His full story for the first time, im very excited to speak with him. Thats coming up in a few minutes. We start tonight with a dire story out of florida, albeit a devastatingly familiar one. We had our numbers down, we were all excited. We were very busy and a lot of patients have been waiting and are now starting to come. In the Delta Variant then came, and in just a very short time just a few weeks it shot up from 3 30 something, patients. It feels like it was overnight. These patients are different and they are sick they are young they get sick fast and it used to be that we would come in and they would take four weeks before his lungs would teary rate if he was gonna be one of those patients that didnt do well on a band now ive got patients deteriorating in 1 to 2 weeks i have no lost a pregnant fiancee, i had a 23yearold that we referred for transplant. These are sick people and the most frustrating an amazing part of this is not one of them needed to be here. Not one of them needed to be here. That video is not from last, year it was taken at the end of last month which was a few days ago as you recall, At Jackson south medical bill in miami florida. Jackson selfhas eight beds in their Covid Icu and as of today all eight of them are filled with covid patients. Six of those patients are under the age of 50, none of them are vaccinated. The hospitals just had to open up a second Covid Icu in the new one has more than 50 beds on Friday Florida recorded the highest number of covid cases since the beginning of the pandemic, more than 21,000 new cases. Look at the chart. Florida also broke its records for hospitalizations. The most at any given time since the beginning of the pandemic. In broward county, just north of miamidade county, the mayor announced today his jurisdiction has the highest break in the united states along with miamidade. The hospitals are Breyer County are becoming overwhelmed, younger people are being hospitalized. He also described a dramatic increase in the number of children who are falling ill, with Back To School right around the corner. He said, at the end of june, one Area Emergency Room saw 36 children admitted to the room with covid. By the end of july, the number was up to 190 children. The mayor there summed up the situation and the state pretty well he said quote, this is horrifying. Like the doctor in miami said, most of these people did not need to go to the hospital. Only 49 in the people in florida are fully vaccinated, that makes half the people in the state dangerously vulnerable to the highly infectious Delta Variant that is ripping through unvaccinated parts of this country. Florida doesnt even have the worst vaccination. Race louisiana is tied for first place for the bottom, third place for the state with the Smalls Population fully vaccinated. Right now, louisiana has the highest rate of new covid infections on the entire planet. The governor of louisiana announced today that the state is set to break its alltime record for covid hospitalizations. He said Louisianas Health Care system is quote, in peril. Then he reinstated the indoor Mask Mandate for the entire state. Louisiana is worse off right now than it has ever been before, or during the pandemic. Today, a 33 Member Disaster medical Assistance Team from the federal government was dispatched to the largest hospital in louisiana, to assist with what the hospital is quoting the highest volume of covid patients the region has experienced thus far. We are in august of 2021. For the parts of the country where covid is surging right now, this is scary stuff. Its also frustrating for Health Care providers knowing that the bulk of Pain And Suffering that they are seeing is entirely preventable. Now that we have vaccines, in August 2020 we didnt have them. We do seem to be trending towards improvement on that front. You will remember, early in the spring, president biden pledged that 70 of the country would have received at least one dose of the vaccine by july 4th. The White House ended up missing that goal, but today, a little under a month later, we got there. 70 of adults in the united states have now received One Shot of covid vaccine, inching us One Step closer to that elusive herd immunity. This chart shows how many covid shots have been administered every day. A gentle uptick in the few weeks. Gentle progress is still progress, but our hospitals are still being overwhelmed. We are still setting new case records. We are in a half into the pandemic, its still affecting the highest levels of our government. Lindsey graham announced today she has passed he has tested positive for covid. Mild symptoms, and grateful he is fully vaccinated for covid, otherwises symptoms could have been worse. Glad he said that. Graham was at a party this weekend on the houseboat, and no other senators there have received covid given their exposure to senator lindsey graham. All of this is unsustainable. We cant keep doing this. When needs to change . What are we even capable of doing differently . Joining us now is former bidens administrative for covid response to the author of preventable, how leadership failures, and selfishness doomed the u. S. Coronavirus response. Andy good to see you [interpreter] [interpreter theyre challenging those of