states is telegraphing what's going to be on the table. it includes talk of missile placement and military exercises in europe. richard engel is in ukraine. he will join us later in the show with the latest. "velshi" begins now. good morning. we are ten months away from what may be the most consequential midterm elections in modern history. the insurrection that erupted into violence one year ago is not only not over, it's on the ballot. as if it's something to be debated and not lamented. the house select committee investigating the january 6 attack continues its work with bennie thompson saying the committee would like to speak to former vice president mike pence voluntarily, if possible, within the month. that's going to be interesting to see how that goes down. pence's press secretary saying he won't show without a subpoena. garland said they will go as high up as it needs to go to find justice and prosecute those who tried to undo american democracy from within. the fact remains that if the work for us is to buttress a democracy that was cracked by the former failed president and his cronies generally and by the insurrection, this one that we watched on january 6, 2021 specifically, we have no shared view, no shared experience of what happened that day, who caused it and what it means. time is running short for americans to form a consensus and then act upon that consensus in the interest of preserving what we have learned is a more fragile democracy than many of us would have believed and that many of us still believe. not only do we not share a view of what's broken and how to fix it, but there's evidence that even those leading republicans who initially and honestly spoke out against the attacks have changed their minds. take, for example, senator lindsey graham, a monumental trump supporter said enough is enough. he said, i'm out. about trump and what happened on january 6. he was back defending trump within weeks. senator ted cruz just this past week calls january 6th a quote terrorist attack and then immediately apologized in a groveling appearance on fox news, wimpering about how he was wrong, he was awkward, how sorry he was. it was a sight to behold. it's not an easy thing to fathom. modern americans are simply not wired to debate whether or not our democracy is imperiled. this is a discussion we reserve for other countries, but not for america. not america in the 20th century. it's worse than that. some think the coup attempt luckily failed. i think it remains underway. anti-democratic forces in the country, some of whom are in the republican party, will learn from donald trump's clumsiness and failures and they will get better at it. one example, the cyber ninjas in arizona may have shut down. but there's no reason that another, more capable, yet equally nefarious group can't figure out what the ninjas and trump couldn't, how to successfully overturn an american election in a given state. this is not an abstract concept. if going forward there's no accountability and with big lie candidates running all over the country up and down the ballot, there's no reason to believe that american democracy will not be affected by this. democracies can and have fallen. dictatorships and authoritarian governments can and have risen very quickly. there are numerous examples throughout history. even now -- forget about history. look at hungary. a country whose authoritarian leader trump continues to praise. look at turkey or venezuela or hong kong or ukraine or kazakhstan. more on those situations later in the show. thankfully, there are many patriots defending democracy. joining me now is one of them. michigan's attorney general. on thursday, she published a piece along with two other states attorney general diving into what we need to do to defend democracy. thank you for being with us this morning. you tweeted something about somebody who is running against you, challenging you for your position, who has, by the way, been endorsed by donald trump. you tweeted that -- then he tweeted. i will read his. you published something about him. he said, there's no question that if i'm replaced by matthew, democracy falls in michigan. not maybe, not possibly, certainly. he made it clear that not only he supports the big lie, that he is one of the originators of the big lie, to which he tweets, marxist ag says democracy falls in michigan. she's afraid because when i'm elected, she will go from wearing business suits to orange jumpsuits. that is ridiculous, dictatorial, authoritarian talk, unless he believes you committed a crime for which you should be sentenced to prison. >> thank you for having me. yes, that's not the only time that he has threatened to lock me up or imprison me. he never is specific about what crime i might have done that would lead to that. just that i need to go to bris prison, which echoed what we heard donald trump say about hillary clinton. it's more reminiscent of banana republics and those sorts of very fledgling countries that don't rely on a democratic system of government. whether it's matthew or whether it's the 17 attorneys general that are currently in office that tried to de-certify the 2020 election, as you recall, they joined texas in trying to de-certify the election in my state, in wisconsin, in pennsylvania and in georgia. the republican attorneys general association was fundamental, they were involved in driving people to the january 6 stop the steal rally that led to the insurrection. one of them, attorney general ken paxton, actually spoke at that particular rally. these are the top law enforcement officials in their respective states. they purport to be law and order ags. i don't know how you can possibly be a law and order attorney general and support insurrection, support cop killers, people who attempt to murder our democratically elected congressional representatives and desecrate the grounds of our federal buildings. and yet, that's where we are right now in 2022. if we don't ensure we get as many democratic attorneys general into office as possible where we have 30 seats up this year, i honestly don't know how we can possibly defend democracy in this country. >> i wouldn't mind if the republicans get elected. i need them to not see this as partisan. to see the idea there's a threat to democracy and part of the problem i think that we have is that it becomes strident. it sounds like