good evening. >> thanks very much. what a wonderful tribute to bishop tutu. your fabulous pod cast, all the episodes are out. you worked on it for a year. and i'm just wondering, it dove tails nicely with the start of the show. that is, has the radicalization that you have been reporting on for the last year, do you think things have gotten more radical? >> first of all, thank you so much. that's a great question. i think we heard from earlier saying that radicalization is trending up in the country. everyone should be concerned about what is happening in various corners of the just not the dark web. but happening in plain sight. when you see politicians and others perpetuating the big lie. using that to stoke division and violence in the country. i think it's something we should be concerned of and echoed by officials in law enforcement as well. the fbi director and others warning congress about online radicalization. >> thank you very much. and tonight, we begin with the reason the january 6 select committee exists. the committee was designed to stop future coup attempts and every record request, interskpru subpoena we have reported on from the committee has the same goal. to better understand what has happened on january 6. so that it doesn't happen again. but as we approach the one year anniversary of the day, we're seeing the ground work for another coup attempt is already being laid. the trump mob is just as angry as ever. fuelled by the same lies and hate that led to the insurrection. like jared smek the dad who called into nor rad santa tracking center on christmas eve with his kids. and then slid in an insult to the president. before hanging up. today, that guy told steve bannon that he doesn't even believe joe biden is president. >> donald trump is my president. and should be president now. >> that's a lie. but it's a lie a lot of republicans believe thanks to steve bannon. and congressional republicans. and of course trump himself. and it's a lie that is still being pushed today. here's january 6 defendant danny rodriguez. who is accused of tazing an officer. crying and repenting. when confronted with the consequences of his actions. >> why did you taze him? >> i don't know. i'm a piece of -- i'm sorry. i don't know. he's a human being. with children. and he's not a bad guy. he's just doing his job. and he's -- i'm an a hole. >> some of the rioter seemed upset they were brainwashed. but only came to the point after carrying out a violent assault on the capitol. others have faced no consequences. so it's a major concern when we start hearing rhetoric again like we did in the days before january 6. especially when it's coming from elected officials like house republican. who said last week at right wing turning point conference in phoenix, that he believes in second amendment solutions. >> i'm still in it. >> on january 6, some people came to the capitol hoping to kill nan nancy pelosi and mike pence. when an elected republican agrees to solving problems with potential violence, that needs to be addressed head on. what he said is wrong. and could get people killed. trump flirted with violence for years. before the insurrection. remember? in 2016 when he suggested quote second amendment people could take care of hillary clinton. but it's not 2016 anymore. it's 2022. almost. and a segment of the american public has been radicalized over six years if not longer. by trump and republicans who don't care what they say or how badly they egg on people to commit violent acts. that's why the january 6 select committee is so important. time is running out. americans have been radicalized and they're being pushed to action all the time by a group of unhinged conservatives who care more about power and profits than safety and security and doing what's right. we need it o know the truth. before it's too late. leading our discussion tonight is democratic congressman. of colorado. he served house impeachment manager in the second impeachment trial of donald trump. congressman, thank you for coming back to the last word. republicans have seen where this kind of rhetoric can go. why are they still pushing it? >> well, it's good to be with you. just taking a step back as you said next week will mark one year since the attack on congress. as you know was the worst assault on the capitol. since the war of 1812. there are many of us who warn nd the days after the sixth and later on the senate floor during the impeachment trial that we are facing a radically new threat in the kind of forces that combined to attack our government on january 6. and i believe that the future of the democracy is on the line. i can't explain to you why so many republican politicians have been stoking the flames. but i think many of the stories that you referenced demonstrate or crystallize the way in which those forces and the misinformation including the big lie about the 2020 election really had me tast sized over the last year. and much hasn't been on the front page of the newspaper. but over time the disinformation has permeated the mind of more americans. and that's in no small part due to social media. and politicians fanning the flames. it's disconcerning. it should concern every american and why the commission work is so critically important to