So, did congress not see the movie Groundhog Day . They are about to live it. Thats tonight on the special two hour edition of laura coates live. All right, congress, pull the parkas out of the closet. Shop on the snowshoes. There is a Blizzard Heading straight for washington d. C. If you are one of the 535 lawmakers who served with the people, you are in store for a very long winter. Why . Well, congress has a lot and i do mean a lot to do. The headlines they are in kansas. Lawmakers fear january met beautiful urgent to todo list. Now, it would be one thing if Congress Just had to take the groceries or put the Christmas Tree out on the curb for trash pickup, but, lawmakers are staring down some of the most politically polarizing issues confronting this entire nation. Things like Border Security and aid for ukraine, funding the government, twice, and the first Shutdown Deadline is when . Is january 19. The second one is february 2nd. By the way, the actual Groundhog Day. So, back to the movie for a moment. Its a 1993 classic, you know i love a good movie reference. And in it, bill murrays character is a jaded news man who kidnaps Punxsutawney Phil to a doer of good deeds who wants to live in punxsutawney. What do you see . You little brat. You have never thanked me. I will see you tomorrow, maybe. Phil gets better, he learns how to ice sculpt. Remember, he learns french. He learns not to see the shadow of life. Congress, well, i do not know we have that much hope in that category for those same reasons. Especially if you judge them on the recent work history. 2023 is going to go down. Get this. As the least productive year for congress on record, and not for lack of effort to have it in news. I mean, there were speaker fights, there are more speaker fight. There are near misses on shutdowns and expulsions, you know there wasnt much of, though . Actually legislating. Of course, that is exactly what they have to do now, actually legislate. They only have days to pull it all off, and how . So, while Congress Gets stuck in a kind of time loop in spending another year to figure out all the ways to look busy, or will 2024 be the year it clicks . Maybe. We will have to live 2023 all over again. Im sure the idea of congress having its leads productive your may sound like hyperbole, willock asked harry enten, is it hyperbole, harry . It is not hyperbole at all. I dont think they can pass a law that could save dogs are awesome and cute. Ill tell you that much, laura. There are awesome and cute, how theyre. How dare they, i love a good little lavish its. Two bills in resolution that came lawsuit, this point in congress, only 31 in 2023, you go back to the prior law of the century, it was 72, more than the vote we saw in 2023. I was looking through the yearbooks, i was looking through everything. It slows at least 50 years. My goodness gracious, just 31 laws, they cannot seem to pass anything. Its not the cap has anything, remember those long speaker fights, laura, they saw a House Speaker midsession, there were 22, 22 a few months ago between Kevin Mccarthy and mike johnson. The previous record was two days, two days less than a ten 1820, so the fact is, congress could not pass laws, they could not even have a speaker. That is how bad it was, laura. It was historically frankly vowed to use a scientific word, awful. That is a heck of a lot that phrase you just use their. What did Congress Actually do . They do something. I will give you a here, what did they do . What did they do . They actually expelled the member of congress. George santos of course for fraud and misuse in campaign funds. But, thats how bad this congress was. The last guy who was thrown out was back in 2002 convicted of ten felonies. Victim of bribery are drew mars back in 03. Before that you have to go back to 19 century, where you have this trio of gentleman who were thrown out for supporting the confederacy. But, i think the fact that we had a member like George Santos just gets the fact that how bad this congress truly was, laura. We could not pass laws, but somehow we managed to have an Election Member such as George Santos, fortunately Congress Actually did something about him. They got rid of him. Congress will tell you, look, it is not the lack of effort, they were trying to get things done, they are trying to do some things, its not work out. Thats what they would say. But, americans might say maybe its a safe bet that the popularity of congress is probably not that high right now. I must be proofread. Asking for a friend, laura. If theres one thing thats high is the Disapproval Rating of congress, and it is uniform across the spectrum. We are talking 80 of independent, 78 of democrats, 71 of republicans. Americans across the political spectrum, laura, cannot agree on very much. But one thing they can agree upon, laura, is the fact that they all just like congress, its not getting any better. Congress is Disapproval Reading has been skyhigh for years, and this year, of course, were even reaching levels that truthfully i could not believe would ever reach. At least during the time i could vote. But, congress, laura, has managed to do the impossible. Harry enten, thank you so much. I will see what the next wentz Minister Dog Show at some point, i. Bed sit there and do the best show category. That will be fun. Nice scene. You buy, laura. I wonder for next guest i hope talkative he might change your perception. To me now is democratic congressman richie torres, who i know has been hardworking. Congressman, welcome and good evening. How are you tonight . It is an honor to be here defending a