arizona has changed. we've gone from a deep red state to a now more blue state. some people call it purple. i'm optimistic. i see it blue. and we're not going to do anything different. we're going to continue to engage the voters and know -- and have them know their rights. because at the end of the day that's what it's going to be about. them knowing their rights and making sure they come out and vote. >> i mean, going door to door is not easy when it's 110 there in phoenix. but let's talk on the federal level here, i mean, a lot of people are saying the only thing that can happen now is getting the john lewis voting rights advancement act passed. that can really only happen if there's a filibuster. is that something you support? >> well, look, here in arizona we are sending a message that we need every single option on the table because this is the fight of our lifetime. the for the people act and the john lewis act are extremely important to protect democracy as we know it. so we're asking our senators to make sure to keep every single option on the table. and

it's very dangerous. >> it's not just arizona. yesterday i spoke with michigan attorney general about the impact of the big lie on her state. let's take a listen to what she had to say about that. >> i don't know how we're ever going to get back on course after what we seen in our state. i don't know how we'll get to a point where the average voter in the state of michigan will ever believe what we know to be true, which is our elections are safe, secure and accurate. >> that's pretty stunning. how concerned are you for the same affect in arizona? >> it is vr stunning. i do have concerns but the fact of the majority of arizona voters across the board, not necessarily in one particular party but most voters do have faith in the election systems and the security and fairness of our elections and they also don't support what's going on here with this fake audit. they see it for the sham that it is and they honestly tired of this partisan games. that is a big part of the reason i'm running for governor to get to work on real issues fo

he does seem to be taking pages right out of the arizona playbook. in arizona, the republican state senate leader used her subpoena power to force the board of elections to turn over ballots. this pennsylvania state senator also runs a committee that theoretically has subpoena power. in arizona, the state senate fronted $150,000 to pay for their so-called audit. the rest of the funding for it is coming from sources that nobody involved will disclose. this pennsylvania state senator is also trying to secure funding for an audit and has sought advice from a law firm about how to go about using money from a private non-profit organization to pay for vendors, consultants and anyone else. in arizona, all the republicans involved in the so-called audit have been claiming that it's not about overturning the 2020 election. it's about restoring integrity to the state's elections. right on cue in pennsylvania, a law firm tapped by the republican state senator said in a letter that the purpose of such an audit would be to -- hope you are sitting down -- develop

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 think a lot of people were very excited to see that arizona helped push joe biden over, but arizona is not a blue state. it is won by the thinnest of margins and some recent polling i have seen shows that many republicans there, and many voters in arizona, they would vote for joe biden again if he was running against trump, but if he was running against another republican, he would be in a tight race. talk about some of the voter suppression laws that have been passed by republicans in the state that they're hoping will play into being able to send that state back to the republican column in 2024. >> well, i think what we have seen since the election by folks who are not happy about the outcome is an orchestrated effort to continue to undermine the integrity of elections, continue to sow doubt in confidence and to make it harder for those voters to vote. and simply because they don't like the outcome of the election. and so, you know, this is really unfortunate. it's why i have continued to stand up for the process that we oversaw in 2020, which was free and fair, and the results we

voters in arizona are tired of this. they want real leadership. and they want folks that are going to tackle real problems. rehashing the 2020 election is not one of them. >> secretary hobbs, it's easy for people to watch what is happening in arizona or watch what is happening in texas or watch what is happening in georgia and say, that's just arizona, that's just texas, that's just georgia. i don't live in any of these three states. can you talk to me a little bit about how all of these threats weave together and the way in which they challenge not just democracy in the state of arizona, but democracy writ large. >> absolutely. we've been having conversations secretaries of state and other election officials across the country who are concerned about this fake audit in maricopa county. we've seen legislators from other states come and tour and try to bring this kind of thing to their state, pennsylvania, michigan, wisconsin, georgia. there's a lot of concern about this. the goal here is not to validate the 2020 election results, to continue to so

