We have a lot of work to do this hour, beginning with Vladimir Putin, who picked today of all days to abolish happiness in the world. Which was so unfortunate. Were going to get to that. And Big Joe Manchin breaking news, hes softening on the socalled Filibuster Rule. Hes embracing an idea that two of our guest have proposed. And he had a meeting with some democrats from texas who have come to washington to lobby him on the Voting Rights bills. Well have one of them join us. But heres what you missed. And this is big. Donald trump finally conceded tonight, he delivered the concession speech. He did. Yes. Not making this up. To sean hannity on that hour. Heres how it went. Its not the traditional form. First of all, sean hannity said to him, more than once, began questions with, if you were still president. And donald trump did not correct him. Donald trump went on okay. And said words. Im not going to say he answered the question, but he said words after the question mark. More than once, if you were still president. And then towards the end of the discussion, donald trump actually said this about joe biden. I want him to do well. Now that is thats in every concession speech. I want him to do well. I mean, thats it. That there it is. The concession speech. Well, if fox is willing to, like, chyron it that way and cover it that way, maybe the majority of republicans who think that trump is still secretly president from his golf cart may be nudged on that. I dont know, man. Like go ahead. Go ahead. Well, he did, by the way, say a lot of things that he said when he was president. There was an awful lot of rerunning of stuff in his head. But he accepted that frame more than once. If you were still president. He accepted that, that hes not still president. During my hour, while i was doing my show and very caught up in that, i did get sent one piece of news commentary from, which i now know is from that. I didnt know it was from a simultaneous interview. But hes apparently inveighing against windmills. Apparently, in his postpresidency, the war on windmills continues. If hes going to focus on one thing, like rather than trying to get all rightleaning americans to not believe in democracy anymore, but sure, go against windmills. Whatever makes you feel better. The war on democracy, i would prefer, to be back burnered. If him conceing to mr. Hannity tonight, i say, lets move forward on that basis. Windmills be damned. The Windmills Thing came up as a complaint that he has about what President Joe Biden is doing about windmills to generate electrical power. Hes just a citizen out there who is mad about these windmills. You know what its all about for him on the windmills . Its the birds, rachel. Its the birds. He rose in defense of the birds. Who are going to have trouble navigating those windmills and staying alive. Donald trumps worried about joe bidens president ially imposed windmills killing birds. Thats what donald trump is worried about. Hes a known, you know, proponent of all wildlife protections. And a real outdoorsy guy. I know. Youre up to date, now rachel. Youre all caught up. Thank you, lawrence. Get to your show. Well do it. Thank you, rachel. Thank you. Thank you. Russian literature can be a very dark place. Vladimir putin spoke to that darkness today when he said there is no happiness in life. There is only a mirage on the horizon. So cherish that. Now, some translators said putin attributed that line to tolstoy, but others did not. The closest tolstoy line i could find, in War And Peace he wrote, one must believe in the possibility of happiness in order to be happy. And i now believe in it. Let the dead bury the dead. But while im alive, i must live and be happy. Dictators like Vladimir Putin though that the people under their rule are not happy. And today, he told them that happiness doesnt exist. There is no happiness in life. Vladimir putin needs russians to give up on happiness so they will quietly endure the failure that Vladimir Putin has delivered to russia. A country almost double the size of the United States of america has an economy smaller than italys economy. The economy of the state of california is almost double the size of the entire russian economy. The economy of the state of texas is the same size. The texas economy sustains a State Population of 29 million people. The russian economy has to sustain a population of 144 million unhappy people. The russian army defeated germany in world war ii. Now the German Economy dominates the region because the soviet union and russia chose dictatorship after world war ii, and its left them far behind the germans. The primary reason americans must pay as much attention as they do to russian leaders is not the russian economy, but that russia has the second Largest Nuclear arsenal in the world. And that was one of the most important issues, not the most important issue, that President Biden discussed with Vladimir Putin. Translator the United States and the Russian Federation have particular responsibility when it comes to seeking stability in the world. This is because we are the two Largest Nuclear powers and we have the largest stockpiles of warheads and Delivery Systems based on the levels and based on the quality of nuclear the amount of nuclear weapons. We acknowledge this responsibility. I think its clear for everyone, the fact that President Biden has taken on the responsibility and has taken the decision