What they plan to do to safeguard the right to vote. Democracy is under vigorous, vicious, and sinister attack, beginning with the events of January 6th at the capitol and cascading like a tsunami through State Legislatures across the nation. We are going to build a movement around this country to resist that, what is clearly a move to try to disenfranchise people of color from voting, the methodical way this has been laid out in the State Legislatures and at their State Legislation is geared toward robbing us of the vote. The movement from the Ground Up is starting to be the only way that we can preserve our right to vote. We informed them that this is going to come not from the White House down, but from our houses up. According to the brennan center for justice, since january, 48 states have introduced at least 389 bills to restrict voting. 17 states have signed 28 new laws curbing access to the vote. Another 61 bills are moving through 18 other State Legislatures. Today the Texas Legislature opened a special session to revive the republicanbacked Election Bills that democrats killed in may by Staging A Walkout in the last moments of the regular session. The proposed Texas Legislation includes banning 24hour And Drivethrough voting, new voter i. D. Requirements for mailin ballots, and expanding the powers of partisan poll watchers. Democrats in the Texas Legislature gathered in front of the State House Today vowing to again push back. We are here because we will not be silenced. Friends, we will not back down. We will not back out. And we will not back up. Because were defiant. We will defy the the push to suppress our votes, because we believe in protecting the right to vote for all texans. The president s also facing a new potential crisis in the battle against covid. Today the World Health Organization said global deaths from the virus have topped 4 Million with the Delta Variant now detected in 100 countries. In this country, the cdc warns new cases are up by 11 over the past seven days, largely fueled by that variant now surging in areas with low vaccination rates. Today we learned that pfizer is working on an updated version of its vaccine to target the dangerous Delta Variant. Nbcs miguel almaguer. A third dose of its current vaccine could offer americans five to ten times more protection given six months after the second dose, pfizer believes those inoculated would be highly protect against the Delta Variant, which is now exploding across the u. S. The company expects to deliver new data to the fda within weeks and is also working to develop a deltaspecific version of its vaccine. It comes as new covid cases and hospitalizations both climb at a dangerous pace. Some hospitals are now in the middle of their most dire days. The competition for beds is higher than it was during the peak last year. Reporter the unvaccinated are fueling the spike with a third of Adult Americans not yet inoculated, researchers at georgetown say these unvaccinated clusters of the country could become a Breeding Ground for new variants, putting the rest of the nation at risk. Pfizer intends to request Emergency Use Authorization for the booster sometime in august. Tonight the cdc and the fda issued a joint statement saying anyone who has been fully vaccinated will not need a booster right now. New data is being reviewed to determine when a Booster Shot might be needed. Meanwhile, cnbc reports scientists and Health Experts now fear that the rise in delta cases could mean a return of Mask Mandates in the fall. The biden White House is defending its decision to pull the u. S. Troops out of afghanistan. Today the president said the Military Mission will officially end on august 31st. Right now the withdrawal is said to be 90 complete. In his first speech on afghanistan since april, biden explained his decision to bring u. S. Troops home. We did not go to afghanistan to nationbuild. Nearly 20 years of experience has shown us that the current Security Situation only confirms that just one more Year Fighting in afghanistan is not a solution. But a recipe for being there indefinitely. I will not send another generation of americans to War In Afghanistan with no reasonable expectation of achieving a different outcome. Is a taliban takeover of afghanistan now inevitable . The afghan troops have 300,000 well equipped, and an Air Force against something like 75,000 taliban. It is not inevitable. One more from tonight, the number of people killed in the Florida Condo collapsed has now reached 64. Nearly 24 hours after the Rescue Operation transitioned into a recovery mission. There are still 76 people unaccounted for two weeks after the building came down. With that, lets bring in our leadoff guests on this Thursday Night. Ashley parker, jonathan lemire, and Professor Melissa Murray of nyu who was a Law Clerk for justice sonia sotomayor. Welcome to all three of you. Thank you for joining us tonight. Ashley, i want to start with something Charlie Sykes wrote about in the bulwark about the Gop And Voting restrictions. He says i hope democrats are not putting too much confidence in the biden economy, the Infrastructure Bill will overcome the social issues as well as the attack on