arizona's electoral votes. that's because we've seen a big surge in latino voters, mefrm voters and native american voters for the first time in a long time, not just registering but turning out to vote. they've made it harder for folks because they lost the last election. instead of playing by the rules which they lost by, they're trying to make it harder for communities of color. the decision by the u.s. supreme court was disappointing but not surprising because what we see with the conservative majority in the supreme court is an attempt to slowly make it harder for communities of color, rural americans, rural arizonaans to have access to the ballot box. it is disappointing but not surprising. we have heard next year that the republican colleagues in the legislature will be introducing some of the more onerous restrictions and ways to make it harder for people to access the ballot box. it will be a full-on war not just this year but next year when we go back to legislative session in january. >> you saw demo

this is not new in arizona, either. i mean, we have seen accusations, false accusations in a lot of different places for a while. the reality is that, as we continue to improve our systems and protect the voters of arizona, and expand the way that people vote, the access they have, some people will be afraid of what's happen. it's the fear in the far right, the fear in some extremists, that fear is manifesting into this willingness to believe just about anything for comfort. it's too bad, because americans, particularly arizonaarizonaens, not a fearful bunch. most of what has been spouted out is just not true, and it's unfortunate. >> you used your twitter feed to stay away from the rally yesterday, but as you are campaigning around the state, you're talking to people who still choose to follow trump. do you discover they have genuine concerns? or are they more part of this trumpian fan base? >> there's genuine concerns. donald trump was the president of the united states for a kermit. >> a lot of the interactions i've

let me put up some of the arizona's great reporting from over the holiday. arizona republican chair kelly ward's pressure campaign with hickman, the gop official who refused to pick up trump's call, began in earnest on november 7th as votes were still being counted. ward complained election observers were unable to see. after hickman pressed for specifics ward responded, quote, we need you to stop the counting. days later on november 13th, she wrote, we want you guys to do the right thing, prove to millions of arizona voters that the maricopa vote is legit. don't try to simply tell us that the recorder and elections department say it's fine. prove it to arizona and to america. you have all the power you need to make it happen. the pressure campaign is clearly coming from the ex-president. i think he bragged about it. i think he flew some of the officials from michigan in, and it really does sort of undergird the point that save for a handful of local election officials, a lot of them republicans, we could have had a very different outcome in november. >> yea

joining us is arizona secretary of state katie hobbs, also a candidate for governor in arizona. madam secretary, first, is there no recourse to regain possession of these ballots so that they're not moved again and potentially tampered with? >> well, the recourse would be between the maricopa county and the senate, who has ordered this audit. but, really, you know, this is exactly why we have been fighting against this from the get-go. these are not experts. they're making this up as they go along. it is not a real audit. they don't know what they're doing and they're not taking their role right now as custodian of these ballots and equipment seriously. that's very clear from everything we've seen. >> and, in fact, your ability to do your job is being hampered by -- i want to read from the npr reporting on this. arizona republicans stripped some election power from democratic secretary of state, arizona republicans have stripped the secretary of state's office, currently held by a democrat, of the right to defend the state's election laws in court or choose not to. the change en

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

it is in full swing in arizona. we are expecting them to announce their supposedly scandalous results sometime soon. republicans even now are moving to also do it in wisconsin, also in pennsylvania, also in georgia. even also in oklahoma where trump won by more than 30 points, but still there must have been democratic fraud. in his remarks today, president biden then turned to what voting rights advocates are desperate to hear from him. a full-throated unreserved call to act, to protect voting rights nationally in washington, which is the only way to stop the state-by-state devastating attacks on voting rights that republicans are now pursuing across the country. watch. >> last month republicans opposed even dab debating, even considering the people's act. senate democrats stood united it to protect our democracy and the sanctity of the vote. we must pass the for the people act. it's a national imperative. we must also fight for the john lewis voting rights advancement act to restore and expand -- [ cheers and appla

