he's also making them pay for the privilege. david cay johnston piece -- good evening. i'm mehdi, it's been a banner year for the enemies of democracy. and their winning streak continues tonight. in 12 short months, the great american experiment has taken a physical, pounding. it doesn't get more physical than weapons and fisticuffs in the halls of the united states capitol. while the american flag took a literal beating out front, small d democracy also took an ideological beating from conservative media outlets and the mouthpieces who appeared on them. who delivered a slow, deliberately drip, drip, drip of propaganda, as of january six were a mere blip that if it did happen, was the work of antifa or angry tours. democracy also suffered illegal lashing to, from texas, to florida, to georgia, to 19 states and counting so far that have signed off on at least 33 measures designed to make it harder for americans to vote. that includes the state of arizona. we're in the spring, gop governor doug doocy intentionally made voting by mail a lot tougher. if you set out to election cycles, you're automatically removed from the list. do you know who knows about that already? senator. i mean, it's her state. surely today with a federal voting rights bill back on the table, she's ready to do anything within her power to preserve democracy back home in arizona. and across the land. right? right? sadly, kyrsten sinema, this supposedly democratic senator, is on the side of the enemies of democracy. as republicans got our voting system, our election rules and push the big lie, sinema, does nothing. she remains completely, utterly, stubbornly unwilling to make even a onetime exception to the senate filibuster rule to preserve the absolute core of american freedom. voting rights. here's sinema's defense. offered through a spokesperson. she quote, continues to support the senate 60 vote threshold to protect the country from radical reversals in policy. senator sinema as those who want we can the filibuster if it would be good for our country to do so only to see the legislation rescinded in the few years and replaced by a nationwide voter i.d. law or similar restrictions. her answer is, we shouldn't break the filibuster because what if republicans then do it, too, and make things worse? first off, does she really think republicans need an excuse to dodge the filibuster to get what they want? does she really think there are rules of engagement republicans will follow? and on our system they won't dishonor? i mean, this is the same party that cried foul and blocked obama's pick for the supreme court in february 2016. it's an election year, they cried. the election was nine months away. but they didn't blink before putting amy coney barrett on the bench only weeks before the 2020 election. and then there is the reality that watch she's warning might happen at a national level is already happening in states like hers, in arizona. as ari berman front mother jones pointed out, republican state by state or making it harder to vote on simple majority party line votes. but and kyrsten sinema joe manchin sits on the right to have a bipartisan supermajority to protect voting rights. it's a total, asymmetric warfare, he says. and he's right. it appears some senators agree with that. here's democrat mazie hirono of hawaii this morning on cnn. g on cnn >> that's where he's at. and this is why we have a 50/50 split senate. you can have one person or two people just stop everything and that is why people -- that a 50/50 senate sucks and we can't get things done. >> nonetheless, the gridlock game pointless posturing, the pretend game of making progress continues on capitol hill. the president and vice president held a zoom call today with top senate democrats including majority leader chuck schumer. who is poised to sideline the build back better bill, the one we were just discussing just last night, and refocus on voting rights reform. but is it too little, too late? is that this country, and small d democratic terms, now pass the point of no return? an opinion piece in the new york times suggests it may be. thomas and so quotes, and a cornell sociology professor, michael macy, who said an attempted coup would be less dangerous than the slow rise of authoritarian populism. quote, if the water temperature increases only one degree per hour, it may take a while before you notice it's too hot. and cornell government professor suzanne meddler wrote the greatest danger to democracy is one of our two major parties, a party that helped protect democracy until recently, making it harder for people to recognize what's going on, she adds. our political system in crisis is in crisis, and we should be shouting from the rooftops. i'm going to speak tonight to current congressman and senate hopeful, peter welch take, get his reaction to all this. but first, i'm joined by the people behind those ominous warnings, michael massie was also the lead author of tipping point. a study published in the proceedings of the national academy of sciences. and suzanne metal are, coauthored for threats. the recurring crises of american democracy. thank you both for joining me tonight. suzanne, let me start with you. and your expert view, are we passed the point of no