defenceman. [laughter] good, i knew i liked. You tell me, give a lot on your plate. I wonder is your Glass Half Full or empty about 2024, meaning, look, now is the time when youre actually going to get a lot more done. I am pessimistic because congress is embarrassing, dysfunctional, and incompetent. The problem is not congress, the problem is republican control of congress. Under democratic control, congress is actually historically productive. We pass a bipartisan infrastructure bill, a gun safety bill, a health care bill, Inflation Reduction Act which will reduce Greenhouse Gas emissions by 40 by 2030. So, we went from the most Productive Congress under democrat control, to the least Productive Congress and the republican control. House republicans in 2023 only passed 22 bills compared to 284 bills that became under house democrats. House democrats were 13 times more productive in 2022 than republicans were in 2023. So, as long as republicans are in charge on pessimistic. Well, i have to ask you, obviously you are making the case and establishing the nuance here. But, i have to wonder for the average American Voter looking at it, they are putting congress under a pretty wide umbrella. I wonder to what extent people view it as republicans and democrats, or Just Congress being unable to do the give and take of compromise that means things will get done. How do you see it . I disagree with that assessment. The senate was willing to stay during the holiday, and the republicans who chose to go home. Democrats are open to negotiating a compromise that includes aid for ukraine, israel taiwan and Border Security. But, the devil in the details. Obviously does have to be negotiated. But, there are negotiations other way in the senate. Democrats have been amenable to those negotiations and are willing to stay for the holidays since the republicans who chose to go home. When you look at you mentioned aid for ukraine and what is happening and the conditions that have been attached to Border Security provisions and legislations. Really its a top of not just a town but a top of the globe in terms what role the United States will be able to play and offering support in a variety of areas. You know, on christmas day, people you call anti israel extremists vandalized your office. You actually posted there with all the left behind and warned, quote, intimidation and incitement against members of congress feels like it is heading in a dangerous direction. Im quoting you here, congressman, when you talk about this dangerous direction and obviously what we are seeing in your office, do you mean you can see Political Violence like what happens to has been, or the department of Homeland Security is spoken about in terms of Political Division being at such a pace and peak that it is fueling concerns for real violence in this country . I do worry thats intimidation and incitement of hate could easily escalate into violence. Most members of Congress Like myself have no security we are soft targets. I do worry that a violent assault or even in exacerbation of a member of congress is not a question of it its a question of when. You think so . Members of congress have no security. We are living in a time especially in the wake of january six, if you like were living in a climate of violent extremism in the United States. It was certainly much worse in the 1960s, but, history has a way of repeating itself, and members of congress cannot take their safety for granted. Do you have concern over your own personal safety, congressman . I tend to be unfazed. Theres a quote by godfather he says this is the life weve chosen. So, i accept the burdens of come a political and public life. So, i tried to stress over. Well. As they say, new york new york. There is nothing like. It new yorkers as well. But, i gotta tell you, think about choosing a life of service and to being a member of congress, the fact that that would come along and accompany with the task at hand is really telling and terrifying for a lot of reasons. Congressman, thank you so much for joining us. I certainly hope that you and your colleagues will remain safe. Thank you. Take care. Here to continue the conversation is Senior Reporter for the root jessica washington. Plus, Political Strategist mark mckinnon. Mark, jessica, let me just stop for a second because what we just heard from congressman torres certainly he says he is unfazed. But, i gotta tell you, that is really startling to think that its not a matter he says of if but when there could be Political Violence coming to the front door of a member of congress because of the division we have in this country. Jessica, what is your reaction to that, which seems to be in his mind a foregone conclusion . Yeah. That is obviously a disturbing thing to hear, and the disturbing thing to understand that he is feeling that, i think here in this country that when a member of congress is going to be assassinated or targeted violently its obviously scary. I think from my and i often hear specifically about White Supremacist violence and the types of violence that stoke january 6th. So, thats more what i have been focusing on and less of what hes talking about specifically but of course hearing anything like that is deeply concerning. It is. Mark, when you hear, and think about, it obviously we are talking about the productivity of congress. We know theres been so much in the news from senators to the expulsion to, we are over this beaker fiasco and the appointment of a new person or election of a new one. Theres so much being talked about when we talk about congress, and here we are heading for