0 but they shouldn't be seen as news. they're fake news. fair enough. arguable, because they cover a lot of actual news and people do learn about what's going on in the world through the lens of the "daily show's" comedy writers and jon stewart. but fair enough, they say it and to a certain extent, it's true. they are a fake news show. but they are a fake news show that occasionally makes real news by virtue of their fake correspondents getting real interviews with real people who they persuade to actually say what they really mean. >> how come homosexuals aren't defending christians with our right to be able to express ourselves? >> at what point has your right to be able to express yourself has been infringed upon? >> i don't know if it's going to happen, but i'm concerned about it. i have a radio show. i'm just concerned about any oppression that might come, where people might say, matt, you can't say that. >> so you can't even go on the radio anymore and condemn a law in north carolina is really for. >> the voting rights act of 1965 protected voters from racial discrimination, until june. when the supreme court struck down a key provision, saying is it was no longer necessary. which red states celebrated by introducing brand-new now-constitutional restrictive voting laws. >> these laws are just as racist as they can be. >> congressman john lewis apparently doesn't like progress. >> in another time, in another period, these devices was used to make it harder, make it difficult for the average person of color to participate in the process. >> i don't think any part of the law is racist. >> north carolina precinct chairman and gop executive committee member, don yelltin, thinks his state's new voting restrictions are just fine. >> what's going to happen with this law, the process is going to have more integrity. right here in this county, there's always one or two that that ran on the daily show last night. local press in bunkham county, north carolina, today reported that the local chapter of the bunkham county young democrats was holding a party tonight in downtown asheville to watch the rerun of that interview. and it's clear why, right? this local republican party official, he's a precinct chairman, apparently on the republican party's executive committee, which is not as big a deal as it sounds, said not only what he thinks about race, but also that the whole reason the republican party is changing voter laws in that state is not because of voter fraud or any of the other things they say it's about, it's just to kick democrats in the butt, as he put it. mr. yeltin in north carolina defended his comments to the "daily show" today. he says he stands by what he said, but he did get fired from his leadership jobs in the state party today because of that interview. the state party chairman called for his head and the county chairman party today said that he stepped down. turns out this is the most awkward week possible for the north carolina republican party to open up its african-american outreach effort. >> there's a lot of misinformation, and the republican party needs to get it together. >> that's where a new african-american recruitment office comes into play. it opened monday in charlotte and is intended to spearhead new relationships and bring over new minority gop members. >> so that's the new republican party black recruitment effort in north carolina, opening up this week. meanwhile, the democratic party black recruitment effort in north carolina now just has to consist of this local republican official playing on a loop. >> if it hurts a bunch of lazy blacks that wants the government to give them everything, so be it. >> and it just so happens that a lot of those people vote democrat. >> gee. >> meanwhile today, the north carolina u.s. senate race that's due out next year, today got shifted by larry sabato from a toss-up raining to a leans democratic rating, largely on the strength of how the democratic party has been conducting itself in north carolina of late. quote, other than the national dynamics, state-level issues are affecting the race in the tar heel state. republican pat mccrory and the republican-controlled legislature have passed a series of conservative measures into law, such as implementing new voter i.d. regulations. governor mccrory's approval rating is stuck in the 30s, while only about a quarter of the state approves of the legislature. the main beneficiary of the tanking republican ratings in north carolina has been democratic u.s. senator, kay hagan, who is now in a better position to win re-election. with the leading republican option in that race being the republican state house speaker, who's been directly involved in the unpopular actions of the general assembly, kay hagan's chance of survival in that senate race has definitely improved. unless, of course, the republican law designed to keep lazy black people and democrats from voting does its job at the voting booth. then the republicans might be able to hold on. after the last presidential election, which was not all that long ago, the republican party said that they realize that they were in a pickle. they did not want to gloss over the causes of their defeat in yet another presidential election. they didn't want to pretend it wasn't as bad for their party as it really was. they wanted to admit to what was wrong and to fix it. >> when republicans lost in november, it was a wake-up call. and in response, i initiated the most public and most comprehensive post-election review in the history of any national party. i didn't need the report to tell me that we have to do, and that we have to do a lot better job and do a lot more to make up ground in minority communities. the report minces no words in telling us that we have to be more inclusive. i agree. >> the report the republican party chairman was talking about then, right after the 2012 election, is this one. it's the republican party's why we lost the election official autopsy. minority groups that president obama carried with 80% of the vote are on track to become a majority of the nation's population by 2050, the report said. americas changing demographically, and unless republicans are able to grow our appeal, the changes tilt the playing field even more in the democratic direction. so they get it, right? they get it. even though this autopsy report was just supposed to be a technical document, it's not supposed to be a policy thing. on one issue, because of the republican party's issues with minorities, they could not help themselves from prescribing policy. they say, we are not a policy committee, but among the steps republicans take in the hispanic community and beyond, we must embrace and champion comprehensive immigration reform. if we do not, our party's appeal will continue to shrink to its core constituencies only. that was supposed to be the game plan for republicans post 2012 election. reach out to minority groups, be sincere, show we care, show what we have to offer. and also, honestly, guys, we seriously have to do something about immigration policy. we have to get on board with that. that was supposed to be the republican game plan after the last election. that is not how the game has been going. in his first speech, his first public remarks after the republican's government shutdown ended and we pulled back from the brink of the debt ceiling, president obama said that he did not want to pretend that democrats and republicans agree on a lot. but he said they should stop holding up everything in washington based on just the things they disagreed about. the president made the case that they