Color, from voting. The methodical way this has been laid out in the State Legislatures and in this State Legislation is geared towards 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 but our houses up. Since january 48 states have got under 89 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 Legislators. Today the Texas Legislator opened a special session to revive the republican backed 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 Legislator gathered in front of the State House Today vowing to again pushback. We are here because we will not be silenced. Friends, we will not back down. We wont back out. We wont back up. We are defiant. We will defy the push to suppress our votes. We believe in protecting the right to vote for all texans. The president s also facing any 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 pfizer is working on an updated version of its vaccine to target the dangerous Delta Variant. And d. C. News is following that part of the story. Tonight pfizer says a Booster Shot, a third dose of its current vaccine could offer americans 5 to 10 times more protection against covid. Given six months after the second dose, pfizer believes those inoculated would be highly protected 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 delta specific 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 now than it was during the peak last year. Vaccines are effective against delta, the unvaccinated are fueling a spike with a third of Adult Americans not yet acknowledge alighted. Researchers at georgetown say these five under vaccinated clusters of the country could become a Breeding Ground for new variants. Putting the rest of the nation at risk. Pfizer says it intends to request Emergency Use Authorization for the booster. Sometime in august. Tonight the cdc and the fda issued a joint statement saying anybody who has been fully vaccinated will not need a booster right now. The agency said new data is now 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 to mask mandates and other measures in the fall. On the Foreign Policy front, the biden White House is defending its decision to pull u. S. Troops out of afghanistan. Today the president said the Military Mission will officially end on august 31st. Right now, the withdrawal is set to be 90 complete. In its first feature on afghanistan since april, biden explained his decision to bring u. S. Troops home. Decision to brin u. S. Troops home we did not go to afghanistan to nation build. 20 years weve experienced have shown as the current Security Situation confirms 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. If the taliban take over afghanistan now inevitable . The afghan troops have 300,000 well equipped as well equipped as any army in the world. And an Air Force. Something like 75,000 taliban. Its not inevitable. One more hardline from tonight, the number of people killed in the Florida Condo Collapse 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 lead off guests on this thursday night. Ashley parker, pulitzer prizewinning white House Bureau Chief for the Washington Post. Johnson the mayor, white House Reporter for the associated press. And Professor Melissa Murray of and why you Law School who was a Law Clerk for Justice Sonia Sotomayor on the federal bench prior to her nomination to the Supreme Court. Welcome to all three of you. Thank you for joining us tonight. Actually, i want to start with you. 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 putting too much confidence in the biden economy. The Infrastructure Bill will overcome the social issues as well as the attack on the elections. This is something 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 behind this Voter Suppression Voter Restrictions Stuff and the Economy And Infrastructure be damned for now. Uc ture be hes not entirely wrong, rather. First of all speaking more general to his broader point, with all the issues you could put the Voting Restrictions in two that are incredibly important in the republican party. You are seeing former President Trump harping on things like critical race theory, and thinking that those are winners for his party. There are not talking about the economy. Hes absolutely right on the outsized role that Voting Restrictions are playing in the republican party because its 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. 40 of republicans believe that a huge swath of his base believes that. 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 President Biden is the legitimate president , even they say, well, our voters dont trust elections and therefore more restrictions. Its a sort of Circular Logic because their voters dont trust elections because former President Trump keeps on saying the election was stolen. You have almost the entire republican party, even more moderate republicans say yes, these restrictions, these Voter Laws are something we absolutely support. And they think they 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 six with the Justice Department actually not only citing Donald Trumps role, but the fact right leaning media accentuates those claims. It reads as follows. Former President Trump continues to make false claims about the election. Continues to insinuate he may be reinstalled in the near future without another election. And minimize 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. Its not just we are seeing in the media, and the right wing media. Weve seen it credited at the Supreme Court. Just last week, it was a legal challenge to Arizona Voting restrictions. The Supreme Court seemed to credit the idea that there was a true threat of Voter Fraud that needed to be addressed by the states and that could take steps through more restrictive laws to address claims of Voter Fraud. Even at the highest echelons of the courts, we are seeing this Big Lie is in fact becoming embedded as a big fact. Thats fueling