the future of the country. >> congressman, do you think it's to the point where you think we can see another january 6 style insurrection? >> that's certainly a fear that i have. and that i know many colleagues share. ultimately the assault on january 6th was not just a riot. as you know. it was an attempt to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power. and if we aren't vigilant and don't take the threat seriously, it could very well happen again. as we warned during the course of the second impeachment trial. that you referenced. it's exactly why we establish the select committee. we needed a comprehensive investigation. into who organized and how they almost over threw a presidential election. they tried to do that. why they did it. and we must organize ourselves to prevent anything like this from happening again. that's why the committee work is so crucial. >> let's talk about the january 6 select committee investigation. i want you to listen to former senator on our air earlier today. >> we know trump was watching tv. he watched tv all day long. for four years. he watched all the channels. we can go through and put the images at a specific time. and we can then fill in the text messages, the phone calls that were flooding the white house. saying get him to call them off. give me the facts. give me the time line and give me a jury. >> congressman, that is -- she lays out an incredible set of things that the committee i hope they are already doing. but once the benefit of a time like this? a time line like this? >> a couple things. i have great respect for the former senator. and much of what she described the impeachment trial ultimately did glean for the american people. the team of house managers did much of that work. as she describes in compiling a time line. there are missing pieces. i suspect the committee is doing what she has described. putting together obviously by virtue of the document requests. and the testimony they have gathered so far. putting together the missing pieces so the american public and congress can better understand previcely what happened on the day. and obviously the inaction of the president. in a critical few hours during the assault on the capitol. his dereliction of duty. under the constitution. in terms of not taking steps to stop the attack. obviously there's a lot more for us to learn about the weaponization of the department of justice. that happened. during the course of the prior administration. what happened on january 6. there's still a number of unanswered questions and i think that we are going to have answers to those in the coming months. >> congressman, the anniversary of the insurrection is next week. i am wondering where will you be on january 6? 2022. >> i'll be in washington. i'll be back in washington. i think it's important for all us of to take a step back and reflect about the events of january 6. 2021. i was in the house that day. in the capitol. on the house floor. during the attack on the capitol. and obviously it was a heros day for the country and congress. and our republic. i'll be in washington with my colleagues and we will be doing the peoples work. >> congressman of colorado. thank you very much for coming to the last word. joining us now, neil former acting u.s. solicitor general. thanks for coming back. january 6 committee chairman told the "washington post" the panel is investigating trumps silence during the attack. and dereliction of duty causes us real concern. i can assure you that if a criminal referral would be warranted, there would be no reluctance on the part of the committee to do that. neil, what kind of evidence would the committee need before issuing a criminal referral? >> so, a criminal referral would occur if the committee finds that trump either by action or in action violated a criminal statute. the most likely criminal statute is one that representative already referenced. which is the 1512 statute. which says that if you are attempting to obstruct an official proceeding, that's a federal felony. it's already been used successfully against some of the january 6 insectionists. and several trump appointed judges have approved the use of the charges for the january 6 attack. so for example, the conversation having with a congressman, if the president just kind of sat on his hands watching tv, and not doing anything, because he had a certain intent which was to obstruct the official count on january 6. absolutely that's a federal crime. every day of the week. and congress is well within its rights to refer that to the justice department. to me the most important thing is what you started the show with, we have to get to the bottom and find out what happened. and right now, the trump folks are all clamming up and claiming privileges. they're afraid to tell the truth. before the committee. if we can't get to the bottom of the what happened on january 6, i don't know what the congress is for. it's worth every investigation in its important. or perhaps even the 9/11 committee. if the government officials white house officials can get away with helpingfy sill at a time this kind of armed attack opt capitol, what can't you get away with? of course we should get to the bottom of it. >> that leads me to the next question. which is