Transcripts For KNTV Matter Of Fact With Soledad OBrien 20240712

You really look at what is happening. But a random act of kindness planted a seed of hope. Soledad i am soledad obrien. Welcome to matter of fact. Barriers to the ballot are not new for black and brown people in america. From poll taxes and literacy tests to intimidation and physical violence, all were blatant forms of efforts to suppress the vote. Today, Voter Suppression is the result of overly strict voter id laws, complicated rules for mailin ballots, extreme consolidation of polling places, and mass purging of voters from election rolls. Some examples, oklahoma, where state law requires absentee ballots to be notarized. Texas, where vulnerability to covid19 can not be used as a reason to get an absentee ballot. Kentucky, where just one polling place was open during the primary election in jefferson county, which serv roughly many people could be turned away from the polls in november or find out that their ballots did not count . Janai nelson is the associate director counsel of the naacps Legal Defense and education fund, and a member of its litigation and policy teams. In your introduction, i gave some examples of where were seeing around the country for Voter Suppression. What are you focused on legally . Janai well, we have been fighting a number of Voter Suppression tactics for four years, particularly since the 2013 decision. Within two hours of that decision coming down, the state of texas vowed that it would enact a very draconian voter latinx voters from having access to the ballot. Student at a state school, that voter i. D. Was not sufficient to give you access to the ballot. But if you had a gun carry permit, you could vote. So we challenged that law. The judge held that that law was not only intended to discriminate, but it also had a clear disproportionate impact on particular communities. And we ultimately were able to see that law be reformed and improved to allow a greater number of voter i. D. To be accepted for voting. But its still one of the strictest laws in the country. And since the Voting Rights act was narrowed in 2013, 35 states now have some form of voter id in effect. Soledad plenty of people would say, hey, you need an i. D. To drive, you need id to buy liquor at the grocery store, why not id to be able to vote . Janai yeah, thats an excellent question, because many of us, nt requirement. But if they dont have, for example, certain documentation, if they dont have a birth certificate thats original, if they dont have a utility bill in their name. There are many ways in which the presumption that everyone has a voter i. D. Is deeply, deeply flawed. Soledad lets talk a little bit about the mail. Are we expecting more people to vote by mail just simply because of coronavirus. What are your concerns around mailin ballots . Janai absolutely. The pandemic has added a layer of of of difficulty to what is already a challenging voting process. But we must make sure that weve filled out our ballots completely, that weve met all the requirements of our particular state. For example, if theres a witness requirement, if theres a signature requirement or if theres any other requirement in your particular state, make sure you know what those requirements are and you meet them. We happen to be challenging the witness requirements in alabama and louisiana and other places because were concerned that those requirements, for example, in alabama, where youre required to have two witnesses sign your mailin ballot, that requirement directly conflicts with the guidance from the cdc and it directly conflicts with what we know about the transmission of the coronavirus. Soledad i want to turn and talk about florida. There was an amendment, as you well know, that would give Voting Rights back to felons. And a federal Appeals Court has agreed that now the felons have to pay their fines first before they are able to vote. Many say this is sort of a modernday poll tax. Whats actually at work here and how do you see this playing out . Janai some of those bills can be astronomical and impossible for someone who is just trying to stabilize themselves to pay but whats even more concerning is that the state doesnt really have an apparatus for determining how much an individual returning citizen actually owes. The good news is that the florida rights restoration coalition, which is a wonderful organization thats been at the helm of this effort, has been raising money to help pay those fines and fees on behalf of returning citizens. Soledad janai nelson from the naacp Legal Defense and education fund. So nice to talk to you. Thank you. Next, what would it take to expand the Supreme Court . And, a bold plan to create black owned farms. Land ownership in the broader sense of Community Gives you a voice. Theyve really stood the test of time. Much like these majestic rocky mountains. Which must be named after the. That would be rocky the flying squirrel, mr. Gecko sir. Obviously ahh come on bullwinkle, theyre named after. Our first president george rockington that doesnt even make any sense. Mr. Uhh. Winkle. Geico. Over 75 years of savings and service. Our bargain detergent couldnt keep up. With us. Mr. Uhh. Winkle. Turns out its mostly water. So, we switched back to tide. One wash, stains are gone. Daughter slurping dont pay for water. Pay for clean. Its got to be tide. Begins with ingredients from the earthn. To create fragrances infused with natural essential oils. Air wick scented oils. Connect to nature. Soledad congressional investigations, lawsuits, threats from the president. The United States Postal Service has had a chaotic summer. In an election likely to see the most mailin ballots ever, post master general louis dejoy implemented changes that could slow the process. A federal judge recently blocked those changes. So how did the Postal Service get so politicized . One reason is that its in financial trouble. In 2006, Congress Passed a law requiring the Postal Service to set aside billions of dollars each year to cover Health Benefits for future retired employees. It hasnt been able to make any payments since 2011. We asked our special contributor joie chen to look into the post offices past and what may be in store for its future. Joie you can go a long way on . 