return when it comes to american democracy? when it comes to preventing further extremism and polarization and backsliding? and if so, what comes next? >> well, i don't think we're past that point. but i think that we're in a very dangerous streets. i think that the situation we're in has been building for a long time. allotted people thought it was just about trump, but really the conditions that led to trump had been developing for decades. and things have only intensified once he was president. and since he left office, you now have a situation where the majority of republicans believe that joe biden is not the legitimate president. that trump actually won. we have no evidence to this, and yet this belief continues to this day. despite the january 6th insurrection, the republican party leaders have not supported the investigation into what happened that day. and meanwhile, there are all these efforts in the states to not only scale back voting rights, but also to politicize election administration. and that's a real concern. that makes me very worried about the country going forward. >> oh, yes. michael, a recent poll found only 37% of republicans have comfort in our election system. or sixth while 69% of democrats do. it's an exact flip from 2019 when democrats were highly skeptical and republicans trust in the system. it's part of the simply the white wing media tells the big lie to republicans voters every day? well biden and much of the mainstream media doesn't make clear that our democracy is on the line. they are making noise about this 24/7. >> well, it's always hard to know what the motivations are behind people's responses an opinion polls. but clearly, what we are seeing our divisions that ran very deep. those divisions exist at all levels, including political elites, as well as voters. but there are some important changes that have happened in recent times that we talk about in our paper that you mentioned on to pinpoint. i think the important point of that paper is that possibility that polarization could cross a tipping point beyond which it becomes increasingly difficult, if not impossible, to turn the temperature back down. >> not impossible, i'll take that some kind of good news. michael, your sociology guy. how do you explain why democrats are confident in a democratic system the very nearly feel entirely in 2020? is there maybe so short? what is going on? the warning signs are everywhere where. it's like alice in wonderland level delusion. >> i again, i hesitate to speculate on the motivations of people who respond to survey's. the thing to do is to have a follow-up survey, to try to prove more deeply into the reasons for peoples responses to questions like confidence in democratic institutions. the fact that we are talking about this, the fact that we have opinion polls that ask people about this, is indicative of the depth of the divisions that exist. and that's what concerns me and i think should concern all of us. why are these division so deep? and how can we turn the temperature back down? and can we turn the temperature back down? those are the issues that we address in the paper. i think that we need to perhaps set aside the opportunity to score partisan points on either side and come together around the agenda item of doing -- the we both sides need to back down? the boo do we need to put country for somebody second? >> what does that mean though, michael? you say both sides need to back down. let me bring in suzanne. gubernatorial candidates running to be republican nominee in minnesota, they squared off and it be moderated by conservative hosts, hugh pew it this week. they're asked point-blank by the moderator, was joe biden legitimately elected president. not a controversial question in reality based universe. not a single one of the five could say, yes. word of that leave us, suzanne? if candidates for the republican party is putting forward our candidates like this? we have a two party system, there is nowhere else to go. e to go. >> here's the problem. do you have any kind of diverse society and to have avoid killing each other, you have different points of view, we have to abide by some basic rules of the game. and these are the democratic rules of the game. party leaders need to uphold them. so, i'm talking about free and fair elections and electoral integrity. the rule of law, illegitimacy of the political opposition and the integrity of rights. all of this it's a much deeper and more fundamental than public policy conflicts. you need to have leaders in both parties who will insist upon abiding by these basic rules of the game. the trouble is right now, that one party has historically defended those principles -- the republican party -- is not doing so. and that's really troubling going forward. >> it is indeed. michael macy macy, suzanne mettler, thank you so much. appreciate your analysis. can there be anything more frustrating for a member of the house than weathering grueling negotiations for months on end, passing bill after bill, only after no see in the senate where the bill is going to die? well, my next guest hopes to join that chamber next year. democratic congresswoman peter welch joins us after the short break. visibly diminish wrinkled skin in... crepe corrector lotion... only from gold bond. as a professional bull-rider i'm used to taking chances. but when it comes to my insurance i don't. i use liberty mutual, they customize your car insurance, so you only pay for what you need. wooo, yeaa, woooooo and, by switching you could even save 665 dollars. hey tex, can someone else get a turn? yeah, hang on, i'm about to break my own record. yeah. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty. ♪ want your clothes to smell freshly washed only pay for what you need. all day without heavy perfumes? now they can! with downy light in-wash freshness boosters. just pour a capful of beads into your washing machine before each load. to give your laundry a light scent that lasts longer than detergent alone, with no heavy perfumes or dyes. finally, a light scent that lasts all day! new downy light, available in four naturally-inspired scents. ♪ you've got to try a little kindness ♪ ♪ yes, show a little kindness ♪ ♪ just shine your light for everyone to see ♪ ♪ and if you try a little kindness ♪ hey, angie! you forgot your phone! hey lou! angie forget her phone again? yep. lou! mom said she could save up to $400 on her wireless bill by switching to xfinity internet and mobile. with nationwide 5g at no extra cost. and lou! on the most reliable network, lou! smart kid, bill. oh oh so true. and now, the moon christmas special. gotta go! take the savings challenge at xfinitymobile.com/mysavings or visit an xfinity store to learn how our switch squad makes switching fast we've been talking about the and easy this holiday season. erosion of democracy. democrats -- and finally, finally turning their attention to voting legislation. or so they say. it's all coming in the waste of time. -- to get around the down filibuster. in this broken, sending this 50/50 senate, it isn't just ill lack of ten decent republicans, it's also senators of manchin, and sinema on the democratic side. why would anybody want to be part of that upper chamber? here with me now democratic, peter welch, who's been in the house since 2007, representing -- running for the senate seat in that state. congressman thank you for coming on the show. i have to ask why do you even want to be in the senate? it's such a dysfunctional, as many would argue, anti-democratic. body >> you know i listen to -- they are absolutely right. democracy is in peril. the question for any of us is, what we want to do, but what we must do. for each of us the answer depends on our circumstances. i'm in a position to. win a senate seat. to be in that place where i like to get rid of the filibuster, and i like to make a functional. if we're going to protect democracy, that is in peril, then we have to have another senator who is going to stand up for that every chance he. gets >> congressman, we seem to be at a crucial junction. when it comes to the american experiment -- don't seem to be taking this threat to our democracy seriously enough. the proof of that, is your party is controlled -- for almost a year now. has not passed a single law, to protect voting rights. that's a scandal isn't? it >> you're wrong about that. it's really bad for democracy that we can to get that 49ers in 50 -- biden's been totally behind all of these voting bills that we have. we've passed in the house, the john lewis bows rights protect our democracy. we have done that. we have are now, thanks to the 50/50 division -- and we've got a couple of senators who will be willing to get rid of the filibuster, i would. the vast majority of democrats are absolutely in favor of calm. six to blame all the democrats would be which -- is fall called the filibuster, we've gotta solve the filibuster. keep in mind, if we fight for -- fight every day, every single day for failure, who has done something to our democracy. that is our adversary. the role of the american people have to play in voting in people who are threats to democracy. >> congressman, senate democrats met with president biden and vice president harris on a power forward on the legislation. but again that likely can happen with the filibuster. you say that joe biden is behind these bills, the problem is we haven't seen him lead on the filibuster -- he's made a comment here or there, this week covid of -- i've said they would support a change, a carve out, for voting rights. manchin is in. budging i, wonder couldn't you have joe biden out front on the filibuster. i haven't seen him give a big speech saying get rid of the filibuster. how else is you put pressure on manchin and sinema. how would you put pressure on them if you are in the senate? >> here's the reality. joe manchin, in west virginia -- as you know. trump won that by 30 points, so, there is a practical problem that we have. how i would put pressure on, him i would try to talk to him. i will try to persuade him. what is the state with the country i would ask him. what is happening with the erosion of the right to vote, in all of these republican, trump lead districts. weather stripping the -- >> to be able to certify election, -- the reality is, every senator -- who has an independent vote. all the pressure in the world, at the end of the day, joe manchin can decide what they're going to do. voters have a role in this, as well. the folks -- the