us who are vaccinated. How do you say whats going on now . If it was here today, with 30 of adults not yet vaccinated, you have a highly contagious variant that is more contagious than the 2020 variant of covid. You get covid in about five minutes of exposure if you are not vaccinated. We should take serious the next set of measurements, having governments and employees Step Up and say its time to be safe in the workplace. If you come to a workplace and expose people who will expose their kids to covid19, you saw the story in florida. Its time for you to demonstrate that you will not spread covid by getting vaccinated nor taking a regular we saw last week that start to happen. Right . New york state, in the state of california and a number of states saying they will do it. Some are waiting for full approval of the vaccine. Many have told me, including Francis Collins The National Institute Of Health he said, that may be a legal decision. Generally speaking, everyone is in a position to do that if they want to. All employers can do that now. Absolutely right. Two things are important, first of all, people who try to confuse him using Emergency Use Authorization with experimental are either not telling the truth, or dont understand. It was a very high standard to get something improved for moon to see use authorization. Every former Fda Official that has gone on record to say as much. Number one, there is no real distinction that is a falsehood. Secondly, Doctor Collins is exactly correct. Employees dont need to wait, now they can connect today. If you are working for an employer, you might want to ask them why they are not guaranteeing your safety. If you frequent business, go to a doctor, you might want to ask them why they dont require vaccinations. Those kind of questions will help push people along to take the steps they need to take. You are an explainer. When i talking for years. I think you would find a reasonable exercise to cultural reasons and whatever the cases thats only half the case in this country. There are people who can be talked to and coax, then there are people who are sprouting bs. All over the place some of them work in their Health Care establishment i dont know why theyre nurses. A You Distrust the Health Care System for that much, do something else. There is that has been burned for not just people of color its a lot of people left out by the medical establishment and theres a lesson in this. There are people who are not sure if they should get vaccinated go talk to trustworthy people, dont listen to someone on facebook. Dont listen to a political person whether its myself, or anybody else. Go talk to people who have been vaccinated and go listen to whats good for you and your family. I think those are right decisions to make. Nobody should shame anybody who asked questions about getting vaccinated. By the same token, we have got a whole set of people who are immunocompromised, under 12, they dont have the choice to get protected. And so, we need to not hoard the Society And Care about individual decisions to make, we have to care about the people worn in a room and dont get a voice. Great way to think about. It thank you for joining us tonight. Andy slavitt is a former Biden Administration for covid response we appreciate your time. President bidens Infrastructure Proposals have brought into what i like to call the Fox Chicken Corn problem. There is no logic possibly may have done in the middle School Math Class about a farmer who has to transport of fox, chicken, and bag of corn across the river in a boat that can only hold him and one other thing at a time. The problem is, left alone, the Fox Today the chicken, the chicken with the corn. The farmer that has to do a multistep Back And Forth process to ferried them all across the river without anyone eating anyone or any one else. Congresss got a similar order of operations puzzle to solve. Chuck schumer and House Speaker Nancy pelosi are the farmers in this metaphor, who got us all there to solve it. The bipartisan trillion Infrastructure Package started today with a debate on the 200,000 page progressive leaders In The House say they have enough votes to tank it once against back to the houses house, and the senate does not pass the 3. 5 billion Infrastructure Package first. Republicans on the other hand of no particular interest in the larger package. Moderates once a smaller bill passed first. If either group holds, out this bill has no shot of passing both houses and getting to the president s desk. Chuck Schumer Nancy Pelosi are stuck on one side of the river with the fox, chicken, and corn. There are huge differences between the contents of the two bills. The bipartisan one is being significantly smaller and focusing on part infrastructure, roads, bridges, broadband. The larger Reconciliation Bill broadens out the issues like education, childcare, climate change. And only matters if either of these bills can be passed by both houses with republicans, moderates, progressives on board. Joining us now is one of the senators who could be voting on one of the Infrastructure Packages as soon as this week. Its senator debbie stefano. She served as the chair of the senate agriculture commission. Senator, you tell me 36 hours ago or something that