everybody is yelling about democracy being in trouble. there are reasonable americans who say that's not true. on the other hand, you have others calling for you to go to prison in your own state. you had people take it into their own hands based on things that others had said that your own governor was doing something illegal and there was an attempt to kidnap and take her hostage and who knows how that would have gone. the danger of the lie is that people will take it upon themselves to say, hey, dana is a criminal. maybe we will take care of it. >> let's be clear. i think the statements that somebody like matthew -- he will have statewide criminal jurisdiction in the event he becomes attorney general. he will have the authority to investigate, prosecute, have arrested anyone in the state who he likes or who his leader, donald trump, likes. that's what this is about. he was one of the main orchestraters and disseminators of the big lie. the reason why he is supported by donald trump and vigorously supported by him is because donald trump knows he can manipulate him in any way he wants. that is the concern about having secretaries of state, about having attorneys general, about having governors who are more beholden to donald trump than they are to their constituents who live in their states. >> are you satisfied that if this were just up to the constituents of your state that the right decision will be made? increasingly with each passing day, more people are being convinced of the idea that the 2020 election was not legitimate and that say fundamental threat to democracy when people don't trust elections. >> i would not be concerned except for the efforts at voter suppression. we have many states where the republican legislators and governors made it more difficult for everyday people to have the ability to vote. in addition, even in my state where we have a democratic governor, there is this workaround through a ballot proposal that i expect to see go to our republican majority legislature where they will pass a number of voting restrictions. it's going to get much more difficult for people to vote. that does worry me. make it more difficult for people to votejority of people state who don't want to see matthew get elected may not have the ability to participate. >> it would be a good takeaway if everybody figured out who their attorney generals are, who the candidates are, who the secretary of states are, who the candidates are and where everybody stands on where democracy should be in 2020. good to see you. thank you for being with us. the attorney general of the state of michigan. i want to bring in democratic representative in new york, the house judiciary committee man, congressman jones. i had a great conversation yesterday morning with your colleague, representative clyburn, who has been saying that on a federal level the thing you have to do is bust through the filibuster for things that are as important as voting rights. you have chuck schumer in the state who said by january 17, martin luther king day this year, there will be a vote in the senate to get this done. how do you see this unfolding? >> it's great to be with you. this is of existential importance. as someone who is very serious about legislating and defending american democracy and who draws from the people who came before him in defense of civil rights and social justice, including the fundamental right to vote, i have got to remain optimistic that manchin and sinema, who as of today are the only democrats in the senate standing in the way of saving our ailing democracy, are going to have a religious experience and finally do the right thing, finally understand that this jim crow relic known as the filibuster, which historically has been weaponized to block progress, to block civil rights, is not nearly as important as protecting the fundamental right to vote, especially when one major political party is trying to undermine that right. >> joe manchin made a statement. he wrote an editorial in a newspaper many months ago. we talked about it right after it. he said, the reason he can't support these things before the senate, the voting right legislation before the senate is because it's not bipartisan, because there aren't any republicans supporting it. if we could get something republicans could support, then he might be able to do that. what do you do whether -- when republicans just won't get behind it? how do you fix that problem? >> you fix that problem by passing legislation, voting rights legislation, that will produce a more representative government. once again deliver republican representatives who are willing to work across the aisle with democrats on things of previously non-controversial importance. whether it's raising the debt ceiling or just protecting the fundamental right to vote, i'm reminded it wasn't always the case that the republican party was a party of fascism. in the early 2000s, the voting rights act in 2006 was reauthorized unanimously in the senate. when does that ever happen? nearly unanimously in the house. the way do that is to protect the right to vote, to once again restore the voting rights act so we get fewer or no qanon conspiracy theorists. that requires making an exception to the filibuster so we can pass the freedom to vote act and the john lewis voting rights advancement act. >> to pass those and get that vote, you need sinema and manchin and you need it done by january 17. what pressure do you believe can and should be brought to bear on the two of them to make this decision? this thing could be settled by january 17th. we could get partisan -- hopefully bipartisan, but at least a partisan line vote on eliminating the filibuster for purposes of really important legislation like voting and like abortion. >> let's start with the fact that the people of arizona should know that their senator is standing in the way of protecting the right to vote. that's why i'm going to be in arizona during mlk weekend with groups like the family of martin luther king junior educating folks about what is at stake and how they need to make it clear to their representative, in this case sinema, that she ought to do the right thing. people in west virginia also need to be aware of what is at stake and why their representative in the united states senate, their democratic representative -- unfortunately, we cannot depend on republicans to do the right thing. but there is a good chance senators sinema and manchin will. they need to understand in west virginia that senator mnchin is standing in the way as well. >> good to talk to you. thank you for making time for us. congressman jones of new york. we appreciate your time. we will continue to discuss the fight to defend democracy at the top of the hour with the senator from california. covid-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths continue to rise. now we are learning that not all vaccines are made equal. a little enacted more than a century ago that may have set the stage for the january 6 insurrection. when our daughter and her kids moved in with us... our bargain detergent couldn't keep up. turns out it's mostly water. so, we switched back to tide. one wash, stains are gone. [daughter] slurping don't pay for water. pay for clean. it's got to be tide. 