members and the members of the senate listen to the people they were upset. >> on a different topic, earlier today we learned that the senate parliamentarian just, before we came on air ruled against, just before we came on air, ruled against the inclusion of immigration reform measures in the build back better bill. this comes on top of nbc reporting today that the biden administration is pulling out of negotiations to compensate families who were separated at the border. who had their children taken from them under the trump administration's zero tolerance policy. the aclu, whose lawyers are representing these families, said today, "there's no explanation for not settling these cases other than the biden administration unwilling to use literally any political capital to help the young children deliberately abused by our government." what is your reaction to these latest developments on the immigration front? and isn't it shameful that we can't give $450,000 to the families of kids who we basically tortured? >> well, i went to the border with senator merkley and it was appalling, and the courts are the place where that's going to be decided. the senate parliamentarian -- this is truly weird and it's a function of the filibuster. we have to have a séance with a senator who's been dead for over a decade as to whether or not some public policy legislation is permitted under his bizarre rule, that had nothing to do with immigration or anything else. and that is all a function of the iron grip that the filibuster has on the capacity of the senate to make an up or down vote by majority rule, which is the democratic process, on what should be our immigration policy. it's really a reason why the filibuster is totally inappropriate, because it's not about protecting minority rights. it's allowing minority rule and that is wrong. >> the filibuster is totally inappropriate, because it's allowing minority. will i totally agree with you, i just wish i could hear the president say the. words congressman, peter welch, thank you for joining us. when we come back, the variant that stole christmas break. i'm not naive enough to think we've defeated covid, or if we ever will, but i am of the only one who has had the sense of déjà vu. almost like we're back to where we began. more on that on the other side of this break with some experts. k with som experts. experts. a plan with tax-smart investing strategies designed to help you keep more of what you earn. this is the planning effect. ♪ designed to help you keep more of what you earn. ♪ ♪ downy's been taking you back, since way back. with freshness and softness you never forget. feel the difference with downy. introducing the biggest advancement in the history of small business bookkeeping. having someone else do your books for you. i'm linda, your quickbooks live bookkeeper. let's do this linda! sounds good! a live expert bookkeeper who understands your business. felipe, i've categorized last month's hair gel expenses. steve, i just closed your books. great, how are we looking? 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as many americans are rethinking their american plans, cases are climbing fast, in rhode island, parts of the northeast in the midwest, are seeing cases exploded and alarming right. experts say, the new variant has all the makings of a massive wave, because it could be suspension really more contagious. to see where we might be going, just look at south africa where the omicron variant was initially verified. cases are on a steady incline. but we don't even have to go that far, to be honest. this is a graph -- of upstate new york, where 900 new covid cases were reported over the past week, pushing the university to shut down parts of his campus, and move finally exams online. on this show, we have praised president joe biden for all he's done with the rollout of vaccines, it's been a relief in a pandemic -- that doesn't tell you to inject disinfected into your arms. doesn't refuse to wear masks. doesn't at every turn we're refused to abide by basic. science is the biden administration doing enough? because it's not enough just to be not trump. take testing for, example. this video is from an nbc miami station, showing the line for a drive-through testing site. and no, this is not for march or april 2020, it's from today. in the department of health warns that the nation supply of covid test could be overstretched as omicron hits, and christmas travel begins. i'm sorry, but, almost two years into this, pandemic in almost a year into the biden presidency, and there's thousands of american who die from covid every week, that is just not good enough. here to discuss more on where we go from here is epidemiologist and you novelist michael mina, formally armed harvard university now chief science officer them. under a boston -- university school thank-yous both for coming back on the show gloomy start with. you are we ready for the kind of mass testing we're gonna need in the coming weeks? isn't it shameful that more than a year and a half after this pandemic and a year into a non trump administration, we still haven't sorted out testing. i want to get tested yesterday, there was a two-hour wait in the drive-through, that is ridiculous it shouldn't be