Thanks to you at home for joining us. Rachel is enjoying a well deserved vacation. We have a lot to get to in this hour. Ng t i in just a sfu few moments, i will be speaking with wree tired Lieutenant Colonel Alexander vindman. In 2019 he was taking notes on a call between President Trump and the president of ukraine. It was those notes that ultimately led to Donald Trumps first impeachment for trying Tow Se Pressure the Ukrainian President into announcing a politically damaging investigation into Joe Biden. Colonel vindman is sharing his full story for the first time. L ats in a few moments. T we start with a dire story out of florida. Albeit a devastatingly familiar story. We had our numbers down. We were all excited. We were very busy because a lot of noncovid patients who had been waiting for care were starting to come in. But then the Delta Variant came, and in just a very short time, just a few weeks, it has shot up from three to 30 something patients. It feels like it was overnight. These patients are different. Theyre sick. Theyre young. Ey they get sick fast. It used to be covid would come in and it would take a good four weeks before his lungs would re completely deteriorate if he was going to be one of those patients that didnt do well, get on a vent. Now i have patients deteriorating in one to two weeks. Ive not lost a 40yearold with a pregnant fiancee. I had a 23yearold we referred for transplant. These are sick people. And the most frustrating and 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 center in miami, florida. They have eight beds in the covid icu. All eight are filled with covid patients. Six of them are under the age of 50. None of them are vaccinated. The Hospital had to open up a second covid icu. The new one with 50 beds. On friday, florida recorded the highest number of new infections ever in a single day since the beginning of the pandemic. More than 21,000 new cases. Look at that chart. Ibe florida also broke its record for covid Hospitalizations. Look at this. The most at any given time since the pandemic. In Broward County, north of miami, the mayor announced his jurisdiction has the highest Hospitalization-rate'>Hospitalization Rate in the united states along with miamidade. He says the Hospitals in Broward County are becoming overwhelmed. Younger people are being Hospitalized. He also described a dramatic increase in the number of children 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 e. R. With covid. By The End of july, the number was up to 190 children. The mayor there summed up the R Situation his state today. He said, quote, this is horrifying. Ng and he is right. It is horrifying because like that doctor in miami said, most of these people did not need to go to the Hospital. Os only 49 of the people in florida are fully vaccinated. That makes half of the people i the state dangerously vulnerable to the highly infectious Delta Variant that is ripping through unvaccinated parts of the country. And florida is not even at the O Bottom of the list in terms of states with the worst vaccination rates. Have a look at louisiana. N louisiana is tied for third place from the bottom. Third place for the state with the smallest percentage of its population fully vaccinated. Right now louisiana has the highest rate of new Covid T 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. And then he reinstated an indoor Mask Mandate for the state because louisiana is worse off right now than it has ever been before or during the pandemic. M today, a 33member Disaster Assistance Team D from the fedel government was dispatched to louisiana in what is, Quote T Highest Calling in 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. But also frustrating for Health Care providers knowing that Thep Bulk of the pain and the suffering that they are seeing is entirely preventible. F now that we have vaccines. In august 2020, we didnt have vaccines. Now, we do seem to be trending towards improvement on that front. You will remember earlier this Spring President biden said 70 of the country would have received at least one dose of the vaccine by july 4th. Ri well, the White House ended up missing that goal. Today a little under a month later we got there. Li 70 of adults in the united states have now received at least One Shot of covid vaccine. Inching us One Step closer to that elusive herd immunity. This chart shows how many covid vaccines have been administered every day. You can see a gentle uptick in the last couple of weeks. Yes, gradual progress is still progress, but its not enough because our Hospitals are still being overwhelmed. Were still setting new case records. Still a year and a half into this thing, it is affecting the highest levels of our government. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham announced he has tested positive for covid. He said he has mild symptoms. He said he feels grateful. He says it feels like a Sinus Infection, and he is grateful he is fully vaccinated for covid. Otherwise, his symptoms could be a lot worse. I am glad he said that. He was reportedly at a party this weekend on Senator Joe manchins houseboat. So far none of the other senators have tested positive and whether they plan to quarantine given their exposure to Senator Lindsey Graham. T nc all of this is unsustainable. We cant keep doing this. What needs to change . What are we capable of doing differently . Joining us now is Andy Slavitt, former Biden Administration White House Senior Adviser for covid response, the author of t the inside leadership, failures, politics, and selfishness doomed the coronavirus response. Good to see you. S leadership failures, politics