the elections because this is something that the gop is completely behind and the base is very motivated and very fired up to do, which i cant remember anything quite like this. Hes saying the gop is fully fully behind this Voter Suppression Voter restriction stuff, and the Economy And Infrastructure be damned for now. Hes not entirely or hes not wrong, rather. Speaking to his point, cultural issues you could put the Voting Restrictions into that are incredibly important in the republican party. Youll see in former President Trump harping on things like critical Race Theory and thinking that those are winners for his party. Theyre not talking about the economy. And then hes absolutely right on the outsized role that Voting Restrictions are playing in the republican party super it is something that the base is deeply fired up about. Former President Trump has perpetuated this false, dangerous, and baseless claim that the election was somehow stolen. Thats not true, but about 30 of republicans believe that. A huge swath of his base believes that. And then even republicans who dont believe that socalled Big Lie, even republicans who are getting pushed out of their local parties because they dared to say that President Biden is the legitimate president , even they say, well, our voters dont Trust Elections, and, therefore, we need more restrictions. But its the sort of Circular Logic because their voters dont Trust Elections because the former president keeps saying the election was stolen. In that manner, you have the entire republican party from sort of Maga Nation to even more moderate republicans saying that, yes, these restrictions, these Voter Laws are something we absolutely support and they think are good for them politically. Melissa, there was a Court Document from a hearing for somebody who had been detained for their involvement in January 6th with the Justice Department actually not only citing Donald Trumps role, but the fact that rightleaning Media Accent waits those claims. Former President Trump continues to make false claims about the election, continues to insinuate that he may be reinstalled in the near future without another election and minimized the violent attacks on the capitol. Television networks continue to carry and report on those claims. To ashleys point, this is how the Big Lie becomes the big fact. Thats exactly right, ali. Its not just were seeing this in the media and certainly the rightwing media. Weve also seen it credited at the Supreme Court. Just last week in the Brenvich Decision that was a legal challenge to two Arizona Voting restrictions, the Supreme Court seemed to doctor et the idea that there was a true threat of Voter Fraud that needed to be addressed and that states could take steps through restrictive through his address claims of Voter Fraud. So even at the highest echelons of the courts, were seeing that this Big Lie is, in fact, becoming embedded as a big fact. Thats fueling more and more legislation and more and more restrictive legislation that will make it harder for voters to go to the polls and vote. Jonathan, lets talk about voter rights and the civil Rights Group that met with the President Today and the Vice President. Theyre making it clear you heard Reverend Al say theyre starting a movement from the Ground Up to stop the erosion of Voting Rights. What impact does that have, the fact that those civil rights leaders, most of whom are allied with the White House in the first place what works difference does it make they went there and said this has to stop and we need your help . I wrote on this today. Theres been immense frustration among certain quarters of democrats and liberals and civil Rights Groups about the lack of real leadership from the White House on this issue. They point to how committed President Biden was to Covid Relief and now to this Infrastructure Bill on both tracks, the bipartisan agreement and the Reconciliation Part of it, yet there hasnt been an outward real push on this, which many democrats feel is the existential threat facing not just their party, but democracy itself. Sure, we heard from the president occasionally on the issue, but aides kept pushing there will be a big speech, there will be a big rollout on this. That hasnt happened yet. We were reporting this could as soon as next week, perhaps early as tuesday the president giving a speech on the matter. Today me didnt meet with these groups. We saw the Vice President talk about this. Shes announced the dnc will be giving money towards the issue. But for many, its not quite enough. They want the president to really lean in on this. But White House aides feel somewhat frustrated as to what they can do. They can do the math. They dont see a chance for sweeping federal Election Reform there. They dont see any Voting Rights bills getting passed without changing or eliminating the filibuster. Yet there are democrats, manchin and sinema, who dont want to do that. Short of that, their focus now, aides are telling us, is more on legal challenges, On State By state, Department Of Justice will be involved, also, of course, we will see them next year trying to really boost turnout and trying to just drive people to the