that hard. and you have the white house press secretary saying, this to a question of where we can get reputation to people much more easier than we do now about. >> why not just make them free and get them out and have them available everywhere? >> should we just and went every american? >> maybe. >> then what happens if every american has won tests. how much does that cost and what happens after that? >> michael, i know you were as fierce as i was about that answer. that is matt. right in the germans and brits to say when every home. >> that's exactly right. these tests are public health tools they're absolutely essential. they are not expensive to produce. this is the cost that she reference is ridiculous. the entirety of the united states could be testing themselves on a frequent basis for the year, for less than 1% of what this virus has thus far cost the united states. so, cost of the tests is there is a ridiculous excuse. we just haven't taken the initiative as a nation to actually rule out the important public health tools that we need to benefit and best support the vaccine rollout. >> nahid you and i have had multiple called facetious on the show over the course of this pandemic. how bad is it right now? what is coming down the line in terms of on the crime in the u.s.? and how badly is this amidst ration handling it in terms of not ramping up testing? not being more aggressive on mask and vaccine mandates. i mean, we still don't have a vaccine mandate for domestic travel barely a week from christmas eve. >> mehdi, i think the worry i neither's have is that we're in a twin pandemic because what you see in the uk -- outside of south africa that saw that growth -- just doubling in time, unbelievable. i mean, the pandemic is just moving so fast and even the numbers that you're hearing about, the prevalence of omicron are probably underestimating how much of it there is in this country. because epidemic labs are also doing testing on samples and reporting much higher numbers to turn it around more quickly. it's likely we're at the search of omicron, it's already well underway. and the doubling time is what we're seeing in the uk. the concern here is that if it's a much more transmissible variant, then it affects many more people. and even if a smaller percentage of them end up now getting hospitalized because so many more of us have been vaccinated, because it's such a big number of people who might get infected the, absolute number of people who might get hospitalized is still going to be large. and that's why we're concerned. because that virus is still going to find people who are unvaccinated, people who are vaccinated and vulnerable. and that's the concern. so, the testing becomes, as michael said, so important in the situation. >> so, michael, coming back to the testing and rapid test which is your expertise and you know work for a rapid testing company. explain to our viewers exactly how a rapid test works and why you've been so evangelical about them? because a lot of people think they're not that reliable. so, walk us through it. let's say you're having a holiday dinner at your house. you've invited friends and family. some will possibly stay the night. when should they test? how often should they test? how accurate will that test result be? >> the great benefit of a rapid test is in its name, it's rapid. it gives you immediate results. it doesn't require you to wait a day or two, or many times more, for that result. the tests are very, very accurate to detect you when you are infectious and you have a lot of virus. these are the times when you want to be detected, so that you can take immediate action and you can self isolate. if you're having a winter gathering or a christmas party, for example, one of the best tools and best approaches you can take to be able to keep that gathering safe is use a rapid test as soon before the gathering as possible. and have all of the people joining use one as soon before the gathering as possible. not a day before, not 72 hours before. in the hour before. ten minutes, when you're sitting in the driveway, just use the test. you can do it through very simple tests, and if everyone in the party does that, then it's very, very, very unlikely that there's going to be somebody spraying a lot of virus in that gathering and it will greatly reduce risk to everyone. >> that heat, the big question everyone is asking is do the vaccines work against omicron? according to a new study, all three vaccines appear to be significantly less protective against the omicron variant, but a booster dose likely restores most of that protection. is it too crude to say now that three doses is the new two doses? and that two doses doesn't really protect you against infection? i've read the south african study that says, i believe, 33% effective only against preventing infection. >> yes, i think it depends on what the outcome is that you're looking at. i think that you could still say that two doses will give you significant protection against severe disease, because studies have also come out looking at the t cell side of our immune response, which really helps determine some of the protection against severe disease, and that doesn't seem to be as affected. but having said that, i would