democratic party on this issue? we will speak to a democratic senator in a moment but we will begin with shannon letty piece and leigh ann caldwell on capitol hill. shannon, the president of the united states in july of last year, actually why don t we remind voters of the imminent alarm he had for the country about the concern of democracy. i would like to play that now. i ve said it before, we re facing the most significant test of our democracy since the civil war. that s not hyperbole. since the civil war. the confederates back then never breached the capitol as insurrectionists did on september 6th. i m not saying this to alarm you, i m saying this because you should be alarmed. shannon, when they address it, they address it with urgency. but you and i know how they ve spent the last six months and it
president biden is to make very clear that he is going to pay a price if he tries to invade the ukraine, and a heavy price at that, both in terms of his economy, the potential of using cyber against his infrastructure and his economy. the potential that we will continue to strengthen nato and deploy our forces to nato, and the fact that we ll provide military assistance to the ukraine. i think we ve made pretty clear that he s going to pay a price, and that, frankly, is our leverage in trying to negotiate with this bully. i hear you, but that leverage, if you re in putin s shoes, you ve withstood all the other prices. you ve been able to afford it or at least, you know, what is the price that s bigger than sanctions, and let me ask you this. is the cia ready run another covid war because there s no doubt president biden we re not getting involved in a hot war here. it s going to be on your former
reporter: i mean, it s a new year. i think there s going to be some reset going on. i certainly know there s reset going on with regards to build back better. it s according to what people in the white house are saying they re coming and trying to figure out what they can do on that front as well as on voting rights, but, you know, the indications if past is any pro log have been that the president s priority will be on this border social spending rights bill and this is something they view as an issue for schumer and democrats to work out amongst themselves and having the president there to back up and support it. shannon, that means we re putting the ball in leigh ann s court. is there a plan here or is this just a january 6th pr stunt that s going to disappear as soon as they decide to focus on build back better in two weeks? reporter: well, there s a couple things, chuck. first, what shannon just said, senate democrats are going to be extremely frustrated if the white house t
place where there was tremendous negotiation, led, you know, in large part because the progressive caucus insisted that we were not going to let one bill go without the or the. so we now have the text, it should be pretty easy for senator manchin to go through and make sure that the text agrees with that framework that we all endorsed, that we all agreed to and that was the basis of the promise on which the president made his promise to us. so, you know, this is a critical moment, i m not saying we re going to take anything he will agree to, i m saying go back to what he agreed to because we endorsed that and it contained the vast majority of our priorities. has it turned out to be a lot more difficult to get the party to walk and chew gum? and i say this in this respect, both the income inequality issue in this country i think could eventually tear this country apart long term, and the current issue with the democracy is something that could tear us apart even quicker than that.
in negotiating, so the real test is going to be, frankly, whether president biden can keep his arms around our allies, keep them tough, make them recognize that neither the united states or our allies can stand back and watch the ukraine being invaded by russia. if russia goes into the ukraine, it will send a terrible message to the rest of the world. it sure will. leon panetta, as always, sir, appreciate you coming on and sharing your experience and perspective. and thank you all forring with being with us this hour. msnbc s coverage will continue with my friend katy tur right after this quick break. quick bk