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. some people say if you want to see america, see it on the 4th of july. but america is just as beautiful on the 4th of january or february. stripped of its leaves but not drained of its color. no one experiences a true american winter the same way. but those with the confidence and capability in the all new 2022 grand wagoneer will remember the adventure as long as they live. and capability in the all new 2022 grand wagoneer i don't just play someone brainy on tv - i'm an actual neuroscientist. and i love the science behind neuriva plus. unlike ordinary memory supplements, neuriva plus fuels six key indicators of brain performance. more brain performance? yes, please! neuriva. think bigger. nicorette knows, quitting smoking is freaking hard. you get advice like: just stop. go for a run. go for 10 runs! run a marathon. instead, start small. with nicorette. which can lead to something big. start stopping with nicorette. your shipping manager left to “find themself.” leaving you lost. you need to hire. i need indeed. indeed you do. indeed instant match instantly delivers quality candidates matching your job description. visit indeed.com/hire up at 2:00am again? tonight, try pure zzzs all night. matching your job description. unlike other sleep aids, our extended release melatonin helps you sleep longer. and longer. zzzquil pure zzzs all night. fall asleep. stay asleep. when you really need to sleep you reach for the really good stuff. new zzzquil ultra helps you sleep better and longer when you need it most. it's non habit forming and powered by the makers of nyquil. new zzzquil ultra. when you really really need to sleep. every day in business brings something new. so get the flexibility of the new mobile service designed for your small business. introducing comcast business mobile. you get the most reliable network with nationwide 5g included. and you can get unlimited data for just $30 per line per month when you get four lines or mix and match data options. available now for comcast business internet customers with no line-activation fees or term contract required. see if you can save by switching today. comcast business. powering possibilities. how not to be a hero: because that's the last thing they need you to be. you don't have to save the day. you just have to navigate the world so that a foster child isn't doing it solo. you just have to stand up for a kid who isn't fluent in bureaucracy, or maybe not in their own emotions. so show up, however you can, for the foster kids who need it most— at helpfosterchildren.com few of you probably think much about rutherford b. haze who served one inconsequential term as president of the united states. fewer of you yet probably remember much about samuel tildon, his democratic opponent in the election. yet, they are both suddenly relevant to our current debates about the future of american democracy. the presidential election of 1876, set into motion a tradition that is at the center of the january 6th insurrection. that election is actually the most disputed in u.s. history. the showdown was rife with voter fraud, intimidation and efforts to suppress the black vote. so-called white rifle clubs massacred blacks. democrats who had been the pro slavery party convinced landlords and shop owners to charge a tax on anyone suspected of voting republican. it said votes were being sold for $5, equivalent to $130 today. days before the inauguration, it was unclear who would take the oath of office. three southern states, louisiana, south carolina and florida, claimed election fraud and disputed their own elections, each of them sending two competing slates of electors to capitol hill to congress for them to pick from. a commission was formed to decide the winner. haze was ultimately sworn in, despite tildon having won the popular vote. congress ultimately acknowledged that maybe this wasn't the most democratic process. over the next ten years, congress debated and eventually passed something called the electoral count act. it was meant to set guidelines how congress settles a disputed presidential election. the language is so confusing, vague and almost unintelligible, that it leaves much to interpretation. the bill faded into obscurity for more than 100 years. no one took advantage of the manipulated legislation until 2021. in the days leading up to the insurrection, the former president's allies devised a plan to that act to try to overturn the results of the 2020 election. in a memo obtained by the january 6 committee, john eastman, a former lawyer for donald trump, tried to persuade then vice president mike pence to reject joe biden's victory when congress met to certify the election on, you guessed it, january 6. we know what happened next. pence, by good fortune, chose not to bow to the pressure and not perpetuate the big lie. instead, he affirmed the electoral college count, formalizing joe biden's victory. who knows what would have happened if mike pence had decided that power, trump's democracy that day? i would rather we never find out. after what we experienced, there's a fear of states finding loopholes to override the will of voters. mitch mcconnell said, and i quote, why would any legislature in america want to overturn the counting of votes? they have to get elected by those people. the notion that some state legislature would be crazy enough to say to their own voters, we're not going to honor the results of the election is ridiculous on