his decision to lift covid restrictions in connecticut. "all in" starts right now. good evening from new york. i'm chris hayes. as the biden administration, the democratic congress, and the country as a whole try to claw our way out of an unprecedented set of national crises, the republican party coast to coast has found its mission for the year 2021 -- make it harder for americans to vote. right now we're on track to see the largest rescue bill in recent memory signed into law by president biden this week. it would provide direct relief to americans, billions for vaccination programs, money to reopen schools, keep restaurants open, and not a single republican in either house or the senate has voted for it. instead, after losing the popular vote in seven of the last eight presidential elections going all the way back to 1992, republicans are laser focused on restricting voting access. brennan center's tracking all the state bills aimed at restricting access to the polls. their list includes 253 bills introduced, prefiled or carried over this year in 43 states. in georgia, of course, already notorious for having absurdly long lines to vote with residents waiting up to 11 hours to cast their ballots last fall, republican governor brian kemp has waged a long battle to make the voting process even more difficult. in his previous role as georgia's secretary of state, he oversaw the closing of polling places and the purging of hundreds of thousands of registered voters from the polls. thanks, in part, to the efforts of stacey abrams and other activists on the ground registering hundreds of thousands of new voters, turnout in 2020 in georgia in the election was unbelievably high, smashing records and, of course, also helping to propel joe biden to the white house. georgia's election last november was also just about the most scrutinized and audited of any state in the nation. remember this, they counted the votes three times in that state. they did a hand recount of 5 million ballots. there is zero doubt whatsoever the results in georgia were accurate and that more georgians than ever before made their voices heard. so, what did state republicans do? just yesterday, the state senate passed a bill limiting no-excuse absentee voting, which is how 1.3 million georgians, including 450,000 republicans, voted in 2020. just last week, republicans in the statehouse passed a sweeping piece of legislation cutting weekend days from early voting, restricting the use of ballot drop boxes, adding new i.d. requirements for absentee voting, restricting the amount of time elections officials had to send out mail ballots and voters have to return them, and prohibiting the distribution of food and water to voters waiting in line. in fact, making it a misdemeanor. that's right. no handing out food or drink to voters waiting in the longest lines in the country. that's not because there are any actual problems with the administration of elections in georgia. it's because the republicans lost. it's because they lost and they think these things will make it easier for them to win next time. but keep in mind, this is not just happening in georgia, which is, of course, the center of a lot of attention, as the swing state with the closest election last cycle. take a look at how crazy things are in iowa. not a state where republicans had disappointing results last year, okay? in fact, iowa republicans did great in 2020. they flipped two house seats, held onto a third. and you know what, loads of iowans voted, breaking the all-time general election turnout record, and they had, you know, pretty expansive voter access, including early voting, absentee voting, and same-day registration. and in iowa, keep in mind, again, all of that worked in republicans' favor. donald trump carried the state. joni ernst was re-elected. they flipped two house seats. so, what is the problem? well, the problem is that the republican party is radicalizing against democracy almost as a guiding principle. they fear voter access. they want to shut it down. they are using the cover of the big lie, the wildly insidious and poisonous lie the election was stolen, propagated by the former president and his party and written media to just make it harder to vote. and not only harder for specifically disfavored groups like african-americans or democrats more generally, although these measures will disproportionately hurt them -- it's a major part of all this -- but just harder to vote in general. like as an ideological fixation. there are a lot of white republicans in iowa who will have a harder time voting, thanks to the measures signed into law today by republican governor kim reynolds. the new law cuts the state's early voting period down by nine days. it tightens the timeline for when absentee ballots must be received in order to be counted. it strips county auditors of much of their discretion in running elections, including establishing satellite in-person early voting sites, which are useful, and mailing absentee ballot request forms to voters who didn't specifically ask for one. it limits who can return a voter's absentee ballot. and get this, it closes polls an hour earlier on election day. think about that. sit with that for a second. what conceivable argument is there to close the polls an hour earlier? like, the fraudsters always show up in the last hour of the day to do their fraud? no. no. there is no argument. there is not even a pretense of an argument. what possible coherence is there to this entire project, other than we just want fewer people voting? we want to make it harder. we want to weed out and thin out the electorate. we want to choose who votes as opposed to the voters choosing us. two people who are following the situation in georgia very closely are nick, "the new york times" domestic correspondent who wrote about the effect the new legislation would have on black voters in the state, particularly black churches roles in those elections. and georgia state representative rhonita shannon, who spoke up on the floor of the georgia house of representatives as republicans proposed new restrictive voter legislation. representative, let me start with you. your state has been famous for this. it has been the site of these sort of ethic battles. what's different now? what's new now? what do you want to say to americans about what's happening in the state right now? >> well, you're correct, georgia has been doing this year after year. when i was first elected, i served on the governmental affairs committee which deals with election law. and every year, i've seen nothing but bills come