january 6 committee is investigating, but there's another entity sitting out there that can also -- i think you said doesn't have to wait for the criminal referral. and that's the department of justice. where is the department of justice in all of this? claire earlier on deadline white house was saying look they might be doing things that we don't know about. i look forward to apologizing to attorney general garland. when that time comes. when they reveal what they're doing. until that time, what are you doing? what's taking so long? are we right to be asking that question of doj? >> certainly right to ask the question. in an ideal world the best solution here right now is the justice department is thoroughly nfgting these things and you and i and nobody else knows about it. that's the way law enforcement investigations are supposed to be. now the truth is, every time you have fbi agtss or whatever starting to ask questions you generally hear from the person being asked questions. or counsel. they talk to the media or something and say there's an ongoing investigation. we haven't heard that yet. which is why people i respect have said maybe they're actually isn't one. if there isn't that would be unforgivable. if they're saying we have to keep the investigation quiet. that's one thing. if they're waiting until congress pursues an investigation and pick up the ball after ward. that might be potentially understandable. but i get my view is there is nothing more important. this is what the department of justice is for. to investigate these kinds of high level wrong doings. to me, we already have evidence there's almost a crime going on here in the cover up. every trump aid is going before and filing a lawsuit saying i don't want to tell the truth to the congressional committee. and it's because the congressional committee is bias. if you think they're biassed, fine. you can say that every day of the week. that doesn't give you a right to hide evidence from the american people and from the congress. if you want to disagree with congress conclusions after they read your evidence, fine. go ahead and do so. argue that all day. don't clam up and be afraid to tell the truth before the committee. which is what the folks are doing. >> let me get your view on another one of these people. reporting that trump spokesman is suing the january 6 committee to block their access to financial records. why would he do that? what could the committee learn from financials? >> this is just another lawsuit by a trump person who is afraid to testify under oath. i'm hoping the trump folks are getting some sort of wholesale discount on lawsuits. there's so many. it's the same flimsy argument. putting all the eggs in a kind of creekky wicker basket. i don't think it will offer protection. what the spokesperson is saying is well the congressional committee wants to know where i got these $200,000 from. and so i'll plead privilege. and not provide that. this is financial information. nothing to do with like the functioning of the executive branch or the presidency. which is what privilege claims trump is trying and losing to litigate. this is going nowhere. this is all about delay. and his argument is essentially i don't trust congress. therefore i don't have to give them information. well, that would be nice. every time we face an investigation. we could say we don't trust the investigator. that doesn't shut the books on this investigation. the duty of american person is go and tell the truth to a congressional committee. and then you can argue about it after ward. >> i hope to never face a federal investigation. thank you so much. up next. rudy giuliani is facing new legal troubles. this time in georgia. for helping trump push his big lie that the 2020 election was stolen. one of the cofounders of black voters matter will join me. later, with omicron surging and people traveling for the holidays, one report tonight says doctors and nurses are seeing violence and hostility as covid cases fill hospitals yet again. hospitals yet again. those who tried me felt more energy in just two weeks! 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[cheering] that was awesome. and, the hits won't quit, with peacock premium included at no additional cost. all that entertainment built in. xfinity. a way better way to watch. this time last year, georgia election worker received a christmas card sent to her home saying quote please report to the fbi. and tell them you committed voter fraud. if you. you will be sorry. that's according to to a defamation lawsuit filed last week against one america news and rudy giuliani. for their role in pushing donald trumps big lie. ruby and her daughter were accused of manipulating election ballots. by the former president lawyer. according to the lawsuit, quote they have become the objects of threats and harassment. they found themselves in this position not based on anything they did, but instead because of a campaign of malicious lies designed to accuse them of interfering with a fair and impartial election. which is precisely what each of them swore an oath to protect. this lawsuit among many others has proven to be a major consequence of spreading the big lie. if there's another more sinister consequence, voter suppression. in