dont look too closely at how the sausages made. I am fine with that. I dont think anyone wants to understand how the sausage is made, what we understand is when will we have sausage on the other side . Is this going to get done . The other side is this going to get done . Im trying to figure out the farmers in the corn. When i will say is yes, we are going to get this done. I also want to make no, that this is day 1655, since Donald Trump took office and start talking about infrastructure week. It never happened. Now we have infrastructure wreak under Joe Biden. And folks we are going across the aisle in the senate. We are going to get it done. And, as i say so many times, we are focused on the whos on first whos on second, One Bill Second bill. Bottom line, is what we want to do for the american people. And what we are committed to doing as democrats. You hold them both is being really important. How do you address people like your colleague or other progressives with whom weve spoken to. Who said i need assurances and guarantees. The timeline you laid out, is that you get something done in then youll come back from the August Recess and youll get the Reconciliation Bill done. Others are saying im not passing this third thing until the second is done. First of, all we will pass the infrastructure bill, in the senate, it will go to the house. And then they will determine at what point they will pass it. Bottom line, we want to fix the roads and bridges and get rid of all the lead pipes, lord knows, i represent michigan and others can talk to you about lead pipes. As well as high Speed Internet and so on. We know, that we have to address the climate crisis, we can create 10 Million Jobs Doing, that are more than that. Millions of Jobs Doing that. We can extend the largest Working Class Tax cut for folks. We want to help cut the cost for folks who are up at night trying to figure out what do i do, about childcare in cost of Medicine And Cost of college. And the great news is, we can pay for this by just making sure that millionaires and billionaires pay their fair share. We are looking at all of. It its a clunky process, that we are involved in right now. And its sort of Step By Step By step. But in the end, we know what has to happen. We have to deal with the climate crisis. Great news, we can create millions of jobs will doing it. And people in this country, who are working hard every Day Need to know someones got their back. They want a fair shot. Under the republicans, what we know, is that wealthy and they will get theirs, all the time. What we are saying is, make it work for working people. And lets do really important things to lower the cost of childcare. I want to have medicare cover the cost of eyeglasses, and hearing aids. In the cost to go to the dentist for seniors. Theres so many pieces here, that need to get done. So people feel like somebody sees them, hears them, understands with their struggling with every day. And that theyre on their side. And thats what were doing is democrats. You have a lot of work to get done in the senate, now one after the recess. Unfortunately one of your senate colleagues has contracted covid, senator lindsey graham. Im glad he tweeted out is feeling all right. Feels like a sinus infection. And that hes very glad hes vaccinated. Because thats a message people need to hear. However, they were all at a houseboat with Joe Manchin the other day. This senate does not allow proxy voting, im generally hoping everybodys healthy, but does this affect Anybody Schedule . We are proceeding, folks that were on the boat, have gotten tested and No One Else so far has tested positive, we are just going to keep going Step By Step By step. If the legislativE Process is first of all one where there is never an absolute, i shouldnt say never. I should say oftentimes, theres not an absolute deadline. So you have to create deadlines, which Senator Schumer is doing in a really important way. Hes inserting incredible leadership, saying were staying, were not going home until the whole thing is done. So no matter how that comes together, we are not going home until we deal with the physical infrastructure needs of our country. And we deal with the things that keep people up at night, including extending and most important middle Class Tax Cut we have done in a generation. And lord knows, we have to address the climate crisis. And as i said, good news is, it creates millions of jobs, good news is, we can pay for all of this by just simply saying, i say all the time, republicans say were trying to raise peoples taxes, i say you know what, if youre asking a billionaire to pay more than zero, i dont call that a tax increase. Senator good to see you again. Senator it was the bombshell that set off the first impeachment of donald, trump but it also had Lifechanging Repercussion for the man who reported it to authorities. Im excited to say that Alexander Vindman, the man who upended the first asked race to Donald Trumps presidency, will be right with me in the studio after this. After this. Topical pain relief ingredient. Its clinically proven, reduces inflammation and comes in original prescription strength. 