polls like they did. They point to 2020 having a high turnout during the pandemic. They think they can do that again. But of course we all know thats harder in the midterms and there is real concern among democrats inside and outside of the West Wing that these restrictions put in place by republicans will hurt democrats significantly at the Ballot Box next year that could cost them both houses of congress. Professor murray, short of their being new federal legislation and short of the necessary pushback, like we see in texas against State Legislation to curtail Voting Rights, the Justice Department, as you mentioned, did get involved to some degree in sort of expressing to the republicans in arizona that there are problems under way with the way they are conducting their Recount And Writing to georgia saying theyre getting directly involved in that. What kind of teeth does the Justice Department have in helping out those who are fighting against the erosion in Voting Rights . Certainly sends a strong message that the biden administration is behind these efforts to try and make sure that the conduits are available. The Courts Decision last week in the Arizona Voting challenges will make it much more difficult for challenges to be brought under section 2 of the voting Rights Act. Thats the last real provision of the voting Rights Act that remains to challenge restrictive Voter Laws. You will recall in 2013 in Shelby County versus holder, the court gutted the preclearance requirements that required states to Vet Changes to the Voting Laws with the Department Of Justice or a federal court. The court at that time said section 2 would remain, but again, last week the court has tightened up the rules for challenges under section 2 of the voting Rights Act and made it much harder for suits to proceed under that avenue of the voting Rights Act, including the Dojs Suit against georgia. Ashley, i want to ask you about covid and the new Delta Variant. The biden White House has had good marks. They made this their priority on day one. They set targets, most of which were met except for getting 70 of Adult Americans one shot at least of the vaccine by july 4th. They got close with that. But this Delta Variant is possibly throwing things off. Given the seriousness with which the White House has treated this matter since day one, what are they doing now . What are they thinking about this becoming a much more serious matter now . Theyre still talking about and still doing the public relations, voter education, trying to work specifically in local communities. But we are at this totally different point that was on the one hand unimaginable before. Anyone who wants a vaccine can get a vaccine. That would have been great news just a few months ago, and now what theyre grappling with is a lot of people dont want to get vaccines and theyre sort of digging into their research and trying to understand the issue with young people where they perhaps just need a bit more education. Are there rumors they need to dispel . And theyre Coming Up against the reality that some people are just not going to get vaccinated for whatever reason. Theyre uncomfortable with it and its especially in those communities where the Delta Variant can grow out of control and other variants can emerge. So they keep stressing this, but theres a portion of the population that they recognize and have come to terms with are just not going to get vaccinated. Jonathan, lets talk about afghanistan for a moment. The president was pretty clear about his language. Hes not sending another generation of americans in without reassurance of a different outcome. But he was asked directly, is it inevitable that the taliban will take over. He said the afghans have 300,000 of a fighting force. Makes It Sound like the taliban was a ragtag organization. They are, except they havent lost anything yet. No, thats exactly right. Though the president downplayed the chances of the taliban retaking all of afghanistan, he also was pretty plain when assessing there probably wouldnt be just one government that rules the entire country, suggesting the background divided up into various territories suggesting the taliban would own at least part of it. I think all u. S. Intelligence officials and those around the globe have been surprised and displayed at how quickly the taliban has regained territory here in recent weeks and months as the u. S. And nato forces begin to withdraw from the region. The president said, Look, the u. S. Would not have responsibility for what happened after this, that weve been there long enough that it wasnt our goal to nation state, and that the afghani people need to take care of themselves. But there are questions here, is the u. S. Pulling out too soon or too much. At the moment we think theyre only going to leave some troops to protect an embassy, but the presence will be largely gone as of august 31st. Hes been consistent on this for a while both before coming into office and certainly he has said that it was his predecessor who suggested this aggressive timetable. But biden made clear he felt it was time for american troops to leave, to end this socalled forever war. It is a moment the world will