and selfishness continue to be detrimental to us. There are selfish people out there who are challenging those of us who are vaccinated. E youre vaccinated. How do you address whats going on right now . Well, look, i think we as we sit here today with 30 of adults not vaccinated, we have a highly contagious variant that is much more contagious than the 2020 variety of covid19, can get covid in five minutes of exposure if you are not vaccinated. Its time to look at the Next S Co ff easures, including not r just looking at government, but having employers step up and say time to be safe in our workplace. If you are going to come to a workplace and expose people who are going to expose their kids to covid19, you saw the story in florida, its time for you to demonstrate that you are not going to spread covid by getting vaccinated or by taking a an regular and were seeing we saw last week, we saw that start to happen in new york state. The department of veterans affairs, The State Of California and a number of companies. Some said they are waiting for full approval of the vaccine. Many have told me, including Francis Collins from the national institutes of health, he says there may be a legal lunssion, but generally speaking everybody is in a position to do that if they want to. All employers could do that now. Thats right. Two things are important. A first of all, people who try to confuse Emergency Use Authorization with experimental are either not telling you the truth or dont understand. Tr there is a very high standard to get something approved for Emergency Use Authorization. Every former Fda Official has gone on record saying as much. Da number one, there is no real that is a falsehood. Secondly, dr. Collins is exactly correct. Employers dont need to wait. They can act now. At, they can act today. And i think if you are working for an employer, you might want to ask them why they are not guarantying your safety. If you frequent a business or go to a Hospital, go to a doctor, you might want to ask them why they dont require vaccinations. That will help push people to take the step i think they need to take. L andy, you are an explainer. You and i have talked about it for years. I think you would find it a reasonable exercise to explain to people who have legitimate vaccine hesitancy, but thats only half the problem in this country. Eo there are people who can be talked to and cajoled and coaxen and then there are people who th are spouting b. S. All over the place about these vaccines. Some of them work in our Health Care establishment. I mean, Gabe Gutierrez did a story with four nurses in north carolina. I dont know why they are nurses. Do something else for a living. Well, look, there isnt there is the stress of the Healthcare System that has historically been earned not for just people of color, but for lots of people who feel left out by the medical establishment, and theres a lesson in this. But there are people who are trustworthy here. There are people who and if you are not sure if you should get vaccinated, 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. Go understand the safety that that provides them. Listen to whats good for you and your family. And i think that those are right decisions to maybe. Nobody should shame anybody who has questions about getting vaccinated. But by the same token, weve got a whole set of people who are immunocompromised, under 12, and they dont have a choice to get protected. So we need to not only as a Society Care about the people who have individual decisions to make, we have to care about those people that arent in a room and dont get a vice. Voice. Thank you for joining us. Non Andy Slavitt is a former Biden Administration White House Senior Adviser for covid response. Fo president Bidens Infrastructure proposals have tu brought into what i like to call the Fox Chicken Corn problem. There is an old Logic Puzzle you may have done in a middle School Math Class about a farmer who has to transport a fox, chicken and a bag of corn in a boat that only holds him and one other thing at that time. The problem is left alone the is fox would eat the chicken, the chicken would eat the corn, so the farmer has to do a multistep Backandforth Process to get them across the river without anyone eating Anyone Or Anyone else. Ro congress has a similar puzzle. Chuck schumer and House Speaker Nancy pelosi are the farmers in this met a far who have to solve it. The senate is finally considering the bipartisan assc nearly 1 Trillion piece of biden Infrastructure Package. Debate started today on the 2,700page bill that senators finished last night. Chuck schumer says it could pass in the senate a matter of days. Right now it looks like they have more than enough republicans to pass that bill. Progressive leaders like Alexandria Ocasiocortez has threatened they have enough votes to tank it once it gets back to the house and that they will if the senate doesnt pass the larger 3. 