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As i had a personal story to tell, i decided to begin my statement with my career of service, in my immigrant families american dream. I thought up by provided that context, there was a chance that a lot of americans would understand, why i had to do what i was doing. My Wife Rachel and i have it upstairs and her Daughter Elise Room on monday the day before my testimony, to go through the final draft. Word by word. Then i sent it to my legal team for their final approval. Now we get home from school that i helped her to her makeup for her halloween costume. Then we went to a Girl Scout Halloween party. During the event, i called my legal team one more time. Everything look good. They then sent my Opening Statement to the house permanent select committee on intelligence. Rachel still remembers the Drive Home from the halloween party. We chatted about the elogistics of getting to bc the next morning for the testimony. We picked up my Dress Uniform from the dry cleaner. Looking back, we can see that those were last couple of hours of normalcy. Today in our life as a family, there is before impeachment, and after impeachment. End quote. That night, when that Opening Statement became public, All Of Us for the first time met Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman, who was at the time the top Ukraine Expert and then White House national security council. His decision to testify and these investigators about what he heard on a Phone Call, between President Trump and the president of ukraine, would change his life. It would change the trump presidency. It would change the country. Colonel vindman was the first witness who actually listened in on the Phone Call at the center of that inquiry, the Phone Call in which President Trump pressured the ukrainian president , to announce investigations into Joe Biden and his Son Hunter in exchange for american support that ukraine desperately needed against russia. The Phone Call in which Donald Trump Enforcement lee told zelensky, i would like you to do us a favor though. In the reason i wanted to start with that particular passage from his new book with his wonderful Human Details of a normal life but to be upended, is it gets at the reason his testimony was so powerful and so effective. Why it is probably the best remembered testimony of the entire Impeachment Hearings. The way colonel Alexander Vindman, explained in his testimony, his decision to report when he heard him testify when he heard was inseparable from his life history, as an immigrant and as a soldier. He hoped to connect on a personal basis with ordinary americans, watching the impeachment on tv. He succeeded. The Alexander Vindman new book, here right matters, is an exploration about how he found itself on that in pivotal moment before, impeachment after impeachment and how he came to make the decisions that he did at the time. He roads quote, i wasnt born with any special degree of courage, or some especially for moral compass. Nobody is. Weve become the people we are by learning, and in colonel vindmans telling, everything is in the history that at work the day was on the call of President Trump in the ukrainian leader. From his own Families History of adversity in the soviet ukraine, to his wooded Fathers Decision to emigrate to america with alexander and his brothers, so they could pursue a better life. To the values he learned in the army, where you received a Purple Heart after being injured in an Ied Attack in iraq, by Lieutenant Colonel vindmans account, there is nothing special about him, he was just a military officer, in a Government Security Official doing his job. He saw a wrongdoing and he called it out. And one of the things weve learned from the years of the Trump Administration, is there are plenty of Government Officials who will not do that. Who will keep their heads down and try to please the president no matter what the president wants. But we also learned that the government is full of people like Alexander Vindman. People who discovered that their particular sense of patriotism in duty is exactly what is needed in that moment. Dad, my sitting here today in the u. S. Capital talking to our electric facials is proof that you made the right decision to leave the Soviet Union and come here to the united states of america, in search of a better life, for our family. Do not worry, i will be fine for telling the truth. Why do you have confidence you can do that . And tell your dad not to worry . Congressman because this is america. This is a country i have served and defended, that all of my brothers have served and here, right matters. Thank you sir. [applause] joining me now is retired army Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman, his new book is called here what matters. Colonel vindman, its an honor for being with us. You said that right matters, dead will be okay, and then you are forced out of your job at the White House. And then he refused to promotion to full colonel. And you are forced to retire from the army. Is that ok . Its. Not but thats not why i took the actions i did, i took those actions because i saw there was corruption and i had a duty but does it make a difference who it was, i had a responsibility to make a correction to speak to the right people, to see if we could fix the issue. You knew immediately