be watching with some concern as to what fills that vacuum , what forces go in, and what terrible things the taliban may do. But this is a shift in Foreign Policy and the president , despite the pushback, is sticking to his guns. Thank you for kicking us off tonight, ashley parker, jonathan lemire, and melissa murray. Coming up, what ending that presence in afghanistan means for u. S. Security. Well ask the retired admiral who once lead the Nato Mission there. Later, the politically calculated outrage on the right on biden reassuring people about the vaccines. The 11th Hour is just get under way on a Thursday Night. You bring your best. Well block the threats. Cyberprotection for every one. Malwarebytes welcome to allstate. You already pay for car insurance, why not take your home along for the ride . Allstate. Here, better protection costs a whole lot less. Youre in good hands. Click or call to bundle today. Look. If your Wireless Carrier was a guy, youre in good hands. Youd leave him tomorrow. Not very flexible. Not great at saving. You deserve better xfinity mobile. Now, they have unlimited for just 30 a month. 30 dollars. And theyre number 1 in customer satisfaction. His number . Delete it. Deleting it. So break free from the big three. Xfinity internet customers, take the Savings Challenge at xfinitymobile. Com mysavings or visit an Xfinity Store to learn how our Switch Squad makes it easy to switch and save hundreds. So let me ask those who wanted us to stay. How many more, how many thousands more americans, daughters and sons, are you willing to risk. Already we have members of our military whose parents fought in afghanistan 20 years ago. Would you send their children and their grandchildren as well . Would you send your own Son Or Daughter . President biden holding firm and now justifying his promise to get all u. S. Forces out of afghanistan by the beginning of september despite a taliban resurgence. Former national Security Adviser John Bolten offered this warning today. This Military Withdrawal and the withdrawal of all the other american agencies that are affected by it, i think, risks very grave danger to american national security. Let me be clear as well. This is not a partisan point because if Donald Trump had been reelected, i think he would be doing exactly what Joe Biden is doing. Its a mistake across the board and i very much fear were going to feel the consequences in the nottoodistant future. Back with us, admiral james who required with four stars on his shoulders, former head of the u. S. Southern command and former Supreme Allied Commander of nato. Hes also the coauthor of 2034 a novel of the next world war. Admiral, its a pleasure to see you again. John bolton is not wrong. There are democrats and republicans who are opposed to what biden is doing in afghanistan. But nobody disagrees with the idea that the taliban, who has been undefeated for decades, is resurging right now and may cause a problem in the governance of that country. Id agree with that. In what John Bolton said the Question Word is risk. We dont know. Having commanded that mission for four years by the way, when we had 150,000 troops there, were now well under 2,000 troops the last four years. Let me put it in a Numbers Perspective for you. From my vantage point, id say theres a 1 is in 3 chance this lands reasonably well, that the Afghan Security Forces can go Toe To toe with the taliban, that itll force the taliban to come in and conduct what has been envisioned for a long time and negotiate an end to this, because its hard to imagine a purely military end to this insurgencesy. 1 in 3 chance it comes out okay, but id go with John Bolton on the risk. The images of vietnam, The End of that, helicopters lifting off the roofs of embassies, god rs lets hope not. Even more recently with the soviets withdrew, the Afghan Security Forces held on for a couple years till the Wall Fell and the funding ran out. So the key is going forward this is what the president said and i commend him for it were going to fund the Afghan Security Forces, were going to be at an Overthehorizon Posture and make sure the wheels stay on the car. The president said were not in the business of nationbuilding. This is an ongoing debate in the history of america. Sometimes we have been in the business of nationbuilding and its worked. Sometimes it hasnt worked. But the Bottom Line is, arguably, where is afghanistan today compared to when we went in . In terms of nationbuilding, if you will, its vastly better. Women and girls have real rights. There are millions of afghan children in schools. Medical Capability And Access is for many tens of millions of people. Life expectancy has gone from the mid40s to the low 60s. Its an extraordinary set of accomplishments. We did it, ali, not just for the altruistic reasons, its good to help other countries, we did it because Thats Counterinsurgencesy 101. You build up a society and, therefore, theyre less inclined to go at it insurgents. At The End of the day, all those games could be washed away in that two and three scenario i outlined. Again, the key is going to be supporting the Afghan Security Forces going forward. We have seen in places where