through to make it harder for everyone to vote. what's different now is that what's happening in georgia has been happening across the country, and it's very well coordinated. this year in particular, republicans are going after black and brown voters with targeted precision to make sure that they cannot show up in the ways that they did in november and the u.s. senate races. they want to make sure that turnout never happens again. >> nick, you wrote a great piece about one of the specific aspects of the proposed legislations targeting, really, voter mobilization efforts by black churches. what's going on there? >> well, one of the provisions in the omnibus bill that was passed by the house severely limits weekend voting. it allows only one sunday per election cycle for the polls to be open, and even that's up to the local registrar in the biggest counties. and traditionally, voting on sundays has been very popular in black communities and black churches take a kind of central role in making sure communities are engaged, that their voting rights are protected. they'll help them register to vote. they'll help them get their absentee ballots, if that's how they choose. and they'll also help with simple things like transportation. the phrase souls to the polls has been very popular, you know, pretty much since the 1990s. and what this bill does is, by removing that, it starts a kind of, you know, systemic way of trying to suppress the votes of the black community, and by taking away sunday voting and then making it harder to vote absentee as well, they're then going to create lines and make that even harder some of these communities. so when you take away the role of the black church by taking away voting on sundays, it's just going to kind of have a real trickle-down effect. >> representative, you know, there is, obviously, a bill, a national bill, hr-1, that democrats would like to see passed that would set some minimum standards. and i thought it was interesting. senator bill cassidy of louisiana said this about that piece of legislation -- "democrats are selling out their own voters in a brazen attempt to permanently solidify their majority. states may their own voting laws, not the federal government. this power grab is shameful." i mean, you know, the history here is -- you know, we have the 15th amendment and the voting rights act precisely because states like georgia and others chose to make their own voting laws in obviously discriminatory ways. >> and what's really interesting -- it's so rich that senator cassidy would even say that, because even in georgia, when you look at hb-531, the omnibus bill you were just referring to, that bill specifically takes away local control. republicans have railed forever about how important local control is. that bill moves local control away from the counties who have historically had the responsibility of deciding, what is the best way to facilitate voting for their residents? that bill takes that power away, gives a lot of it to the state, so there's a state takeover committee that's in that bill. then it also puts a lot of onus on the registrars. so, they can't have it both ways. >> right. >> you can't rail for local consistently and then negate those principles. so you see how far they're willing to go, just to make sure black and brown voters don't show up the way they did in the previous elections. >> brad raffensperger, who is, of course, secretary of state, nick, republican who has both sided with state republicans on some fights over voter restriction, he's been very critical of new voter project group that was started by stacey abrams, but also pushed back against trump. he said this, which i think is interesting. "at the end of the day, many of these bills are reactionary to a three-month disinformation campaign that could have been prevented." in your reporting, have you heard georgian politicians invoke the lie of the election being stolen as justification for these measures? >> yes, it's almost the sole justification. the two things that you hear repeatedly are that there are concerns about the election, there's a lack of confidence in the november election and that we need to restore the confidence of our voters or constituents who have concerns about the election. and as you mentioned earlier, there was no issues in georgia, no major issues whatsoever there were three different audits that all affirmed the results and there was no issues in the runoffs, either. so, kind of what you're seeing and in other states as well -- you mentioned iowa earlier -- is that some of these voting laws are almost becoming a way to appease some of the more conservative parts of the republican base, people who are very loyal to former president trump. they want to see changes just because they're unhappy, and they have doubts due to all of the lies and the disinformation that was spread online and coming from the former president, himself. so, i think when you look at the justification that you hear a lot of, there's talk of securing the vote after an election that was very secure and talk of rebuilding confidence for some voters when it was a very safe, secure, and smooth election, given all the circumstances. >> and quickly, representative, i mean, both in iowa and in georgia, right? very different states, very different makeups, demographically, and very different results. like, republicans did very well in iowa. but in both states, you've got a state gop that doesn't look and say, hey, that was a really high turnout election, we crushed it. in both states, regardless of the outcome, saying the same thing of, like, we cannot let that happen again. >> well, and what's interesting is, so, brad raffensperger, secretary of state, and gabriel sterling, have been hailed as heroes for standing up to trump. but to your point, states across the country, whether trump did well or not, are moving forward with these same tactics, and that's because all of them, including the secretary of state and gabriel sterling, have been telling the big -- they were all telling the big lie before the president was. >> right. >> republicans have been talking about voter fraud, this mysterious voter fraud that they never can come up with any evidence to support, but they've been talking about it forever. and finally, what has happened is, they have lost a major election, their voters don't like it, and they are having to enact policies now to satisfy these voters because they've been lying to them for decades about voter fraud that does not exist. >> all right. nick of "the new york times," representative renita