republican senators expected to support that infrastructure package when it comes up for a final vote later this morning. the infrastructure piece represents a trillion dollars in taxpayer spending. it s just a fraction of what the total taxpayer funded tab winds up being when speaker pelosi tax on 3 1/2 trillion more in the grand package that is not expected to have any republican support in either chamber. the reckless democrat spending causing inflation. look around the country. gas prices up with, car prices and food prices and home prices are up. bill: the president has been at home in delaware but expected back at the white house around the same time that vote goes for final approval in the senate. dana: we ll pay attention to it. thank you, peter. could all of this actually backfire on the democrats? newt gingrich will join us on why he thinks it s bad news for them.
the annual event has been moved to october. organizers said it won t take place because of the growth of covid-19 cases in the new orleans area. the huge bipartisan infrastructure package teed up for a final senate vote. 68 senates including 18 republicans voted to end debate on the $1.2 trillion package. it brings three questions in three minutes for cnn white house correspondent john harwood. thank you for joining us. you re up so early. we appreciate it. and a lot of questions. it s a huge bill. it is. the traditional infrastructure piece you write that back in 2013 senator ted cruz said the affordable care act was meant to get everyone addicted to the sugar. well, meet the president s american families plan. that s the second part of his big infrastructure push. the human part. can we expect it to face the
extraordinary challenge on her hands with a margin to get both measures passed in the house. as a former member of the house what do you think it will take to get these bills done in tandem? well, i have confidence that speaker pelosi and her caucus will be able to pull this off. as you say, we have a two-track process, and together they represent the president s build back better plan. this bipartisan infrastructure piece is one piece, it s an important piece but just one piece. the other part is to reduce the costs of prescription drugs and child care and extend those middle class tax cuts for families, and to do other things to provide every american with an opportunity to get a great education, so i think speaker pelosi will be able to balance those at the end of the day so at the end of the day we won t have one piece of the build back better agenda, we will have the entire thing. i want to get your reaction
democrat senators, if you look at how they ve been talking on tv, are also looking ahead on what s next. it s not just the bipartisan infrastructure bill that s the traditional infrastructure piece, it s also the family that has been touted. when we get to the other bill, that s just going to require the 50 democrats and i feel quite confident that the 50 democrats who actually care about getting our economy back on track and millions of women, unabling them to get back to work, that there will be a remit on the budget bill. reporter: that s the road ahead. for now, where we stand on a saturday afternoon is negotiations ongoing to quicken this process, and at the same time we re seeing the procedural votes and now the debate clock has started. one of our producers saw boxes of pizza coming in, signaling
both sides to support it. right now as we speak amendments are being crafted and framed for the infrastructure piece. i ve been on the phone with members of both chambers, both parties working that out, trying to make sure as they chisel and polish this legislation that it s the best it can possibly be. then as soon as the senate has acred on that and that s making its way to the house, you ve got that reconciliation or budget resolution discussion gaining momentum, too. safe to say there s going to be a lot of activity these next few weeks, and not a moment to lose because americans are impatient to see these results. and it s really, really complicated, the stakes, as you correctly point out, are enormous. mr. secretary, thanks so much for joining us. thanks for having me. coming up, an outbreak of new covid cases in wuhan, china. testing all 11 million of its residents. we re going live there when we come back. you look a little lost.