more and more legislation, and more restrictive legislation that will make it harder for voters to go to the polls and vote. Jonathan, lets talk about border 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 they are starting a movement from the Ground Up to stop the erosion of Voting Rights. P to stop the erosio of Voting Rights what impact does not have . The fact a civil rights leaders, most of whom are allied with the White House in the first place, what difference does it make that they went there and sat with the president and the Vice President and set this has to stop and we need your help . I wrote on this today. There is 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 pointed to had committed President Biden was to Covid Relief and now to this Infrastructure Bill on both tracks. The bipartisan greenland and the reconciliation, or part of it. Yet there hasnt been an outward real push on this, which many democrats feel is just the existential threat facing not just their party, but democracy itself. Weve heard from the president occasionally on the issue, aides kept pushing there be a big speech, a Big Roll Out on this that hasnt happened yet. We are reporting tonight this could happen as soon as next week, perhaps early as tuesday, the president giving a speech on the matter. He did meet with the civil Rights Groups. We saw the Vice President talked about this. Shes leading Administrations Response on issues of Voting Rights. She announced the dnc will be giving 25 Million towards the issue. But for money, its not quite enough. They want the president to really lean on this. The White House aides feel somewhat frustrated as to what they can do. They can do the math in the senate as anybody else. They dont really 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 Cinnamon cinema, senators among, that we dont to do that. Short of that their focus now, its are telling us will be 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 try to drive people to the polls, like they did. To the point to 2020, and a high turnout during the pandemic. If they can do that again. Of course we all know thats harder in the midterms. There is real concern among democrats inside and outside the West Wing that these restrictions put in place by republicans will hurt democrats significantly at the Ballot Box next year and could cost control of both houses of congress. Short of there being new federal legislation and short of the necessary pushback like we are seeing in texas against State Legislation to curtail Voting Rights, the Justice Department as we mentioned did get involved to some degree in expressing to the republicans in arizona there are problems underway at the way they are conducting their recount and writing through georgia and saying theyre getting directly involved in that. What kind of teeth does the Justice Department have been helping out those who are fighting against the erosion in Voting Rights . It sends a strong message the biden administration is behind these efforts to try and make sure that the conduits for democracy are available to all voters going forward. Again i want to emphasize the Courts Decision last week in those Arizona Voting challenges will make it much more difficult for challenges to be brought under section two of the voting Rights Act. Thats the last real provision of the voting Rights Act that remains to challenge restricted Voter Laws. You recall in 2013, itll be county versus holder. The court gutted the preclearance requirements required states to first but any changes to their Voting Laws with the department of justice or a federal court. The court at that time section two would remain but the court tighten up the roles for challenges under section two of the voting Rights Act, and made it much harder for people to proceed under that avenue of the voting Rights Act including the Doj Suit against georgia. 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 them were met except for getting americans getting 70 of Adult Americans One Shot of the vaccine by july 4th, they got close with that. This Delta Variant is possibly throwing things off. Given the seriousness which with the White House has treated the matter since day one, what are they doing now . Theyre still talking about it and still doing the public relation boater education, trying to work specifically in local communities. We are at this totally different point. On the one hand unimaginable before, anyone who wants a vaccine can get a vaccine. I mean, that wouldve been great news just a few months ago, and now theyre grappling with the fact that a lot of people dont want to get vaccine. Theyre gripping into the research and figuring out if its an issue with young people who need more education, rumors they need to dispel. Theyre coming against the reality that some people are just not going to get vaccinated for whatever reason, they are uncomfortable with it and it is especially in those communities where the Delta Variant can grow out of control. And other variants can emerge. They keep on stressing this but there is a portion of the population that they recognize and have come to terms with the fact that they just arent going to get vaccinated. Jonathan, lets talk about afghanistan, the president was pretty clear about his language, hes not sending troops back, another generation of americans and within a reassertion of a different outcome. He was asked very directly is it inevitable that the taliban will take over right now, he said the afghans have 300,000 fighting forces, they have an Air Force against the taliban, thats about 75, 000, short of making it sound like the taliban was a ragtag organization. They are, except they havent lost anything it. No, thats exactly right. Though the president downplayed the chance that the taliban could be taking all of afghanistan, he was pretty plain when assessing that there wouldnt just be one government