. >> he and his backers have been focused on arizona. we will explain why you probably will hear a little more about votes in the grand canyon state. >>> as the nation remembers john lewis on the one-year anniversary of his death, the voting rights bill he inspired is facing an uncertain future in congress. president biden continues to issue dire warning about the fight to protect voting rights, activists remain concern that his actions are falling short. nbc's josh letterman is at the white house with more. josh, how is the administration responding to some of these criticisms, people who are worried that these plans to try and help with voting rights just aren't a top priority right now? >> reporter: right, exactly. those activists, they want to see president biden make voting rights as big of a priority as he has infrastructure spending and the response, frankly, to the covid-19 pandemic. now, the white house obviously says they are doing everything that they possibly can to try to move this forward, including using executive action,

so, pete, let's go with the arizona case first. and i want to start with there were two parts challenged. one had to do with the collection of ballots, the other had to do with this idea if you voted in the wrong precinct what would happen to those ballots? was there any thought of splitting those two? did the challengers at all, you know, sometimes they'll make an argument, look, if you're going to uphold that this is more egregious, the throwing away of ballots was more egregious. any attempt to split that? >> no, not really. i mean, there was different analysis during the challenges about the effect they have on voters but what justice alito says in his majority opinion, any time you change the vogt rules it imposes some kind of burden on somebody somehow. and there's always been a burden to voting. he says you got to get up, go to the poll, apply for a ballot. you got to put it in the mailbox. those are all to some extent inconveniences so the test, he says, under the voting rights act is what kind of disparity does that create

maricopa county, arizona. the one being run by the cyber ninjas' guy, who is a qanon stop the steal conspiracy theorist. where they have been running through ballots. they have been taking the the ballots and running them under ultra violet light looking for bamboo fibers because maybe the ballots were secretly sent to america from east asia. today, the guy who's been overseeing the audit for the arizona republicans quit. after being locked out. i'm -- that's not a -- i mean, he was actually, physically, locked out of the building where the audit has been taking place. well, that was this morning. he quit. and then, later today, he unquit. so, that's going well. the whole arizona audit circus was supposed to last a few weeks. we are now four months in. the arizona senate republicans, just this week, sent a whole new batch of subpoenas to maricopa county for more stuff that they want to look at. they are just going to keep on looking. this thing is going to go on forever, so that donald trump and his allies can

when he lost arizona. but, you know, we're pretty hard-nosed scrupulous reporters and we're not won over that easily. we will see what he thinks of this book. he doesn't seem to like it so far. >> yeah, i don't doubt that. i want to play some sound of the president talking about the 2020 election. >> 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. >> there was a loss. >> and did you need better lawyers because they took it to court but they didn't give enough evidence to convince the judges. >> no, i needed better judges. i needed better judges. the supreme court was aggrade to take it. >> and it is -- he brings up the supreme court, right, having so many of his own appointees on the supreme court. >> yes. >> he actually thinks these supreme court judges are his judges, right, his attorney general, they advocate for him, when, in fact, that is not their job. >> that

. >>> the action taken on capitol hill after the supreme court's blow to voting rights in arizona. will it be enough? ♪ when technology is easier to use... ♪ barriers don't stand a chance. ♪ that's why we'll stop at nothing to deliver our technology as-a-service. ♪ liberty mutual customizes car insurance to so you only pay forogy what you need. how much money can liberty mutual save you? one! two! three! four! five! 72,807! 72,808... dollars. yep... everything hurts. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ open talenti and raise the jar. to gelato made from scratch. raise the jar to all five layers. raise the jar to the best gelato... you've ever tasted. talenti. raise the jar. start your day with crest 3d white and from mochaccinos to merlot, you've ever tasted. your smile will always be brilliant. crest 3d white brilliance. 100% stain removal, 24 hour stain resistance to lock in your whitest smile. crest. the #1 toothpaste brand in america. >>> new pushback today from democratic lawmakers after the supreme court upheld two arizona voting re

