stronger than any time since jim crow. and it s true. that s a fact. what i was reading about in the 1980s about laws that had been fought against in the 1960s, they re back. 250 or so of these laws that are being passed. and by the way, not a single one of those is being passed with a democratic vote, a vote from a democrat. in 250 legislatures. and do you know what else doesn t exist in any one of those legislatures? the filibuster. senator michael bennet, democrat of colorado, talking about republicans blocking the access to the ballot has a familiar ring to it. this was shortly before senate republicans blocked having a debate on the for the people act election reform bill. there are advocates, there are lawyers who are working on voting rights issues for decades, both legislatures and
to do tax cuts for the richest americans, he got rid of it on the ability to do tax cuts for corporations, he got rid of it on the supreme court but we are talking about voting rights issues, not budgetary issues. sure. but my point here is that nothing we do today prevents him from doing this in the future because he s already demonstrated that whenever he has a priority that he thinks is in his is useful to him, he will pursue it. so us abandoning the constitution today doesn t prevent mitch mcconnell from assaulting the constitution tomorrow. after all, he is assaulting it right now. but here is the thing, ultimately there is accountability through how people vote and if, in fact, mitch mcconnell proceeds with outrageous actions that motivate people at the polls he won t see that in his interest. look, it may not prevent him, i hear what you re saying, from doing it in the future but it will guarantee that he will. not at all. because you can think of about how reproduct
all the years that we ve worked and for it to come to fruition on the backs of so many people? juneteenth is a commemoration of when slavery ended in the united states. onjune19, 1865, the last enslaved people living in galveston, texas received the news that they were free. it was nearly two and half years after abraham lincoln signed the emancipation proclamation. so today is the first time that many americans have the day off work in honour of the holiday, and in galveston, celebrations are already under way. people are aware, it s being recognised, and i actually think we are going to see a lot of change, a lot of things. things are going to improve it. ijust believe in that. america continues to face a racial reckoning, and a national conversation about systemic racism, police brutality, and voting rights issues.
. what does senator manchin say about the pressure he is getting from the left? reporter: he is aware of it. you heard it here. i pressed him on this point as it regards voting rights bills. he said, they have to keep fighting. he is representing west virginia. he says virginians don t want him to change his position on the filibuster and on the voting rights issues. we will find out whether he ever faces a serious primary challenge. it s a very red state. manchin is attuned to the criticism. he is aware of it. he hears it. so far, he is not moved by it. mike, again, just as garrett pointed out, president biden going to be talking to republican senator shelley moore-capito this afternoon. what is the president expected to say to her?
none of them are. no. this is, you know, senator cruz, this is one of the many issues he is wrong on. but these are, you know, the proponents will tell you, well, you can pass whatever law you want. if people are going to break the law, you can t stop them from breaking the law. i worked on criminal justice issues my entire career. we don t throw out the laws because people continue to break them. you hold people accountable. that s how you prevent bad things from happening. i want to ask you about the voting rights issues. according to the brennan center for justice, legislatures have enacted 22 laws restricting in voting in 14 states including your since the election setting a record for these laws since 2011. who will this impact the most in your jurisdiction among your constituents, and what can folks do in states like yours where these laws have passed? well, we are waiting a final