encourage everybody to get a booster. the data is clear. the booster helps restore some of the protection against infection, and it most certainly also increases your protection against severe disease and hospitalization. what i don't want people to do is hear the fact that vaccines are affected by these small percentages against severe disease and decide, well, why should i get a vaccine? because i could tell you, the most vulnerable people right now in this wave -- this omicron, second wave on top of the delta wave, are still people who are unvaccinated. and people who might have had maybe gotten a prior infection and have not gotten vaccinated at all after that. i would encourage those people to also seek out and get vaccinated. that's really going to ramp up their immune system in time for omicron. >>, some troubling times ahead but appreciate your analysis, advice and guidance. both of you, dr. nahid bhadelia, dr. mina, like you for your time tonight. coming up next, voting irregularities during the 2020 presidential election. i don't know about you, go when i think irregular, i think of the state of florida. i'll explain why. that story is next. you'll want to stick around for. for. with downy light in-wash freshness boosters. just pour a capful of beads into your washing machine before each load. to give your laundry a light scent that lasts longer than detergent alone, with no heavy perfumes or dyes. finally, a light scent that lasts all day! new downy light, available in four naturally-inspired scents. ♪ ♪ ♪ hey google. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ i see trees of green ♪ ♪ red roses too ♪ ♪ i see them bloom ♪ ♪ for me and you ♪ ♪ and i think to myself ♪ ♪ what a wonderful world ♪ a rich life is about more than just money. that's why at vanguard, you're more than just an investor, you're an owner so you can build a future for those you love. vanguard. become an owner. this is the sound of nature breathing. and this is the sound of better breathing. fasenra is a different kind of asthma medication. it's not a steroid or inhaler. fasenra is an add-on treatment for asthma driven by eosinophils. it's one maintenance dose every 8 weeks. it helps prevent asthma attacks, improve breathing, and lower use of oral steroids. nearly 7 out of 10 adults with asthma may have elevated eosinophils. fasenra is designed to target and remove them. fasenra is not a rescue medication or for other eosinophilic conditions. fasenra may cause allergic reactions. get help right away if you have swelling of your face, mouth, and tongue, or trouble breathing. don't stop your asthma treatments unless your doctor tells you to. tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection or your asthma worsens. headache and sore throat may occur. this is the sound of fasenra. ask your doctor about fasenra. bye mom. my helpers abound, i'll need you today. our sleigh is now ready, let's get on our way. a mountain of toys to fulfill many wishes. must be carried across all roads and all bridges. and when everyone is smiling and having their fun i can turn my sleigh north because my job here is done. it's not magic that makes more holiday deliveries to homes in the us than anyone else, it's the hardworking people of the united states postal service. >> florida. what would we do without the state of florida? providing us all with a seemingly endless supply of oranges, weird roadside attractions and voter fraud crackdowns. in 2012, former gop governor rick scott tried to scare off latino voters by using registration data to fish for noncitizen migrants. then two years later, gop officials tried to gerrymander the state by secretly submitting a bright red congressional map under a fake name. and don't even get me started on current gop governor, ron desantis. after floridians restored voting rights to felons in 2018, desantis and his republican friends said, not so fast. in the spirit of the jim crow era poll tax, they enacted a new law requiring felons to "pay all legal financial obligations" before being able to vote. and of course, who could forget desantis mock signing one of the country's most restrictive voting bills, live on "fox and friends" earlier this year. the new law limits ballot drop box locations, restricts who can drop off a voter's ballot and gives new powers to partisan poll watchers, all in the name of stopping so-called voter fraud. so, good news tonight. the governor has been validated. three voters in the villages have been charged with voter fraud. the rub? they're not democrats. those three residents of the now infamous trump loving retirement community in florida are accused of casting more than one ballot in the 2020 election. but two of the suspects are registered republicans, the third is unaffiliated. so, when finally confronted with real cases of voter fraud in their state, surely ron desantis and his florida gop pals were outraged and rushed on to fox news with plenty of election integrity soundbites. let's play them now. oh, wait. we don't have any. because governor desantis was too busy rolling out his "stop woke act". no, that's its real name. i promise you. you can imagine what it tries to address. so, it does kind of seem like when the voter fraud is allegedly perpetrated by