in arizona and florida they'll be kicking people off the absentee voting list, in arizona, iowa, florida kentucky utah they'll be expanding voter purges, kicking people off the voter rolls entirely. in florida, arkansas, new hampshire in wyoming there is harsher, stricter narrow voter i.d. requirements. and yes, in florida and georgia they're banning water or any food or snacks for anyone in line no matter how long the line gets, no matter how hot it is that the, no matter how old the waiting voter is. 18 different states, 30 different voter restrictions law and counting, those are past, those are laws. and the effort to find a way to stop it, to try to put a floor under voting rights nationwide so no state can restrict voting rights below that nationwide floor to hold them up, that fight still hinges on the for the people act, which has passed the house and it's stuck in the senate, is still stuck in the senate because of uniform republican opposition to it and the hope the republicans are getting in that effort from democratic senator joe manchin. as we've been reporting for the past c

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

in phoenix, arizona. this is thursday last week, it was 112 degrees in phoenix that day. ♪ can't take it no more ♪ ♪ we're fired up ♪ ♪ we're fired up ♪ ♪ can't take it no more ♪ >> fired up, can't take it no more. 112 degrees that day in phoenix. not counting the radiant heat off the tarmac there. that was outside the office of arizona's republican attorney general, mark burn avich. those folks were protesting outside his office because of his role in promoting and defending new voting rights restrictions in arizona, including all the way up to the united states supreme court. also, arizona's new rules about how the state's elections will be conducted in the future, new rules explicitly designed to make sure officials from the democratic party can't play a top role in election administration in arizona anymore, only republicans will be allowed to do that from here on out. of those folks protesting outside attorney general's office in arizona, nine were arrested. it wasn't -- they weren't

the test that's being proposed now to legitimize arizona's laws or legitimize a whole host of things which is why the conversation has to move nationally to how we get these voting rights act. back when i argued that voting rights case in 2010, it had been reauthorized in the congress and house by 421-3 and senate 98-0. this is the most morn thing we could imagine, the right to vote. how could it be derived? how could the supreme court be writing these? it's time for congress to act. >> of course, neil, racism no longer exists. racism is over because obama was present. therefore, 1 out of 320 million people, poof, racism is gone. by the way, so you think we're bringing up hyperbole again. florida enacted a poll tax. if you serve prison time, you have to pay a poll tax. that's legal according to justice alito. >>> is kevin going all authoritarian on us? he threatened to retaliate against republicans if they accepted an appointment to serve on the select committee. liz cheney did just that joining seven democrats announced by pelosi earlier today. one of those democrats will be here ne

today, arizona republicans who are doing their so-called audit in arizona, they gave a briefing on their progress. only two republican senators were there, but they tried to call it a hearing. this was -- this audit that they're doing in arizona, they launched it in april. they said it would take three weeks. it's, of course, now mid-july, and they're still going strong. they made clear today that they're definitely finding all of the fraud they have been fantasizing about, but it's definitely going to take lots more investigation, lots more materials, probably lots more donations from trump supporters nationwide. it looks like they will subpoena more stuff from the county, maricopa county, where they got all these ballots from. the way they were talking about it today, it sounds like they think they have weeks to go, maybe months still to go. it's such a big complex investigation. there's no sign actually that there was anything wrong with the presidential vote in arizona. nothing. there's no sign that there was anything wrong with it. at all. and i'm saying that not just like, because

i've been talking about arizona and pennsylvania. but you know this well. this kind of nonsense is actually going on in michigan as well. >> it most unfortunately is. our legislature has been considering legislation for the last few months. there's been efforts to have similar activities to what's going on in arizona. they have not been successful to date. those efforts have been unsuccessful. there has been no evidence of any kind of conspiracy or falsehood. there are definitively just by many of the other states trying to make it harder in this state. i fear that they may be successful before it ends. >> i get the motivations are sinister, the problem i'm seeing is i'm talking to republicans, mainstream normal republicans who i don't think are subject to conspiracy theories who say the goal here is to make voting safer and more accessible. it's the language the arizona republicans are using, it's the language that the law firm representing pennsylvania republicans are using, that this is men to improve and make voting more robust. in michigan, you have a

