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

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

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 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'

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

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

"an audit of nearly 2.1 million ballots cast in arizona in the 2020 election. we are concerned about your company's role in this highly unusual effort given cyber ninjas' apparent lack of experience in conducting audis, reports the company engaged in sloppy and insecure practices that compromised the integrity of ballots and voting equipment and were questioned by the u.s. justice department. and evidence that you and aol individuals funding the audit have sought to advance the big lie of debunked voter fraud allegations about the 2020 presidential election. americans' right to vote is aootected by the constitution. it is the cornerstone of our democratic system of government. the committee seeks to determine whether the privately funded audit conducted by your company in arizona protects the right t vote or is instead an effort to promote baseless conspiracy theories, undermine confidence i in america's elections, and reverse the results of a free and fair election for partisan gain." what do you really mean? the so-called audit in arizona in which the republi

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

the so-called, audit, and arizona in which republicans in the state legislature labeled the script cyber ninjas, which appears to be this guy dug, -- we it's lived for months now at this intersection of clown show ridiculousness, and actual consequential threat to american democracy. because the whole thing is aimed at, essentially, undoing the presidential u.s. result in the state. they are, thereby, undermining americans faith and the credibility in the finality of our election results. but now, based on this letter released by the oversight committee tonight sent to that ups store in florida, we know this fake audit is the subject of a new congressional investigation. the oversight committee wants to know about all the weird stuff that doug logan has been doing to the arizona ballots, like shining ultraviolet light on them, or searching for a bamboo content in the ballots, because there's a conspiracy theory that the ballots were mailed in from asia. and they were overseen by joe gun and his own social media posts about it being rigged against donald trump and trump must have gotten 2

it's still in full swing in arizona. we're 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 anyway by almost 30 points but they're also must of been democratic fraud. and his remarks today, president biden turned toward voting rights advocates have been getting desperate to hear from him. a full-throated call to acts and 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 not pursuing all across the country. watch. >> last month, republicans opposed even debating, even considering the for the peoples act. they stand united to protect the sanctity of the vote. we must pass before the people act. it's a national imperative. we must also fight the john lewis voting rights advancement act to restore and expand. restore and expand voting and prevent voter suppre

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 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 arizona republic reports hickman's phone rang about 8:30 p.m. 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 carrying washington d.c.'s area code and let it go to voice mail. hickman quickly listened to the message. the white house switchboard wanted him to call back so he could talk to the president he called in an interview with the arizona republic. hickman did not return the call and later deleted the voice mail. trump encouraged him to find enough votes to reverse trump's narrow loss there. hickman recalled listening to the leaked audio of that hour-long phone call after "the washington post" and other media outlets published the recording. i was horrified, hickman said. that same night at 9:22 p.m. approaching midnight in washington, his phone buzzed again. it was the same area code. he let it go to voice mail again. here is that voicemail from the white house operator on january 3rd. >> hello, sir, this is the white house operator. i was calling to let you know t

and arizona, this mess in arizona has been one county. this inquisition in arizona and the cyber ninjas and the stuff that started in april was supposed to be done in may announced june, july, and supposed to be done last thursday but now it might be august and we're just enjoying ourselves. it's been one county, and it's been going on since april. and pennsylvania, they are starting with these demands to three counties including philadelphia. and then they say, after that initial response, they will make the same demands of more counties. so hey, maybe they'll be able to keep their is 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 the problems of the country faces. there is another party that is trying to and 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 politics.

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

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

pennsylvanian arizona, including congressman jim jordan of ohio. according to a new book by washington post reporter's, was called out by a potential committee colic. as the guy who did this. the guy responsible for the january 6th attack on the capitol, and now that guy is going to possibly sit on the committee to investigate what

for example, sham election audits like the ones still taking place in arizona. the brennan center for justice reports that similar partisan reviews are now taking place or being proposed in wisconsin, in michigan, in georgia, and in pennsylvania. quote, the proposed election reviews failed to satisfy basic security, accuracy, and reliability measures and the auditors themselves fail to meet