5 trillion Infrastructure Package through Budget Reconciliation first. Now, republicans on the other hand have no particular interest the larger package. Moderates want the smaller bill first. If either pulls out, the bill has no shot of passing both houses and getting to the president s desk. So Chuck Schumer and Nancy Avth pelosi are stuck on one side of the river with the fox, the chicken, and the corn. There are differences between the bills. The bipartisan one is being significantly smaller. Its also focusing on hard infrastructure, things like roads, bridges, broadband. E biio the larger Reconciliation Bill broadens out issues like education, child care, and climate change. That only matters if they can get passed by both houses with reasons, moderates and progressives onboard. So how do we solve the puzzle . One of the senators who could Bs Voting on one of these Infrastructure Packages as soon as this week, Senator Debbie Stabenow of michigan, she is a member of the senate budget, finance, and energy committees. She serves at the chair of the senate agriculture committee. Senator, you told me 36 hours ago or something dont look too closely how the sausage is made. I am fine with that. Will we have sausage on the other see will very with two sausages here . E. Wohis going to get done. Or first of all, great to be in with you whether its morning, noon, or night. I have to tell you as chair of the agriculture committee, i am trying to figure out the farmers and the corn. So, yes, we are going to get this done. D i also want to make note that e this is day 1,655 since Donald Trump took office and started talking about Infrastructure Week. Ic never happened. Now we have Infrastructure Week under Joe Biden and folks who are going to cross the aisle in the senate. So, yes, we are going to get it done, and, you know, as i i say so many times, i mean, were focused on the who is on first, who is on second, one bill, second bill. R ar 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 as being really important. So how do you address people o like your colleagues Alexandria Ocasiocortez or other progressives with whom we have saying, no, no, i need guarantees. The timeline is you get something done, you come back from the August Recess and get the Reconciliation Bill. Meth others say i am not passing the first until the second is done. First of all, well pass the Infrastructure Bill in the senate. It will go to the house, and then than will determine, you know, at what point they will pass it. Ll it will pass the budget resolution. Bottom line, we want to fix the roads and bridges and get all of the rid of all of the lead pipes, lord knows i represent flint, michigan, and others can talk to you about lead pipes. As well as highspeed internet and so on. But we know that weve got to address the climate crisis. We can create Ten Million jobs doing that, or more than that. Millions of jobs. We want to extend the largest Workingclass 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 And 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 payon their fair share. So wereay looking at all of it. I mean its a clunky process that were involved in right now, i agree with that. And it sort of is Step By Step By step. But in The End we know whats got to happen. Weve got to deal with the climate crisis. Great news, we can create millions of jobs doing that. And people in this country who are working hard every Day Need to know somebodys got their back. They want a fair shot. Under the republicans what we know is the wealthy and the well connected are gonna get theirs. Eea re all the time. And what were saying is make the Tax Code Work for working people. And then lets to really important things to lower the cost of childcare. I want to have medicare cover the cost of eyeglasses and Ch Hearing aids and the cost to go to the dentist for our seniors. There are so many pieces here that need to get done so people feel like somebody sees them, hears them, understands what theyrede struggling with every day, and that theyre on their side, and thats what were doing as democrats. You have a lot of work to get done in the senate now and after the recess. Unfortunately, one of your Avne Senate colleagues has contracted covid, Senator Lindsey Graham. Im glad he tweeted out hes feeling all right and he says it feels like a Sinus Infection and he was glad he was vaccinated because thats a message people need to hear. They were on his boat with Joe Manchin the other day. Look, i am hoping everybody is healthy. Does this affect Anybodys Schedule . In well, we are proceeding. Folks that were on the boat have gotten tested. No one else so far has tested positive and were just going to keep going Step By Step By step, you know. E ene the legislative process, first i of all, is one where there is never an absolute i shouldnt say never. Oftentimes, not an absolute deadline. You have to create deadlines, which Senator Schumer is doing in a really important which way. Hes exerting incredible leadership saying were staying, were not going home until the whole things done. So whether, you know, no matter how that comes together, were not going home until we teal with the physical infrastructure needs of our country and we deal with the things that keep people up at night, including extendinh the most important middleclass Tax Cut we have done in a generation. And lord knows we have to address the climate crisis. Good news is, it creates millions of jobs. Good news is we can pay for all this by simply saying, you knowl i say all the time, republicans say were trying to raise y peoples taxes. I say you know what . If you are asking a billionaire to pay more than zero, i dont call that a tax increase. Senator, good to see you. Thanks for joining us. Senator Debbie Stabenow of the state of michigan. We always appreciate your time. Coming up, it was the bombshell that set off the first impeachment of Donald Trump and it had lifechanging repercussions for the man to reported it. Alexander vindman will be right with me in the studio after this. 