we already know from the arizona case that proven intentional discrimination with section 2 is going to be very difficult. >> right. >> and we need to have something in place just to stop a lot of the nonsense that we're seeing right now. we need to send a message to the next person that wants to be -- i won't name him on the show, but i think that you know that there are a couple of governors in the union that would like to follow in trump's foot steps that basically think the same way that he does. >> you may not want to name them, but they've named themselves. while we still have time, congressman, you said on the energy and commerce committee in the house, and we're watching the senate in this rare thursday saturday -- rare saturday session as it awaits the language in this infrastructure bill. i don't have to tell you that many lamakers and activists have lamented just how much energy these negotiations have required, but since we're here, what will this bill's passage mean for your district and for that matter, others like your district? >> yeah, no, absolutely. i live in fort

lewis voting rights advancement act, and understanding that it is not just about texas but we see it in arizona, in georgia, in florida and in a number of other places. and also, people are encouraged perhaps by the daylight that there is with senator manchin and the possibility of a negotiation to create legislation that's workable and can get enough support to get passed. >> but you're right, it is an incredibly important story which is why we here at msnbc for the last four or five weeks have incessantly been covering it because it has a national domino effect as well. this rally in austin, it is coming as the texas democrats, as you know, left their state. they are trying to block restrictive voting measures, but republicans have certainly been hammering away at them for leaving, including during a congressional hearing this week. do you, julian, have any concerns of the optics of lawmakers fleeing texas? do you think it might dilute the concerns of voter suppression? >> i think the lines have been drawn very, very clearly. the legislators seem to have been doing a good job of informing the

and the people in arizona, people in west virginia, march on your state capitol. we're going to join -- if they don't do this by august 6th or 9th, we're going to start marching on state capitols, brother cape hart. this is too serious. we cannot die and leave this democracy's bridges crumbling and destroyed because we didn't do what needed to be done right now. >> and with that, we're going to have to leave it there. beto o'rourke, former congressman from texas, bishop barber, thank you very much for coming to the saturday show. >>> coming up, the cdc now says the war against covid has changed. how? we'll discuss that next. s changed. how? we'll discuss that next. someone once told me, that i should get used to people staring. so i did. it's okay, you can stare. when you're a two-time gold medalist, it comes with the territory. [swords clashing] - had enough? - no... arthritis. here. new aspercreme arthritis. full prescription-strength? reduces inflammation? thank the gods. don't thank them too soon. kick pain in the aspercreme. start your day with crest 3d white

using trump's big lie about the 2020 election to fuel sham audits like the one that just wrapped up in arizona. the "new york times" writes the department warned that auditors could face criminal and civil penalties if they destroy any records related to the election or intimidate voters in violation of the civil rights act of 1960 and other laws. and now we may potentially be one step closer to finally looking at the former president's ever-elusive tax returns. the department of justice says the treasury department must turn over six years worth of the ex-president's tax returns to the house ways and means committee. that committee has been seeking those documents for the past two years. so it has been a busy week for the justice department. my next guest is going to help break it down for us. with me now is katie benner, she covers the justice department for the "new york times." she was the first to get her hands on these explosive handwritten notes detailing the pressure that trump was putting on his department of justice as he tried to overturn the election results. good to see you again.

i just was in arizona. they have a similar mandate here and i was in arizona on tuesday when that cdc guidance changed and all these schools are saying and all these teachers are saying let our school do something different. don't make it a statewide blanket. where do you stand on this issue? >> that's exactly what we're asking the governor to do. we're asking the governor to allow school districts, if there is a need for masks in their district, in their campuses, then to allow them to do that and right now they don't have the ability to do that. >> do you understand the thinking behind that? some of these governors doing that, most in republican states, are saying they're against federal mandates, for example, during the vaccine, they're saying let us do what we want to do, but then they go and put on the same mandates here on school districts that also want to do what they want to do. do you understand the thinking behind that? >> no, i don't understand the thinking behind it because here in texas we lov

including in arizona, a hot spot. and i don't know if i got soft or just, it really is that bad, but we are in rough, rough straits in our department. huge backups, massive delays, and it's extremely stressful for us, to try to see everyone. remember, they're very sick. so if you got hit by a train, i think that's exactly right. every day you wake up, you get hit again. >> wow. and what are you hearing from patience? a lot of the things we have been hearing from doctors around the country is that they tell them too late, i wish i had gotten vaccinated. but give us a sense of just what you are hearing from the folks who come in and they are clearly sick with covid? >> yeah, you know, you get the patients that regret, maybe miami is a special place there are a lot of people who don't have regret it all i had a patient recently who said she would rather die of covid then would be vaccinated. imagine the irony of that -- >> what do you say that? >> it's hard to rationalize that. because in our minds, we are thinking, well