its face, end quote. i don't know, mitch. but that's exactly what a bunch of state legislators tried to do. these 147 members of your party in the house of representatives and the senate supported those efforts by voting against certifying the legitimate victory of joe biden. a recent poll finds 71% of republicans still don't believe biden was legitimately elected president because of the big lie. despite this, there's bipartisan support for reforming the stupid 1887 electoral count act to clarify the vice president does not have unbridled power. mcconnell says that he is open to fixing the act. mcconnell is probably betting a bipartisan effort to fix the electoral count act will distract from the reform that neither he nor any other republican senator appears to have any interest in supporting. regardless of the politics behind it, it needs reforming or eliminating. that alone will not prevent american democracy from backsliding. there are two other far more comprehensive efforts in front of the senate that will really address the anti-democratic impulses that are coursing through america right now. the chance to fix the problem is now before we actually do lose democracy. democracy. with chase security features, guidance and convenience, banking feels good. chase. make more of what's yours. that's a nice truck. yeah, it's the chevy silverado. check out this multi-flex tailgate. multi-flex, huh? wow. it becomes a step. mom, dad's flexing again. that's not all. you can extend the bed for longer stuff. is he still... still flexing. that's right! and, it becomes a workspace... you can put your laptop here. i'm sending an imaginay email. hey dad, dinner! hey! look who stopped by daddy's office. wait, you work here? the chevy silverado with the available multi-flex tailgate. find new flexibility. find new roads. chevrolet. i recommend nature made vitamins, because i trust their quality. they were the first to be verified by usp, an independent organization that sets strict quality and purity standards. nature made. the #1 pharmacist recommended vitamin and supplement brand. do you struggle with occasional nerve aches in your hands or feet? nature made. try nervivenerve relief from the world's #1 selling nerve care company. nervive contains alpha lipoic acid to relieve occasional nerve aches, weakness and discomfort. try nervivenerve relief. - [female narrator] five billion people lack access to safe surgery. thousands of children are suffering and dying from treatable causes. for 40 years, mercy ships has deployed floating hospitals to provide the free surgeries these children need. join us. together, we can give children the hope and healing they never thought possible. it's a mission powered by love, made possible by you. give today. (swords clashing) -had enough? -no... arthritis. here. aspercreme arthritis. full prescription-strength? reduces inflammation? thank the gods. don't thank them too soon. kick pain in the aspercreme. age is just a number. and mine's unlisted. try boost® high protein with 20 grams of protein for muscle health. versus 16 grams in ensure high protein. boost® high protein also has key nutrients for immune support. boost® high protein. the omicron variant accounts for 95% of all new covid cases. the daily average of new infections has risen to more than 656,000. that's a jump of over 226% over the past two weeks. daily hospitalizations are up 75% with an average of over 124,000 people being admitted. right now, just over 1,500 people are dying per day on average of covid. globally, cases are astronomical, just shy of 305 million cases worldwide. as we know, vaccines are the key. yet only 60% of the global population has had at least one dose of a vaccine. we are learning that some of the vaccines getting used in other parts of the world may not be as effective as some of the ones we are using here in the united states. while most vaccines are holding up well in prevailing -- preventing severe disease, experts say only mrna vaccines, in our case pfizer and moderna, work at actually preventing infections from taking place. according to a new scientific report, the world needs up to 22 billion doses to bring the pandemic under control in 2022. however, pfizer and moderna claim they will manufacture 4 billion and 3 billion respective this year. that's a shortfall of 15 million doses, far from what the world would require. joining me now is the director of harvard medical school for global health. good morning. thank you for joining us. you are one of the author this was report. the report goes on to say the evidence is clear. only by universally deploying vaccines most effective against infection, which appear to be the mrna vaccines, will we blunt the virus evolution and bring the pandemic under control globally. tell me why this is important, why the mrna vaccines versus the other vaccines work differently. >> thanks so much for having me on the show. it's nice to see you again. i think as you said in your introduction, the mrna vaccines have been shown to reduce the risk of getting infected with different strains of the virus. every time you get an infection and the virus can replicate in a person, that's a chance for mutations to happen. you can see more variants. data that came out from israel in october, right after the delta peak, showed that the booster shots -- if you gave booster shots to people older than 60, they found that you had lower rates of infection. you don't see this with the other types of vaccines. it's really important that we use the mrna vaccines. that's the best we have right now. if you can reduce the risk of getting infected with delta or omicron, you reduce variants. if you do that, we stop having these waves of disease. that's the main hinge to protect us. the other part, which is a big moral responsibility for the united states, is that the mrna vaccines reduce severe infection or death, especially in people who have all these other co-morbid diseases like hypertension or diabetes or overweight or just older people in general. older people are 81% of covid deaths, people over 65. you think, how many people really have that? 9% of the world's population has diabetes, 26% have hypertension, 30% is overweight or obese. you start to say, okay, we have to do it to reduce thes coming being a never ending epidemic and we have to help others not die. >> i misspoke when i said we will