a shutdown. Days after an alltime low lights of a year from congress, where you look at the dissatisfaction, and then probably being generous here with that term, dissatisfaction, how do you see congress being able to not only get things done but have the buyin from people who they want to get things done . Thats the real problem, particularly for Republican Congress. Their constituencies dont want buy in. American Republican Congress for christmas last year, this year they got a lot for call, and your earlier they talked about how little has been done. But, a lot of those republican members campaigns are not getting anything done. The campaign unlimited government, and many cases no governments are shutting down government. So, the problem that we have is the the parties and republicans particularly are really appealing to the lowest common denominator, the extremes have taken over in the party, and there is no exhibit a is mike johnson as the new speaker, thats not a broad constituency of america. The people he talks to and the people he campaigns with will literally say, mike, just shut it down. Without any real regard for the consequences. So, the republicans have got the car here and i think it worries me because they do not trying to appeal to a majority of constituents, not even a majority of their own party. Its fastening to think about, you know where mine just to weigh in on this, is we talk about the party or the Democratic Party or the Republican Party, we often assume there is a unity, that there is not quite you factors within that they are going to hold the party line, republicans are often praying should be able to do so even when its consequences being damp, democrats here this idea of a circular firing squad if they get ammunitions to republicans an Election Year saying, even they do not agree. When you look at this, jessica, knowing that people are hoping to envelop independent voters. When you see the absence or the absence of cohesion and one viewpoint, is that a good or a bad thing for the parties . Yeah. I think for the purposes of governing weve seen its a bad thing. I think the one thing that is almost universally you know the republicans is trump. So, without trump in power and without trump in office, there is very little motivation to with any policy. I think we are seeing that play out in this congress where they are credibly dysfunctional, they are unable to agree on a speaker or agree on passing pretty much any legislation. So, i think for the purposes of wanting to get legislation passed, it is incredibly dysfunctional. But, if you are just trying to get elected on a platform of not letting the government do anything, and were going to be constructionist its effective. So, it depends on youre looking at. It well, you know, senator patty murray, a woman who has served the senate for two decades but the problethis way. This is azy what they are doing. If we set this precedent of every year that congress has in negotiations, suspending members are going to be, and then to six months later, never mind, we are never going to be able to trust a deal again. Love and legislating could not live where there is no trust. How do you fix that, mark . Its tough. Its particularly exasperating when you think about the fact that the Republican Party in 2020 at their convention literally had no platform. They did not have a platform. So, there is not even a model of words, this just goes to the whole point of being obstructionists, and doing things thats really are not just limited government but shutting the government down. Thats what the campaign now, because there is no Platform Policies that theyre promoting except to be obstructionists. Chip roy is a congressman from texas that i know from my texas state, conservative driver in the front and smart guy. Well respected by all sides of the and the Republican Party. Famously, a couple of weeks ago, republican colleagues in the congress, just give me one thing that i want to go home and see on the weekend, just one thing, as yet of the keys really got the. Well, i mean a former self some water because somebodys Glass Half Full in this conversation. Thank you both for staying up with us. All right, up next, the u. S. Military is striking several iranianbacked militant targets in iraq. Is there a risk of the United States getting drawn into a wider regional conflict . The power goes out and we still have wifi to do our homework. And thats a good thing . Great in my book who are you . No power . No problem. Introducing stormready wifi. Now you can stay reliably connected through Power Outages with unlimited cellular data and up to 4 hours of battery backup to keep you online. Only from xfinity. Home of the xfinity 10g network. We are following new threats to American Forces in the middle east. The United States militarys response. President biden ordering air strikes targeting iranbacked militants in iraq. This after attack that injured three u. S. Troops. All of this is raising questions and concerns about how deeply the u. S. Is being drawn into the expanding conflict in the middle east. Lets bring in joel reuben, the former deputy of secretary of state, the Obama Administration of state of affairs. Hes also running for congress in maryland. Joel, thank you so much for being here. Nobody could predict this year. Its been the most astonishing year in terms of foreign policies and whats been going on. Theres so many reasons. Why everyone talks about the president is worried about the commanderinchief these days. Is it not . What he is prepared to do and what can happen next. That is right, laura. Th