55, to just about the farthest corner of the United States. Bethel, alaska. It is not an island but you cant get there by road because there isnt one. No roads lead to bethel. So if you want anything delivered, it is usually going to be by plane. In this part of america, even a . 55 first class letter is a lifeline. I dont think that most people know what it is like out here. Joie Melanie Fredericks is a member of the native yupik community. Up here, Internet Service is not a given. Amazon trucks dont deliver. But this is america too and fredericks says it needs the connections only the post office delivers. Just like with anything else that connects us to each other and the rest of the world, the rest of the country, it is not ok to just cut us off. Joie another . 55 stamp will take you way down to marylands eastern shore, where i asked sandy cep if she thinks her work is much different from the post office up there. Im going to say not. As a world carrier, you are the connection. We always used to say we are the post office on wheels. Joie on her route, cep delivered that daily connection, the birth announcements and bills, junk mail and vital prescriptions, for nearly four decades until she retired last month. My route was route 5, and i was route five for 38 years. I never switched to another route. Joie the post office has a long history of community service. The first postmaster general, ben franklin, created a network of roads along the olanta coast, where you can still find old post roads today. By the early 1900s americans trusted the Postal Service so much that parents used parcel post to mail their children. A practice the postmaster general begged them to stop. The service has long provided opportunity. Today nearly four in ten workers are people of color and 40 are women. The Postal Service consistently ranks as americas favorite federal agency. And despite dire financial straits, 8. 8 billion in losses last year alone, some like new yorker writer casey cep argue, we cant afford to lose the Postal Service. That is absolutely true. Joie her mom is retired carrier sandy cep. But she also points out that even the Founding Fathers understood the value of the Postal Service. You say that, but sometimes history is just quaint. And the history of the Postal Service is incredibly quaint and full of americana. But is it outmoded . Absolutely not. A lot of our lives have moved online, but not all of it. The pandemic has been a fine example of that. Joie even during the pandemic, the Postal Service has delivered. Safety guidelines, mail in votes, and the 2020 census, along with the uandemic has cuto and junk mail. The major sources of revenue. Contrary to what many believe, taxpayers dont fund Postal Service operations. Stamps and packages do. Supporters argue if congress would just lift the demands it put on the usps to fund Worker Health care and retirement seven decades in advance, the Postal Service could even be profitable. Even if it werent profitable, we would still want to be able to reach every american. Joie which is what the Founding Fathers intended 245 years ago, to connect americans from 99899 to 21601 and beyond. For matter of fact, im joie chen, in denton, maryland. Next this is support. Money from strangers. What would you do . Emojis describe we made usaa insurance for veterans like liz and mike. An army family who is always at the ready. So when they got a little surprise. Two . They didnt panic. They got a bigger car for their soontobebigger family. After shopping around for insurance, they called usaa who helped find the right coverage for them and even some muchneeded savings. That was the easy part. Usaa insurance is made the way liz and mike need it easy. Doprevagen is the number oneild mempharmacistrecommendeding . Usaa insurance is made the way liz and mike need it memory support brand. You can find it in the vitamin aisle in stores everywhere. Prevagen. Healthier brain. Better life. Of fact. A political divide that seems like it is growing wider. Protests in a pandemic. It may seem like it will take a huge force to heal our divisions. But small gestures can sometimes lead to monumental change. Thats what happened when a chef in la crosse wisconsin received a random act of kindness in the mail. Our correspondent Jessica Gomez reports, it planted a seed of hope. Everybody has to eat. That is the way i look at it. Jessica this is where you will find adrian lipscomb, in the kitchen of her uptown cafe and bakery. The restaurant, in la crosse, wisconsin surrounded by Rolling Hills and valleys, known for its rich farmland. So we have the opportunity to really understand where our food comes from. Jessica adrian, a former city planner from texas is one only a handful of black Business Owners in town. There is a given day where i dont see another black person. Jessica it was in the middle of the george floyd protests, just over the border in minneapolis, that something strange started happening. It began with a check in the mail. 100 from a stranger with the card that simply said, keep dancing. I was like, isisupport . I dont know exactly what it is. There was nothing written on it. The next day, i received a message about asking for my vendor to send me