White House races against the clock to save infrastructure bill from doom - YouTube

AMNA NAWAZ: It's a high-stakes puzzle  that the White House and key congressional  

Democrats are still trying to solve: how  to secure enough votes in the U.S. House  

to pass a trillion-dollar infrastructure bill  tomorrow, as Speaker Nancy Pelosi had promised.

Early today, some holdouts  among House progressives,  

unsatisfied with the status of another  larger bill that's still in the works.  

That could put trillions more towards climate,  health care and other domestic initiatives.

As the president himself gets  more involved in these talks,  

Yamiche Alcindor has been following it  all. She joins us now from the White House.

Yamiche, good to see you. Thanks for being here.

So let's talk about what the president's doing.  

What are some of his efforts that he's  doing right now to try to unite Democrats?

YAMICHE ALCINDOR: Well, there is an intensifying  feeling of urgency here at the White House  

tonight, as President Biden is scrambling to  try to get Democrats united between these two  

big infrastructure bills, $1 trillion as  the bipartisan bill, and then, of course,  

a $3.5 trillion bill that Democrat-supported  

right now, even though not all the  Democrats are on the same page.

The president was supposed to be in Chicago  today talking about vaccine mandates,  

talking about companies that have  adopted vaccine mandates, but, instead,  

he postponed that trip, signaling that he  needed to be here to talk to lawmakers.

In just the last hour, he was talking  to both House Speaker Nancy Pelosi,  

as well as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.  And I'm told in those meetings with lawmakers,  

including Senator Sinema and Senator Manchin,  that the president is really doing two things.

He's, one, explaining to  senators and to lawmakers,  

here's what my legacy is. Here's what my  agenda is. Here's what my wants for the  

American people are. The second thing he's doing  is saying, what can I do to try to get you to yes?  

What can I do to try to get you on board with this  plan for these two big bills to pass together?

Then come the White House staff. Now,  they were on the Hill today meeting with  

Senator Sinema. And some of the White  House staff are White House Chief of Staff  

Ron Klain, as well as top aides Steve  Ricchetti, Brian Deese, Louisa Terrell.

These are names that might  not be familiar to people,  

but they are really the brain trust that's  behind this really effort to try to get  

the White House and all of its efforts  to get the lawmakers on the same page.

I'm also told that Senator Sinema looks like  she's a senator who is more likely to say yes,  

even though that $3.5 trillion package, it might  shrink down $2.5 trillion or even $2 trillion.

I'm also told that Senator Manchin  is the one that is the harder sell  

here. And just in the last hour, Senator  Manchin put out a statement that did not  

sound like he was getting any closer to  that reconciliation bill, supporting it.

He put, in part, spending trillions of dollars,  in his words, is like -- quote -- "fiscal  

insanity." He also wrote that Democrats should  not -- quote -- "vengefully tax the wealthy."

That, of course, is in stark contrast to  what progressives have been saying, so  

a lot here with the president at the center of it.

AMNA NAWAZ: Yamiche, the pressure is  building. There is that self-imposed deadline.

Speaker Pelosi said that vote on  infrastructure is happening tomorrow.  

What's the sense in the White House today?

YAMICHE ALCINDOR: Well, the president is  under enormous pressure. The next 24 hours  

is going to be critical for whether or not  President Biden can really get this done,  

because Nancy Pelosi has said that she wants  to bring that bipartisan infrastructure bill  

to the House floor because she's promised that,  if it has the votes, it will go to the floor.

Now, here's what the House -- here's what  the White House press secretary, Jen Psaki,  

said just a few hours ago, talking  about the intensity of this moment.

JEN PSAKI, White House Press Secretary:  The president, just to give you an update,  

is going to be working around the  clock the rest of today, overnight,  

into tomorrow morning. And we're going to  be working in lockstep with Speaker Pelosi.

The president has been clear about his commitment  to getting both pieces of legislation passed,  

both of them through. So, right now, what we're  navigating through and we're working through is  

how we can get agreement, of course, 50 votes  in the Senate on a reconciliation package.

YAMICHE ALCINDOR: Press Secretary Jen Psaki also  said that this was a -- quote -- "precarious" and  

important time in the Biden presidency. This,  of course, is his whole agenda hanging in the  

balance. He has promised transformational  change. He ran on the idea that he was the  

dealmaker, that he could use his decades in  service in government to get a deal done.

Now whether or not that actually happens will  be the biggest test of his presidency here. So,  

you heard in the White House press  secretary really doubling down on  

this idea that the president understands  the moment and wants to get this done.

AMNA NAWAZ: Big day at the White House.  Yamiche Alcindor is covering it all.

Thanks, Yamiche.