when that happened that you had to do something, you went directly to your brothers office, who also worked at the White House. And you said to him, if this gets out, the president is going to be impeached. In the sense of weigh in consequence come to you at that time . Absolutely, i was aware at the import of that moment. I knew that it was going to change my life, there is a risk of is taking on my shoulders, id probably jeopardize my position at the White House. But i also knew the situation was much bigger than me, and i had sworn an oath to uphold. And to uphold that oath, i had to report what i observed. Would you rather tell . You he work there to . He knew this was going to come down heavy. He looked at me, hes my twin brother, he knows me more than just about anybody else in this world. And he immediately recognize the severity of the moment. I quickly told him that we need to go report this to the right authorities. The thinking was very straightforward, that these officials had both a duty like i did, which they unfortunately failed to fulfill. In an access to the president to get him to recognize that he was engaging and corrupt enterprise. And thats exactly what i did. Lets go back, you go back to start your book with that Phone Call. But lets go back before that. Late 2018, early 2019. The president s Lawyer Judy Lonnie had been floating this false narrative about ukraine having been responsible for hacking the 2016 election. And trying to get ukraine to investigate Joe Biden. Youre right, this Strange Political Scheme was Unimaginably Remold from anything i was working on, for a highlevel global u. S. Strategy. To use us in the Policy Community, giulianis, to us in the policy committee, his moves were bewildering, but also it first a lot more noise and signal. People who have read the Retrospective Reporting of a better sense of what was happening than i or my Colleagues Couldve had at the time, or would have necessarily wanted to have. This was really weird. Youre a policy expert, you know that part of the world. You speak ukrainian. You speak russian. This is what giuliani was talking about had nothing to do with anything. It was complete falsehood. It was a political errand to serve the interest of a corrupt president. To in an upcoming election. And for me, i probably did not calculate all of that at that very moment. What i did calculate was that this was wrong, this is not the way our system is supposed to work. And the very foundation of our democracy is based on elections, and the president was looking to up and that. It was completely outlandish. Were you even worried, when giuliani started talking about this, me with my limited sort of understanding of what goes on in that part of the, world even i knew this was ridiculous. Did you just dismiss it as rantings . I did early on, but then Ambassador Ivanovich was removed from her position, and it started to interfere with the work that we were doing in the White House. Including canceling Vice President pences participation trip. It was basically directly related to the fact that giuliani was not getting the play he needed with the ukrainian government. And the president , and trump pulled the plug to signal that this is where he wanted the ukrainians to act. He wanted them involved in this investigation. I want to read another passage where you describe what happened after you first told your brother, and how he decided to report it up the chain of command. Once the responsible people up the chain of command, the people with the proper clearances in need to know learned of the president s actions, we in the broader Policy Community can act. We could figure out how to advise the president on his gross error in judgment, walk back and cancel his inappropriate demand, and continue to move towards stabilizing relationships and executing a coach apparent foreign policy. It was my duty to report the president s misconduct, then it was our collective duty to assess the damage, manage the fallout, have the wayward president s most Senior Counselors rein him in, and get our jobs done. That was thE Process that i planned to start. Thats exactly right. It did not unfold that way. Entirely it did not put it culminated in something close to accountability. It culminated outside of the scope of what i consider the moment, but it certainly unfolded where congress took action, investigated his wrongdoing and impeached him. And ultimately the american public did hold him accountable, even though republican leadership at the time did not. They failed in their responsibility, they failed to live up to their oath, but the american public did. For that, for that corruption, for the ineffective management of a pandemic that resulted in 600,000 deaths, for economic catastrophe, the american public voted and held him accountable. And i think that is an example of theres a lot of stuff in this book thats about what this happened in this room, and subsequently in this impeachment progress. It is also a lot of stuff about you and who you are in how you are formed, in your history, and i want to talk about that when we come. Back our guest is retired army Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman, his book here right matters comes out tomorrow. 