that rules the entire country. Suggesting it could be divided up into various territories and saying that the taliban would own at least part of it. I think all u. S. Intelligence officials and those around the globe have been surprised as how quickly the taliban has regained teletory in recent weeks and months as the u. S. And nato forces begin to withdraw from the region. The u. S. Would not have responsibility for what happened after this, weve been there long enough. It wasnt our goal to nationstate, but the afghan people need to take care of themselves. But there are questions here is the u. S. Pulling out too soon . Are they pulling out to munch . At the moment theyre only going to leave some troops there to protect an embassy, but the presence will be 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 timetable, but biden made clear that he felt like it was time for american troops to leave this, to end this so called for effort war. And i think that the world will be watching with some concern as to what fill that vacuum, whats forces go in, why terrible things the taliban may do. This is a shift in Foreign Policy and the president is sticking to his guns. Thank you to the three of you for kicking us off ashley parker, Jonathan Lemire and melissa murray. Well as the retired admiral who once as the Nato Mission there. The politically calculated outrage on the right over biden administrations latest effort to reassure people about vaccines. The 11th Hour is just getting underway, on a thursday night. Ay, on a thursday night. Why not both . Visibly diminish wrinkled skin in. Crepe corrector lotion. Only from gold bond. 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 watch the Olympic Games on Xfinity Root for Team Usa and feel the energy 7000 plus hours of the olympics on display with xfinity you get every hour of every day different sports on different screens, you can watch it anywhere and with the Voice Remote you never have to leave your chair show me Team Usa. All of this innovation could lead to some inspiration and you might be the next one to represent our nation this summer on your tv, tablet, or any Screen Xfinity is here to inspire your biggest dreams let me ask those who want us to stay, how many more, how many thousands more americans daughters and some 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 is 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. John bolton offered this warning today. This military Withdrawal And Withdrawal of all the other american agencies that are affected by it, i think, risks very grave danger to american national security. I want to be clear, this is not a bipartisan point because of Donald Trump had been reelected, i think he would be doing exactly what Joe Biden is doing. It is a mistake across the board, and i fear we are going to feel the consequences in the not too distant future. Back with us admiral he retired with four stars on his shoulder, he is a former Supreme Allied Commander of nato, he wrote 2034, a novel of the next world war. Admiral it is a pleasure to see you again. John bolton is not wrong their democrats and republicans who oppose Whats Biden is doing in afghanistan, there are democrats who support what biden is doing in afghanistan but No One disagrees with the idea that the taliban who have been undefeated for decades is research and right now and may cause a problem in the governance of that country. Id agree with that in the key word and would John Bolton said is risk. We dont know, having commanded that mission for four years, by the way when we had 150,000 troops there, where are now well under 10,000 troops over the last four years. Let me put it in a Numbers Perspective for you, from my vantage point, i would say there is a one and three chance that this lands reasonably well. That the Afghan Security Forces can go Toe To toe with the taliban, that it will force the taliban to come in and conduct what has been envisioned for a long time and negotiated into this. It is hard to imagine a purely military and to this insurgency, one in three chance it comes out okay, but i would go with John Bolton on the risk here. I think there is a two and three chance, ali, that the wheels come off. What i mean by that is that the images of vietnam, The End of that, helicopters lifting off the roots of nbcs, god lets hope not. But even more recently when the soviets withdrew, the Afghan Security Forces held on for a couple of years till the Wall Fell and the funding ran out. The key is, going forward, and this is what the president said and i commend him for it, were Gonna Fund the Afghan Security Forces. Were gonna be in an over the horizon posture, and were gonna do all that we can to ensure that the wheels stay on the car, lets hope it does. The president said were not in the nation of country building. Sometimes we have been in the business of Nation Building, and its worked. Sometimes we have been in the Nation Building business and it hasnt worked, the Bottom Line is arguably, where Is Afghanistan today, compared to when we went in . In terms of Nation Building, if you will, its vastly better. Women and girls have real rights, there 1 Million of afghan children in schools. Medical capabilities and access for tens of millions of people, Life Expectancy has gone from the Mid Forties to the late sixties. An extraordinary set of accomplishments. We did it, ali, not just for the altruistic reason that it is good to help other countries, we did it because that is counter insurgency want to one. You build up a society and therefore theyre less inclined to go with the insurgents. At The End of today, all those gains 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 libya, somalia and others, those become havens for people who are up to no good. What danger is there of that . Our though days gone where we have to worry about terrorist organization like Isis And Alqaeda Taking