty clear that big legislative failure is a guarantee of electoral failure in the election that comes the next year. an i think democrats have rounded that corner where even manchin and sinema seemed to have reached point that allowing this all to collapse would be catastrophic and they are trying to reach a deal. and look, it is -- the president last night was extraordinarily candid and i thought serene. you have basically every democrat in both chambers except one willing to undo the trump tax cut, tax rate cuts that they all voted against. and he said, i got to find

i want to bring in cnn's senior political analyst ron brownstein and senior legal analyst elie honig.d to see both of you. thanks for joining. so, ron, the senate voted to extend the debt limit until early december, avoiding an economic disaster for now. it was dicey there for a bit. i mean that's a pretty good example of just how dysfunctional our politics are right now and, i mean, don't you think? now what? they're just sort of kicking the can down the road? >> and with no prospect that there will be a better resolution on the horizon in december. look, the important point to start that everyone has to understand is what a radical escalation in political conflict and what a reckless escalation of political conflict it is for republicans to have filibustered the increase in the debt ceiling. yes, it is true the democrats have voted in the past against raising the debt ceiling when republicans held unified control of the government, but they did not filibuster. they said it was the majority party's obligation to raise it, and they let them do it after casting basically their symbolic

the package is too big and -- and too broad, i think that's problematic for 2022 but i think ron brownstein a smart idea and democrats ought to listen to that advice. >> yeah. so what do you think -- what kinds of things are you expecting to see cut back to get to the price tag, mark? because you said, you know, it doesn't matter if it's 2.5 or 3, it's what's in it. so what do you see getting cut back? >> i think the -- the dental/vision component for elderly americans could go easily. i think the community-college piece could go. i this those -- those are a couple -- the first couple things that come to my mind. >> and what about you, ron? >> well, like i said, i think the logic is less to remove things, entirely, than to kind of play with how long they are -- they're in place. and -- and try to in some ways take the most popular items like the child-tax credit, universal pre-k, perhaps, some of the healthcare and childcare subsidies. and phase them out as a way to both save money but also to give you a double dip because you can run in 2024 and say, look, this monthly payment you are rece

and i urge everyone to take a look at ron brownstein's column on our website because there is this divide inside the party about how much to invest of this build back better plan into the front end of life, universal pre-k, child care, the extension of the child care tax credit, versus investing in the dignity of the later stages in life, expanding medicare to include vision and dental and hearing aids the way we hear bernie sanders talk all the time. and at the end of the day, the package, $2 trillion, there will be enough money there to invest in both of, of course, but the battle inside the party is where to lean in. and you always hear speaker pelosi say, for the children. so, i think when she says, let's do a few things well, you can imagine she may end prioritizing those things. >> david, before we let you go, i have to play for you an only in new jersey political ad. this is the state democrats who have a political ad against the republican running for governor. enjoy. >> do you know who this guy is? >> no clue. >> no. >> uh-uh. >> that's jack cicciaterelli. he once led an effort t

also senior political analyst ron brownstein. the dream team. i know it rhymes. i meant it too. thank you, gentlemen. good to see you. let's get at it. okay. so i didn't see let's get after it because that's that other guy's thing. charlie, you know adam kinzinger very well. you used to work with him. what does his decision to leave congress say about the republican party today? >> well, i did serve in congress for eight years with adam kinzinger. we're very close friends. we co-chaired the tuesday group together. i'm very sad about this. i'm not surprised. what happening is, again, mainstream, reasonable voices are being pushed out while the most extreme voices are being embraced and uplifted. that's what's so troubling about this, that people like liz cheney and adam kinzinger, who speak truth, who are thoughtful, principled people, find that they're really not welcome in the party. and it's all about creating a new movement so that people, you know, who are, i would say, center right and principled can feel comfortable within the gop, and too many cannot right now. >> redistr

i want to bring in ron brownstein and laura lopez. good evening to both of you.tually in charge here, republicans or democrats? trying to figure that out. that is the question. laura, it appears the country is avoiding economic collapse for now but the white house is asking why kick the can down the road so much time and energy wasted and we'll be back right here in a few months. isn't that why everyone hates washington? >> it's a big reason why people don't like d.c. yeah, that's right. and it does -- >> as you broadcast to us from d.c. >> from d.c. look, i love d.c. i personally love living here. capitol hill aside. but this definitely sets up a big battle in december. democrats, you know, majority leader schumer and others came out of the meeting saying that they only took part of mcconnell's offer that they are still not going to pass the debt limit or increase through the reconciliation process, which is what republicans initially wanted and mcconnell wanted to see them do because he could make it a painful process by voting it out and putting out ameant ndm