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Austedo may cause irregular or fast heartbeat, restlessness, movements mimicking parkinsons disease, fever, stiff muscles, problems thinking, and sweating. Man Talk to your doctor about austedo. Its time to treat td. Td is not ok. Visit askforaustedo. Com we are back with retire army veteran Alexander Vindman. His book comes out tomorrow. Colonel, thank you for sticking with. Us you and i were talking about this earlier, it is never rewarding to be a whistleblower. You could have thought at the time it was going to be rewarding. You are motivated by other things. You say here right matters. You spent time in the book Talking Bout your father, decisions he made for your family and how you became you. There are people out there who are wondering whether they should report things that are not right. What do you have to tell them . There is a sense of idealism that i still carry with me to this day. I think it helps me be resilient and bounce back but, in reality, things are not that easy. There were trials and tribulations throughout the kind of persecution from the White House, and then the period after i left the White House trying to figure it if i had a military career. Thats the way things are in life. The question is, what do you do with that . Do you let that push you down and do you crumble . Or do you bounce back and what i tried to tell is my family repeatedly out the years, in the tools as a young man, and maybe a little misguided at times. I talk about that. Then, as an Army Officer, the tools i assembled all coming together both to navigate the very difficult affair, unprecedented Army Officer challenging the president of the united states, because the president was not acting according to the constitution. Then, everything that happened out afterwards. Then figuring out what i wanted to do next. You talked about your dad who rebuilt and start from scratch. He actually didnt leave the Soviet Union because things were bad, things were good. He left and came here and started from scratch. He was an engineer who ended up lifting furniture to pay the bills in america. You talk a lot about him in the lessons he taught you but, he was unsure you were doing the right thing here. In fact, he was a trump supporter. He was. He left at 47 from a very comfortable position, but they were bed in that there were possibilities from his for his children were not there and my mother was dying of cancer she wasnt gonna survive in the Soviet Union. He was a trump supporter. That is a common Vein Vein among next immigrants especially in the area where they have anything left, to, liberal and overcorrect and hue to the right. He certainly knows that was his mindset. He counseled me to try to figure out a way to reconcile with the president. He had a Deep Fear of what might happen to me. The consequence of my actions from my career, and maybe even channeling some of his views of what happened. I wouldve not survive. That when you told him what he was gonna do he was also worried because he had images of Whats Someone like you in russia, pulling that, what would happen to them including jail and possibly death. More than likely. Certainly in the soviet era. It wouldnt just be me, it would be my family. We saw some reflections of that and the Trump Administration when my brother was walked out on some punishment that extended to Family Members as. Well totally unacceptable in the united states. How do you feel about this now . Given all the Ups And Downs a bit, how do you feel today . I have no regrets about my actions. One of the most important things is the fact that i could live with my actions and i could look my daughter in her eyes and not have to equivocate not trying to rationalize, explain away some misdeeds i did falling short. That makes me very proud i can do that. I also have that deep confidence that my father had coming into the united states, rebuilding. I will end up being fined. Im working at a dock on a doctorate at john hopkins. A think tank. Doing wonderful things and having great conversations with people like yourself. These things would not be afforded to me. I had a much easier go of it if i stayed, and kept quiet, like so many other people. You wouldnt have been a full colonel. Yes. Here title of the book is right matters. Do you believe . That i do. Not in the way that everything works out in the way one would hope. Here right matters matters only if we make it matter. If we if we are active engaged E Process that we are trying to drive what is important. In my case, as soon as i got out of uniform, i didnt want to be political actor but i spoke out against President Trump. I try to have a voice speaking out against him and his corruption. I hope that was impactful. I will continue to do that, advocate for public servants that dont have a voice while they are in service. I will do that by Advocating For National Security and i will make it better. Thank you for your service. Appreciated. Thank. You learned colonel Alexander Vindman. His book is out tomorrow. We appreciate your time. Thank you. Its been three weeks and State Legislators left their state in texas for washington d. C. In a desperate attempt to save Voting Rights for the constituents. Theyve helped protest, pushing them to vote on national legislation now theyre bringing in reinforcements. Much more on the summer direct action when we come back. When we come back lower interest rate. My principal is going down. Sofi is a place where you can start to tackle those money goals today. This is the sound of an asthma attack. That doesnt happen. Those money goals today. This is the sound of better breathing. Fasenra is a different kind of asthma medication. Its not a steroid or inhaler. 