be short -- we need 22 billion. how do we solve that problem? why are so many choosing the non-mrna? is it supply? >> it's supply and it's actually interestingly geopolitics. china has gone to other countries and built 15 factories. russia sent -- the russian vaccine has had a lot of production problems. the chinese vaccine has been produced. billions have received it. it has efficacy problems. it does not work as well as the mrna vaccines that we are making here in the united states. the question is, well, can we make more of those mrna vaccines? yes. we can scale production in the united states. we can increase production. the nih moderna vaccine, the one you referred to earlier, they created a plant and had it up and running in new hampshire in a matter of four months. it creates 1 billion vaccines. you can imagine that you could create two or three or four other such plants in the united states in short order. it would be an american product. it would give more american jobs. you could supply the world with vaccine. you could build vaccine plants in other places as china has done or support other countries to do the vaccine as russia has done. people think that the cost is going to be exorbitant. estimates is it's $12 billion to do this. it will take four to six months. there are a number of models through which this can be done. >> thanks very much for the report and for explaining it. the medical director for global health delivery and professor of global health and social medicine. we have been discussing how american democracy is in peril and how we can make sure it doesn't crumble like in hungary and kazakhstan. a live report on the situation in the former soviet territory which should serve as a lesson for us here at home. why does walgreens offer prescription copays as low as zero dollars? ♪ ♪ so you won't have a medicare in the world. ♪ ♪ plus, 90-day refills and same day delivery. larry? that's even less to medicare about. fill your medicare prescriptions with walgreens and save. ♪ ♪ [music: sung by craig robinson] ♪ i'm a ganiac, ganiac, check my drawers ♪ [sfx: sniffs / long exhale] ♪ and my clothes smell so much fresher than before ♪ ♪ yeah, yeah ♪ ♪ i'm a ganiac, ganiac, check my drawers ♪ ♪ it's a freshness like i've never smelled before ♪ one sniff of gain flings and you'll be a gainiac too! the only detergent with oxiboost and febreze. it's your home. and there's no place like wayfair to make your reach-in closet, feel like a walk-in closet now that's more your style. make the morning chaos, organized chaos. and make sure everything's in it's place. so nothing is out of place. however you make it, make your home a place like no other. you don't get much time for yourself. so when you do, make it count with crest pro-health. it protects the 8 areas dentists check for a healthier mouth. the #1 toothpaste brand in america. crest. u.s. and russian officials will convene in geneva for a security conference monday as vladimir putin engages in two conflicts at the same time. kazakhstan remains under a state of emergency after explosive anti-government protests and violence rocked the country. the president ordered police to shoot to kill any protesters who didn't surrender. rallies over rising fuel prices spiraled out of control. here is kazakhstan's eastern region. in the largest city, people looted the presidential fire and set it on fire. 164 people have been killed in the past week. kazakhstan is a former soviet republic that russian president vladimir putin has sought to keep under his influence. unlike a similar crisis in ukraine, the autoautocrats rema close ties with russia. they invited the russian military force. they are in the country to reinforce troops. good day to you. what's the latest on the russian deployment to kazakhstan? >> reporter: good morning. the russian defense ministry is sending more troops into kazakhstan. it has a fleet of some 75 transport aircraft that are being used to ferry soldiers, army, equipment into kazakhstan. we don't know how many russian troops are on the ground there. we do know the ctso, the russian-led equivalent of nato, plans to deploy 2,500 troops in total. we expect the vast majority of those will be russian. the u.s. position on this has been to be publically agnostic. it's a country the u.s. has relations with. if they want to invite russian troops in, that's their prerogative. secretary of state blinken speaking on friday did raise questions about what exactly those russian troops are doing in the country and whether or not they are really needed. take a listen to what he had to say. >> it would seem to me that the authorities and government have the capacity to deal appropriately with protests, to do so in a way that respects the rights of protesters. it's not clear why they feel the need for outside assistance. >> reporter: the big picture here is the government does seem to be back in control for the most part after the worst unrest in that country since the collapse of the soviet union. as you said, authorities say 164 people killed in the last week. 5,800 detained. we were expecting that number of people arrested to grow. russian state media is reporting security forces are going door to door in the capital looking for people who were involved in that -- in those protests. that would suggest that they are off the back foot. they are back on the offensive now. a little palace intrigue. the former intelligence chief has been arrested or suspected treason. this is a man who as recently as wednesday was one of the most senior officials in the government. he is now languishing in prison alongside thousands of others. that just gives you a sense of how quickly the situation has been moving on the ground there. >> no kidding. thanks very much for your coverage. coming up, the u.s. is accustom to dealing with external threats, foreign adversaries. right now, greatest threat to america may be itself. to america may be itself. are you tired of clean clothes that just don't smell clean? what if your clothes could stay fresh for weeks? now they can. downy unstopables in-wash scent boosters keep your laundry smelling fresh waaaay longer than detergent alone. pour a cap of downy unstopables into your washing machine before each load. and enjoy fresher smelling laundry. if you want laundry to smell fresh for weeks make sure you have downy unstopables in-wash scent