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

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

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

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

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

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

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

it is in full swing in arizona. we are expecting them to announce their supposedly scandalous results sometime soon. republicans even now are movinga 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 u to hear from him.fr 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 debating, even considering for the people's act. senate democrats stood united 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 app

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

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

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

. >> recount continues in arizona, remarkable thing. pennsylvania trying to do something similar. texas legislature looking at everything that worked in last election and deciding to make it illegal. there are state leaders, civil rights leaders went to the white house to plead with the president and vice president for leadership on the federal level. appears on tuesday in philadelphia joe biden is going to say something about voting rights in america. what can he say, what can he do? >> he can do is say things. essentially all the power he has. that's exactly what those civil rights leaders said to him yesterday. wanted to hear him use his bully pulpit more than he has. tasked vice president kamala harris -- she asked to lead on voting rights, but when it comes to legislation, it's over and dead. that's what happened with not allowing debate, republican blocking debate on the for the people act, democracy reform. john lewis advancement act hasn't even really been written in the house or senate. so there's not a lot of legislative push. civil rights leaders spoke with him for hour

one of the important things to remember about the arizona restriction voting laws that were upheld by the supreme court is arizona admitted the reason why they were doing this was to influence the election. they admitted that these restrictions disproportion at ly affected people of color. they can't win if they let everybody vote. this is actually an existential crisis for the republican party because if everybody votes, the republicans can't win. the republicans have abandoned building any kind of coalition beyond their white supremacist base. so if that white supreme sis base is diluted in any way, they have no plans to expand their race or policies to appeal, so this is their way. this is their only way to win elections. it's by keeping people away from the voting. >> well, but let me just respond to that and come to you. i think the republicans think that about themselves. it kind of hilariously is a poor judgment on themselves that they think that. look at 2020. historically high turnout, right? the republicans didn't get blown out. in fact, there were four congressional seats i

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

"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 cyberninjas' lack of experience. 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 protected 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 to vote or is instead an effort to promote baseless conspiracy theories, undermine confidence 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 republicans in the state legislature hi

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

manchin and sinema, our reporting here at nbc news is that some of the lawmakers considered going to arizona and west virginia to put pressure specifically on the senators but chose not to do that, given the leadership the gubernatorial leadership in the states, they were concerned they might be hauled back to texas. reverend, thank you so much, and mike memoli and sahil kapur as well. we'll be all over this throughout the morning. we have a lawmaker live from texas who will be joining us a little bit later on in the show, we're also going to be watching that news conference, bring you headlines as we get them. >>> elsewhere on the hill, you have democrats revealing this new nearly $4 billion package to strengthen security there in the wake of the january 6th attack. senator patrick leahy, the lawmaker behind that and chair of the appropriations committee is joining us live coming up. >>> and the fda out with a new warning connected to the j&j vaccine. next what you need to know. ice. business was steady, until... gogo-foodco. go check it out. whaatt?! overnight, users tripled. which meant h

cal perry is live at the arizona/nevada state line at the nation's largest reservoir. this reservoir provides water and power to the entire region. you're at lake meade. it is at the lowest levels since the 1930s. >> reporter: this is a climate change story that i can visually show you, put it to you another way, about 20 years ago i would be 100 feet under water. they call it the bathtub rings and i'll show you what we've lost in 20 years. 140 feet. that is 5 trillion gallons of water that would be headed to arizona, into nevada, into california. we're talking about ranchers, we're talking about the way that we live. it is obviously a climate change story, but it's an allocation story. this lake is, quote, over-allocated. take a look at what the state's climate coordinator had to say. >> climate change has upset the supply and demand balance that otherwise would keep the lake full. the way this is happening is when the atmosphere warms, it holds more water. so you're essentially sucking the -- the air is essentially sucking the landscape dry, it's drying out our plant

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

arizona call and just say he won. to step into the east room and deliver a victory speech. never mind that meadows had earlier snapped at giuliani and said the president couldn't just declare himself the winner. just go declare victory right now, giuliani told trump. you've got to go declare victory now. giuliani's interjections of his just say you won strategy infuriated trump's campaign advisers. it's hard to be the responsible parent when there is a cool uncle around taking the kid to the movies, and driving him around in a corvette. one of these advisers were called, that's sort of a metaphor there and carol lenig and phil rucker will be our guests about this week next week. willie, though, my god, i mean, i really was actually quite moved by joe biden's speech because that's where we are because of moments like that, and millions of americans, according to liz cheney and many others, have been misled about what happened. >> and you can see again in carol and phil's book which we can't wait to read and talk to the

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 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

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.