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The only thing stronger than us, is you. Limu emu. And doug. So then i said to him, you oughta customize your Car Insurance with liberty mutual, so you only pay for what you need. Oh um, doug can we talk about something other than work, its the weekend. Yeah, yeah. [ squawk ] hot dog or. Chicken . [ squawk ] only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Feel the Cool Rush of claritin cool mint chewables. Powerful 24hour, nondrowsy, Allergy Relief plus an immediate Cooling Sensation for your throat. Feel the clarity, and live claritin clear. [relaxed summer themed music playing] summer is a state of mind, you can visit anytime. Savor your summer with lincoln. Today saw a whole lot more rests on capitol hill, as the poor Peoples Campaign continues its season of nonviolent direct action, to put pressure on lawmakers on the issue of Voting Rights. Todays rally in washington d. C. Culminated in a march to the Senate Office where they chanted in saying, which side are you on. More than 200 people were arrested by u. S. Capitol police were crowding in obstructing offenses. As a demanded action for Congress And Voting legislation. Among those relisted were jesse jackson junior, and the cofounder of the progressive group indivisible. A friend of the show. As you can see, other people there to, all waiting in line to be cuffed. The cochair of the poor Peoples Campaign, the Reference William Barber was also arrested again. Poor Peoples Campaign are ramping up the number of rallies in march just to call attention to for demands that they want lawmakers to address. And the filibuster, pass all provisions of the for the people act, fully restore the 1965 voting Rights Act and raise the federal Minimum Wage to 15 an hour. They are not the only ones trying to spur change in washington. Today more than 100 State Legislators from 129 states travel to d. C. To stand in solidarity with the texas democratic lawmakers who fled their state, to block that restrictive voter bill. They plan to hold a rally outside the Capital Tomorrow at noon. To urge congress to pass Voting Rights legislation. They will also hold private meetings with members of congress. Joining us now is florida State Representative who is spearheading this effort, to bring State Legislators to the nations capital, in texas State Representative trey martinez fischer, one of the lawmakers who fled the state to reestablish strict Voting Rights. Bill thank you so much to both of you for joining us tonight. Representative estimate, you are trying to make the point that you are trying to stand in solidarity with these texas lawmakers, but you want to draw attention to the fact that this is not just a Texas Problem this is happening all over the country. Absolutely. Here in florida, we are inspired by the texas democrats watching members of the Texas Legislature Step up and step out. And say were not going to play this game of Voter Suppression with you. Really set the tone for other democrats across the legislatures in this country, and in florida, we watched our governors sit behind a Voter Suppression bill to a Vox News only audience, which further amplified how this was a political attack on the right to vote, and to pander to his political base. Here in florida we are suffering the same efforts of Voter Suppression, and we have to stand solitary with their texans, but also fight to push for action in congress. Representative martinez fischer, talk to me about how this feels to you. You are getting this summer of action, youre getting these people who are marching in austin, The March To Austin this weekend. Now you have people joining you there, in more civil action, you have all individually made the case to congress that you need them to put their back into this thing, you cannot hold out forever. Thats right, we are moving this Needle Inch by Inch Day by day. It is a shot of adrenaline to have lawmakers from across the country, stand with us. And when were honored in two or number humbled. And three its just that important. This is a now or never moment for our democracy in this country. And we are going to keep pushing the u. S. Senate, to give us, just one standard order when it comes to voting in this. Country and that is an american standard. We do not need Voter Suppression, we do not need states to have their voices across this country. We need the congress to act. And when 100 lawmakers come together, Men And Women who have put everything on the line, that we need to convey the message that its now or never. We need to have voter reform. Representative us kobanl, would you say to people including Joe Manchin who just talked about the fact this weekend, he said that, the for the people act would divide the country further. He and a few