republicans, these republican officials have no interest in talking about it. let alone stopping it. it's almost as if the voting restrictions they put in place are really just ways of squeezing black and brown voters out of the democratic process. kind of like that long reptile that squeezes the life out of its prey. what is that called again? ron? can you help me out? >> -- invasive burmese pythons. which can grow to 23 feet in length, weigh up to 200 pounds and cause major damage to the ecosystem. i mean, these things will eat everything. we spend all this money and we want to do all this stuff to restore, but yet if they're just running roughshod over all the other species, that's not what we want. >> running roughshod over everything. you said it, ron. you said it. that's definitely not what we want. when we return, how long did it take donald trump to turn the white house into one of his biggest guests ever? according to a book, just 40 minutes after taking the oath of office apparently. i talked to the award winning journalist and author behind a fascinating story next. es... ♪♪ and a new seat at the table. ♪♪ ♪ ♪ welcome to allstate. where everything just seems to go your way. ♪ ♪ you're in good hands with allstate. click or call for a lower auto rate today. 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secret works immediately! experience the power of sanctuary and is designed to last for up to 48 hours. with secret, keep it fresh. available in over 10 amazing scents and aluminum free. secret day in and day out, on the show we've been talking about the how the rise of donald trump has changed america, for the worse. the hacking away very democracy. the incitement of far-right white supremacist groups. the big lie that attempted to over tight our legitimate reasons election results. -- would often gets lost in all these conversations is, quite simply, the money. to many trump is no doubt the epitome of narcissism, racism, and authoritarianism. -- are the driving forces behind somebody's politics. he's also a businessman, driven by money, private, and i love a filing for bankruptcy's to get out of his cycles of debt. not only did he's find ways to make his presidency financially profit one, for himself, the fact that the money is still coming in droves suggest he's not going anywhere. the washington post identified these gop events -- more than ever before. from large receptions, that have raised 1 million dollars for gop campaigns, to seats at the dinner -- $250,000 ahead. in fact, the post found that is properties collected almost half 1 million dollars from just nine events. remember, this is on top of what trump profited while he was in office. he may close to 1.5 million. income just from one store, according to financial disclosures reviewed by cnbc. but trump didn't turn the highest office in the land to a cash cow on his own, the trump plan was also part of. this and the grand scope of this for private presidency, is what a new book by a pulitzer prize winner plays. out the the big cheat: how donald trump fleeced america and enriched himself and his family by the award-winning trump family expert, david cay johnston tells the disturbing and sprawling story of just how the trump families extravagant lifestyle, and pure open greed, cost the american taxpayer. david cay johnston joins me now to discuss some of the highlights of the big cheat. he's also the author of the 2016 book the making of donald trump, in the founder of d.c. report dot org. david thanks so much for coming back on the show. you write in the book, that there are events lost in the torrent of bad behavior. that was the trump presidency. i know i feel that way. it's hard to keep track of everything that happened during the trump years, and we're still living in shadow. what was the most shopping financial story relating to the 45th president, and all of his kids. what would you offer as a trump supporter as the best proof of their heroes corruption? >> well, that donald trump attacked our ally in the middle east. where we have our most important military base, after the guitar ease declined to make 800 million dollar clone to dare jericka -- him donald, then, took the side of the saudis in the emiratis against the qatari's, there's a lot of between them -- jerry kushner got bailed out by the other two countries, people in those countries. this was submarine-ing american national security to rescue the first son-in-law and daughter from the disastrous era in their business practice. >> yes, right now there's a lot of talk about jared kushner wandering around the middle east in the post presidency -- full disclosure, i should point, out i used to work for -- right now, there is a laundry list of investigations going on, looking into trump and his business dealings. insurance fraud, tax evasion, civil fraud, election interference, this week a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit by trump that was trying to block congress from getting his tax returns. trump's probably going to file -- you know him, you know his family better than most people, you know his tax return, some of them. you know how he's got away with a lot of stuff, will history repeat itself? will he survive again? >> i think donald will definitely