there have been Governance Vacuums in the past, including in afghanistan, but in libby, somalia, and others, that those become havens for people who are up to no good. What danger is there of that . Are those days gone where we have to worry about Terrorist Organizations like isis and Al Qaeda taking up space in a place like afghanistan because were not there . Well, i wish that were the case, but its just not. Our Intelligence Agencies have focused on this and are there problems in other parts of the world . East africa, west africa, other parts of the Middle East . Absolutely. But ungoverned spaces, as you say, Nature Abhorrors a vacuum. It tends to fill it, and in this case its filled it before with maligned actors. Lets hope it doesnt come to that. Youre right, ali, to point out our successes in Foreign Policy. Weve done a pretty good job in colombia helping the colombians rebuild that society. Weve done a pretty good job in the balkans. 20 years ago the balkans were on fire. We had some missteps and failures along the way as well. The jury is still out on afghanistan. We need to lean in here and do what we can to avoid a really horrific outcome. We can still do that, i think. Admiral, thank you for joining us. The nations very future did he understand entirely on who comes out to vote next year. More on the challenges to Voting Rights when the 11th Hour continues. To protect people. To help them save. With a Home And Auto bundle from progressive. Ahh. I was born for this. And now its prime time. Cut. Jamie, what are you doing . Youre not even in this one. I thought it was thursday. Sorry. It is. I thought i thought it was last thursday. Vo Parents have a way of imagining the worst. It is. I thought. Especially when your easily distracted teenager has the car. At subaru, were taking on distracted driving. With sensors that alert you when your eyes are off the road. The subaru forester. The safest forester ever. The time is now. To stop talking. To start doing. Time to create clean energy jobs. Its time to inspire, to hire, to build. And to lead. Its time to shine. And to move. Time to punch the clock, roll up our sleeves and get to work to fight climate change. Our president put forward a plan to create clean energy jobs in big cities, small towns, and everywhere in between. Now its time for congress to get it done. This is about all voters. Its about all voters. This is not about democrats or republicans. This is about americans. Our democracy is strongest when everyone participants, and it is weaker [ applause ] it is weaker, our democracy as a nation is weaker when people are left out. Vice president back at Howard University today to announce a 25 Million push by the Democratic National Committee to counter the restrictive Voting Laws. In texas, one democrat calls the latest Voting Bill now backed by four lawmakers a solution in search of a problem. The only problem we have is that the republican governor is staying true had his allegiance to trump and playing into this Big Lie. Texas is the next dm know to fall for republicans. There was no issue with the integrity of our election system. If republicans are worried about the integrity of something, they ought to Look at the integrity of our electrical grid. Eugene robinson, columnist not washington post, and matthew dowd, founder of country over party. In the past he was chief strategist for the Bush Cheney President campaign in 2004. Matthew, you are in texas. Youre watching this. I want to just show our viewers some of the things that are in Texas Bill 3, adding i. D. Requirements for mail voting, banning drivethrough, early voting, adding criminal penalties to certain election processes, and empowering partisan poll watchers. It does bring to mind the idea of a solution in search of a problem and, boy, theyre searching for that problem. Government officials there are turning over every rock to find it. Its not really there. No, its not at all. I think they found 16 instances of a registration with an Address Wrong on it. They spent 20 Million, the Attorney General spent 20 Million on 16 instances out of 11 Million votes cast in 2020. So its not a problem. This fundamentally goes to the issue of the republicans know the electorate is changing. They know the policies they have been passing, whether its rolling back roe v. Wade, whether its permitless carry for guns, whether its all of the other things theyre doing, which is highly unpopular in texas, among texas voters, they know they dont want to be he would to account by the voters. Thats what this is all about. They do not want to be held to account. The list you read, the first three are bad, putting impediments in place, the last two are what concern me the most, which is basically gets to the point in time where you want to figure out a way to overthrow the job of an election clerk, an election worker, and nullify an election. Thats what the last two are about. Right. The the first three discourage people from voting, thats bad but they can be overcome. The last two are about this perpetuation of the Big Lie or Big Lies coming forward. Eugene, lets talk about that. We just heard from Vice President harris this is the dnc, the Democratic