glenn, in another part of the exchange, trump falsely claims that the elections in georgia, nevada, arizona and michigan were all corrupted. he accused the doj of failing to respond to legitimate complaints and reports of crimes and truly unbelievably to back all of that up, he tells them that, quote, you guys may not be following the internet the way i do. the internet. glenn, what would happen if the doj made decisions based on international rumors rather than evidence? >> well, they wouldn't win a lot of cases. because what we see on the internet rarely translates to admissible evidence in a court of law. and this shows, this is the deflection by donald trump. because when he's confronted with the evidence, out of the mouths of his own department of justice officials, people who he put in place, he chooses to disregard and say well the internet or maybe the tabloids or i heard somebody say somewhere, this is a very thinly, you know, very thin veneer of plausibility that donald trump is reaching for. but i'll tell you, i really can't overestimate the importance of the ability of prosecuto

and city councils and nothing is happening at the local level, but we see it in georgia, texas and arizona. what are they supposed to do? >> it is complicated when local elected officials want to protect the citizens of their city or town, and yet they're in a state where they have -- are faced with a governor who is sending a completely different message from the cdc and the federal government which is why i think there has to be a kind of universal application of these rules because that would clear up at least some of the confusion about who's on first when it comes to declaring that people need to wear masks. i can see it in my own state in maryland where vaccination rates are very low and you know, looking around and people not wearing masks in a state where there's 70% vaccination rates. so this is very complicated, and i think for local elected officials they're trying to do the best that they can in an environment where there are no set rules for them. >> and sam, what about the white house? because the president was passionate in his speech yesterday, but it was late afternoon. i'

you've got leaders up against leaders or school boards or parents including in arizona where the governor is not backing down from his ban on mask mandates. in texas governor abbott is threatening fines against places that try to require them. in florida where covid cases are getting close to the highest levels seen since the start of the pandemic, you have one school board defying the governor's opposition to mandates. broward county school's board voting to require masks for all students, staff, and more. the governor could respond with a special legislative session or an executive order and "tampa bay times" reported the issue will be addressed. with me now is broward county school board debby hixon. >> good morning. >> there are high tensions around this. you've seen it, i know, playing out at board meetings with protests. here is some of what you've been hearing this week. >> my daughter didn't get to see her teacher smile. my daughter didn't get to see her friends' faces unless they were sitting at lunch. we, the parents, the taxpayers, have the authority to decide for our children.

that say, you know what, we're going to just take over the counting of the voting in georgia, texas, arizona, maybe up in michigan, and all of these swing states republicans want to take over, fire election officials, and then determine who gets the electoral votes from those states. >> right. and it's sort of this radical act of eraser that is a marked regression that is reminiscent of, to me, jim crow. i'm not remotely the first person to be talking about this. but i think that we should all be frightened by that. because it's an active step back from our access to democracy, our access to the tools of suffrage that allow us to move america in the direction that is the will of the people. for example, the outcome of the 2020 election, and i think that this resistance to helping and allowing america to enact the laws that are the will of its people, is the danger inherent in those kind of choices is so stark. and i think that -- you know, i'm thinking about what happens if these bills don't pass. and i think that maybe we're just facing a moment when it's time to start marching across bridg

arizona senator kyrsten sinema, who was credited by the bipartisan group for bringing the deal together, angered some in her party when she said that the $3.5 trillion pricetag being floated for that larger reconciliation deal is too high. she doesn't support it. which ignited a strong response from house progressives. democratic representative alexandria ocasio-cortez tweeted "good luck tanking your own party's investment in child care, climate action, and infrastructure while presuming you'll survive a 3-vote house margin especially after choosing to exclude members of color from negotiations and calling that a bipartisan accomplishment.” pramila jayapal also let it be known she and her colleagues are not going to vote for the bipartisan deal unless their priorities are sufficiently funded in the reconciliation deal. joining us is washington congress qom pramila jayapal chairman of the progressive caucus, which will have a big role in deciding what kind of deal can pass the house. thank you for seeing you this evening. >> great to see you. >> let's talk about your hesitation about t