be indicted by the grand jury in manhattan. i don't expect to be tax charge, that could be overcomplicated. it will be a new york state enterprise charge. i don't describe donald as a businessman. he's a con artist and a racketeer, who poses as a businessman, but israel businesses taking money from you, that he's not entitled to through lies, contracts, false promises, refusals to pay, and on and on and on and. >> good david, i have lots more to talk to you about, including in van gogh and donald junior. stick around, we're going to continue after a short break. i'm i' up there. hey joshie... wrinkles send the wrong message. help prevent them with downy wrinkleguard. feel the difference with downy. firefighter maggie gronewald knows how to handle dry weather... ...and dry, cracked skin. new gold bond advanced healing ointment. restore healthy skin, with no sticky feeling. gold bond. champion your skin. mm. 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not anymore. the prilosec otc two-week challenge is helping people love what they love again. just one pill a day. 24 hours. zero heartburn. because life starts when heartburn stops. take the challenge at prilosecotc dot com. welcome back we've been talking about how much donald trump profited from missed her first term in office, and how we still making money from it. the thing, is he didn't profit from a business term presidency, his family came along for the ride. still here with me is pulitzer prize-winning journalist, david cay johnston, who wrote a book about this. welcome back to the show you, tell us in the book the big cheat, -- was ivanka trump and her husband jared kushner. they walked out having made over 100 $72 million from outside activities. -- jarred also set up a holding company in the caribbean tax save in. no trump employment better is sure the potential for america becoming a con toxicity then jared and ivanka wielded in the trump white house. it's crazy to me that that was all legal to. >> yes, well one of the things that donald was exposed to is not only a weak white collar crime laws in america's. entire life we. have always assume that the president would act as if the -- none of our rules assume that someone would come in and say this is all for me, i'm going to be a dictator i, can make any money any way want. or is donald, put it i have an article two that says i can do anything i want. which is not what our constitution says. >> and on ivanka, mark meadows, who's held in criminal contempt of congress, is out with a book, he says donald trump infamous bible photo op at, live by a square, and the middle of the protests, was actually in vodka's idea. she thought that it would signal law in order. if we take meadows's word for it, this couldn't have been worse advice. she's not the sharpest tool in the box, issue? >> no. she certainly. not none of them particularly. our and their father is a man who surprisingly's held up a bible. he wrote six pages -- calling them fools, idiots, she mocks and openly and often remix -- because he says it's like philosophy which is, revenge. which is aggressively, anti-christian. >> we talk about how none of them, particularly our bright. earlier this week sent -- to mark meadows during the insurrection. and they included text from donald trump junior, begging meadows to help stop the capitol attack. saying we need an oval address, it's gotten out of hand, he's got to condemn this asap. did you know that donald trump junior was the brighter of the two donald trump's? >> perhaps. i think with the message shows is that he's afraid of daddy. he didn't go to daddy and say you should stop this. it also shows that he understood perfectly well with the republicans are denying. donald trump was behind this effort to overthrow the government. it didn't start in 2016. i said in 2015, donald trump got in the white house, he would never leave peacefully. there were journalists who said that that was way out there. turns out i was right about that. and donald has been working on trying to subvert our democracy and stay there. -- when he took a meeting with kremlin agents or -- his son don jr. took it. let's remember what the mueller report was talking about. the russian government in a sweeping, and aggressive fashion interfered, extensively in the 2016 election. that is paraphrasing. >> so, you're right to bring up some of his past. i'm also intrigued by he did have to text mark meadows, and not his own father, which tells us a lot about the relationship between the two. david cay, johnston will have to leave it there. the book is the big cheat how donald trump fleeced america and enriched himself and his family. thank you so much for your time. thank you for joining us, i'll see you right back here soon, with more in-depth interview with key news makers. you can always catch more of the show on monday through thursday 7 pm eastern more on pe choice from msnbc. first up on msnbc reports, a nation in crisis prompts a presidentstial address. joe biden set to announce new measures about the omicron spike and sending some cities back into surges not seen since the first wave and it's coming with stark warnings. >> for the unvaccinated, you are looking at a winter of severe illness and death. >> one european