should, instead, try to move forward on some of the areas where democrats and republicans had broad-based majority bipartisan agreement. he said, essentially, let's aim low. he didn't restate his whole second-term agenda. he said, let's just get some of the basics done that we all agree should be done. he said, let's do a farm bill, let's try to pass a budget for once, and let's pass immigration reform. you guys said you wanted to do that, let's do that. the president made his case right after the shutdown, the response from republicans was not good. it was less than not good. >> when you look at the substance of what he asked for, namely immigration reform, which obviously is something that many republicans want to do, particularly after the way that they got really hit hard in the last election, day did not -- they lost badly with hispanic voters, mitt romney did in particular, everybody wants to do it. i was asking a question, really, what do you think the chances are of immigration reform happening? one e-mail i got just said, "ha-ha ha-ha ha-ha" straight cross, another said "zero," and another said "not happening right now." e-mails to cnn's dana barb about immigration reform. how about immigration reform, you said you wanted that, and i quote, ha-ha ha-ha ha-ha, all in one line. republicans' own plan for what they need to do to stop losing elections says they should work on immigration reform. also says they should stop calling black people lazy and be so obvious about wanting to block them from voting, but maybe that one's too hard to stop. but immigration reform, this is supposed to be possible, right? immigration reform, it passed the senate this summer. 14 republican senators voted for it, it got 68 votes overall. and the republican party itself says that if it cannot find a way to support immigration policy, the whole party is dead in the water. and republican what they said, after 2012? if we do not do this, our party's appeal will continue to shrink to its core constituencies only. that might not even fly in buncombe county anymore. the party knows what it needs to do, but can they help themselves do it? can they do it? president obama today tried to throw them a lifeline. he tried to give them another chance to do what they, themselves acknowledge is their only way out. >> obviously, just because something is smart and fair and good for the economy and fiscally responsible and supported by business and labor and the evangelical community and many democrats and many republicans, that does not mean that it will actually get done. this is washington, after all. so everything tends to be viewed through a political prism. and everybody's been looking at the politics of this. and i know that there are some folks in this town who are primed to think, well, if obama's for it, then i'm against it. but, you know, i'd remind everybody that my republican predecessor was also for it. i'd remind you that this reform won more than a dozen republican votes in the senate in june. i'm not running for office again. i just believe it's the right thing to do. i just believe it's the right thing to do. >> joining us now is ryan grimm, washington bureau chief for the "huffington post." mr. grimm, thank you very much for being here. it's nice to have you back. >> thanks for having me. >> i made the case in the introduction that president obama sort of offering a lifeline to republicans on immigration reform. aside from the substantive benefit to the nation of this policy, republicans themselves have argued that they've got to get behind something like this for their own political ends, their own political reasons. how does that inflect the way this is being received in washington right now? >> well, the conventional wisdom is kind of what dana said. you know, there are these tea party republicans in these deep red districts that have no interest in doing any immigration reform whatsoever. and they're going to be safe, so they don't care. they're just going to do whatever they want to do. but you actually have a very strange and twisted set of incentives here, which leads to the president and house republicans actually havingligned here. because the president wants to get immigration reform done, because it's the right thing to do, and also because it's a huge legacy piece for him. this is something that he's been saying since he ran that he wanted to do. house republicans want to do this, because they want this off the table. even the people in the far right districts recognize that if they don't control the majority, then all they are is a congressman representing a far-right red district, and they don't even have a chance at being a subcommittee chairman. they think they're frustrated right now where they don't have the senate and the white house? try being in the house minority. so they actually do care whether or not these 17, 18, 19 to 35, 36 republicans in vulnerable districts win re-election. and so while they might not want to support immigration reform, they might be a lot more likely to let it go through. and then you have the strange situation where house democratic leaders have the least incentive to do it at this point. sure, you know, they care that 1,100 people are being deported every day, but they would also like to take back the house. and the way to do it is to paint republicans as obstructionist. so you have a very strange set of circumstances here that i don't think can be as easily gamed out as the conventional wisdom says. >> obviously, john boehner, of everybody in the house, that has the most incentive to try to keep the republicans in the majority, because that's his job, that's the gavel. do you think there's any possibility that he would come up with a strategy that would sort of thread through all of those various incentives, let a minority of republicans and a majority of democrats the let this thing go through? >> i think that's the only way that it could go through. but i think john boehner, from everything that i've heard about people that are close to him, doesn't have a huge dog in this fight. he sees immigration reform not as a legacy piece for him, but as a democratic accomplishment. and so, you know, a lot of immigration reform advocates say, well, look, if boehner does this, he'll be remembered as the guy who passes this big piece of legislation. what i've heard, he doesn't actually see it that way. he wouldn't see that as an achievement. he's not really against it, he's not really for it. so, you know, that -- if john boehner has any capital, he's going to put it towards a grand bargain. you know, that's the kind of thing he does care about. however, it doesn't look like a grand bargain's ever going to be possible while boehner is speaker. and i think that's only for the next year or so. and so, at that point, you've got capital left, immigration reform on the table, it becomes a question of why not. and he might do it because of why not. >> ryan grim, washington bureau chief for the "huffington post." you're always very clear talking about these things, particularly clear on that, in a very otherwise confusing situation. thanks a lot, ryan. it's great to have you here. >> thanks a lot, rachel. >> you think about john boehner and what he wants his legacy to be. like, no, i don't want to pass immigration reform, that'll mess up my legacy. what legislation has he passed as speaker? anything? there have been two debt ceiling crises and a shutdown. any policy? no. we'll be ri american, if you mine was earned orbiting the moon in 1971. afghanistan in 2009. on the u.s.s. saratoga in 1982. 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