you see it in wisconsin, you see the arizona fraud being used as a model. but i have to say and i understand -- i take yamiche's point all the things the white house has to juggle today but a lack of real focus and urgency on the part of the democrats to deal with this including the failure to focus on the other aspect of this not just the access to the ballot box but nullifications of elections. the power of state legislatures to overturn the election. the electoral vote counting act that might allow a republican congress to set aside the winner of an actual election. they seem to go through the motions and wave their hands at it. but it does feel like, again, going through the motions as opposed to a real sense of urgency, a full-court press would involve compromised legislation, more aggressive action by the department of justice, and a much more aggressive approach by the white house including the president and the vice president and, quite frankly, i know we're supposed to think they're addressing it today, but i actually think what you just played hig

a similar criminal investigation might be underway tonight in arizona. if only lifelong republican had decided to answer his phone. the arizona republican reports then president donald trump try to speak directly with the chair of the maricopa county board of supervisors in the weeks after the november 2020 election as his allies sought to change the election results in a state he narrowly lost to democrat joe biden. donald trump called lifelong republican clinic man twice, they're a white house operator. it's reported his phone rang 8:30 pm on new year's eve, while he was on a date with his wife and friends in north central phoenix. he didn't recognize the number of carrying washington d.c.'s area code and let me go to voice mail. hickman quickly listen to the message. white house switchboard wanted him to call back so he could talk to the president, he recalled in an interview with the arizona republic. hickman did not return the call and later deleted that voice mail, he said. three days later, news broke of trump's january 2nd phone call with georgia

it's not even popular amongst republicans in arizona. however, there's something nefarious here but they are asking for ballots and equipment to be handed over audit style. that's what caused the department to say you are endangering the sanctity of the process. once you start handing ballots around to other people, particularly nongovernmental people and ballot machines, you've now tainted the process. so you've thrown doubt into the system and then you've mucked up the machines. now no one will ever get a real answer. that audit in maricopa county will never, ever end because they just keep shuffling the same ballots around. >> sure. thankfully in pennsylvania that's never going to happen because the counties in question have already said no. our department of state here in pennsylvania has already shut that down. there's no path for this audit to continue. this is just carnival barking at its lowest, and they're going to continue to try to do this because that's all they have to run on. but i just want people to understand, like i sai

"the arizona republic" reports tonight that one of the republican state senators in arizona who's been promoting the audit thing in arizona all along, he's now selling t-shirts promoting his cause. the cost of his t-shirts, it's a sliding scale by size. they're $35 to $45 for a t-shirt. wow, order yours today. it's $35 for a small or $45 for a double extra large, which frankly just seems rude. the "washington post" reports tonight former president trump seemed to have found a tidy path through the wreckage to pay his living expenses via this nonsense he continues to stoke. the headline in "the post" tonight, quote trump's pac collected $75 million this year, but so far the group has not put money into pushing for the 2020 tally he touts. it raised about $75 million the first half of this year as he trumpeted the false notion the 2020 election was stolen from him. but the pac has not devoted funds to help finance or push for similar endeavors in other states, according to people familiar with the finances. instead the save america leadership pac, which has few limits on how it can spend

so, this is damaging in many ways to arizona. and it is unfortunate that the folks running the show continue to try to drag it out for their political goals. >> well would you advise the house oversight committee in washington in their investigation of this, what you call me fraudit? what should they be looking for and asking about? >> i think all the things that they highlighted in their letter it all of the right points. and the points that we have been making for months about all the problems associated with this exercise. i welcome their voices and their intervention into this fight. quite frankly, our offices here concerns from voters every single day over this exercise. and they are tired of these partisan games. that is why i am running for governor to get to work on real issues and problems that we have here in arizona. not rehashing the 2020 election. and folks can join me in that katie hobbs.org. >> let me ask you about that. your secretary of state, now. you are directly involved in elections election security. wouldn'