boosters. shop online for downy unstopables, including our new, lighter scent. healthier starts when excuses end. what? it's too windy. right now at cvs, get $10 in extrabucks rewards when you spend $30 on select wellness support products. with this offer, there's no room for excuses. external threats are generally easy for americans to rally around. for the first time in a long time in america, the greatest threat to our safety and security may be ourselves. i'm talking about both the actual threats to democracy from within and the enduring stories that we tell ourselves about our own exceptionalism that prevent us as americans from recognizing the anti-democratic rot that is spreading from within. left unchecked, american leadership in the world isn't just at risk, american democracy at home itself may be. all of this comes against the backdrop of the midterm elections that will take place in november. conventional wisdom suggests republicans could take control of the house in take the senate well. outrage of some kind is guaranteed.eurasia group founder ian bremmer lays out what the country faces. democrats lose they'll blame the republican victory on the suppression of minority voters and the partisan redistricting. if republicans underperform they'll claim fraudulent election procedures and dishonest vote counting. either way, tens of millions of americans will view the midterms as rigged. ian bremmer standing by. we're going to talk to him about this after a quick break. fter ak , landscaper larry and his trusty crew... were delayed when the new kid totaled his truck. timber... fortunately, they were covered by progressive, so it was a happy ending... for almost everyone. >> vo: my car is my after-work decompression zone. so it was a happy ending... ♪ music ♪ >> vo: so when my windshield broke... i found the experts at safelite autoglass. they have exclusive technology and service i can trust. >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪ how not to be a hero: because that's the last thing they need you to be. you don't have to save the day. you just have to navigate the world so that a foster child isn't doing it solo. you just have to stand up for a kid who isn't fluent in bureaucracy, or maybe not in their own emotions. so show up, however you can, for the foster kids who need it most— at helpfosterchildren.com back with me to discuss the biggest threats to the world is ian bremmer, the president and founder of eurasia group and gzero media. good to see you. you have increasingly in the last few years been turning your focus, which is typically all over the world, to the dangers that democracy in america present. both to america and to the world. tell me about how you're thinking about this right now because you focussed in -- one of your major threats is focused in on the midterm elections in part because of what i just read but you have greater concerns about what the dispute of the midterm elections could lead to. >> i started the firm in 1998. the united states' domestic politics was never part of it. the u.s. was doing a lot of leading by example. didn't make everyone around the world happy and we made our share of mistakes but there wasn't really any question about the legitimacy of american political institutions. now, i mean, you and i know ali and that kind of fundamental to a functioning democracy is the ability to have free and fair, legitimate elections that whoever wins, whoever loses, you go on and you continue to govern. and all around the world major democracies continue to function like that. but not the united states. and so -- and i see so many people out there saying can we keep our denokeracy, can we save our democracy? i think it's more can we rebuild some of the democracy that we've already lost because, as of today, the national election cycle in the u.s. has fundamentally eroded. we can no longer count on having a free, fair and legitimate national election. >> you speak to world leaders. you speak to corporate leaders. you have sound and somber discussions with them. how do you ring this bell with people who say that's an overreaction of the political class, of the sort who go on cable tv on a sunday morning because they've always got to get us all riled about something? how do you convince good, honest people who do not want to believe that we live in what could be a crumbling democracy that they do have to do something to reinvigorate it? >> well, look, i think it depends on who you're talking to. conversations with allies, it has a lot more to do with, is the united states willing and able to consistently commit? biden says america is back. that's obviously not true for the iranian nuclear deal, for example. you can't get it done. why? because we left a treaty that we had put together with all of our allies. the iranians said, sorry, no mas. there's lots of problems like that. adversaries, of course, look at this and love it. they say, wow, this is going to be an opportunity for us to shake more fruit from the trees and see if anything falls. certainly the russians looking at ukraine today, precisely a response to can we divide the united states from europe farther? can we get the europeans to recognize the americans aren't really there, that biden when has bluff is called is not going to actually prove to be a strong president. and the americans aren't consistent in what they say about russia and ukraine through administrations, don't want to lead. domestically, i hate to say it, you just went through january 6th and the reality is that the country has no idea how to respond to an event like that. it goes completely into political tribalism. one side believes that the people that occupy the capitol were patriots called by the president of the united states to ensure that you did not have the certification of a stolen election -- something you and i know to be false, but that isn't going to convince them. they've been more convinced of the opposite over the course of the past year while half of the country thinks that this was sedition and traitorous behavior on the part of former president trump and action needs to be taken to ensure that that doesn't happen again. i mean, you know, when you have that kind of an act that is obviously going to be critically important to any history book and the country itself fundamentally believes that its principal enemies are those that sit