three of the five members that he chose voted to overturn the election results in pennsylvania and arizona, including congressman jim jordan of ohio. who, according to a new book by "washington post" reporters, carol leonnig, and philip rucker, was called out by a potential committee colleague. congresswoman liz cheney of wyoming as the guy who did this. the guy responsible for the january-6th attack on the capitol. and now, that guy is going to

arizona has done it. now pennsylvania, the republicans in pennsylvania legislature are pushing for an arizona style so-called 2020 election even though it's been tested and re-tested and re-litigated and the judges have all declared there was no problem in pennsylvania. what is pennsylvania going to do? >> to your point, andrea, here in philadelphia where i'm coming from and represent there has already been an audit in philadelphia twice, and don't take my word for it as a democratic congressman, the republican city commissioner, one of the commissioners in charge of our elections has verified that it was audited. furthermore, the entire vote count for philadelphia was actually live and streamed anywhere. the irony is, of course, that in 2020, donald trump had -- had slated better in philadelphia than he did four years prior, what really sunk him was the vote in the suburb switching so hard from red to blue. statewide in pennsylvania i am deeply concerned that we will no longer be in arizona and the key r

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

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.

republican congressman paul gosar of arizona, a member of congress who should be far more famous than he is. he writes, it is unjust to sweep ashli's death under the rug. her life mattered. we do not allow the execution of citizens by street justice in our country. babbitt is the 35-year-old woman who attempted to charge into the speaker's lobby where members of congress were present at that moment on january 6th with a violent mob breaking down windows, braying for blood at her back. when rioters broke the windows of these doors right there leading to the lobby, which is right outside the house chamber, ashli babbitt and her alone vaulted through, the first one to go through, though there was a gun drawn and a warning, and she was shot and killed by a capitol officer that you see there on the other side. her death is obviously a horrible tragedy. it never should have happened. she never should have been there. she never should have been in that position. the key question is not who killed her but who is truly culpable for her death and the deaths of three other trump supporters that

aywhat's happening in arizona were the fixed audit is taking place? officials and arizona slammed. it are republicans in pennsylvania going to copy arizona and do the same? >> they're trying to do that in pennsylvania and my colleagues in the caucus are taking every step we can to prevent them from continuing to put on this charade. we are fighting hard, to make certain our colleagues, senator mastery on who's the leader of this group doesn't get the opportunity to do audits and we are working closely with our department and state as well as our attorney general, the governor's administration to prevent it from being able to conduct one of these audits. it doesn't have the authority. they sell the news committee, was not used for this purpose. to conduct audits along those lines. we simply think it's the wrong thing to do and we will continue to fight it. >> is joe biden, is a democratic president of the united states, your party leader, the federal government doing enough to help democrats like yourself in swing states like pennsylvania where republicans are in the majority in the

what is happening in arizona, the fake audit is mad, it's ridiculous, local election officials in arizona have slammed it. are republicans in pennsylvania really going to copy arizona and do the same? >> they're trying to do that here in pennsylvania. and my colleagues in the senate democratic caucus are taking every step that we can to prevent them from continuing to put on this charade. we're fighting hard to make certain that our colleague, senator mastriano, doesn't get the opportunity to do audits. we're working closely with the attorney general and the governor's administration to prevent him from being able to conduct one of these audits. he doesn't have the authority because of a chairmanship of a seldom-used committee, certainly not used for this purpose, to conduct audits along these lines. we think it's the wrong thing to do, obviously, and we're going to continue to fight it. >> is joe biden, is the democratic president of the united states, your party leader, is the federal government, doing enough to help democrats like yourself in swing states like pennsylvania where republ

this is the first time the supreme court has applied it to changes in voting laws and two in arizona one that said ballots would be thrown out if cast in the wrong precinct and only voters themselves or their family members or caregivers can collect their ballots. the supreme court upheld those both provisions and that's not a surprise and even the biden administration said they probably passed the test. the critical thing is what the court said about what is left of the voting rights act, and this is where the court bitterly divided. so justice alito said that anything connected in voting imposes some kind of restriction. you either have to go to the mailbox to drop off your ballot or go to the polls to drop off your ballot. any time it changes the rules it imposes some restriction. it is not going to be illegal, he said. even if it imposes a minor difference in the way different populations respond to it. the mere fact that there's some disparity in the impact doesn't necessarily mean that the system is not equally open or doesn't give everybody an equal opportunity to vote. that,