arizona corals wide receiver wrote saying being in a position to hurt my team because i don't want to partake in the vaccine is making me question my future in the nfl. but, some players, i think a lot are just gonna get vaccinated so they don't cause their teen games, that is what tennessee titans quarterback did. and what he did, a guy who oppose getting a vaccine earlier this spring? we're starting to see the same thing happen in broader society. several companies like coup goal, facebook, say that they will require employees to get vaccinated when they return to the office. the biggest employer in the country announced they would be implementing a similar policy. president joe biden said federal workers will be required to confirm they are vaccinated or submit to regular testing and other restrictions. he went out of his way to highlight the nfl's policy. he wen>> it will command the nal football league that has announced that if there are outbreaks among unvaccinated personnel that the team risk forfeiting games. they need to take every step they can. every day, more business are

or the latinx vote is growing in a state like arizona. and so, all of this stuff is coinciding with the democratic shifts. demographics aren't destiny in terms of democrats winning elections. because they attract those voters if those voters do not have access to the ballot box those voters gave the democrats the majority in the senate and it would be a shame for those democrats are protect those ballots for the same committees. >> none of the voting rights bill that have been considered by the congress include any provisions about how the votes are counted, which is one of the new threats to voting rights and the new georgia law has, the texas law had it there and then they took it out. but there is this whole republican attempt to change what happens after votes are cast did. this is part of the new negotiation that the democrats are working on now. let's listen to what senator manchin said about that. let's listen to wh at senator manchin said about>> i've told e bottom line is that we should basically dedicate ourselves to a voting pi

arizona senator kirsten sinema who was credited by the bipartisan group for bringing the deal together, anchored some in her party when she said that the three point million dollar price tag being floated for the larger reconciliation bill of -- which united a strong support from them, alexandra ocasio-cortez quoted good luck thanking your own party's investment on trial care, climate action and infrastructure while presuming you'll survive a three-vote house margin especially after choosing to exclude members of color from negotiations and calling that bipartisan accomplishment. joining us is -- of the caucus she will have a big role in deciding what kind of infrastructure deal can pass the house. thank you for joining us this evening. >> great to see you, ali. let's talk about your hesitation on this bill. has got to do with anything that's on the bill we don't know exactly what's in the bipartisan bill or is it all about not trimming staff off of the other bill you are more focused on. >> we don't know what's in the bipartisan bill so, we have to see it. we have to make sure we agre

if republicans had had that kind of power, political power in georgia, in other places, you know, arizona -- name your state, pennsylvania, these key battleground states, donald trump could have been successful in stealing this election. and a lot of these laws, most of them have provisions that would make that kind of change. and i think it's under the category now, lawrence, of they call it election subversion. that's what the new category of negotiation is all about, and i think it's ball game. i think republicans understand that if they control the counting rooms and the counting process, that is the way in which they can systematically undermine democracy in the most profound way. we saw it on display, the threat of it in 2020. i think if any bill that democrats take up in the senate or in the house or in congress over these coming months, if it doesn't address that issue, it misses the point. >> the for the people act was written last year. it was written before the election, long before we saw these new republican legislative proposals. and, zerlina, we see a report in the "atlanta

arizona cardinals wide receiver deandre hopkins wrote being in a position to hurt my team because i don't want to partake in the vaccine is making me question my future in the nfl. but some players, i think a lot will get vaccinated so they don't cost their teams games. that's what tennessee titans quarterback ryan tannehill did. and what taylor decker did, a guy staunch leo posed getting the vaccine earlier this spring. we are starting to see the same thing happen in broader nnounced they will require employees to be vaccinated to returning to the office. today the biggest employer in the country announced they will be implementing a similar policy. president joe biden said federal workers will be required to confirm they are vaccinated or submit to regular testing and other restrictions. he also went out of his way to highlight the nfl's policy. >> i also commend the national football league who has announced that if there are outbreaks among unvaccinated players and personnel, then the teams risk forfeiting games. i urge sports leagues at every level to take every step they can. every

this comes on the heels of arizona senator kyrsten sinema announcing that she does not support that plan in its current form. this almost immediately infuriated many house progressives who signaled that they would not vote for the bipartisan infrastructure bill without a separate human infrastructure bill that meets the moment. new york congressman alexandria ocasio-cortez tweeted this warning to senator sinema. "good luck taking your own party's investment on child care, climate action and infrastructure while presuming you'll survive a three-vote house margin especially after choosing to exclude members of color from negotiations and calling that a bipartisan accomplishment." joining me now minnesota congressman ilhan omar, a member of the congressional progressive caucus. her memoir "this is what america looks like" is now available in paperback. congressman, your take on this bipartisan deal. >> it's really important for us to remember that we've laid out as members of the progressive caucus, as you know i serve as the whip, we've whipped on this, there is no path forward for a bipar