across the aisle as opposed to the chinese and russians and iranians, democracies like that don't last very long. >> you actually write that in either the broken or stolen outcome case, meaning democrats or republicans, the impact on the united states domestically and abroad would be profound. a nationwide crisis of political legitimacy could provoke domestic terrorism. the resulting instability would make the insurrection of 2020 and social unrest of 1968 look tame. the federal government would become structurally dysfunctional. that is a thing you're warning against. you're in the business of warning people about risk. you aren't actually a political activist. you tell companies and countries, this is the risk you're looking at when you're in america. this is inconceivable to me that you're writing that about america. >> i know. it is shocking to me as well. but you have to look back. in 2016, it wasn't that bad. but you could see the germs of this develop, right? you saw that hillary clinton, you know, she conceded. she called trump. but a large number of democrats believed that the election was stolen. trump wasn't their president. he wasn't legitimate. he colluded with the russians to overturn a legitimate outcome. that's corrosive, that kind of thinking. and you saw the drum beat go on and many media, many democratic leaders. then in 2020 it gets worse. it wasn't a coup attempt. no possibility that trump was going to overturn it. republicans certified in places like arizona and georgia that biden actually won. but trump himself, the president, drove the big lie and now a large majority of his voters believe that biden is illegitimate. and what i am suggesting, it's very clear on the back of midterms, the republicans are overwhelmingly likely to win in the house. they're reasonably likely to win in the senate, very likely to take key governor and state legislatures in swing states that are critical for certifying the election. and the republican party is still completely run by trump who could persist with this big

Related Keywords

Velshi , Election , Officials , Big Lie Pedalers , Any , Firewall , Dozens , Trump Loyalists , Vaccines , Office , Some , Players , Running , Battle , Omicron Variant , Research , White House , Troops , United States , Russia , Vladimir Putin , Variants , Stakes , Procession , Talks , Border , Move , Talk , Richard Engel , Ukraine , Show , Latest , Missile Placement , Telegraphing , Table , Exercises , Europe , Elections , Ten , Something , January 6th Insurrection , House Select Committee , Attack , Ballot , Work , Violence , 6 , January 6 , One , Vice President , Mike Pence , Committee , Bennie Thompson , Press Secretary , Justice , Subpoena , Garland , American Democracy , President , Fact , Cronies , Experience , View , Who , January 6 2021 , 2021 , Many , Tens Of Millions Americans , Consensus , Interest , Preserving , Republicans , It , Evidence , Attacks , Minds , Trump , Example , Lindsey Graham , Supporter , Ted Cruz , Appearance , January 6th A Quote Terrorist Attack , Fox News , January 6th , Thing , Debate , Sight , Fathom , Countries , Democracy , Discussion , Coup , 20th Century , 20 , Donald Trump , Country , Forces , Failures , Clumsiness , Reason , Arizona , Group , Trump Couldn T , Cyber Ninjas , Figure , Another , Ninjas , Candidates , Big Lie , Given State , Concept , Accountability , Democracies , Governments , History , Examples , Dictatorships , More , Leader Trump , Situations , Kazakhstan , Hong Kong , Turkey , Venezuela , Hungary , Attorney General , States , Patriots , Michigan , Piece , On Thursday , Two , Way , Somebody , Position , Matthew , Originators , Marxist Ag , Business Suits , Orange Jumpsuits , Crime , Prison , Yes , Hillary Clinton , Bris Prison , Banana Republics , Sorts , Say , Reminiscent , Who Don T , Government , Attorneys General , System , 17 , State Of Emergency , Georgia , Wisconsin , Pennsylvania , Texas , 2020 , People , Rally , Ken Paxton , Attorneys General Association , Led , Law Enforcement Officials , Law And Order , Ags , Support , Support Cop Killers , Representatives , Attorneys , Grounds , Buildings , 2022 , Mind , 30 , Voting Rights Legislation , Threat , Part , Idea , Everybody , Americans , Trouble , Things , Governor , Estate , Others , Hands , Hand , Attempt , Hostage , Danger , Lie , Criminal , Care , Dana , Anyone , Event , Statements , Authority , Leader , Investigate , Jurisdiction , Disseminators , Orchestraters , Governors , Concern , Secretaries , Constituents , Decision , Efforts , Voter Suppression , People Don T Trust Elections , Ability , Workaround , Legislators , Ballot Proposal , Addition , Number , Majority Legislature , Voting Restrictions , Elected , Votejority , Takeaway , Attorney Generals , Secretary , Representative , Conversation , Congressman Jones , New York , House Judiciary Committee Man , Vote , Filibuster , Voting Rights , Colleague , Martin Luther King Day , Level , Representative Clyburn , Chuck Schumer , January 17 , United States Senate , Someone , Importance , To Be With You , Done , Rights , Defense , Social Justice , Democrats , Standing , Joe Manchin , Case Sinema , Political Party , Jim Crow , To Block Progress , Statement , Right , Newspaper , Editorial , Legislation , Voting Right , Whether , Representative Government , Passing Legislation , Aisle , Debt Ceiling , Wasn T , Party , Case , Voting Rights Act , Fascism , 2006 , 2000 , House , Qanon , Electoral , Exception , Freedom , Conspiracy Theorists , Voting Rights Advancement Act , John Lewis , Pressure , January 17th , Voting , Partisan , Line Vote , Abortion , Purposes , Senator , Groups , Martin Luther King , Family , Folks , Stake , West Virginia , Chance , Senators , Manchin Will , Fight , Senator Mnchin , Cases , Learning , Hospitalizations , Deaths , Covid , Top , Equal , California , 19 , Insurrection , Stage , Daughter , Couldn T , Wash , Kids , Bargain Detergent , Stains , Tide , World , Pay , Liberty Mutual , Liberty , Car Insurance , Help , Water , Spider Bite , Superpowers , 4th , Theaters , December 17th , 4th Of July , 4 , 4th Of January , Capability , No One , Confidence , Color , Leaves , Grand Wagoneer , True American Winter , Brain Performance , Memory Supplements , Neuroscientist , Science , Indicators , Adventure , Neuriva Plus , Tv , Six , Run , Neuriva , Smoking , Marathon , Nicorette , 10 , Job Description , Indeed