lincoln county, georgia, where a 29% of the population is black, officials are moving to close all but one of the seven polling places as a result of georgia's voter restriction law. passed last year. >> joining us now. cofounder of black voters matter. cliff, very nice to see you. thank you for coming. i want everyone to listen to the 911 call ruby freeman placed on january 4. after a woman later identified as kanye west publicist. arrived at her home asking her to confess to election fraud. >> they keep saying that time is running out. and i'm going to need some representation. they're saying that i need help and they can help me because they say they coming after me. >> do you know who these people are? >> no. that's why i want the police to come. and i'll go outside and talk with them with the police being there. i'm not talking now. >> cliff, what's your reaction to the threats she faced? >> thanks for having me. we have been saying all year now when you look at the voter suppression taking place, both in term of legislation and terms of the wider narrative the big lie. that one of the most dangerous aspects all of it is bad. the criminalizing. giving out food and water. the criminalizing election officials that send out ballots to people. the most dangerous thing we have been saying all year has been this attack on local boards of elections. on local election officials. like miss freeman. what's happening to her is bad and in a different kind of universe in a multi-verse, it might be comical. that kanye's public list delivered a message from the mafia. but as bad as all that is, it's the bigger issue. it's the wider attack that we're seeing on taking over local boards of elections. it's already started here in georgia. being able to over turn elections. being able to cast ballots basically being able to do exactly what trump wanted the georgia secretary of state to do. but he didn't do. because the law wasn't on his side. now with this georgia law, they would be able to do that. this attack is part of a much wider and ominous stories about attacks on election officials across the country. >> are you concerned about what these past threats against election workers could mean for polling places during the 2022 midterms and beyond? >> yes. we're very concerned about it. again this is what we have been saying all along. this is why some of the newer aspects of the criminal vote act, which was actually added in for the people act. it wasn't there originally. after this year of the attacks there's built in to the most recent legislation protections for election officials. we're very concerned about it. at the end of the day what we know is there's a thing about out organizing the voter suppression. we can do everything right on our side. go out and we can touch all the voters multiple times and have persuasive messages and get the votes out. at the end of the day even if we over come the other stuff and voter id and the attacks on vote by mail and all that stuff the food and water, if we over come all of that, at the end of the day if republicans have the ability to simply throw out ballots. like they tried to do in georgia and michigan. and detroit. if they're able to do that, there's no out organizing that. that has been the thing we have been most concerned about. >> so i mention in the intro-that's what's happening in lincoln county. i want to get your reaction to lincoln county officials saying that the move to close six out of the seven polling places will make voting quote easier. and more accessible. and eliminate the need to transport voting equipment and staff to the remaining sites. cop on. come on. >> your reaction to that. >> yeah. we have been down this path before. including right here in georgia. remember a couple years ago it was ran doff county. trying to close seven out of the nine polling places. we were able to stop them. with a coalition of folks and national r partners. this is just a continuation of that. they're always trying to find new excuses. on why it is they need to close down all the polling places. it so happens we're closing them down in like your community. and your county. sometimes they say it's because of financial management. we don't have the resources. you're hearing it's about we want to make it easier for folks. as if it would be easier for folks to have to travel dozens of miles in order to get to the one polling place in the county. not to mention that sometimes when they do this, one polling place happens to be at the courthouse. which for many members of the community, transportation issues. that courthouse is not always a welcoming environment. that's why it's important folks have access to polling places in the community. you wouldn't be able to see this if we had things in place like the freedom voting act. any measures would have to be precleared. we don't have the power now. because of the supreme court voting rights act. >> i wish we had more time. we have to go. thank you very much for coming to the last word. coming up with cases surges it's clear the u.s. is in the throes of another covid winter. one thing is different. the unvaccinated are now people who have refused the vaccine. and in some cases are lashing out at the very people who are trying to save their lives. livs aleve-x. it's fast, powerful doctor rob davidson joins us next. doctor rob davidson joins s next llerball design. because with the right pain reliever... life opens up. aleve it... and see what's possible. with downy infusions, let the scent set the mood. ♪ feel the difference with downy. ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ experience the power of sanctuary at the lincoln wish list event. liz, you nerd, cough if you're in here! shh! i took mucinex dm for my phlegmy cough. experience the power of sanctuary what about rob's dry cough? 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>> well we are still deeply in the delta surge here. in west michigan. our hospitalization numbers are not at all time highs. but we're so far beyond anything we have seen before the pandemic. and finding beds for patients on a regular basis is still a challenge every day. i'm in a county where i work. about 45% of people are vaccinated. it doesn't look like it's budging from there any time soon. without mandates. so we expect to have omicron hit us fairly hard. we are hopeful that the cases are less severe. but i don't think the expeerpt has been tried and low vaccination areas. we have seen it in big cities on the east coast. we have seen it in the uk the people are vaccinated or south africa where people are younger. if delta doesn't completely let up what omicron will bring. >> i'm surprised to hear you say that your hospital beds and everything is filled with people who have covid. but because of the delta variant, we're all talking about omicron. how concerned are you? let me ask the question this way. your experience now today how different is it from last december? >> i'll tell you what in a personal way i'm protected. i have been vaccinated. i have had a third dose of the vaccine. my wife is a family doctor. our kids have. i don't come home with every shift taking off my scrubs in the garage and taking a shower. feeling like i could infect them or significant risk. it's different now because so many of my patients i have been taking care of for 20 years have refused the vaccine. come in and get angry when i simply want to get a test. i have a patient not that long ago suggest that i was going to give them covid. because we get paid extra when we do that. another patient because the waiting room was so full, and had to wait a long time said i'll come back with my nine millimeter and do something about it. and had the police called because they didn't like the wait time. because of the surge of unvaccinated people filling up the hospital. so that part feels different. we thought with the vaccine we sort of high fived in march of this year. when we came out of the last wave. my partners and i thinking all right, we got it. the waves are going to be over. people are getting vaccinated. it's not happening around here. >> doctor, i'm struck by the fact you say patients you have been treating for 20 years aren't getting vaccinated. i mean, you have been their doctor. there's a trust. there's supposed to be a trust between the two to of you. how does that make you feel to know that these people who you thought trust you don't trust you when it comes to something as vital as this? >> i tell you what, i have said this before. i have written this. i'm frustrated with the individuals. with their decisions. i know it's hurting them and all of us. it's keeping the hospitals full. hurting people without covid who can't get in. i'm really mad at the folks out there perpetrating the disinformation. the senators like ron johnson. our state senator here. who tells people natural immunity and better than the vaccine and refuses to get vaccinated. and folks on other net works like fox news and others that are spending every day under mining our efforts to do what's right. and people can't get away from it. their brains have been transformed to listen to all that noise. and discount what i tell them. what my wife a family doctor for 20 years is telling them. and they're paying the price. >> wow. thank you very much for coming back to the last word. coming up. the pandemic hit airline travel christmas weekend. what can we expect heading into new years? ng into new years? we are go for launch. um, she's eating the rocket. ♪♪ lunchables! built to be eaten. i'm so glad we're finally on vacation. yeah, and kayak made it so easy - searching hundreds of travel sites to find us a great flight. my ears still won't pop after the flight but i don't even care.... what? 