National Committee, committing 25 Million to focus on tv and digital ads, campaigns to help people understand how to register to vote. Its a different approach to whole thing. Its not fighting it in the courts. Its informing people of their right to vote and the laws signed the to prevent them from doing so. Useful . What do you think . Useful, but not enough. I dont think there can be just one approach, just getting out the vote, making sure everybody knows how to register and how to comply with onerous restrictions, thats necessary. That can be really effective. But these these new laws have to be fought in court. The Justice Department needs to be paying attention. It cant just be Mark Elias and others who are Filing Lawsuits in the public interest. But we still do have most or whats left of the voting Rights Act. We have a civil Rights Division in the Justice Department, and the Justice Department ought to be fighting this tooth and nail. And democrats ought to be finding some way in a Haironfire Posture to pass whatever congress can pass to nullify or mute or some of the worst of these restrictions, especially the ones that as matthew said have to do with the ability of partisan, local officials, and State Legislators to overthrow an election. Thats the true danger to democracy, the biggest danger to democracy. And here it is. Its happening before our eyes. Matthew, in fact, theres pressure even on those few republicans who decided to push back both on Donald Trump and the Big Lie. New york times reporting today that there are farright voters challenging republicans who voted to impeach trump. That is story about Congressman Peter Meije recollection. A woman informed him he would shortly be arrested for treason and hauled before a Military Tribunal presumably to be shot. People willing to kill and die over these alternative realities, he said. Ive been out there talking to people since before the election, and i was quite surprised the degree to which attitudes like this, Conspiracy Theories and belief in the Big Lie and these voting issues are quite mainstream among some republicans. Well, i think thats one of the gravest dangers in our democracy, is just this idea that theres no longer a common set of facts. And democracy depends on the ability to get to the Common Good with a common set of facts and we no longer have a common set of facts or an idea that science should be relied on or data should be relied on. Its not just People Trump was a great exposure of a big part of the problem. But what i think these politicians in the gop are really responding to is their voters. This is who their voters are. This is the ecosystem of the republican party, which is no longer based in reality, which is no longer based in facts, which is no longer based in any kind of firm knowledge. And thats what youre dealing with. And the problem is theyre being fed it day in and day out on different cable networks, on different news sites. To me, overcoming that problem is going to take a lengthy period of time, but its also whats fundamental to our democracy, which concerns me, that we may be already in the point in time where we already have broken democracy because we have no ability to get to a common set of facts. What an amazing conversation were having in 2021 about this. Gentlemen, stand by. Were taking a quick break. Coming up, the politics of vaccinations are now proving to be a matter of Life And Death in some parts of the country. Is that fact going to change any minds . Versus the other guys. Clearly, velveeta melts creamier. Flowers are fighters. 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Then reapply and allow to dry on tile to prevent Mold And Mildew growth for 7 days, or on countertop surfaces to keep Killing Bacteria for up to 24 hours. Try microban24 bathroom cleaner. Brand power. Helping you buy better. Been with us for the last two years is covid19. The origin is the top story, but the focus of this administration on vaccination is mindboggling. Why not give People Credit rather than trying to berate them into doing something and claiming its playing politics . This latest Anger Antivaccination Spin from the right began with the biden administration started talking about and listing Community Leaders to go Door To door and reassure those who are still reluctant to get the shot. Still with us, Eugene Robinson and matthew dowd. Eugene, Lauren Boebert, congresswoman from colorado, had this to say about this. Biden has deployed his Needle Nazis to mesa county. The people of my district are more than smart enough to make their own decisions about the experimental vaccine and dont need coercion by federal agents. Did i wake up in Communist China . Gene, these claims get more and more outrageous by the day. Yeah. Its crazy. Every word of that is a lie and every word of that is crazy. Every word of that is deliberate, however, and designed to appeal to this to this sort of crazy tribal attitude that has developed, that has been encouraged to develop against vaccination. Its the most insane thing ive ever seen, right . Vaccination is a very, very good thing for you. Its in your best interest to get vaccinated. Its in everybodys best interest