Instant Match , Shipping Manager , Find Themself , Melatonin , Release , Sleep Aids , Try Pure Zzzs , Visit Indeed Com Hire , 2 , 00 , Zzzquil Ultra , Stuff , Makers , Habit , Zzzquil Pure Zzzs , Nyquil , Flexibility , Service , Small Business , Network , Comcast Business Mobile , Nationwide 5g , 5 , Data , Term , Contract , Lines , Business , Internet , Line , Mix , Match Data Options , Fees , Customers , 0 , Four , Hero , Possibilities , Comcast Business , Foster Child Isn T , Kid , Emotions , Isn T Fluent In Bureaucracy , Helpfosterchildren Com , Foster Kids , Samuel Tildon , Fewer , Opponent , Rutherford B Haze , Set Into Motion , Center , Debates , Tradition , The Future Of American Democracy , 1876 , Most , Voter Fraud , Intimidation , The Showdown , Owners , Blacks , Rifle Clubs , Slavery , Shop , Landlords , Votes , Tax , Inauguration , , 130 , Electors , Southern States , Each , Election Fraud , Slates , Oath Of Office , Louisiana , South Carolina , Florida , Three , Commission , Popular Vote , Haze , Winner , Capitol Hill , Tildon , Congress , Count , Guidelines , Democratic Process , Language , Interpretation , Bill , Obscurity , 100 , Allies , Advantage , Victory , Joe Biden , Results , Plan , Memo , Lawyer , John Eastman , Power , Electoral College Count , Formalizing , Voters , Legislature , Loopholes , Will , Fear , Mitch Mcconnell , Notion , Counting , State Legislature , End Quote , State Legislators , Members , I Don T Know , Bunch , House Of Representatives , 147 , Poll , 71 , 1887 , Effort , Supporting , Politics , Reform , Backsliding , Front , Coursing , Impulses , Chase Security Features , Convenience , Tailgate , Truck , Banking , Step , Chevy Silverado , Chase , Huh , Multi Flex , Dad , Bed , Workspace , Flexing , Mom , Laptop , Email , Dinner , Daddy , Still Flexing , Wait , Imaginay , Nature , Vitamins , Organization , Standards , First , Quality , Purity , Chevrolet , Find New Roads , Usp , Nerve Aches , Nervivenerve Relief , Supplement , Brand , Nervive , Nerve Care Company , Pharmacist , Vitamin , Feet , Alpha Lipoic Acid , 1 , Discomfort , Weakness , Children , Surgery , Thousands , Narrator , Causes , Suffering , Five Billion , Healing , Hospitals , Mission , Love , Surgeries , Hope , Mercy Ships , 40 , Give Today , Inflammation , Arthritis , Strength , Aspercreme Arthritis , Swords Clashing , Protein , Muscle Health , Age , Gods , Kick Pain , 16 , High Protein , Immune Support , Boost , Nutrients , Infections , Average , Jump , 656000 , 226 , 95 , Over , 1500 , 124000 , 75 , Vaccine , Dose , Population , Key , 60 , 305 Million , Pfizer , Disease , Experts , Mrna , Parts , Ones , Moderna , Place , Report , Control , Pandemic , 22 Billion , Doses , Claim , Shortfall , 2022 However , 3 Billion , 4 Billion , 15 Million , Health , Director , Author , Harvard Medical School , Infection , Virus , Thanks , Evolution , Risk , Introduction , Strains , Booster Shots , Mutations , Person , Delta Peak , Israel , Rates , Types , Best , Omicron , Waves , Hinge , Delta , Responsibility , Death , Hypertension , Diabetes , General , Covid Deaths , Diseases , 9 , 81 , 65 , Thes , 26 , Epidemic , It Supply , Supply , Non Mrna , Lot , Chinese , Factories , Production Problems , Geopolitics , China , 15 , Question , Efficacy Problems , Billions , The One , Production , Plant , Nih Moderna Vaccine , Matter , Product , Plants , New Hampshire , 1 Billion , Places , Vaccine Plants , Cost , Jobs , Estimates , Models , 12 Billion , 2 Billion , Doesn T , Delivery , Medicine , Professor , Peril , Situation , Territory , Lesson , Soviet , Medicare , Prescription Copays , Low , Walgreens , Zero , Zero Dollars , Prescriptions , Larry , 90 , Clothes , Ganiac , Music , Save , Sfx , Check My Drawers , Sniffs Long Exhale , Craig Robinson , Gain , Gainiac , Freshness , Flings , Drawers , Detergent , Home , Walk In Closet , Wayfair , Febreze , Oxiboost , Reach In Closet , No Other , Everything , Nothing , Style , Organized Chaos , Morning Chaos , It Count , Crest Pro Health , Areas , 8 , Mouth , Security Conference , Conflicts , Crest , Protests , Protesters , Rallies , Fuel Prices , City , Eastern Region , Didn T Surrender , Fire , Soviet Republic , Influence , 164 , Crisis , Russian Military Force , Ties , Autoautocrats , Reporter , Deployment , Defense Ministry , Fleet , Transport Aircraft , Soldiers , Equipment Into , Army , Ground , Majority , Equivalent , Ctso , Nato , 2500 , Relations , Secretary Of State , Questions , Prerogative , Blinken Speaking , Authorities , Capacity , Need , Assistance , The Big Picture , Unrest , Collapse , 5800 , Door To , Security Forces , Capital , Offensive , State Media , Oman , Intelligence , Intrigue , Treason , Palace , Chief , Sense , Kidding , Threats , Adversaries , Coverage , Coming Up , Scent Boosters , Laundry , Downy Unstopables , Downy , Smelling Laundry , Waaaay , Washing Machine , Load , Cap , Healthier , Offer , Room , Excuses , Wellness Support Products , Cvs , Extrabucks , Time , Safety , Security , Exceptionalism , Stories , Rot , Backdrop , Wall , Leadership , Wisdom , Kind , Outrage , Eurasia Group , Ian Bremmer , Suppression , Election Procedures , Minority , Redistricting , Midterms , Vote Counting , Break , Standing By , Landscaper Larry , Fter Ak , Everyone , Ending , Car , Progressive , Vo , Music Vo , Crew , Timber , Windshield , Decompression Zone , Singers , Technology , Safelite Autoglass , Safelite Repair , Founder , Gzero Media , Democracy In America Present , Dangers , Focus , Concerns , Dispute , Legitimacy , Didn T , Firm , Mistakes , Share , Domestic Politics , 1998 , Whoever Wins , Institutions , Fair , Ali , Denokeracy , All Around The World , Cycle , Because , Leaders , World Leaders , Discussions , Bell , Go On , Overreaction , Sort , Class , Good , Sunday Morning , Conversations , Treaty , Deal , Iranian , Course , Iranians , Problems , Opportunity , Fruit , Trees , Lots , No Mas , Anything Falls , Russians , The Americans Aren T , Response , Bluff , Administrations , Side , Reality , Tribalism , Certification , Capitol , Sedition , Opposite , Action , Half , Behavior , Book , Outcome , Impact , Enemies , Sit , Instability , Domestically , Terrorism , Warning , Activist , 1968 , Companies , 2016 , Germs , Develop , Bad , Thinking , Media , Trump Wasn T , Drum Beat Go On , Possibility , It Wasn T A Coup Attempt , Swing States , State Legislatures , Big ,