what are these new revelations from arizona contributed i think about that? >> thank you be with you. happy anniversary, i guess we would say. this is just a crazy moment in american history. we've gone through a storming of the capital. we've gone through an attempt to overturn the results of an election led by the president, and yet we have one political party that is not only in denial but there's also in a position that in order to show fidelity to the parties leader, donald trump, you have to mimic the lie that the election was stolen and you have to push legislation and other rules that are going to make it easier to mess with votes next time. i'm really concerned. and it's really hard to explain. this is different from the concerns about gerrymandering that we talk about all the time. this is worse than voter suppression. where states pass laws that they can't give voters water. this is really about something so basic to a democracy that the vote is going to be fairly counted. you put together what happened in arizona with what happened in georgia, wit

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

he told us that of course, he won arizona. everybody knows he won arizona. joe biden won arizona. that's what the vote totals show. it was one lie after another and it was very clear that he's not been able to come to grips yet with the reality that he lost the election and he is no longer the president. >> i wanted to play for both of you, carol, these -- his comments about the lies about the election which are still fueling the so-called audits in arizona and they're trying to do it elsewhere, and new restrictions on voting and let's listen to what he said and i'll ask you about it on the other side. >> i'm a big believer in science. are you talking about disinformation or are you talking about lies? there is a more beautiful word called disinformation. >> disinformation, not lies. carol -- your takeaway when he's saying that? >> we were both pretty gob smacked, andrea as the president described disinformation as a beautiful word and it is really the through line of his final year in the oval office. i mean, think about all of the things that he has said that are essentially han

today dozens were arrested in arizona for doing the same thing. i'll give you a few guesses as to whose office that took placeout side of. the answer when we come back. acf the answer when we come back . we recognize that energy demand is growing, and the world needs lower carbon solutions to keep up. at chevron, we're working to find new ways forward, like through our venture capital group. backing technologies like electric vehicle charging, carbon capture and even nuclear fusion. we may not know just what lies ahead, but it's only human... to search for it. this is the greatest idea you'll ever hear. okay, it's an app that compares hundreds of travel sites for hotels and cars and vacation rentals like kayak does for flights. so it's kayak. yeah, like kayak. why don't you just call it kayak. i'm calling it... canoe. compare hundreds of travel sites for thousands of trips. kayak. search one and done. i've never slept like this before. we gave new zzzquil pure zzzs restorative herbal sleep compare hundreds of travel sites for thousands of trips. t

the expected something like what we saw in the case in arizona. first, your reaction to the actual holding here by the court. >> i would be lying if i said that i was surprised by the outcome. i will say however i was surprised by the audacity. i think justice kagan got it right when she said that the majority re-wrote a statute that has been a monument to american greatness. i was listening to your opening chris, you really cannot begin to talk about this country as a true democracy until 1965. true democracies do not keep citizens, eligible citizens, from participating in a political process. until the voting rights act is passed in 1965 are not even a true democracy, that makes us 56 years old as a democracy. we have seen the steady dismantling by the supreme court of the voting rights act. now the dismantling of section two, when i say the audacity i mean the actual rewriting of the history and of the standards used in these cases for decades. i began my career in 1988 as a voting rights lawyer and the first thing i was given was the senate re

most notably, the preposterous brought it going on in arizona. all of that propaganda has had the intended effect on his target populous. 86% of republicans see by mail increases voter fraud. 79% are not confident in the national vote count. perhaps most alarming is the number at the bottom. 46% of republicans that think state legislatures should override their states popular vote. today, we have an actual example in the news of a colossal election administration screw up in the bluest of blue areas. in the democratic primary in the very democratic city of new york city, involving the mayoral race. you should know, the board of elections in new york city which oversees elections, is one of the most notoriously incompetent election administration units in the country. in 2013, the city's department of investigation released a 72-page report on the board of elections detailing incompetence and misconduct. in 2016, in the midst of the democratic presidential primary between hillary clinton and bernie sanders, a member of the board mistakenly removed