for everybody to get vaccinated. Nobodys forcing anyone to do it, but if you think about it for five minutes in my sort of rational way, you see that its a good idea and its certainly not anything out of nazi germany. Its just its amazing that were at this point where were dealing with a matter of public health, a matter of public health. Vaccines are required for kids to go to school. This is not this is not its nothing new. I dont understand how trump lost this messaging because the Bottom Line is he could have and in some circles he still does, he takes credit for the vaccines. This could have been his legacy. But hes poisoned peoples minds, and now they have run away with it. Trump is one of a lot now because there are individuals in america who have decided that the attempt to convince them to get vaccinate is some sort of totalitarian, authoritarian action. Trumps legacy could have been a lot of things, would have, could have, shouldve, because theres so many different things he could have done differently. I completely agree with eugene. Its crazy, but the problem is shes a congresswoman and Donald Trump is a former president. These are people that run Fox News and other networks that arent the guy in the Street Corner or the gal on the Street Corner screaming at people. This is not only crazy, this is exceedingly dangerous as Weve Seen States vaccination rates. Ignorance and lack of care for our brothers and sisters in our country is celebrated. Thats whats being celebrated. Ignorance and a lack of Compassion And Caring for our fellow brothers and sisters in this country. Thats where were at. Its not about Liberty Or Freedom or about any of that. Its the idea that i can do whatever i want and i dont have to care about whos in my community or how it affects or what i believe may be completely off the wall, thats what the difficulty is. When we dont have an ability in this country to actually believe in our universal way in science, it is a public Health Disaster that were facing, and its actually selfimposed by these red communities that refuse to believe in any science and refuse to care about their fellow citizens. This becomes problematic because i want to read you, gene, something that was written by Paul Waldman Today in the washington post, to which he says there probably isnt a Gop Officeholder in the United States who doesnt keep tabs on fox to see what their constituents are hearing and now they know those constituents are being told over and over that vaccines are dangerous, if not deadly, and a dire threat to freedom. Worst of all, getting vaccinated means doing what biden wants you to do. So you do have these members of congress, Lauren Boebert well ahead of most of them on this kind of nonsense, but who are saying im not getting in the way of this train, that the vaccines as dangerous, the Communist China, the remarkable references to nazis. Members of congress are not helping the situation. No, theyre not, but theyre not serving their constituents. If you remember, just baseline, you want your constituents to live. You want your constituents to be healthy. You want the community that you represent not to be not to suffer yet another wave of covid19 infection. And so the way to prevent that is to encourage, not force, no Storm Troopers or brown shirts or whatever they call on, but to currently people to get vaccinated because it makes sense for them. There are lots of republican elected officials who know that. If they dont have the courage, the integrity to say that, and the compassion, the caring for their own constituents to say that, then they certainly dont deserve to occupy the offices they hold. They really dont. Its more than a shame. Its just an outrage. As i said at The End of the last segment, its amazing were having this discussion in 2021. But i appreciate you taking time to have it with me. Eugene robinson and matthew dowd, thanks to both of you. Coming up, why the only cheers you hear when Summer Olympics are Coming Up around will be the ones in your living room. Well explain that when the 11th Hour continues. When a hailstorm hit, he needed his insurance to get it done right, right away. Usaa. What youre made of, were made for. Usaa new projects means new project managers. You need to hire. I need indeed. Indeed you do. When you sponsor a job, you immediately get your shortlist of quality candidates, whose resumes on indeed match your job criteria. Visit indeed. Com hire and get started today. Try one a day 50 multivitamin gummies. With vitamins c, D Zinc for immunity support. Whose resumes on indeed match your job criteria. Plus 8 bvitamins for brain support. One a day and done. [ Me And You by barry Louis Polisar ] Me And You just singing on the train Me And You listening to the rain Me And You we are the same Me And You have all the fame we need indeed, you and me are we Me And You singing in the park Me And You, were waiting for the Dark A Spike in covid19 cases in tokyo has prompted authorities there to declare a monthlong State Of Emergency. With the Opening Sarpz to the Summer Olympics now just two weeks away, officials are reversing last times decision to allow local spectators at most events. Nbc News