this area relies on monsoons, arizona monsoons. we haven't seen normal monsoon season in three years. lake mead, the largest reservoir in the united states, at 35%. as the reservoir gets lower and lower, arizona will have to cut back the water it's using. >> more tough decisions ahead. >>> up next, conservatorship consensus, can lawmakers on both sides of the aisle you knight to help britney spears. >>> softball is back on the olympic stage, for now. we'll talk to two of the players headed to tokyo. and get the reaction to the first covid case detected in the athletes village. neuroscienti. and i love the science behind neuriva plus. unlike ordinary memory supplements, neuriva plus fuels six key indicators of brain performance. more brain performance? yes, please! neuriva. think bigger. if you have moderate to severe psoriasis, little things can become your big moment. that's why there's otezla. otezla is not a cream. it's a pill that treats plaque psoriasis differently. with otezla, 75% clearer skin is achievable. don't use if you

. >> meanwhile, in arizona, another democrat fighting to protect voters, arizona secretary of state katie hobbs who has asked her state's republican vaccine averse attorney general to open up a criminal investigation into whether trump and his allies broke the law in their efforts to pressure maricopa county officials after the election. hobbs has made it clear that fighting her state's sham fraudit isn't just about affirming the last election but preventing republicans from stealing the next one, which is exactly what they're now opening trying to do. while exporting more partisan sham reviews to other states like pennsylvania where a state senator who participated in the pro-trump events in d.c. before the insurrection is now demanding, get this, that binders full of ballots be delivered to him. it shouldn't surprise you that pennsylvania fraudit guise considered for running for governor. we see you, republicans, rolling out the full insurexz tool kit to any state where you have legislative control in order to instill social chaos and crush our democracy using, quote, election integrity

the arizona county election officials have identified fewer than 200 cases of potential voter fraud. this isn't exactly voter fraud. this is out of three million ballots. some were republican cast votes. what can the federal government do at this point? >> every avenue we have within the court system is being systemically taken away from us. everything that we could have done legislatively is being taken away from us. now we're having to depend on the federal government, at this point in time, for states like arizona, texas, wisconsin, georgia, all of these places where these republican legislatures are passing some draconian election laws. we're having to depend on congress to come by and say let's take a look at what's really going on here. i hope our attorney general investigates because donald trump was calling our senate leaders just before this thing happened. >> greg abbott is trying to usher through conservative pipe dream with not om banning 24 hour voting but trying to expand or limit abortion rights and anti-trans laws. it's really scary here. it cast a wide dark shadow ov

the degree to which there are a few courageous republicans of her november 3rd in arizona, in georgia -- they're all being attacked, and getting very little support from other republicans around the country. so the problem with -- some of the republicans, i don't know how many i believe the big lie, but others are ready to sign up to. it >> robert how will -- republicans casually believe that there is some voter fraud in the country that needs to be dealt with but the don't share the view that joe biden didn't win the election. what's a way to make this a more partisan left hurt? because at the state level, and this is getting out of control. >> i think you're going to have to see this happen really at the dnc level, at the political level. i think you saw this happen earlier in the week with vice president harris. we announcing a renewed effort at a democratic national committee to take this on as an issue, to think about how to eventually register more voters, how to fight voter suppression, how to get back into the court system. i think the challenge that you heard from bill and ot

then came this challenge to arizona's supreme court. the law requires election officials to throw away ballots cast at the wrong precinct. you have two voting areas, two places to vote, you go to the wrong one, vote there, woops, it gets thrown out. it makes it a crime for anyone to collect and deliver ballots to polling places other than family members. we know this had a disparate impact. they found tossing ballots cast in the wrong precinct has the effect of undercounting minority votes by a factor of 2 to 1. allowing someone else to drop off a ballot is particularly important for indigenous communities in arizona. today the supreme court's conservative majority said all of that stuff is fine. i could give you the legal reasoning but here's the real reasoning. they and all other parts of the right are working in tandem against america's multi-racial democracy. now donald trump's version of that is more vulgar, cringe inducing whipping up a mob to go beat up cops and chant hang mike pence and storm the capitol and go marauding to find