which we believe is quite timely, to extend the treaty for five years, up until 2024. President joe biden and Vladimir Putin issued a joint statement saying they were able to make progress on our shared goals on ensuring predictability in the strategic sphere. The word for that is constructive, thats what diplomats call constructive talks. Not successful. They did not succeed in eliminating the threat of nuclear war, but they made constructive progress. Translator i think there was no hostility. Quite the contrary. Our meeting took place principally speaking, many of our positions we dont share the same positions in many areas. But i think that both of these sides showed a willingness to understand one another. And to find ways to bring our positions closer together. The talks were quite constructive. President biden described the first two hours of his discussion with Vladimir Putin, saying they went into detail before a larger group of officials from both sides joined the discussions. What is going to happen next, were going to be able to look back, look ahead, in three to six months, and say, did the things we agreed to sit down and try to work out, did it work . Do we, are we closer to a major strategic stability talks, and progress . Are we further along in terms of and go down the line. Im not here because the president and i agreed to do these things that all of a sudden its going to work. Im not saying that. Im saying i think there is a genuine prospect to significantly improve relations between our countries without giving up a single solitary thing based on principle and values. Shortly after the press conference, President Biden faced a sequence of odd questions beginning with is Military Response an option for a Ransomware Attack . And the president said no, because a Military Response with russia has been out of the question for joe bidens entire life. Thats why we had a cold war with the soviet union instead of a real war. Because a real war would have killed us all. The president was also asked, why are you so confident hell change his behavior . After President Biden clearly said he was not confident at all, and that we would find out six months or a year from now if we were making any progress at all. President biden said, im not confident hell change his behavior. When did i say he was confident . The final question was, how does that amount to a constructive meeting as President Putin framed it . And President Biden said, if you dont understand that, youre in the wrong business. He later apologized for being short with that reporter, and sounding like what he called a wise guy. If a reporter had asked that question of President Roosevelt after one of his meetings with stalin, we probably would have heard something at least as sharp as that, without an apology. Joining us, congressman adam schiff, and michael mcfaul, the former u. S. Ambassador to russia under president obama. Ambassador mcfaul, were going to violate our protocol, and go with you first. You were involved in some of the preparations for this summit. What is your basic take on what you saw today . I think President Biden accomplished what he wanted to do. He said he was going to come, talk to President Putin about issues we disagree about, and also look for areas of cooperation. I thought the predicate to geneva was very important, meeting with democratic allies. That was a buildup. Theres nothing more valuable to us than our allies. We have allies, they dont. And they didnt have big outcomes today. There were baby steps toward strategic stability talks. Putting ambassadors back in place, those are good things. Its fine to have baby steps. And i thought President Biden, the president said it aptly when he said the proof will be in the eating of the pudding. I think thats the headline of this summit. He set out an agenda. Now lets see if we can cooperate on it moving forward. If we cant, the United States will be just fine. Lets listen to rachel scotts question to Vladimir Putin about how he deals with his opponents. If all of your political opponents are dead or in prison, poisoned, doesnt that send a message that you dont want a fair political fight . Translator as for whom is killing whom, people came to the u. S. Congress with political demands. 400 people. Over 400 people had criminal charges placed on them. Id like to stress once more that we sympathize with what happened in the United States, but we have no desire to allow the same thing to happen in our country. Chairman schiff, what was your reaction to that moment . Its the same kind of false equivalence that you hear from putin. He makes those kinds of Bogus Analoies all the time, comparing an Opposition Figure which his regime poised and tried to kill, and as a result is now being imprisoned, comparing that person, who is fighting for the ability of russians to assemble and petition their government, to people who attacked our capitol, killed a police officer, and threatened so many others. But thats what weve come to expect from putin. The nice change, frankly, is the reaction of our former president would have been to embrace that false equivalence, which President Trump repeatedly would do with putin in russia. But we have a very different president in joe biden, who i think pushed back very forcefully in the meeting with regard to our values, human rights, bringing up alexei navalny, even though putin wont mention his name. And