others are holding to this idea that if this is not bipartisan, and everybody is not on board with this thing. Its not going to work. But it doesnt look like republicans are going to be on board with. It we have to remember that these are the same republican members of congress that voted to not investigate the January 6th insurrection. So i mean, with all due respect to Senator Manchin and others that are post, we have to remember that we are in this situation with an Insurrection Taking place at the capitol, is because of Voter Suppression. Because of his Status Quo Approach in politics that is pushed out different voters, including voters with disabilities, black and brown people. Working class people, from being old to have their voice heard. To be able to have representation that reflects them in their values. Its really important we stressed all members of the u. S. Senate, that voting is, it doesnt have to be a partisan issue. Its about the people of this country, not politicians. And we need a push to make sure that every Persons Access to federal actions. Representative your governor Greg Abbott tweeted, i will keep calling Special Sessions until we address every Emergency Item including funding for posture care. Property Tax And Bail reform. The democrats decision to break Quorum Inflicts harms on the very texans, who elected them to serve. Your response . We my response is the governor at 140 days of a regular session to take care of the peoples business. And he failed to do so, thats the responsibility hes going to have to bear. And make no mistake, we are not going to get steam rolled when it comes to Voting Rights in our state of texas. We are going to stand up, we are going to pushback, we are going to say no, we are going to rally this country like we have been, and like i said, we are honored to stand with 100 Men And Women from across this country, rallying tomorrow at 12 noon eastern, right outside the russell building, of the u. S. Senate, and we want everyone to come and join us. Because it is a now or never moment for this country. Representative esco, any are you are in by the fact that people are willing to put their bodies on the. Line they are willing they lined up to date waiting to be coughed. Its inspirational. It really is. It is speaks to this Nations History of one that cares about Voting Rights. One that cares about democracy. One where people are willing to sacrifice their own livelihoods and put their bodies on the line to do whats right. We are committed as lawmakers across this country to do the same. Thanks to both you for being with. This florida State Representative and texas State Representative to trey martinez fischer. We appreciate your time. Up next we have an update on the story rachels been following very closely. Stay with us. Bee following very closely stay with us stay with us claritind improves nasal airflow two times more than the leading Allergy Spray at hour one. [ Deep Inhale ] claritind. Get more airflow. Woman whats my Safelite Story . Im a photographer. And when im driving, i see Inspiration Right through my glass. So when my windshield cracked, it had to be fixed right. I scheduled with safelite autoglass. Their experts replaced my windshield and recalibrated my cars advanced safety system. Acoustic Rock Music Woman safelite is the one i trust. They focus on safety so i can focus on this view. Singers safelite repair, safelite replace. You need an ecolab scientific clean here. And you need it here. And here. And here. 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Another group of about 4000 afghanistan those are to go to third countries to complete their recent work to being settled in the united states. Over 20,000 afghans have applied for special visas, many cant come to the u. S. Yet because they havent issued the Paperwork Process or completed their security screening. Advocates are calling for the Biden Administration to bring them here regardless. Another concern is what to do with the afghans who did not qualify for those special visas. On this for, and the administration delivered some much needed news. Blinken said today the u. S. Also plans eligibility who did not meet the strict criteria of the current visa program. Theyre calling it a two dissing nation without a welcomed effort but yet far from perfect. Politico is reporting that these new eligible afghans must for get a referral from a current or former employer before the concert processing the. Cases they are responsible for getting themselves and out of their country without u. S. Assistance. We will keep you updated. That does it. Its time now for the last word with lawrence odonnell. I have to tell you, we reported really interesting things but that conversation with Lieutenant Colonel vindman, its inspiring. His view is that there are lots of americans like him. He is not a standout. There are lots of people in government, you know this better than, any who are actually prepared to take a stand and suffer the consequences. That is exactly what i wanted to mention to you, ali. It was really a great interview. I am so glad that you let it breathe and go on as long as it did. I especially like the part which we can never hear before now of Whats Life is now, and what his life is going to be