happens. i m hallie jackson to start us off. also joined by tony rahm, congressional economic policy reporter for the washington post and msnbc contributor. leigh ann, start with you. a lot of questions this afternoon. hearing from key players where negotiations stand, what the sticking points are. here s what some of what democrats have been saying over the last few hours including chuck schumer just a couple minutes ago. i believe that we will get this done and we will get it done soon. we have made a significant amount of progress and we are almost there. the bill must expand medicare to cover dental, hearing aid and eyeglasses. we need an ironclad agreement rp to the build back better act. what are you hearing and what s the deal with the possible infrastructure vote before the president head overseas later in the week? reporter: democrats are saying what s actually happening is not the same thing, hallie. they re talking optimism but they re far from any ag
mcauliffe, has been out on the trail highlighting his republican opponent s work in furthering trump s agenda. take for example the recent rally for youngkin by none other than steve bannon who was just held in contempt of congress for obstructing the january 6 investigation with potential criminal charges coming his way from doj. it was an event that opened with a pledge of allegiance to a flag that was present at the insurrection, an event that featured a barrage of falsehoods about the 2020 election result and even includes a phone call from the disgraced ex-president himself. youngkin would distance himself from the event and would call the pledge, quote, weird and wrong. described him as walking a trump tight rope and keeping the president partly at arm s length, but the ties on the 2020 election are hardly foreign to youngkin. he made stolen election claims a center piece of his early campaign, failing to ever publicly acknowledge that joe biden won the election until a
It s a race that has largely been nationalized at the most urgent chapter in president biden battle for the soul of america. president biden descending on virginia this evening just a few hours from now, going all in as the race described as quote, both the president and democratic party are embracing the notion that it is in large part, a referendum on their handling of the pandemic and their support of massive government spending programs as well as a broader reputeuation of the january 6 attacks on the united states capitol. it is a race that has captured national attention by encompassing many of the same flash points dominating local and national politics. with donald trump steering his party toward deepening political divisions, culture wars and lies about voter fraud. with the department of homeland security still on guard for how those divisions could incite future violent extremists. democratic candidate, terry