shannon down there in georgia. thank you both. really appreciate that. >> thank you for having me. the one thing, the one thing that donald trump is unquestionably good at is once in a generation, maybe once in a lifetime talent, is raising money off republican donors. and even in exile, he wants to make sure he is controlling all that money. a fight between donald trump and the republican party about who gets the checks from the maga heads is next. checks from the heads is next. as carla wonders if she can retire sooner, she'll revisit her plan with fidelity. and with a scenario that makes it a possibility, she'll enjoy her dream right now. that's the planning effect, from fidelity. here you go, let me help you. she'll enjoy her dream right now. hi mr. charles, we made you dinner. ahh, thank you! ready to eat? yes i am! i've always focused on my career. but when we found out our son had autism, his future became my focus. lavender baths always calmed him. so we turned bath time into a business. and building it with my son has been my dream job. at northwestern mutual, our version of financial planning helps you live your dreams today. find a northwestern mutual advisor at nm.com donald trump does not have many super promising sources of traditional business revenue right now, right? i mean, the trump brand is tarnished, the trump properties have lost a ton of value. what donald trump does have, though, is a very loyal maga base that is willing to give him money. and he doesn't seem to want that money going to anyone but donald trump. you see, many republican organizations, including the national party, often use images of trump in their fund-raising appeals. that money goes to state parties or the republican national committee, instead of trump, himself. and it could even help some of the republicans who voted to impeach trump. so, on friday, attorneys for trump sent cease and desist letters to three republican organizations, asking them to stop using the former president's name and likeness in fund-raising appeals and merchandise. there's just one big problem -- trump's a public figure. public figure can't stop an organization from using their likenesses. if they could, you know, congresswoman ilhan omar, among others, would almost certainly stop republicans from using her to raise money. trump is the biggest name in the gop, by far, and the rnc really is counting on that maga money, and so, it rejected the cease and desist demand from trump to stop using his image. the institutional republican party also really wants to try to keep trump happy, so now they're paying tribute. we learned yesterday the rnc is moving a portion of its spring donor retreat to mar-a-lago and will be paying trump's club for the use of the facilities. that was not nearly enough for donald trump last night. he explicitly told his supporters not to give money to anyone but him, telling the faithful to donate through his save america pac. that's s.a.p., for short. "no more money for rinos. they do nothing but hurt the republican party and our great voting base. they will never lead us to greatness. send your donation to save america pac at donaldjtrump.com. we will bring it back stronger than ever before." and then "i fully support the republican party and gop committees, but i do not support rhinos and fools, and it is not their right to use my likeness to raise image to raise funds. so much money is being raised and completely wasted by people who do not have the gop's best interests in mind." trump goes on to tell people to give directly to him. tim o'brien is author of "trump nation" which results in a $5 billion lawsuit from trump over o'brien's estimate of his net worth. that lawsuit was dismissed. also with me, "washington post" opinion columnist and devoted never trumper, jennifer rubin. let's start on the business angle here. it does strike me that this is the best business donald trump has at this moment, is small-dollar fund-raising of loyalists, way better than any revenue streams from anything else he has. what do you think? >> for a short time, but you know, his money is going to be in real estate. he has around $2 billion in assets, about $1 billion in debt against those. he's not going broke any time soon, but he's got a real debt, a possible debt squeeze on his hands, so he is looking frantically around to siphon crash from wherever he can so he doesn't have to sell things off and watch his portfolio shrink. i think the larger thing informing this, actually, chris, is that trump is just a profound grifter. and any time he sees an ability to make coin, he will try to do it. you know, he came into the white house a profoundly ignorant person about the presidency and public policy-making. i think he thought article one was a clothing store or a magazine, and he couldn't have found iran on a map. and he learned through all of these crises that he could try to bend the office to his will. he survived mueller's investigation and two impeachments, and then the 2020 election happens and he discovers, i think for the first time, that he can use the big lie grift to actually raise scads of money. he raised millions for his legal defense fund, of which only $14 million went to legal defense. and i think the light went off in his head then. i think it was another thing that he learned in the presidency was, you know what, i can monetize the trump cult. and all of these working-class people and small donors who i have actually done nothing to help in my presidency but still believe i will, i can continue to scam them when i leave. and i think that's what's informing, you know, these fisticuffs now with the gop. >> well, and jennifer, i mean, the -- you know, not to defend donald trump here, but he's not wrong in the sense of he is the one motivating the donating, and the rnc really does want to appropriate that motivation to their own ends, and he's basically saying, like, no, you don't -- like, you don't get to do that. they're only giving you money because they like me. i'm the one that matters here. >> yeah, it really is a co-dependent relationship. >> yep. >> and the republican party can't quit donald trump. they need him. they fear him. and yet, they are going to be forever saddled with, if not this battle, then it will be some other battle. donald trump is what has kept the republican party from complete oblivion over the last four years, but it's also what's going to prevent them from any kind of recovery, any kind of expansion into any kind of governing majority, and that's why you say, as you pointed out in your previous segment, them resort to v