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

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

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

his appearance comes as arizona presses ahead with his republican-led audit of maricopa county ballots from the 2020 election. >>> on capitol hill the january 6th house select committee is getting set to hold its first hearing on tuesday. it comes after house speaker nancy pelosi fired back at minority leader kevin mccarthy, for pulling his five appointments, a move he made in response to pelosi blocking two of the picks. now the speaker is deciding whether to administrator am kinzinger. and joining me, sahil from the capitol. what are you hearing on the hill and do democrats want more republicans on this committee? >> reporter: alex, some democrats appear intrigued by the prospect of one republican in particular, adam kinzinger, the congressman from illinois, apart from liz cheney, who is already on the committee. he is the only other republican who voted to create it. benny thompson, the chair of the committee, called mr. kinzinger a fine representative and the type of person who would be good for this committee. speaker pelosi a couple of days ago joked that everyone else seems to t

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

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

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 ♪

my challenge today is not about the good people of arizona. >> will stand in recess until the call of the chair. >> we'll pause. thank you. >> stand in recess. you can see aerns and cotton looking around recognizing something is going on. see the commotion and people start moving around him. senator leahy presiding hit the gavel. he doesn't know why. someone from the office comes up and says they're in the building. folds up the papers. walks away. what senator lankford was arguing there on january 6 just after 2:00 p.m. that day was that the election shouldn't be certified. congress shouldn't certify. the states should take another ten days. a study. a commission. study the result. basically get up against inauguration day itself before the electors would be sent to capitol hill and counted. he is getting the apex of the argument and then oops. sorry, sir. here they come. you got to stop what you are doing and we got to get out of here. here they come. who's to say they're not coming for you? hunting the speaker of the house, hunting the vice president, pawing through senators' desks

. >> 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,

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

> reporter: in a major test of the landmark voting rights act the court took up two restrictions in arizona, one allowing the state to throw out votes cast in the wrong precinct and another that said only voters, their family members or caregivers can turn in a mail ballot. democrats said both made it harder for minorities to vote. by a vote of 6-3 with the liberals dissenting the court upheld the restrictions. justice alito's opinion said all laws impose some burden and don't cross the line even if they create small disparities in voting as long as the state has some justification for them. justice kagan said the court ignores that voter discrimination is getting worse and the ruling weakens the voting rights act, a law that stands as a monument to america's greatness and protects against its basis impulses. the court leaves fuel legal weapons to challenge new voting restrictions passed in 20 states. >> there's not much left. all of the major tools have been significantly weakened or eliminated. >> thanks to pete williams for that report. >>> still ahead, the washington football team gets

this hour we have reporters in germany and arizona covering that crisis, in oregon and d.c. covering the infrastructure debate, and in mississippi and california covering the dangerous spread of coronavirus. in fact, that is where we will start. nbc's allison barber is outside a hospital in jackson, mississippi, where they are starting to see a rise in children hospitalized with covid. las vegas an indoor mask mandate is back in america's second largest city and i want to bring in dylan byers and dr. patel. let's start in mississippi, one of the least vaccinated states in our country and now children make up 7% of icu covid patients statewide there. what are you hearing from folks on the ground about the crisis? >> reporter: yeah, the numbers are rising here. they're rising quickly. that's what's giving a lot of doctors concern is the rate at which they're seeing these numbers really start to pick up. we are outside of a children's hospital. it's part of a larger medical system. one of the largest in this state. they say they have seen hospitalizations pick up across all age

