alone that we have already come down. we want $6 trillion and most of our caucus was onboard and it is only a handful of people that kind of forced us to come down to the 3.5 number. so, bill, for let s say suburban, former republicans, in virginia, or wherever, watching this, like yourself for example. people who historically have supported republicans but had a change of focus during the trump era, what does this all look like to you sf ifrjts mean, the i mean, the democratic party. someone said congratulations you voted democrat last time. this is what you get. i think the white house honestly, get involved, do a lot of meetings. i think they should frankly do the opposite. get the cr passed, the government stays open. that is the continuing resolution. keep the government open. don t want the government to close at this point with the pandemic and other stuff.
the moderate/progressive divide is a lot of moderates are not necessarily in vulnerable seats. stephanie murphy from florida is but there are a lot of moderates in the house side that are front liners that want this done and they want it done fast. they re in vulnerable house seats. you mean infrastructure. they also want reconciliation. they want it all. there s a lot that want the prescription drug price negotiation to go through to lower costs for that. they want to see a lot of that go through because a number of democrats have said if any one of these things in this package revealed a pass it would guive e a ton to run on in election. they want to see all of it go through. is that what you re hearing too? definitely. on so many levels this reconciliation package, failure is not an option for democrats. they are facing significant political head winds next year which is why with all the turmoil right now and this is just part of the messy, legislative sausage making pro
president of the united states and the future of our nation. does executive privilege in your view still apply even though he is no longer president? thanks, jake. a great question. first i should just note for full disclosure that my law firm represents someone who is suing former president trump but not about any of these issues. to answer your question i think it is an uphill battle for a claim of privilege if president biden doesn t agree with former president trump. first of all under the traditional understanding executive privilege is something that only the current president can formally invoke. second, i think there are some questions potentially tough questions about whether privilege would apply at all. in these communications was former president trump speaking more as the president or more as a presidential candidate? were there any discussions of wrongdoing or potential criminal activity? if the answer to those questions is yes, the claim for privilege might be a lot we
quickly? this is going to cause some confusion. my overall reaction is the recommendations we re hearing are following the science but you have to keep in mind what most people have heard over the past month or so is initially everyone was going to get boosters. that came from joe biden. that came from the white house? yes. and that is what pfizer applied for, too. they wanted approval from the fda for boosters for everybody. fda said we ll do an emergency use authorization and it is going to be for people over the age of 65 or at high risk. and people at high risk of exposure as well like health care workers and teachers. cdc has dialed it back a bit more now so we can show you and there were some contentious discussions going back and forth, a few major questions they were asking. first of all they voted unanimously yes on people over the age of 65 and long-term care facility residents recommending a booster for them.
days. all right. thank you. let s bring in cnn s chief congressional correspondent manu raju live on capitol hill. we just heard your exchange with speaker pelosi from earlier today. what is the reaction from democratic lawmakers? are they any closer to an actual deal that everyone understands what it is? reporter: the short answer is no, jake. there are just so many details. even though chuck schumer went out and said there was an agreement between the house, senate, and white house he later came out and made clear the agreement is actually between speaker pelosi, chuck schumer, the chairman of the house ways and means committee, and the senate finance committee, and the administration about a menu of options how to pay for the plan. they have not resolved all of their issues about how to pay for it. they also have to get agreement among members of the house and senators about whether they would agree for the financing not to mention all of the policy initiatives ladoid out in thi