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Side effects may include allergic reactions, injection site pain, headache, eyebrow, eyelid drooping, and eyelid swelling. Tell your doctor about your medical history, Muscle Or Nerve conditions, and medications including Botulinum Toxins as these may increase the risk of serious side effects. See for yourself at botoxcosmetic. Com from his new book here, right matters by retired Army Lieutenant Colonel vendman vindman, quote, i was set to testify on tuesday, october 29 and had to prepare an Opening Statement. Reviewing all of the previous Witness Depositions that had been made public, i saw that while each had made a persuasive professional case their views on foreign policy, they hadnt attempted to connect on a more personal basis with the ordinary americans who were following the Impeachment Hearings on tv. As i had a personal story to tell, i decided to begin my statement with my career of service and my immigrant familys american dream. I thought if i 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 huddled upstairs in our daughter ellies 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. When ellie got home from school, i helped her do her makeup for her Halloween Cause Tomb and then we went to a halloween party. I called my legal team one more time. Everything looked good. They even sent my Opening Statement to the house permanent select committee on intelligence. Rachel remembers the Drive Home from that halloween party. We chatted about the logistics of getting me into d. C. Next morning for the testimony. We picked up my uniform from the dry cleaner. Those were our last couple hours of normalcy. Today there is before impeachment and after impeachment, end quote. Well, 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 on the White House national security council. His decision to testify to Impeachment Investigators about he heard on a Phone Call between President Trump and the president of ukraine would irrevocably change his life. It would change the trump presidency. It would change the country. Colonel vindman was the first impeachment witness who actually had listened in on Phone Call at the center of that inquiry, the Phone Call in which President Trump pressured the Ukrainian President , zelensky, 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 infamously told zelensky, i would like you to do us a favor though. And the reason i wanted to start with that particular passage from Colonel Vindmans new book with the wonderful Human Details of a normal life about to be upended is it gets at reason his testimony was so powerful and so effecting, why it is probably the best remembered testimony of the entire Impeachment Hearings. The way Colonel Vindman explained it in his testimony, his decision to report what he heard and to testify about what 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. Alexander vindmans new book, here, right matters, is an exploration of how he found himself at that pivotal moment before impeachment, after impeachment, and how he came to make the decisions that he did at the time. He writes, quote, i wasnt born with any special degree of courage or some especially firm moral compass. Nobody is. We become the people we are by learning. And in Colonel Vindmans telling everything in his history was at work the day he was on the call with President Trump and the ukrainian leader. From his own Familys History of adversity in the Soviet Ukraine to his widowed fathers decisions to emigrate to america with alexander and his brothers to pursue a better life, the values he received in the army where he received a purple heart. By Lieutenant Colonel Alexander vindmans own account there was nothing special. He was just a Military Officer and a government national Security Official doing his job. He saw wrongdoing and called it out. One of the things we learned from the years of the Trump Administration is that there are plenty of Government Officials who will not do that, keep their heads down and please the president no matter what the president wants. We learned that the government is full of people like alexander vindman, people who cover that their particular sense of Patriotism And Duty is what is needed in that moment. Dad, my sitting here today in the u. S. Capitol talking to our elected officials is proof that you made the right decision 40 years ago 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. Ill be fine for telling the truth. Why do you have confidence that you can do that and tell your dad not to worry . Congressman, because this is america. This is the country i have served and defended that all of my brothers have served and here, right matters. Thank you, sir. Yield back. [ applause ] joining me is Retired Army Lieutenant Colonel Alexander vindman. His new book is called, here, right matters. An american story. It comes out tomorrow. Colonel vindman, an honor to have you here. Thank you for being here. Thank you for having me. You said here, dad, ill be okay. Then you were forced out of your job at the White House and then refused a promotion to full colonel and forced to retire from the army. Is that okay . Its not. But thats not why i took the actions i did. I took the actions i did because i saw that there was corruption and i had a duty to doesnt make a difference who it was. The president of the united states or not, 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 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. Did the sense of Weight And Consequence come to you at that time . Absolutely. I was aware of the import of that moment. I had no idea how it was going to change my life. I knew that there were there was a significant amount of risk i was taking on my shoulders and that probably i had jeopardized my position at the White House. But i also knew that the situation was much, much bigger than me and that i had sworn an oath to uphold to uphold that oath, i