Up Space in a place like afghanistan because were not there . I wish that were the case, but it is just not. Our Intelligence Agencies have focused on this, and are there are 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 abhors a vacuum, it fills it and in this case it filled it with malign actors. Lets hope it doesnt come to that. Youre right, by the way, ally, to point out our successes in Foreign Policy. Weve done a pretty good job in columbia, helping the colombians rebuild that society. Weve done a pretty good job in the balkans, you can remember 20 years ago the balkans were on fire. We had some mid steps and some failures along the way as well. The jury is still out on afghanistan. We need to lean in here, do what we can to avoid a really horrific outcome, we can still do that, i think. Admiral good to see you, thank you for joining us, admiral james stavridis. Coming up, one of our next guest says the nations very future depends entirely on who comes out to vote next week. More on the challenges to Voting Rights when the 11th Hour continues. Hour continues do you have a Life Insurance Policy you no longer need . Now you can sell your policy, even a term policy, for an immediate cash payment. Call Coventry Direct to learn more. We thought we had planned carefully for our retirement. But we quickly realized that we needed a way to supplement our income. Our friends sold their policy to help pay for their medical bills and that got me thinking. Maybe selling our policy could help with our retirement. Im skeptical, so i did some research and called Coventry Direct. They explained Life Insurance is a valuable asset that can be sold. We learned that we can sell all of our policy or keep part of it with no future payments, who knew . We sold our policy. Now we can relax and enjoy our retirement as we had planned. If you have One Hundred Thousand dollars or more of Life Insurance you may qualify to sell your policy. Dont cancel or let your Policy Lapse without Finding Out what its worth. Visit conventrydirect. Com to find out if you policy qualifies. Or call the number on your screen. Coventry direct, redefining insurance. This is about all voters. Its about all voters. This is not about democrats or republicans. Its about americans. Our democracy is strongest when everyone participates, and it is weaker, it is weaker, our democracy as a nation is weaker when people are left out. The Vice President back at Howard University today to announce a 25 Million Dollar Push by the Democratic National Committee to counter the rush of restrictive Voting Laws. Consider the state of texas, despite republican claims Election Security is a priority, one democrat calls the latest Voting Bill now back before lawmakers a solution in search of a problem. The only problem we have is that the republican governor is staying true to his allegiance to trump, and playing into this Big Lie. Texas is merely the next domino of falling for republicans. There is no issue with the integrity of our election system. If republicans are worried about the integrity of something, they have to look at the integrity of our electrical grid. With us again Tonight Eugene Robinson pulitzer prizewinning columnist for the Washington Post and matthew the founder of country over party in the past he was chief strategist for the Bush Cheney President Ial Campaign in 2004. Gentlemen, good to see you both. Matthew all starts with. You are in texas. You are watching this. I want to show our viewers some of the things that are in Texas Bill three adding Idea Requirements for mailin voting, banning drivethrough early voting, banning overnight early voting and criminal penalties to certain election process ease, and empowering partisan poll watchers. It does bring to mind some of these are interesting, but most bring to mind the idea of a solution in search of a problem. Boy in texas they are looking for that problem. The problem of Voter Fraud, mass Voter Fraud, the government officials there are turning over every rock to find. It its not really there. No its not at all. They found 16 instances of a registration with an Address Wrong on it. They spent 20 Million on 16 instances out of 11 Million votes cast in 2020. Its not a problem. This fundamentally goes to the issue of the republicans know the electorate is changing. Its changing in texas. The demographics and how it works. They know, directly linked to it, they know the policies theyve been passing whether its Rollback Roe v. Wade, carry for guns, or all the other things are doing which is highly unpopular in texas among texas voters, they know they dont want to be held to account by the voters. Thats what this is all about. They dont want to be held accountable. For me that list you dropped, that you read across, the first three are bad putting payments in place and making it harder to vote. Last year would concern me the most. It 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 notify an election. Thats the last two are about. The first three discourage people from voting. Thats bad. They can be overcome. The last two are about is perpetuation of the Big Lie, or Big Lies coming forward. Lets talk about that. We 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, and get information to people who are affected by these restrictive laws. A different approach to the whole thing. Its not fighting in the courts. Its informing people of their right to vote and the laws that are designed to prevent them from doing so. Enough . Useful . What do you think . Useful, but not enough. I dont think there could be one approach, just getting out a vote and making sure everybody knows how to register and how to comply with onerous and unnecessary new restrictions. Thats necessary. That has to be done. And that can be really effective. These new laws have to be fought in court. The Justice Department needs to be paying attention. It cant just be Marc