we're going to head to arizona now. former president donald trump back in the grand canyon state for the first time since losing the election. he held a rally in downtown phoenix. peddling the same substance of election fraud. >> maricopa county's 2.1 million ballots, the focus of that controversial audit, despite no evidence of widespread voter fraud. here's nbc steve patterson with more. >> yes, kendis, lindsey. the former presidents former trump speaking for about two hours. before that we saw a train of trump supporters in the form of candidates running for office for governor, for secretary of state. for congress. here in arizona. really across the country. all wanting to really be in his light, to sort of pledge fealty to the former president as he still controls much of the party. meanwhile, the president speaking on a wide range of topics. not being shy about the southern border. about critical race theory. about political opponents. also digging into things like the cleveland indians achieving their name to the

did you see any of bearing on that outside of arizona? >> sure but there are two ways to attack these voting lieus. one is the statute, which is the voting rights act. the second is the constitutional treatment, equal treatment, equal process, not discriminating. if you look at, for example, the justice department's recent lawsuit in georgia it makes both statutory and constitutional claims. there are still parts of section two. of course, a lot of these will be fact-bound questions in these state laws. so, you know, it certainly is not good news for the people who are challenging these statute, but it's not the end of the road. >> natasha, your reaction this morning? >> it's very disturbing, disappointing. the bottom line is we're seeing the voting rights act that was passed because people had to actually force it to get passed in 1965. so the two provisions that give teeth to the voting rights act were section 5 and section 2. section 2 is the premise in which in what we're seeing right now that the doj is going to sue georgia. what is

that's apparently unique to arizona. and so they're asking now the people running it are saying, oh, we don't have enough time to finish, we need more time, and we need more information. they were handed all of the ballots. what more information could they possibly want? >> well, i think they're trying to make it look like maricopa county has not been cooperative with them, which is absolutely not the case. they're trying to make it look like there are potentially incomplete results because of this. but the bottom line is they're just continuing to try to drag this out so that they can continue to sow doubts all the way into the 2022 and 2024 elections. >> arizona secretary of state katie hobbs, thank you very much for joining us tonight. >> thank you. >>> we're joined now by colorado's secretary of state, jena griswold, the chair of the democratic association of secretaries of state. secretary griswold, this case in your state in colorado, federal judges handling saying not one iota of evidence of any kind of election f

states are gaining momentum following the recent supreme court ruling that upheld new election laws in arizona and the success of senate republicans in blocking federal voting rights legislation. now leaders of national civil rights groups are stepping up pressure on the white house. late today, they met president biden and vice president harris in a private session to lay out what they plan to do to safeguard the right to vote. >> democracy is under vigorous, vicious, and sinister attack, beginning with the events of january 6th at the capitol and cascading like a tsunami through state legislatures across the nation. >> we are going to build a movement around this country to resist that, what is clearly a move to try to disenfranchise people of color from voting, the methodical way this has been laid out in the state legislatures and at their state legislation is geared toward robbing us of the vote. the movement from the ground up is starting to be the only way that we can preserve our right to vote. we informed them that this is going to come not from the white house down, but from our hous

from arizona to missouri to nebraska to georgia. i mean we could tell -- to texas. we see this happening. it is a concerted effort. it is an all-out effort on the part of the republican party. i think what you have been saying over the course of these many weeks, nikole, you have been sounding the alarm, you have been trying to tell folk that we are in serious danger, that democracy is in serious danger. i think it is time for president biden to go on the offensive. i think he needs to give a speech about not the state of the union but the state of american democracy from the oval office, to set the terms of the debate, to bring the fight to these people, because the stakes are that high. we keep seeing democrats on their heels while republicans are attacking at every front, on every front. it seems to me, given what we have described, what you have described, what we know, democrats have to go aggressive, and if they don't we need to start asking questions why. >> okay. i want to throw out everything i was going to ask you guys. let's talk about this. what does tha