[applause] >> arizona state representative kyrsten sinema gets tonight's last word. perhaps senator kyrsten sinema might listen to her. the 11th hour with brian williams starts now. >> and good evening once again. they 162 of the biden administration and indeed nbc news reporting tonight the manhattan da's office and the new york attorney generals office together have obtained indictments against the trump organization and its longtime cfo, allen weisselberg. as expected, the charges said to be tax related and are expected to be unsealed in court tomorrow in manhattan. washington post was first to report the news tonight, the paper adds this. weisselberg is expected to surrender thursday morning at the office of manhattan da cyrus vance. he's expected to be arraigned later today in front of a state court judge. the trump organization will also be arraigned, represented in court by one of its attorneys. weisselberg has reportedly been under pressure to cooperate with prosecutors and flip on one donald trump. the investigations of course continue. -- also today,

it's present in the wildly unprofessional election audit in arizona that republicans now want to replicate nationwide. texas state representative steve tot this week called for an audit of the larger counties in the state that mostly went for biden. "the washington post" notes, quote, asked if he would consider something of the smaller counties, he replied, what's the point? i mean, all the small counties are red. end quote. it was a rare bit of honest from an elected republican that unwittingly made speaker pelosi's case about the existential importance of this investigation to our democracy. with us now is congressman hakeem jeffries of new york, chairman of the democratic caucus and a member of the judiciary committee. congressman, president biden spoke last night about the importance of the january 6th commission. take a listen. >> listen. i mean, think about it. turn on the television every day and seeing the replay of what happened on january 6th and saying i was told there are a lot of peaceful, wonderful people, god -- no, i really mean it. think about it. it is bizarre. we have to

. >> 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

audits, recounts that were conducted in arizona, wisconsin, georgia it was recounted three times. it is clear, for those who challenge the results and questioned the integrity of the election, no other election has ever been held under such scrutiny, such high standards. the big lie is just that, a big lie. [applause] >> >> the president repeatedly focus on what he called elections subversion. the most dangerous threat to the integrity of our elections in our history. >> it's not about who gets to vote, or making it easier for voters to vote. it's about who gets to count the vote. who gets to count whether or not your vote counted at all. it is about moving from independent election administrators, who work for the people, to polarize state legislatures and partisan actors who work for political parties. to me, this is simple. this is election subversion. it is the most dangerous threat to voting in the integrity of free and fair elections in our history. >> leading off our discussion tonight are texas state legislature alex dominguez and julie johnson, both attended the meeting w

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

as said in the california or the arizona case, she said the voting rights act is the best of america, but in some respects, the need for the voting rights act is the worst in america. and we have no option but to keep fighting. that's what john lewis said. keep your eye on the prize. the prize is an america that lives out the promise of equality, which of course is most important in terms of access to the ballot. the access to having a voice in our democracy. and we're going to keep fighting. and you know, i have said publicly over and over again, we need to get rid of the filibuster. the filibuster is undemocratic. it thwarts the will of the majority of the people in the united states of america. it is a rule that the founders did not contemplate. not as if the founders didn't contemplate in some instances having a necessity for an overwhelming vote, a extraordinary majority. they did so with a veto override. they did so with treaties. they did so with a conviction of the president on impeachment, and they did so for many of the constitution. they knew there were certain times when t

this was a week ago today 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 ♪ ♪ can't take it no more ♪ ♪ we're fired up ♪

and if you read the voting rights opinion about the arizona case which was after the fact under section 2, maybe there are some small changes that are not driven by animus. but the entire point of having that bureaucracy in place to check it was so that we don't have to have these fights. now that's gone, we do have to have these fights and i don't think republicans want us to stop having them. >> one important thing to remember about the arizona voting restriction laws that were upheld by the supreme court is that arizona admitted that the reason why they were doing this was to influence the election. they admitted that these restrictions disproportionately affected people of color. the supreme court admitted that these restrictions disproportionately affected people of color, and they all said that's fine. and why did they say, that's fine? because they can't win if they let everybody vote. this is the -- the thing that people have to get about voting rights is that this is actually an existential crisis for the republican party because if everybody votes, the republicans can't win. t