had to report what i observe. What did your brother tell new 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 he immediately recognized the severity of the moment. I quickly told him that, you know, we need to go report this to the right authorities. Thinking was very straightforward that these officials had both a duty like i did, which they, unfortunately, failed to fulfill, and an access to the president to get him to recognize that he was engaging in a corrupt enterprise. And thats exactly what i did. Lets go back. You start your book with that Phone Call. Lets go back to before that. Lake 2018 early 2019. The president s lawyer, rudy giuliani, 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. You write that this strange political scheme was unimaginably remote from anything i was working on for highlevel global u. S. Strategy. To use us in the policy community, giulianis moves were bewildering but also, at first, a lot more noise than signal. People who have read the Retrospective Reporting have a better sense of what was happening than i or my colleagues could have 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, russian. What giuliani was talking about had nothing to do with anything. It was a complete falsehood. It was a political errand to serve the interests of a corrupt president. A president that was seeking to tip the scales in his favor in an upcoming election. For me i probably didnt calculate all that at that very moment. What i calculated was that this was wrong, this is not the way our system is supposed to work, and that the very foundation of our democracy is based on free and fair elections and the president was looking to upend that. It was completely outlandish. Were you worried . When giuliani started talking about this, me with my limited sort of understanding what goes on in that part of the world, even i knew it was ridiculous. Did you dismiss it as rantings of a i did early on. But then it started to interfere with the work we were doing in the White House, including canceling Vice President pences participation in the trip. It was basically directly related to the fact that Giuliani Wasnt getting play he needed with the ukrainian government, and the president President Trump pulled the plug, signaling that this is where he wanted ukrainians to act. He wanted them involved in the investigation. I want to read another passage where you describe what happened after you told your brother and how you decided to report it up the chain of command. Once the responsible people up the chain of command, the people with the proper clearances and the need to know, learned of the president s actions. We coulding at. We could figure out how to advise the president on the Gross Error in judge, walk back and cancel his inappropriate demand, and continue to move to stabilizing relationships and executing a cogent foreign policy. If it was my duty do that, then it was our collective duty to assess the damage, manage the fallout, have the most senior counselors rein him in. That was the process i planned to start. Thats exactly right. Didnt unfold that way . It didnt. But it culminated in something close to the accountability. It culminated way outside of the scope what i would consider at the moment. It certainly unfolded where congress took action, investigated the president s wrongdoing, and impeached him. The american public held him accountable even though republican leadership didnt. They failed in their responsibility. 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 some 600,000 deaths, for an economic catastrophe, The American public held the president accountable. I think thats an example of here right mattering. Theres a lot of stuff in this book about what happened in the room and in the impeachment process. Also a lot of stuff about you and how you were formed and history. Our guest is Retired Army Lieutenant Colonel Alexander vindman. Here, right matters comes out tomorrow. Well be right back after this. Hey, i just got a text from my sister. You remember rick, her neighbor . Sure, hes the 76yearold Guy who still runs marathons, right . Sadly, not anymore. Wow. 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Soft Music hello, Colonial Penn . Were back with Retired Army Lieutenant Colonel Alexander vindman. His book is called here, right matters, an american story. It comes out tomorrow. Colonel vindman, thanks for sticking with us. You and i were talking about this earlier. Its never rewarding to be a whistleblower. And you couldnt have thought it was going to be rewarding. You were motivated by other things. You say here, right matters and you spend time talking about your father and 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 arent right. What do you have to tell them . There is a sense of idealism i still care carry with me to this day. I think it helps me be resilient and about bounce back. But in reality, things are not that easy. There are trials and tribulations throughout the kind of persecution from the White House and then in the period after i left the White House, try to determine if i had a military career. Thats the way things really 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 try to tell is the story of my family doing this repeatedly throughout the years and the tools that assembled as a young man, maybe a little misguided at times. I talk about that. And then as an Army Officer, there is tools i assembled all coming together both to navigate that very difficult affair, unprecedented Army Officer challenging the president of the united states, because the president was not acting in accordance with the constitution. And