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how long might this situation last? >> thanks for including me. it's a substantial challenge for the airline industry. because this is happening at christmas and new years. no airline wants to be the airline that ruined christmas. the individual effect of this on airlines is small. most airlines are cancelling about 4% of the flights. if that flight that's cancelled is yours it's a disaster. >> jet blue cancelled about 110 flights on sunday. saying they were seeing an increase in number of sick calls from omicron. a spokesperson told us despite the best efforts we had to cancel a number of flights in addition flight cancellation ands delays remain a possibility. what can airlines do going forward to prevent cancellations? can they prevent cancellation sns. >> they can't prevent cancellations. this virus is random. it's going to effect whoever it's going it affect. and as you mention, the majority of airline employees are vaccinated. if there's good news here it's this. the cdc decision to truncate the isolation time to five days means that the first wave of employees who got sick hopefully will be back on duty by the middle of the week. and that may help the new years weekend go better. >> so we heard dr. fauci say that a vaccine requirement for domestic travel should be seriously considered. what are your thoughts about a vaccine mandate for travelers? >> dr. fauci appears to have walked back his comments later. on an interview with the nightly news. but, what he also said is that it would be a good thing to have these vaccination requirements. but it's not very practical to do so. we don't have a digital vaccination certificate. to do this would make it far more complex and could 14% or more of the people who fly now. from traveling. and the airlines would lose more money. they'll fight this. >> thanks so much for joining us tonight. coming up, what happens when trump is no longer trump enough for today's republicans? because it might be happening now. that's next. with liberty mutual, so we only pay for what we need. -hey tex, -wooo. can someone else get a turn? yeah, hang on, i'm about to break my own record. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ ebenezer. only pay for what you need. ebenezer. ha ha ha ha. marley? first you will see the past. excuse me! coming through! ugh! and then...the present. and finally, ebenezer...the future! introducing the all-electric eqs. happy holidays from mercedes-benz. ray loves vacations. but his diabetes never seemed to take one. everything felt like a 'no'. everything. but then ray went from no to know. with freestyle libre 2, now he knows his glucose levels when he needs to. and... when he wants to. so ray... can be ray. take the mystery out of your glucose levels, and lower your a1c. now you know. try it for free. visit freestylelibre.us my hygienist cleans now you know. with a round head. so does my oral-b my hygienist personalizes my cleaning. so does my oral-b oral-b delivers the wow of a professional clean feel every day. superpowers from a spider bite? i could use some help showing the world how liberty mutual customizes their car insurance. ow! i'm ok! only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ only in theaters december 17th. when you have xfinity xfi, you have peace of mind ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ built in at no extra cost. advanced security helps keep your family protected online. pause wifi whenever for ultimate control with the xfinity app. and family-safe browsing gives parents one less thing to worry about. security, control and peace of mind. with xfinity xfi, it's all built in at no extra cost. donald trump's de -- descent down the escalator was the start of a new trump era. trump was mean. he talked like a thug even if he acted like a victim. he was ignorant and proudly so. and he never gave up the grift, saying what he needed to say to keep his rabid fans hooked. a lot of americans died while trump cried of how the coronavirus pandemic would hurt his reelection chances. trump and his french promoters are a big reason why we have an entrenched vaccinated minority in this country. and i say all that because it is necessary context for what donald trump recently said to one of those french promoters, candace owens. >> the vaccine worked, but some people aren't taking it. the ones who get very sick and go to the hospital are the ones that don't take the vaccine. look, the results of the vaccine are very good. and if you do get it, it's a very minor form. >> if i had pearls, i'd clutch them, because of course that is correct. and, of course, trump should have said this unapologetically and unwaveringly the last year. owens herself tried to explain away trump's comment by reminding fans that trump is old. people oftentimes forget that, like, how old trump is. i'm quoting candace owens right now. he and other old people came at a time before tv, before internet, before being able to conduct their own independent research. now i'm chuckling because of what i'm about to tell you. candace owens went on to say she is currently drinking silver to prevent sickness. silver. yes, you heard that right, silver. but french promoter alex jones went one step further. he said, quote, this is an emergency christmas day warning to president trump. you are either completely ignorant about the so-called vaccine, or you are one of the most evil men who has ever lived. could we just pause for a minute, let that sink in? if your christmas day involved the presence of warm songs and a holiday spirit, be grateful. you didn't have the time or the heart to consume this kind of garbage on december 25th. but what else can you expect from a conspiracy theorist who is now on the hook to pay the families of children murdered at sandy hook for claiming their murders were staged. that aside, it does raise a really interesting question. what happens when donald trump is no longer trumpy enough for the trump republican party? joining us now, democratic