also making it clear that the last four years were an aberration. The United States will stand up for its own interests, confront russia over the Ransomware Attacks, over its belligerent conduct in ukraine, and over its interference in our elections. Ambassador mcfaul, are russians allowed to see these Press Conferences unedited . Did they get to see rachels question about Vladimir Putin killing his enemies . Yeah, i think that will be live, of course. Because thats the president ial pool, and thats live. By the way, lawrence, just on the protocol thing, remember the disaster of helsinki was the joint press conference. The biden team rightly decided to do separate Press Conferences. And an unintended positive consequence of that, there were some fantastic questions from american journalists with mr. Putin. It doesnt mean that the russians will hear the answer the same way as we did, but it was important and it was very useful for underscoring what our differences are in addition to the small steps of agreement we had in geneva. Lets listen to what President Biden said about Election Interference by Vladimir Putin. I made it clear, we will not tolerate attempts to violate our democratic sovereignty or elections. And we will respond. Bottom line, i told President Putin that we need basic rules of the road that we can all abide by. And there are areas with a mutual interest to cooperate. For our russian and american people, but also for the benefit of the world and the security of the world. One of those is strategic stability. Chairman schiff, that strikes me as a classic example of the two sides of the coin that the president is always dealing with. Delivering a strong message about Election Interference, but in the next sentence, talking about areas where we can cooperate with america. Thats exactly what you would want an american president to do, and its a language that putin can understand. He will now expect, when they got involved, if they get involved in trying to interfere with our next election, they will pay a stiff price. And will use our Cyber Capabilities to disrupt what they try to do. At the same time, President Biden and putin recognize, there are areas of mutual interest. And the fact that we have so many differences doesnt mean that we shouldnt pursue the common interests that we have, for example, in our nuclear arms and denuclearization. This is exactly what you would want a president to do. And i think having a dialogue is positive. Setting out where our red lines are is positive. And i didnt go into this expecting some breakthrough development, there wasnt. But it the president was able to accomplish what he set out do. Thank you both very much for being with us. We really appreciate it. Its my honor. Thanks for having me. Thank you both. And coming up, we have breaking joe manchin news. Hes now saying he may be willing to change senate rules in a way that was suggested by our next guests. And hes also offering possible compromises on Voting Rights legislation. Thats next. N. Thats next. Fferent kind of card that rewards dan where his spending is trending. Just ask stepping outside his comfort zone dan. Dan okay, i dont know where the hole for this is. Or fourth Time Streaming that period drama dan. Dan you just made me miss her best line, dan so now im going to have to start it again. Even insisted he didnt need directions dan. Dan okay, im not lost. Im exploring. Dan that said, do you know where i am . From select gas, streaming, travel and more earn 5 cash back that automatically adjusts to your top eligible spend category, up to 500 spent each billing cycle. Welcome back to that same old place that you laughed about well, the names have all changed since you hung around welcome back, america. It sure is good to see you. So then i said to him, welcome back, america. You oughta customize your Car Insurance with Liberty Mutual, so you only pay for what you need. Hot dog or. Chicken . Only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Your mission stand up to moderate to severe Rheumatoid Arthritis. And take. It. On. With rinvoq. Rinvoq a oncedaily pill can dramatically improve symptoms. Rinvoq helps tame pain, stiffness, swelling. And for some, rinvoq mcfaul. Dumcfaul thats rinvoq relief. With ra, your overactive Immune System attacks your joints. Rinvoq regulates it to help stop the attack. Rinvoq can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. Serious infections and blood clots, sometimes fatal, have occurred as have certain cancers, including lymphoma, and tears in the stomach or intestines, and changes in lab results. Your doctor should monitor your bloodwork. Tell your doctor about any infections. And if you are or may become pregnant while taking rinvoq. Take on ra. Talk to your rheumatologist about rinvoq relief. Rinvoq. Make it your mission. If you cant afford your medicine, abbvie may be able to help. We have a huge crack in the wall that protects the socalled Filibuster Rule in the United States senate. Senator joe manchin now appears to be following the advice of our next guests after appearing in most of his comments to be completely inflexible about that. The intercept has obtained a recording of a Zoom Conference that senator manchin participated in. Making it clear he is open to changing the 60vote margin in the senate. He said, i looked back, when it went from 67 votes to 60 votes, and what was happening. Im open to look