then everything that happened afterwards, rebuilding, starting from scratch and figuring out what i wanted to do next. You talk about your dad who also rebuilt and started from scratch. He didnt leave the Soviet Union because things were bad. Things were good and he left and came here and started from scratch. An engineer who ended up lifting furniture to pay the bills in america. You talk a lot about him and about the lessons he taught you. But he wasnt sure you were doing the right thing here. In fact, he was a Trump Supporter . He was. He left at 47 from a comfortable position. But they were bad in that there were possibilities for his children were not there and his wife, my mother that was dying of cancer, wasnt going to survive in the Soviet Union. Yes, he was a Trump Supporter. And i think thats a common vain amongst immigrants, especially from the soviet era, that have this rejection of anything left Liberal And Overcorrect and heed to the right. And he certainly that was his mindset. But there was more to that when he counselled me to kind of figure out a way to reconcile with the president. He had a Deep Fear of what might happen to me. The consequences of my actions, for my career and maybe even channeling some of his views of what happens to somebody in russia. I would have not survived that. And when you told him what you were going to do, he was worried because he had images of what someone like you in russia pulling that, what would happen to them, including jail and possibly death . More than likely. Certainly in various periods in the soviet era it wouldnt just be me. It would be my family. We saw reflections of that in the Trump Administration when my brother was walked out. Some sort of punishment that extended to Family Members also. Totally unacceptable in the united states. How do you feel about this given all the Ups And Downs of it . I have no regrets about my actions. One of the most important things is the fact that i could both i could live with may actions and look my daughter in her eyes and not have to equivocate, not try to rationalize, not try to explain away some misdeeds i did, falling short, and that makes me very proud that i can do that. And i also have that deep confidence that my father had coming here to the united states rebuilding that i will end up being fine. Im working on a doctorate at johns hopkins. I am at a think tank, having wonderful conversations with people like yourself. These things would not be afforded to me. I would have had a easier go if i would have stayed in, kept quiet like so many other people. You would have been a full colonel. Yes. Your title of the book is here, right matters. You believe that still . I do. But not in the very simplistic notion that everything works out exactly as one would hope. Here, right matters really matters only if we make it matter. If we are active in the process. If we are engaged. If were trying to drive the things that are important us to. In my case, as soon as i left i got out of uniform, i didnt want to be a political actor but i spoke out against President Trump. I tried to have an impact, speaking out against President Trump, talking about his corruption. I hope that was impactful. I am going to continue to do that, advocating for public servants that dont have a voice while they are in service. I am going to do that by advocating for national security, and im going to make it matter. Thank you for your service, sir. Thank you. Abbreviate it. Lieutenant Colonel Alexander vindman. His new book is here, right matters. It is out tomorrow. We appreciate your time. Its been three weeks since democratic State Legislators left their state in texas for washington in a desperate attempt to save Voting Rights. They have Head Press conferences, pushing congress to act on voting Rights Legislation and now they are bringing in reinforcements. Much more on the summer of Direct Action when we come back. Today saw a lot more unrest on Capitol Hill as the poor Peoples Campaign continued its season of nonviolent Direct Action to put pressure on lawmakers on issue of Voting Rights. Todays rally in washington, d. C. , culminated in a march to the Senate Office where they chanted and sang, Which Side are you on . More than 200 people were arrested for crowding and obstructing offenses as they defended action from congress. Among those were jesse Jackson Jr. And the cofounder of the Progressive Group Indy Visible and a friend of this show, ezra levin. As you can see, too, all waiting in line to be cuffed. The cochair of the poor Peoples Campaign, reverend william barber, also arrested again. Poor Peoples Campaign are ramping up the number of rallies and marches to call attention to four demands they want lawmakers to address to end the filibuster, pass all provisions of the for the people act. Raise the federal Minimum Wage to 15 an hour of they are not the only ones trying to spur change this washington. 