Elias and others who are Filing Lawsuits in public interest. We still do you have most or whats left of the voting Rights Act. We have a civil Rights Division in the Justice Department and the are fighting us tooth and nail. Democrats ought to be fighting some way, in a posture to pass whatever congress can pass, to nullify or mute 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. That is the true danger to democracy. The biggest danger to democracy. Here it is, its happening before our eyes. Matthew, in fact, there is pressure on those few republicans who decided to pushback 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. This is a story about congressman peter mire. Apparently at a recent event a woman in Fort Myers that he would shortly be arrested for treason and hauled before a Military Tribunal presumably to be shot. People are willing to kill and die over these alternative realities. Ive been out there, talking to people since before the election. 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. I think thats one of the greatest dangers in our democracy. This idea there is no longer a common set of facts. Democracy depends on the ability to get to the Common Good with a common set of facts. We no longer have a common set of facts or an idea that science should be relied on. Its not just people who blame Trump And Trump i think was a great exposure of a big part of the problem. When i think these politicians and 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 fact, which is no longer based in any kind of firm knowledge. Thats what youre dealing with. The problem is they are not only believing it, theyre being fed it day in and day out at different people networks, different news sites. To me, overcoming that problem is going to take a lengthy period of time. Its also whats fundamental to our democracy, which concerns me that we may be already in the point in time where we are a broken democracy, because we have no ability to get to a common set of facts. What an amazing conversation were having a 2021 about this. Gentlemen, standby. Were taking a quick break. Coming up the politics of vaccinations are not proving to be a matter of Life And Death in some parts of the country. Is that fact going to change any minds . Ange any minds . 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 the origin is the top story but the focus of this administration on vaccination is a mindboggling. Why not get People Credit rather than trying to break them into doing something and claiming its playing politics. This latest Antivaccination Spain all began when the biden administration started to talk about enlisting Community Leaders to go Door To door reassure those, who are still reluctant to get the shot. Still with us Eugene Robertson and Matthew Dowd. Eugene, lauren boebert, congresswoman from colorado had this to say about this. Biden had deployed his needle nazis to mess a county. The people of my district are more than smart enough to make their own decision about the experimental vaccine and dont need coercion by federal agents. Did i wake up in Communist China . Eugene, these claims get more and more outrageous by the day. Its crazy. Every word of that is a lie and every word of that is crazy, every word of that is deliberate and designed to appeal to this sort of crazy, tribal attitude that has developed that has been encouraged to develop against vaccination. This was the Scene Vaccination is a very good thing for you. Its in your best interest to get vaccinated, in everybodys best interest for everybody to get vaccinated. Nobody is forcing anyone to do it, but if you think about it for five minutes in any sort of rational way. You see that it is a good idea, its certainly not anything out of nazi germany. It is just amazing that were at this point when dealing with a matter of public health. Vaccinations are required for kids to go to school. But this is nothing new. I dont understand, matthew, i dont even understand how trump lost this messaging because he could have, and in some circles still take credit for the fact that we developed vaccines, the world developed vaccines at a much shorter time than most people expected. This could have been his legacy, but hes poisoned peoples minds and now theyve run away with it, trump there are individuals in america who have decided that the attempt to convince them to get vaccinated is some sort of totalitarian, authoritarian action. Trumps Legacy Couldve been a lot of things, there are so many things he couldve done differently. I mean, [inaudible] i fully agree with eugene. Its crazy but the problem is shes a congresswoman, Donald Trump is a former president. These are people who Run On Fox News and other networks. This is not only crazy, this is exceedingly dangerous as were seeing as rates rise in states that havent got the Vaccination Rates up. I dont know when we got to the fact that Ignorance And Lack of care for our fellow brothers and sisters in this country is celebrated. Thats actually what is being celebrated, ignorance and a lack of Compassion And Caring for our fellow brothers and sisters in this country. That is where we are at. Its not about liberty and freedom, its not about any of that, its the idea that i can do whatever i want and i dont have to care about who is in my community and how it affects or what i believe may be completely off the wall, thats with the difficulty is and it leads back to what i said on the other segment, when we dont have an ability, in this country, to actually believe in a universal way in science, it is a public Health Disaster that were facing. Its actually selfimposed by these communities that refused to believe in any science and their fellow citizens. This becomes problematic because i want to read you, eugene, something was written by Paul Waltman in the Washington Post and he says, there probably isnt a gop in office 