one of those 49 colleagues of yours, arizona senator says that she will vote to begin the process on that bill but does not support the large pricetag. and that can derail it. and the caucus said this in a statement yesterday. the votes of congressional progressive caucus members are not guaranteed on any bipartisan package until we examine the details and until the reconciliation bill is agreed to and passed with our priorities. so with an evenly split senate, sir, and a narrow democratic majority in the house, how do you bring all of these folks together to make sure that both parties of the infrastructure plan get through? they're now tied together it seems. >> well, it's a little bit like magic. you don't want to look to closely at people's hands when doing the trick. i think it's doable. obviously, any individual or it doesn't take very many individuals to derecall the whole thing. i see that. but you have to recognize that this country needs infrastructure. we also need to put serious investment in the caring economy and making sure that women can come back in the workforce wit

doing those kind of things, said the door is always open, the only person here the last couple days was arizona senator kyrsten sinema, critical voice in all this. we understand why, given comments on the reconciliation bill that doesn't require republicans. the president is sitting back, saying i wanted this to go forward on a two track plan. that's what's happening now. he is quite pleased. >> monica, i am curious. what is this to do list now? is he going to spend a lot more time with progressives to try to soothe feelings there? you talked about one on one with kyrsten sinema, i wonder if pete defazio or alexandria ocasio-cortez think what about my one on one. >> reporter: i think so, chuck. something we saw in illinois is a pretty good sign of what's to come. there was all this pressure, why isn't there enough climate change infrastructure when you talk about the human infrastructure plan. the president came out, in a speech sort of rebranded priorities after pressure from progressives. you can absolutely expect to have some of that happening behind the scenes and having the president's own

the lake sits on the arizona-utah border. it's currently at 32% capacity and scientists say it could drop by another two feet in just a couple of days. nbc's lindsay riser is in page, arizona. lindsay, how are officials responding to this crisis? what does that mean for folks who live in the surrounding areas? >> jose, great to be with you. thank you for having me. they're taking emergency measures because it's never been this bad, and this is a crucial resource here -- out here in the west. when we're talking just about the water supply and it feeds the local community of page. when we're talking recreation, we can see a lot of boats and ski boats, speed boats behind me and it's essentially enter at your own risk at this point and houseboats aren't supposed to be launched here because many boaters are reporting difficulty launching and retrieving their vessels, and we haven't even talked yet jose about the hydropower and the nearby glen canyon dam produces power and when there's lower water supply there's less tension on the

with the exception of arizona's senator sinema, who was here earlier this week, which was notable given the role she may play in the next path and the reconciliation that would not require republican votes. i'm watching for what that means and whether she's back at the white house or meeting with the president soon to continue to express what she says is too large of a price tag, and she wants to spend less, which as sahil mentioned, progressives are already balking at. >> we're going to watch that play out. there is something important, anna. about this, to use a phrase of pete buttigieg, republicans sticking their neck out. the numbers do matter. this is not looking like it's going to be potentially one of those bills where you get one or two of what folks call the usual suspects on the republican side, but to get that kind of number is important. and maybe that's what donald trump was watching last night when he put out a statement, essentially threatening members of his own party. where do you see all this going? >> donald trump is not where the senate republican caucus clearly is.

the democratic senator from arizona said she will move to vote the legislation forward writing a statement, quote, i have also made clear that while i will support beginning this process, i do not support a bill that costs $3.5 trillion. all will have to vote to have it pass. joining us now, national political correspondent from politico, meredith mcgraw. thank you for being here this morning. we've had a lot of celebrations and tortured olympics. what happens now? >> right now president biden is trying to get a big bipartisan sweeping victory he's been looking forward to since day one. to be honest, i've had my doubts about this thing. it seems like it's been never-ending but persistence paid off. you have the bipartisan senators who kept pushing through to get enough votes to pass this. 17 republicans is not something to be -- to thumb your nose at including the support right now of senate minority leader mitch mcconnell. and my colleagues said top officials worked hard to try to push this over the finish line, but the finish line is a little premature to say. this bill has a long way to

the whole arizona audit circus was meant to last a few weeks, we are now four months. in the senators say that the new batch of subpoenas that -- they're just gonna keep on looking. this thing is gonna go on forever so that donald trump and his allies can keep pointing to it and say proof of all the fraud is coming, it's just around the corner. and it's spreading. in wisconsin, the republican chair of the assembly elections committee is gathering up for her own arizona audit. she doesn't just won a forensic audit, she wants a cyber forensic audit. we don't know what that is but i'm sure that it is much fancier than the regular audit. this is how a wisconsin we republican made a pilgrimage -- this is on top of the investigation initiated by the republican speaker of the wisconsin assembly who wired some ex cops to dig into the 2020 election results for him under the watchful supervision of a republican former wisconsin supreme court justice who became a stop the steal activist after the election. and there's also the audit of ballots in, wisconsin being carried out by a