Correspondent Tom giannis has our report from tokyo. Reporter when the Olympics Kick off in 15 days, these seats will be empty. No claps , no cheers, no fans at all. Tonight organizers pulling back on plans announced just two weeks ago to allow some local spectators. The ban on fans coming just hours after japans Prime Minister announced a new State Of Emergency in tokyo which begins monday and will run through the entire olympics. One of the reasons for the State Of Emergency, officials want to thin out the crowds at restaurants and bars like here in downtown tokyo. Reporter officials are urging those businesses not to serve alcohol. They want people to watch at home. Even the illuminated olympic rings are being shut off early. The new restrictions come after an uptick in covid cases in tokyo due to the Delta Variant. While transmission is still relatively low compared to other hot spots, the Vaccine Rollout has lagged. What is japan so afraid of . The vast majority remain unvaccinated and theyre afraid of the Olympics Kick starting another surge. Reporter 70,000 people from around the world are expected here for the olympics, including Ioc President Thomas Bach who just arrived and who is now in quarantine. For the athletes, some described the decision as heartbreaking, but we are learning tonight there could be some events held outside of tokyo like surfing, the marathon, and baseball that could have some fans. Ali . Tom giannis for us in tokyo. Elsa isnt done with the East Coast. The latest on the storm when the 11th Hour continues. Of. Fasenra is a different kind of asthma medication. Its not a steroid or inhaler. Fasenra is an Addon Treatment for asthma driven by eosinophils. Its one Maintenance Dose every 8 weeks. It helps prevent asthma attacks, improve breathing, and lower use of oral steroids. Nearly 7 out of 10 adults with asthma may have elevated eosinophils. Fasenra is designed to target and remove them. Fasenra is not a Rescue Medication or for other eosinophilic conditions. Fasenra may cause allergic reactions. Get help right away if you have swelling of your face, mouth, and tongue, or trouble breathing. Dont stop your asthma treatments unless your doctor tells you to. Tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection or your asthma worsens. Headache and Sore Throat may occur. This is the sound of fasenra. Ask your doctor about fasenra. If you cant afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. Ive got the brains youve got the Looks lets make lots of Money Youve got the brawn ive got the brains lets make lots of uh uh uh oohhh theres a lot of opportunities with allstate, drivers who switched saved over 700. Saving is easy when youre in good hands. Allstate click or call to switch today. Allstate vo the subaru crosstrek. Dog tested. Dog approved. Flowers are fighters. Thats why the alzheimers Association Walk to end alzheimers is full of them. Because flowers find a way to break through. Just like we will. Join the fight at alz. Org walk keeping your Oyster Business growing has you swamped. You need to hire. I need indeed. Indeed you do. When you sponsor a job, you immediately get your shortlist of quality candidates, whose resumes on indeed match your job criteria. Visit indeed. Com hire and get started today. The last thing before we go tonight, an update on elsa, The Hurricane Turned Tropical Storm has already killed at least one person in florida killed by a downed tree. Tonight the storm is tens of millions under tropical Storm Warnings as it drenches the East Coast with Flash Floods and dangerous winds. Forecasters predicted some parts of South Carolina could see up to 8 inches of rain. The national Weather Service says elsa kicked up at least one tornado in Camden County along georgias coast. Winds there hit 128 miles an hour, flipping vehicles and snapping trees. Luckily, No One was hurt. Elsa is still on the move tonight, targeting the northeast, which has already seen its fair share of Flooding Rain this week. Some New York city commuters were met with horrific conditions this afternoon. This is from a bronx subway. Riders trying to get through Waistdeep Water to get to their trains. Some used Trash Bags attempting the worlds worst potato sack race. Others said yolo and just went for it. Downtown in manhattan at herald square, water falls coming in from ceilings inside the Subway Station. This commuter at Penn Station saw water in the Subway Station not falling down, but shooting up from a grate in the floor. Major highways in the city were also flooded, leaving cars stuck and drivers stranded. And again, this is all before elsa brings in even more rain to the region over the next few hours. So its time now to break out my waiters for tomorrows commute. Thats our broadcast for this Thursday Night with our thanks for being with us. On behalf of very quick Iraq Story but im telling you its quick, and theres a reason for me to tell it. In 1996 when Bill Clinton was president , part of Northern Iraq fell into absolute crisis. The first Gulf War had happened after the previous president , golf or one, in the wake of that war the Kurdish Population in iraq had basically risen up and revolted against hut saddam