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 theyre sitting there thinking im not getting in the way of this train. The vaccines is dangerous, the Communist China, the remarkable references to nazis. There are members of congress, and theyre not helping the situation. Theyre not serving their constituents. If you a member of congress, just at a baseline, minimum, you want your constituents to live. You want your constituents to be healthy. You want the communities you represent not to be, not to suffer yet another wave of covid19 infection. The way to prevent that is to encourage, not force, not you know, stormtroopers or whatever, but to encourage people to get vaccinated because it makes sense. It makes sense for them. There are lots of republicans elected officials who know that. If they dont have the courage, and the integrity to say that and the compassion, but caring for their own constituents to say that, then they certainly dont deserve to occupy the offices they hold. They dont. Its more than a shame, its just an outrage. As ive said at The End of the last segment, its amazing that were having this discussion in 2021, i appreciate both of you taking time to have it with me, Eugene Robinson and Matthew Dowd thank you both. While the only cheers you hear one Summer Olympics are coming around will be the ones in your landfill room, will explain that when the 11th Hour continues. Ntinues. 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 feeling sluggish or weighed down . It could be a sign that your digestive System Isnt working at its best Taking Metamucil Everyday can help. Metamucil psyllium fiber, gels to trap and remove the waste that weighs you down. It also helps lower cholesterol and slows Sugar Absorption to promote healthy Blood Sugar levels. So you can feel lighter and more energetic metamucil. Support your daily digestive health. And try Metamucil Fiber thins. A great tasting and easy way to start your day. This is not good timing, a spike in covid19 cases in tokyo has prompted authorities there to declare a monthlong State Of Emergency. With the opening ceremonies to the summer long picks now just two weeks away officials are reversing last Months Decision to allow local spectators at most events. Nbc News Correspondent Tom yarmulkes has our report from tokyo. When the Olympics Kick off in 15 days beseeched 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 began monday and will run through the entire olympics. One of the reasons for the State Of Emergency, they want to thin out the crowds like here in downtown tokyo. 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 here is relatively low, compared to other hotspots, the Vaccine Rollout has lagged. What is japan so afraid of . The vast majority of japanese remain unvaccinated, theyre afraid of the Olympics Kick starting another surge. 70,000 people from around the world are expected here for the olympics, including Ioc President Thomas Bach who just arrived, and is now in quarantine. Now ali, as of the athletes themselves summits described this decision as heartbreaking, but we are learning tonight that there could be some offense held outside of tokyo, like surfing, the marathon in baseball that could have some fans. Ali . Tom llmas. Elsa isnt done with the East Coast just yet, the latest on the storms still ahead when the 11th Hour continues. Th hour continues. Why choose proven Quality Sleep from Sleep Number . Because every new day starts the night before. Hi everyone and a quality Nights Sleep is scientifically proven to help boost performance. The new Sleep Number 360 Smart Bed is temperature balancing. And it helps keep you asleep by sensing your movement and automatically adjusts to keep you both effortlessly comfortable. The Sleep Number 360 Smart Bed is on sale now the last thing before we go during our lowest prices of the season. Tonight and update on elsa. The hurricane turned storm has killed at least one person in florida, killed by a downed tree. The storm is tens of millions as a drenches the East Coast with Flash Floods and dangerous winds, threatened to knock out power. Forecasters predicted some parts of South Carolina could see up to eight inches of rain. The national weather we and for winds there hit 128 miles an hour, clipping vehicles and snapping trees, but luckily No One was hurt. Elsa is still on the Move Tonight targeting the northeast which has already seen its fair share of floods. Some New York city commuters were met with horrific conditions this afternoon, this is from a bronx subway. Riders try to get to their trains, some used Trash Bags attempting the world worse potatoes sack race. Other just went for it. Downtown in math hadnt, waterfalls coming in from ceilings inside the subway stations. This Commuter Pen Station Salt Water not falling down but shooting up, from a great in the floor. Major highways in the city were flooded leaving cars stuck and drivers stranded. Again, this is all before elsa brings in even more rain to the region over the next few hours. So it is time to break up my waiters for tomorrows commutes. On behalf of all my colleagues at the networks of nbc news, goodnight. S, goodnight. Tonight on all in. You have to ask, what is the problem . Get over it. Get over this political statement. Just get over it and try and save the lives of yourself and your family. A new plea from medical experts. The focus of this administration on vaccination is mindboggling. Then, are democrats about to walk out again to stop the new Voter Restriction Push in texas. Plus, why Mitch Mcconnell is actually attempted to defund the police when it comes to tax cheat. All in starts right now. L in starts right now. Good evening from New York im chris hayes. The highly transmissible Delta Variant is spreading across this country and the world. Even countries with higher vaccination levels, and theyre not that many of them have started to see the Delta Variant