con disappears co that siemian siemian i will write a written statement to a arizona newspaper, senator referring to the other track of infrastructure legislation the democrats-only bill that will go through reconciliation. she said about that, i do not support a bill that costs $3.5 billion. $3.5 billion. support a bill that costs $3.5 trillion. that's odd because all democrats had a celebration with president biden when that $3.5 billion deal was agreed to by the senate budget committee members what's your reaction to what certainty cinema had to say. >> we find the senator to be thoughtful and very deliberate about what she's doing. also this is the legislative process, the sausage-making process, so a lot of times people will make their positions known but that's why it is called legislating. i think what president biden is doing is showing the real art of making the deal. and so, yes, we read the statement. we take the certainty at her word but this is her word but this is we take the senator at her word but it is a long process and this indicates where she is at this moment. every

arizona senator kyrsten sinema, a key democratic negotiator of the bipartisan deal finally admitted that she does not support the $3.5 trillion reconciliation package in its current form. now, this could be a problem for the progressive members of the democratic party who were willing to sacrifice a number of issues in order to get the bipartisan infrastructure deal done, but this was only with the understanding that more would be addressed in the reconciliation package. with me now is nbc news national political reporter, sahil kapur. sahil, busy day on capitol hill, before we get into the politics on this, i think it's important for the folks at home to understand what exactly is in this bill? >> absolutely, tiffany. this is a big vote for the bill, a major breakthrough for a piece of legislation that senators have tried to move for quite a while now. and here's what it includes. it's $550 billion in new spending on infrastructure projects. that includes roads and bridges. that includes highways. it includes public transit. there's about $65 billion in here for new broadband. it includ

you know, arizona is a great state. we have great elections. we've been running elections by mail, no excuse absentee voting for a long, long time. we've had had very successful elections with 27 days of early voting. we were the first state to have an independent redistricting commission, online voter registration. we've done it really well for a long, long time and the voice of arizona has always shown through until one sore loser shows up and all of a sudden everything is wrong. it's just silly and is has to stop. >> what was the purpose of your testimony today? and what is your hope in terms of how congress responds to what's happening in arizona? >> well, very specifically today's hearing was about the threats that have been suffered by local election officials across the united states of america. i've spoken with dozens and dozens of folks since leaving office in december all over the country and we've heard stories. the brennan center did a great report on threats against election officials. this specific piece of legislation i was testi

he also made it clear that arizona does not and will not allow any mask or vaccine mandates. your reaction. what do you think, will mask guidelines make your job harder and your thoughts and reactions to what the governor said? >> well, you know, i find it ironic that last summer the governor said, listen, i'm not going to mandate everything. every town and community can do whatever it wants even though clearly a mask mandate would have been very helpful and now that we have vaccines as being the most effective he's saying he won't allow towns or count toys do what they want, so take away the science of it. the contradiction should be ironic and it's worse than that because in this case it's dangerous f.as business wants to mandate vaccines i would completely support that. if a school district wants to mandate masks, i would completely support that. this is a deadly pandemic and to let politics determine which way you're going to go and to be inconsistent about it is really horrid. >> doctor rolling, i want to play you something that the president said yesterday about getting

replacing those could cost arizona an additional $6 million. elise jordan, what's going on? >> yeah, it's just all those fiscal conservatives at work. it's easy to forget this is still ongoing because reality-based media, fact-based media has, you know, hasn't been extensively covering the money wasting and the just zany antics that just waste everyone's time that's happening in arizona, but of course, trump is following it and is hugely invested, and much like he ranted about servers back in 2016 and actually still probably rants about servers, he's now ranting about routers. and i feel pitiful for the people of arizona that their tax dollars are going towards this absolute nonsense. >> yeah. and now we want to move to the latest developments around voting laws across the country. norman lear, the groundbreaking and celebrated television writer and producer, turned 99 years old on tuesday and used the day to speak out on voting rights. in an opinion piece in "the washington post", lear, who has always been very active in politics wrote in part, i woke up today at the start