money again. Jessica that is when she had an idea. I said, im going to buy land. Jessica adrian started a go fund me page, her project called 40 acres and a mule. A reference to short lived reparations that gave former slaves land after the civil war, just to be taken back a short time later. Today, black farmers own less than 2 percent of americas farmland. It allows you to be part of the city, the town that you are in, and it gives you a right. It feels like you have a voice. This is amazing work. Jessica adrians voice, loud and clear. In just a couple months, shes raised more than 120,000. Kathleen pielhop, one of the first to donate. I have two small children and i want to make sure the world they grow up in is going to be kind, and to o that, we need to lead by example. Jessica bike shop owner robbie young, didnt think twice about donating. Diverse communities are better for all of us. Different perspectives, even different food options makes a place a better place to live, right . Jessica and Fruit Farmers harry and jackie hoch, who sell to adrians cafe, offering to help train new farmers, sharing what theyve learned over 30 years of farming. How do you find space at the table if you dont even have a chair to sit in . We would get vegetables or whatnot jessica adrians mission, catching on through social media. Companies and agriculture groups in wisconsin and around the country, offering to help. We get contacted by a lot of black people who are interested in farming but they dont know where to go and how to start. We also get contacted by organizations interested in helping black farmers but they dont know where to start. Jessica we tracked down the woman who sent that first check. Turns out, shes a customer of adrians, although the two have never met. The mother of a Police Officer wants to remain anonymous but says during the pandemic and protests, she felt compelled to help. Im going to try not to cry. Because it is hard. It is really hard, when you really look at what is happening and what we can do to stop it. I really do think her for pushing me in the direction to get up and do something. Jessica something the mother of four hopes will help plant the seeds of change. It shows that there is hope. And that people believe in the future. And that to me makes me fight harder. It really shows that we are good , that people are good. You have a wonderful day. Jessica in la crosse county, wisconsin, for matter of fact, im Jessica Gomez. Coming up, the Supreme Court started with only six justices. At some point only five, sometimes 7, 10. Should the court expand again . Soledad with the fight to replace the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader ginsburg well underway, Senate Republicans appear to have the confirmation votes needed. We wanted to look at how nine became the magic number for justices. The court originally had six justices. At some point only five, sometimes seven. During the civil war, 10. The current standard of nine has been in place since 1869. Though theres nothing in the constitution that says the court can only have nine justices. The odds of filling a vacancy during an Election Year have not been good. The senate has not confirmed an Election Year nominee since 1932. Republican leaders in the senate say they will act quickly once President Trump announces his choice for the court. And if President Trump fills the vacancy this close to the election, some Congressional Democrats say theyll try to expand the court. That could only happen if democrats gained control of the white house and the senate this november. Coming up, if you had to sum november. Coming up, if you had to sum up 2020 with one emoji, what did you know that some aluminum free deodorants only mask odor . Secret aluminum free helps eliminate odor instead of just masking it. And is made with three times more odor fighters. With secret, odor is one less thing to worry about. Secret. When your vneck looks more like a uneck. Thats when you know, its halfwashed. Prevent stretching by conditioning fibers, downy and its done. Kids continue to learnnoion, xfinmatter where they are. Lping were providing affordable Internet Access to lowincome families through our internet essentials program. Its why were working 24 7 to keep our network fast, reliable and secure. And helping College Students study and stay connected through our university program. Were committed to helping all families stay connected. Learn more at xfinity. Com education. Soledad finally, which emojis would you use to sum up 2020 . Sad face poor redfaced angry emojis . If those wont do, youll probably find the perfect one in the latest round of emojis. The Unicode Consortium plans to release more than 200 animated figures. But the emoji capturing everyones attention is the face with spiral eyes emoji. It is also known as the face unwell. And you find it by searching keywords like oh no, trouble, whoa, and yikes. All fitting descriptions of 2020. But itll be a while before you can use these emojis to describe your mood. The updated emojis are expected to be available for your cell phone between january and october of next year. Hopefully by that time, 2020 will seem like forever ago. Thats it for this edition of matter of fact. I am soledad obrien. Well see you next week. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] hello and welcome to Asian Pacific america. Im robert handa, your host for our virtual show here on nbc bay area. Today we visit with Kristi Yamaguchi to talk about her always dream foundation and then the Silicon Valley Asian Pacific Film Festival and then an artistic cultural performance. So we are always happy and proud to have Kristi Yamaguchi join us. Kristi, good to see you. Good to see you, too, robert. Thank you