strategist hosa and modello who consults for democrats. he's also an independent analyst for the los angeles times. it's been a long time since i've seen you, but i'll start with kurt. kurt, did trump create a monster and now he's lost control of it? >> be careful what you wish for or you might get it. do you want the party turned inside-out on this nonsense political entity? guess what? they will come for you, too, at some point and now he's learning that, that this party now, it's becoming more about the hawthornes, matt gaetzes and marjorie taylor greenes, and he'll be cannibalized by them like he used to cannibalize the republican party. it's a cycle that will repeat itself over and over again until they run themselves into the ground or someone in the party stands up and says, enough is enough, let's take back the republican party toward a more mainstream approach. >> one more for you, kurt. on this very point, even if trump ceases to be the organizing principal of today's republican party, how does any national republican step away from trump? what do they stand for? >> this is the thing. we've seen people like liz cheney and adam kinzinger try to do that. for those who do that, they take their ball and kind of go home. we're seeing right now the interesting things that will happen in the coming year. all of these right wing wanna-be mini trumps and the type of candidates we're going to see, there's already doom and gloom by democrats saying they're going to lose the house. let me tell you something, jonathan. republicans are fully capable of the right wing extremists that they've alienated themselves so much, and we have these pilgrimages to mar-a-lago trying to get his blessing. >> right wing extremists are nominated for federal house in the senate. the "washington post" says, mar-a-lago seeks to expand by a republican challenger. here is how one is running in washington state. quote, kent said he has little interest in fighting with democrats if he makes it to congress. instead, he wants to force republicans into tough votes, starting with a 2020 presidential election which he says was stolen from trump. a lot of it will be shaming republicans, kent said. i need to be going after the people in the republican party who want to go back to go along to get along. it's put up or shut up. sochi, you're a democratic strategist. as alarming as that sounds, what do you think when you hear that as a strategist? >> well, i think that the maga brand won in 2016. but let's remember, it failed to bring the republican party over the finish line in 2018 and in 2020, and we saw even this last year that in 2021 glen duncan didn't win on a far right brand, he won on a more moderate-leaning brand that said he would deliver, and a lot of republicans were looking at that playbook afterwards, thinking through, man, if we are just a little bit more moderate, if we can hold it together for 2022, then we could potentially take back the house and the senate. that's not what's happening here. what's happening here is you have a republican party that is trying to go further and further to the right to embrace trump and, mind you, they are not all embracing vaccines, even though i would love for them to come out just like donald trump did and say that vaccines are safe. they are not doing that. honestly, that is terrible as an american. if you are going to have a republican party going further and further to the right, that is only good news for democrats. what will happen is democrats will talk about how they are delivering, how this is a far right party, and americans don't want that message, and so it is good news for democrats in the sense that republicans are going further to the right. this is terrible news more broadly for america. >> i hear you. you're a brilliant democratic strategist, so i hope you're right. so, kurt, are there house republicans in much trumpier districts who can be picked off in a primary? is there such a thing? >> i guess we're about to find out. i mean, the fact that, again, you have the litmus test right now for republicans in primaries. do you buy into the big lie? and will you spend more time fighting your fellow republicans than even democrats or joe biden? that quote from that "washington post" story is remarkable that someone wants to go to congress as a republican to set the people like kevin mccarthy and mitch mcconnell straight. if they want to blow this next election, which it seems like they do, keep talking about impeachment. your priority isn't to deliver for the american people the way democrats are trying to, it's that you want to impeach joe biden. that's not going to get it done. >> sochi, real fast, in 15 seconds, the likelihood, would republicans have the nerve if they took back the majority to actually go and impeach president biden? >> i hope not, but what i will tell you is if they do, they will lose elections after that. i don't see a situation that republicans gain control and hold control on an impeachment strategy. >> sochi mendoza and kurt, that is "the last word." good evening once again. i'm chris jansing, day 432 of the biden administration. tonight as the omicron variant drives a hospital surge in cases, the cdc now shortening the recommended time for isolation from ten days to five