. >> as the so-called audit into arizona's election result continues, it could cost the state $9 million. the analysis comes from "the washington post" which reports arizona is already on the hook to pay roughly $3 billion to replace the voting machines in maricopa county. that's because the partisan firm conducting the audit, cyberninjas cannot ensure that the machines haven't been infected with malicious content during the process. and the united states senate apparently issued a new subpoena for the county to hand over the routers used during the election. that came after a rambling speech from former president donald trump over the weekend, demanding that the routers be turned over. replacing those could cost arizona an additional $6 million. >>> still ahead, as the delta variant rages on, the cdc issues new mask guidance for the fully vaccinated. >>> and oh, is that lady gaga being spotted at the olympics? we'll tell you why folks are doing a double take in tokyo. >>> but before we get a break, we want to know why are you awake? email your reasons to "way too early" @msnbc.com. or u

that's done doocy, republican governor of arizona. is this concern warranted, and are you concerned about some confusion people thought their kids will go back to school, and not mask? people who have been vaccinated who have been going indoors without their masks on? >> yeah, chris, the governments interpretation i think is completely misguided enough base. there is no rule that says it is only one strategy to deal with a pandemic like this, and especially since we had this incredible surge due to the delta variant, the delta mutation. all bets are off. people have to understand that we have to plant all the ornaments in our shiver -- shiver -- in our backpack to make sure we have done everything possible. the vaccination agenda is critical, that must happen. one of the reason we get these surges is there are so many pockets in the united states where people are so under vaccinated, that they are susceptible to getting sick with the delta variant. that is one, and to, we have to wear masks indoors, even those people have been vaccina

that's doug ducey, republican governor of arizona. is his concern warranted, and are you concerned about some confusion? people thought their children were going to go to school without masks, people have been indoors without masks on. >> i think the governor's interpretation is completely misguided and off base. there's no one rule that says there's one strategy to deal with this. and especially since we have this incredible surge due to the delta variant, the delta mutation, all bets are off, and people have to understand that we have to pull out all the armaments in our shiver -- shiver? in our back back to make sure we have done everything possible. the vaccination agenda is extremely critical. that must happen. one of the reasons we're getting surges is there are so many pockets in the united states that people are so undervaccinated that they were susceptible to getting sick with the delta variant. that is "a." and "b" is that, yes, we do have to wear masks indoors, even those people who have been vaccinated when the original ru

here we are in arizona. we know that right now they're seeing daily case totals that they haven't seen since february. in maricopa county, the most populous county in arizona, they're seeing a seven day average that they haven't seen since february. the positivity rate recently was around 5%. now it's around 11%. icu beds are filling up again. the governor is imploring residents to get the vaccine. he said he got it himself. but he is also taking a slew of executive actions here that some say is kind of an opposition to what they're trying to do to curb the pandemic here including preventing k-12 schools from -- rather recinding an order an executive order that required k-12 schools to require masks. preventing state colleges and universities from requiring vaccines. preventing states and municipalities from requiring vaccines. it is frustrating for the doctors. an e.r. physician i spoke to here says we have this tool in our tool kit. yet there is a plateau of vaccinations. he said everybody anecdotally that

today dozens were arrested in arizona for doing the same thing. i'll give you a few guesses as to whose office that took place outside of. the answer when we come back. ugh, these balls are moist. or is that the damp weight of self-awareness you now hold in your hands? yeah (laugh) keep your downstairs dry with gold bond body powder. keep your downstairs dry for bathroom odors that linger try febreze small spaces. just press firmly and it continuously eliminates odors in the air and on soft surfaces. for 45 days. >>> the for the people campaign is ramping up. it held 27 rallies in cities across the country. if phoenix, william barber and jesse jackson held a real rally to put pressure on kyrsten sinema's office. they held a march where they held a sit-in, blocking the entrance as they sang "this little light of mine." both civil rights leaders were arrested at the sit-in. barber posted this photo of him in zip ties with the caption "we've got to get these shackles off our democracy." and senator sinema's spokesman said there could be stricter voti

now, arizona of course is the one state that's actually tried to prove donald trump's false and ridiculous claims. that's in the audit of maricopa county's 2. 1 million ballots. which has, not surprisingly, been an absolute clown show. it's still going on apparently. get this, there was one at least nominally legitimate face to that recount which was former arizona secretary ken bennett republican who said today he's been shut out of the audit as a third count of the ballots total is still ongoing. they're just counting and counting because they're trying to reach the conclusion they want obviously. the ballots themselves, by the way, just by the way almost got rained on the other day when the roof of the building that the audit is taking place started leaking. workers scrambled i guess to cover boxes of ballots with tarps to protect them. i don't know, it seems like a pretty professional operation. it's the level of competency would expect from a donald trump projects and the level of confidence and good faith we've come to expect from the republican party at large. but, as oafish as it a

