it is time to get connected. now like never before, in deep and meaningful ways. and it s way past time to disconnect from the cynicism and pessimism over our future as if the opportunities before us are long shots. we have been shaping the future since we were born. we don t really know how to do anything else. so happy birthday, msnbc. i m so grateful i got to grow up with you in my life. here is to many more years of making it up as we go along. and making it better than ever. with that said, we would love to hear from you. what is your favorite msnbc memory? maybe you re a long time viewer. maybe you just started watching recently on cable or online. perhaps you used to work here. either way, share your stories, feel free to include a picture. email us, theweek@msnbc.com.
wrong, i think that s when we ll get to a place where we will be able to actually push a piece of legislation forward that makes a lot of sense. right now, it is hard being an african-american woman or man or anyone, trying to understand how these people who we have elected, these people who we have trusted as constituents, these people who we have given the power to basically are saying to us, to our face, we don t care about our voice. we don t care about what it is that you want us to stand for. because we want to take this away. and that is exactly what john lewis wanted to teach us and what john lewis stood for is these people have voices and these voices need to be heard. and the way your voice is heard is at the ballot box. and i just don t think that there is enough. and we should also be clear. what s happening with these voter bills is the genesis of a lie about the election. of an array of things that have been said that are without any factual basis whatsoever, but
week, comments from espn analyst steven a. smith are raising questions about who gets to represent baseball. this is shohei ohtani. he s a japanese-born player for the los angeles angels. right now, he leads the league with 33 home runs this season and he just started the all-star game as a pitcher. mr. otani s dual talents in pitching and batting have led some to call him the next babe ruth. on monday, stephen a. smith was opining on the waning popularity of baseball. he criticized mr. otani s place as the face of the sport. reason being, he speaks with the help of an interpreter. mr. smith said that, quote, contributes to harming the game. he later tried to clarify, insisting he was referring to the marketability of the sport. our panel is back with us to discuss. tarika, i definitely want to start with you on this one, because steven a. smith later apologized, writing that as an african-american, his sensitivities should have been evaluated even more.
if i m going to go out to the movies it s like going to a broadway show and the floors are sticky. the show can be great, but you sit there, and every 20 minutes you move and you feel it kind of adhere. i do think 3-d, though yes, 3-d 3-d, too. 3-d will get us back in the theaters. because i can t do 3-d at home. so that ll do it. and when that happens, when they find a way to make an oculus headset that will do a 3-d movie, we ll have to have this conversation all over again. but i would be glad to have it all over again with miles, tarika, and rena, so glad y all made time for us tonight. thank you so much. coming up, we are learning of the first confirmed covid-19 case in tokyo s olympic village, less than a week from the opening ceremony. we ll tell you what organizers are saying about that, when we come back. ganizers are saying about that, when we come back.
market him. he is a phenomenal player. he is babe ruth 2.0. and he does deserve to be one of the top-tier players in this league that we look at and we see. kids showed up to that all-star game on monday. and went they showed up, they showed up to see otani. they showed up to see him in the home run derby and he did not disappoint. they showed up to see him pitch and at bat. it s up to major league baseball to put their money where their mouth is and try to revolutionize this sport once again and make it once again america s pastime. it s not up to otani to do that. there was also an online auction where bids for a signed shohei ohtani jersey already way surpassed that of other players. on the other hand, i have to kind of remember that this is steven a. smith and it is kind of his job to be outspoken and