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

what's the immediate impact in arizona? >> it's negligent. they took away section two of the voting rights act. it makes it difficult to sue, us as u.s. citizens when we feel they are trying to suppress our vote and opportunities. this has been a two decade long approach. they know they are not a majority party anymore. they are largely a regional party and the best thing they can do is try to suppress the votes of the growing american electorate and by getting rid of the voting rights act. e need to bring that back. i worked with a bill that will allow people to defend themselves when the government tries to disenfranchise them. >> congressman, you say that we need focus on the fact that the supreme court decision stripped most of section two. at the same time this will have an impact on voters, particularly minority voters in arizona. yesterday i spoke with the chair and they said they are going door to door in 115 degrees to educate people about these changes. is that education enough? >> there's voting centers. most latinos and young vote

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in arizona, wisconsin, in georgia it was recounted three times. it's clear. for those who challenge the results and question the integrity of the election, no other election has ever been held under such scrutiny and such high standards. the big lie is just that, a big lie. >> president biden also delivered a forceful appeal to congress to pass the john lewis voting rights act and hr-1, the for the people act, but also outlined measures that he's taking, that his office is undertaking in tandem, like a push to educate voters as well as a rebuke of the republicans at all levels of government leading the effort to strip mostly democratic, mostly minority voters of their access to the ballot box piece by piece. watch. >> we're going to face another test in 2022. a new wage of unprecedented voter suppression and raw and sustained election subversion. we have to prepare now. as i said time and again, no matter what, you can never stop the american people from voting. they will decide. and the power must always be in the people. that's why just like we did in 2020,

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.

leading for a push that of a forensic audit, the preposterous and toxic enterprise we've seen in arizona. he is also said that trump has asked him to run for governor. he said, doug run and i'll campaign for you. but he is not the only republican vying to win trump's support. liu bartlett also declared his candidacy and former u.s. attorney bill mcswain, was also considered in the run, tried to fund-raise off president biden 's visit yesterday to explain quote, joe biden is coming to pennsylvania to protest secure elections. you think he'd be thrilled to prove he won fairly, puzzled emoji. fight back here. now, as the former u.s. attorney for pennsylvania, next we know as well there was no widespread voter fraud in 2020. that didn't stop him from writing a letter to trump, claiming that bill barr prevented him from investigating voter fraud any lag around it like irregularities. what we've learned is that we have to take barr -- barr telling the washington post for any suggestion that mix wayne was told to stand down from investigating allegations of being false. barr actually called mix

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

and in arizona, wisconsin, in georgia it was recounted three times. it's clear for those who challenge the results and question the integrity of the he no other election has ever been held under such scrutiny and such high standards. the big lie is just that. a big lie. >> 2020 election. it's not just hyperbole. it's the will of the people of this nation. this should bee celebrated. an example of america at its best. but instead we continue to see an example of human nature at its worst, something darker and more sinister. in america, if you lose, you accept the results. you follow the constitution. you c try again. you don't call facts fake and then try toca bring down the american experiment just because you're unhappy. that's not statesmanship. that's selfishness. that is the denial of the right to vote. it see presses, it subjugates free and fair elections the most unamerican thing that any of us can imagine.ng the most undemocratic, the most unpatriotic. yet sadly, not unprecedented. from denying people full citizenship until the 13th, 14th and 1

my challenge today is not about the good people of arizona. >> stay in recess until the call of the chair. >> we will pause. thank you. >> stand in recess, you can see jon ernst and tom cotton both military veterans looking around, recognizing something is going on. you can see the commotion, people start moving around him. you hear senator leahy presiding at that moment to hit the gavel. he doesn't know why. somebody from his office comes up and says there in the building. holds of his papers, walks away. what's senator lankford was arguing on january 6th after 2 pm that day because the election shouldn't be certified congress shouldn't certified, the state should take another ten days, a commission, a study, audit the results, take another ten days which would basically get as right up against inauguration day itself before the electors would actually be sent up to capitol hill and count it. as he's making that argument, he's getting right to the apex of his argument and then, sorry, sir, here they come! you've got to stop what you're doing and we've got to get out of here, here they co

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