this is the headline from the arizona republic today. quote, arizona representatives andy biggs and paul gosar votes to abandon afghan allies. what follows is a scathing editorial indicting these two congressman for being part of a small group of 16 republicans who voted against an overwhelmingly bipartisan bill to try to expedite the process and forgetting afghan translator to help u.s. forces day safety as america ends its longest war. quote, when the u.s. pulled out of vietnam, there were unfortunate, sometimes tragic repercussions for some of the vietnamese who assisted our troops. the idea of the house bill was to not let that happen again. to appreciate loyalty to. demonstrate empathy. to emphasize humanity. the bill before the most unmistakably and indisputably good. in voting, no, congressman gosar and biggs prove themselves to be unmistakably and indisputably the opposite. gosar and biggs are not the only republicans facing bash slash for voting against helping the translators. the veterans group released this ad targeting two d

now, arizona, of course, is the one state that has actually tried to prove donald trump's false and ridiculous claims. that's in the audit of maricopa county's 2.1 million ballots, which has, not surprisingly, been just an absolute clownshow. i mean, it's still going on, apparently. get this. there was a -- there -- there was one at least nominally legitimate face of that recount who is former arizona secretary of state, ken bennett. who said today he's been shut out of the audit. they are just counting and counting because they are trying to reach the conclusion they want, obviously. the ballots, themselves, by the way, just, oh, by the way, almost got rained on the other day when the roof of the building where the audit is taking place started leaking. workers scrambled, i guess, to cover boxes of ballots with tarps to protect them. all in all, seems like a pretty professional operation. it's the level of competence you would expect from a donald-trump project and the level of confidence and good faith we have come to expect from the republican party, writ large. but as ofish as it all is, i

the same deal because of arizona and the other states in '20. the truth is, he lost, he lied about that. he's not been helpful in getting the truth out. if he called a press conference tonight and said, we've been lying, but we have to get to the vaccinations. he could be almost like a uso celebrity, he could be the bob hope of vaccinations if he wanted to. but he doesn't want to. he wants chaos, he doesn't want to be a good person. it's clear we're going back to the troubled area we were in last year, and it will take leadership in the right. we have good leadership in the center left from biden and from the left. and center right, even. but we're not getting it from the right. if i could pray for him to do it, i would. but i don't think he's going to do the right thing. >> you talked about the patriotism in the book, from being part of public service and around it, and part of the patriotism, it puts the hope of democracy far above the reality of daily politics. something that trump and his followers have been able to do is get everyone's frus

these, and i do put them in air quotes, "audits" because it's not a real audit what's happening in arizona, and that's just a factual statement. he's encouraging more of those kinds of situations to happen in other places around the country, as we saw in arizona, those things take time. that's not a two-week process, right? that has dragged on for months. what is the potential impact on 2022 for example if you have other states like texas, maybe, beginning efforts like what we've seen in arizona? >> you know, i'm sorry, hallie, i missed part of your -- the danger generally about these audits is that even though they take a lot of time, they still incredibly raise more doubts and the actual results of the audit are also in question. you may remember there were some interesting companies that were working on this, that didn't have any expertise in balloting or electioneering and it raises all doubts about the integrity of the election and yet it also when you get the final answer from whomever it is that's hired by that particular state, there's a question about whether or not we're really g

the supreme court made it harder for us in their most recent arizona decision on section two. section 5, preclearance, that was shelby. section 2 is how you actually win a voting rights lawsuit. north carolina is in the middle of that because of the jingles case. but the supreme court a couple weeks ago made that harder. so that's made congress's job harder. but we are going to get it done on the house side, send to it the senate, and hopefully they will just get it out in time for redistricting. >> now, in the past couple of weeks, we've seen texas democrats flee their state to try and block republicans from passing voting bills. you saw one just before you on this show. we have seen your colleague, congresswoman george beatty in handcuffs simply for protesting our voting rights on capitol hill. similar lee, congressman johnson. you are also a civil rights lawyer. what are you willing to do to ensure voting rights are protected for all of us. >> i am doing everything in my power to get these bills through the committee. and the most important thing is getting them through in

joining me is arizona congressman ruben. congressman, donald trump praising the arizona state senate for its audit of the election in maricopa county. >> i think the result will be so outrageous. you have already seen some of them come that they will go many steps further. is every one here fully understands the 2020 election was a total disgrace. it was the most corrupt. >> i'm curious what surprises you more. that is he is still singing his same old tired song or that the crowd is cheering so much? what kind of message is it all sending? >> the message is number one, donald trump is a loser. he's a sore loser. you have to be a pretty bad politician in order for you to lose as an incumbent president and he's not accepting that. unfortunately, i think his cult following is still dealing with that. secondly, it tells you this republican party is not a party of ideas. it's now a person, a cult of personality. they are just going to follow his lies all the way until the end. it's not working. last night, if anything, he lost mo