100 State Legislators traveled to d. C. To stand with the texas democratic lawmakers who fled their state to block that restrictive voter bill. The plan to hold a rally outside the Capitol Tomorrow at noon to urge congress to pass voting Rights Legislation. They will also hold private meetings with members congress. Joining us is Florida State represent anna, spearheading this effort to bring State Legislators to the Capitol And Trey martinez fisher, a Texas Lawmaker who fled the state to stall a restrictive Voting Rights bill. Thank you for joining us tonight. Representative, you are trying to make the point that not only you do want to stand in solidarity with the Texas Lawmakers, but you want to draw attention to the fact that this is not just a texas problem. Its happening all over the country. Its Set The Tone for legisl legislators. We watched our governor sign a Voter Suppression Bill to a foxonly audience, which spurs the fact that it was an attack. Here in florida were suffering the same efforts of voter suppression, and we have to stand in solidarity in texas. Congressman, talk about this. Youre getting a summer of action, youre getting these people who were marched in austin this weekend. Now youve got people joining you there and more civil action. You have all individually made the case to congress you need them to put their back into this thing. You cant hold out forever. Well, thats right, ali. Were moving this Needle Inch by inch, Day By day. It is a shot of adrenaline to have lawmakers across the country stand with us. Number one, were honored. Number two, were humbled. Number three, its just that important. This is a now or Nerve Moment in this dmochlkt were going to keep pushing the u. S. Senate. We need one standard order when it comes to voting in this country. We do not need voter suppression, we do not need voice silenced, we need congress to act. When hundreds of Men And Women In Congress Come Together and put everything on the line, we need to convey the message its now or never. What do you say about Joe Manchin who said the for the people act would divide the country further. He and a few others are holding to the idea if this is not bipartisan and not everyone 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 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 who oppose this effort, we have to remember one of the reasons why were in this situation with an Insurrection Taking place at the capitol is because of the voter suppression, because of politics thats pushed out different voters including voters with disabilities, black and brourngs people trying to have their voice heard, to be able to have representation that reflects them and their values. Its important that we stress to all members of the u. S. Senate that voting doesnt have to be a partisan issue. This is about the people of this country, not politicians, and we need to push to make sure everyone has access to fair elections. Your governor greg an bot tweeted out, i will keep calling Special Sessions until we address every item including foster care, property tax, and the decision to break quorum to inflict harm on the very texans Theyll Lake effected to serve. Your response. My response is the governor had 140 days to take care of business. Hes going to have to bear responsibility. Make no mistake, wee not going to get steamrolled when it comes to our state of texas. Were goind to stand up, push back, say no, and rally with this country. Were honored to stand with 100 men and women, rallying tomorrow at 12 00 Noon Eastern outside the u. S. Senate and we want everyone to come join us because it is a now or never moment for this country. Are you hardened by the fact that there were people were willing to be cuffed . It speaks to a history, one that cares about Voting Rights and democracy, ones who are willing to sacrifice their own livelihoods to do whats right, and we are committed as lawmakers to do the same. Thank you both for being here with us tonight. We appreciate your time. Up next, weve got an update on a Story Rachel has been following very closely. Stay with us. Following very closely stay with us age before beauty . Why not both . Visibly diminish wrinkled skin in. Crepe corrector lotion. Only from gold bond. Why choose proven Quality Sleep from Sleep Number . Because a quality Nights Sleep is scientifically proven to help increase energy and improve recovery. And it keeps you at your best all day long. 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. Proven Quality Sleep is lifechanging sleep. Only from Sleep Number. Secretary of state an to any blinken announced the arrival of a flight to the united states, the coordinated effort to relocate to the united states thousands of afghan nationals who are now being targeted by the taliban as retaliation. The 200 or so passengers in this flight are part of a group of 2,500 afghans who qualified for special immigrant sri sass. Another group of about 4,000 are to go to third countries to complete their Visa Paperwork before being resettled in the united states. Over 20,000 afghans have applied for special sri sass, and many cant come to the u. S. Yet because they havent initiated 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 do not qualify for the special visas. Blinken said they plan to expand resettlement eligibility. They call it a priority to designation. Politico is reporting, quote, these new eligible afghans must receive a review from a current or former employer before the state can process their cases. Theyre responsible for getting them out of a third country without u. S. Assistance. Were going to continue to keep you updated on this important story. That does it for us tonight. Well see you again tomorrow. Way too early is up next. The united states finally reaches president Bidens Goal of having 70 of eligible adults at least partially vaccinated. But with cases still on the rise and discrepancies in Vaccination Rate Ace among some States T Question is how significant is this achievement . Plus, Senator Lindsey Graham tests positive for coronavirus despite being vaccinated. Hes the first senator to disclose a breakthrough infection. The question circulate we see others . And its the final day of womens Gymnastics Events at the tokyo olympics, and Simone Biles is making her return to the competition. The question circulate we see her Win Gold on