it's not that popular even amongst republicans in arizona. republicans trying to be competitive in pennsylvania, this can ultimately hurt them. >> i think it will. i think they will be shown to be hollow and hollow arguments. look at what pennsylvania did well. we had a $3 billion budget surplus added to that at the federal level. 7.9 billion in relief. we have an economy growing. we are above the president's standard for july 4th in terms of vaccinations. and you just interviewed the fantastic doctor with the black doctors consortium. we are moving forward. these sad republican would be leaders are walking in reverse. and i think eventually the voters figure that out and recognize the big lie did not happen. the election was not stolen. there is not massive fraud. in fact, as most people in a non-partisan way recognize, the last election was one of the fairest, most free elections ever. >> congresswoman good to see you as always. madelene dean of pennsylvania. much more on the select committee on tomorrow's show. i'll be joined by two democr

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

jackson arrested in arizona appeared for arraignment today. the feds say they saw him amongst the proud boys. he, they say, tried to argue it was antifa and blm, that denialism continues to this day. >> clint, we talked at the top of the show about vaccine hesitancy and what the message is, who can be the messenger. when it comes to being honest about what happened on january 6th, why it happened, is there someone who can be the messenger that actually breaks through to these people if they were to come to reality themselves? >> i think it mostly comes interest capitol hill. it's got to be republican congressmen that are honest with the american people about the damage done to our democracy on january 6th. mike pence, the former vice president, he alone should be a messenger out there saying, hey look, these people were trying to attack me. they interrupted the democratic process. they did not allow for the peaceful transfer of power. in many of these jurisdictions, arizona, michigan, were these notions of a recount constantly being pushed for

just last week, it was a legal challenge to arizona voting restrictions. the supreme court seemed to credit the idea that there was a true threat of voter fraud that needed to be addressed by the states and that could take steps through more restrictive laws to address claims of voter fraud. even at the highest echelons of the courts, we are seeing this big lie is in fact becoming embedded as a big fact. that's fueling more and more legislation, and more restrictive legislation that will make it harder for voters to go to the polls and vote. >> jonathan, let's talk about border rights and the civil rights group that met with the president today and the vice president. they're making it clear, you heard reverend al say they are starting a movement from the ground up to stop the erosion of voting rights. p to stop the erosio of voting rights what impact does not have? the fact a civil rights leaders, most of whom are allied with the white house in the first place, what difference does it make that they went there and sat with the president and the vice presi

in arizona -- this mess in arizona has been one county. this inquisition in arizona and the cyber ninjas, it was supposed to be done in may. now it's june. now it's july. in arizona that was one county and it's been going on since april. in pennsylvania they are starting with these demands to three counties, including philadelphia. and then say after that initial response they'll make the same demands of more counties. maybe they'll be able to keep theirs going on for years. there is no split screen. there are two different worlds. there is a party that is trying to use electoral politics and the democratic process to make policy about problems that the country faces. there is another party that is trying to end the use of electoral politics as an objective way of deciding who has power and how questions get resolved in our country. the two parties are engaged right now in fundamentally different projects. one of them is engaged in the political cogitation around solving problems. the other one is engaged in cogitation about ending democra

fraud in arizona. stay with us. this is "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc. and the world's best, and possibly only, schmelier. philadelphia. schmear perfection. this may look like a regular movie night. but if you're a kid with diabetes, it's more. it's the simple act of enjoying time with friends, knowing you understand your glucose levels. ♪♪ my hygienist cleans with a round head. so does my oral-b my hygienist personalizes my cleaning. so does my oral-b oral-b delivers the wow of a professional clean feel every day. the instant air purifier removes 99.9% of the virus that causes covid-19 from treated air. so you can breathe easier, knowing that you and your family have added protection. ♪ ♪ this past year has felt like a long, long norwegian winter. knowing that you and your family have added protection. but eventually, with spring comes rebirth. everything begins anew. and many of us realize a fundamental human need to connect with other like-minded people. welcome back to the world.