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trump was in arizona yesterday. he broke out the greatest hits, among them being his rant about quote, unquote, voter fraud. both of you talked to donald trump about this. let's have a listen and talk to you on the other side. >> there's tremendous proof, there's tremendous proof. statistically it wasn't even possible that he won. i mean, things such as if you win florida and ohio and iowa there's never been a loss. >> did you need better lawyers because they took it to court but didn't give enough evidence to convince the judges. >> i need better judges. the supreme court was afraid to take it. >> phil, why won't donald trump let this go? there's been no evidence whatsoever of wide spread voter fraud. >> you're exactly right. there's no evidence to support what he's been saying. yet he continues to say it. as we saw last night in arizona. he's unwilling to accept the fact that he lost the election to joe biden and he remains clinging on to these conspiracy theories that are just not true. there's no evidence to sup

but we do. >>> this ridiculous ballot audit in arizona continues. it has taken another questionable turn after tensions boiled over between state representative bennett and the cyber ninjas. i wish this was science fiction. but ken bennett is the point person between the state senate and the people conducting the audit. only person with actual experience working in elections. the cyber ninjas are the private company hired to recount the 2020 ballots. ninjas have serious experience before stepping into this gig. friday bennett was banned from the site where the audit is still taking place after three months. he was locked off for allegedly sharing data for an outside group of cyber ninja critics who wanted to check to see if the work was legitimate. republican senate says bennett is still the liaison and on top of that, the building where the ballots are still being reviewed is leaking because of heavy rain in the area. but don't worry, the and you had the team says that the ballots are, quote, fine.hadthe team sa ballots are, quote, fine. >>> and in

. >> you know, when we talk about the things going on in texas and georgia, in arizona, places where republican legislation or rep governors, and then we talk about pennsylvania. people warn pennsylvania has a democratic governor, it will not allow these silly things to happen, and you have warned this is not the way to look at this. >> absolutely. you have some folks who take it as a joke. it is not a joke. we defeated a hill, the governor eventually vetoed it. that bill was just reintroduced. they're having another go at it. that bill would restrict drop boxes. that bill would really roll back a lot of the deadlines by which people can apply, to apply for a mail-in ballot. it seeks to try to solve a problem that doesn't exist, as it relates to voter fraud. we know there was no widespread voter fraud. in the few cases of voter fraud that we saw, under five cases, these were all republicans trying to vote for the former president. so we understand that, no matter how disconnected from the facts the reality is, that my colleagues are moving full steam ahead. you talk about the urgency

the former president onstage in arizona furthering his big lie about the election as another big lie about covid is stealing lives across republican strongholds. >>> plus beto o'rourke joins us about a march he's leading through texas, all to protect the american right to vote. >>> plus my take on the high stakes future of childcare. >>> and our loudest voices of the week. cubans standing up without fear to demand democracy. this is "american voices." >>> hello, everyone, i'm alicia menendez. we begin this hour with a growing challenge for president biden. convincing vaccines skeptics to get the shot. new nbc reporting shows a glimmer of hope. vaccine rates are starting to rise in states with the biggest increase of new infections. biden addresses the politicization of the vaccines this week in virginia. >> here's the point. all the covid-19 deaths and hospitalizations are today among the unvaccinated people. i know this has gotten a bit politicized. i hope it's starting to change. it's not about red states or blue states or guys like that hollering. it's about life and it's about de

the former president onstage in arizona furthering his big lie about the election as another big lie about covid is stealing lives across republican strongholds. >>> plus beto o'rourke joins us about a march he's leading through texas, all to protect the american right to vote. >>> plus my take on the high stakes future of

well aware, and have, clearly, bought into the lie that fraud cost trump arizona in 2020. >> there is just the -- the amount of ballot dumps and everything that were happening in the middle of the night. and i mean, we've seen signature counts not -- not matching up. i am 100% sure that he won the 2020 election. there is no way that joe biden got 80 million votes. he can barely get eight people to show up to his town halls. >> but, you see, feelings are not facts. numbers certified, over and over, again, just don't back up that feeling. however, cyber ninjas carries on its very questionable audit. and just yesterday, the man working as senate liaison at the audit site, ken bennet, was kicked out. he was the only person associated with the cyber ninja recount with actual-elections experience. and now, he is barred from the site for allegedly sharing data with outside critics who wanted to check cyber ninjas' work, to see if they are legit. spoiler alert, they are not. but they are, apparently, good enough for trump, who is promoting the audit. and using it to self-serve his own, big li