Talked about the Capitol Attack in some of the starkest terms we have heard him use. Not even during the civil wae did insurrectionists breach the capitol of the united states of america, the citadel of our democracy. Not even then. But on January 6th, 2021, they did. They did. A mob of extremists and terrorists launched a violent and deadly assault on the peoples house, on the sacred ritual to certify free and fair election. It wasnt dissent. It wasnt debate. It wasnt democracy. It was insurrection. My fellow americans, the tragedy of that day deserves the truth above all else. We cannot allow history to be rewritten. We cannot allow the heroism of these officers to be forgotten. We have to understand what happened, the honest and unvarnished truth. Tod we have to face it. We have to face it. The president s determination there not to let history be rewritten, to face what happened that day. Thats a determination shared by officers who have spoken out publicly in the aftermath of the insurrection. Metropolitan Police Officer Mike Fanone is featured on the cover of time magazine today. Americans have heard his descriptions and seen video of his terrifying experience of January 6th being pulled into ie the crowd, beaten, tased, and nearly killed. In Todays Article Fanone says this, theres people on both sides of the political ill that are like, listen, January 6th happened, it was bad, we need to Move On as a country. What an arrogant Effing Thing for someone to say thAt Wasnt there that day. What needs to happen is there needs to be a reckoning. Times Molly Ball writes, fanone is, quote, not asking to be called a hero. He just wants us to remember what his sacrifice was for. Fanone believes we cant just keep trying to outrun this thing. Weve got to turn around and face it, defeat it once and for all. If all we do is turn around ande hope it fades, Itll Keep getting stronger until it comes back to kill us all, which is why Mike Fanone keeps speaking publicly about what he saw that day, what he went through. He testified at the first hearing of The House Select Committee investigating the Capitol Attack. And of course he wasnt alone. He testified that day alongside three other officers who were at the capitol protecting it on January 6th. Esat that includes Sergeant Aquilino gonell. He told lawmakers that January 6th was scarier than any day of his deployment to iraq. Heres a bit of his compelling testimony that day which weve put together with video some of the scenes he describes. Ive always taken my oath seriously. Ast on January 6th, 2021, i fulfilled my oath once more. The verbal assaults and disrespect we endured from the rioters were bad enough. My fellow officers and i were punched, kicked, shoved, sprayed with chemical irritants and even blinded with eyedamaging lasers by a violent mob. I was particularly shocked at the scene of the Insurrectionists Violently attack us with the flag they rt claim is meant to protect. Joining us now is Sergeant Gonell of the u. S. Capitol police. Its an honor to have you here and get to talk to you. U i know you were at this Ceremony Today in the rose garden, and in wonder if you could just tell us what thAt Was like. Did It Help . To i was very pleased for a lot of us officers who were there, a lot of us made a lot of sacrifice just to be able to be recognized even though we did er our job. E we all signed up to be a Police Officer and we all know the risk to that the job inherits. But its nice to be recognized. Its nice to for once people beginning to acknowledge what happened. And hopefully thAt Will change the conversation because there are still a lot of powerful a citizens including elected officials that continue to deny what happened, continue to downplay, even though some of them themselves were running for their lives or were scared that day. And its unbelievable the lack of support and to acknowledge what happened. Ei nb Sergeant Gonell, what has the last week been like since the testimony of your testimony alongside officer hodges, Officer Dunn, and Officer Fanone . Well, since the hearing, its almost the same for me. I still got to go to Physical Therapy twice a week for about two hours, sometimes two hours and aet half, because im recovering still from my foot and my shoulder. That still hasnt been resolved. The mental exhaustion from being called by the department of H Defense im sorry the department of justice, the prosecutors, the fbi. Thats still ongoing. I mean, just two days ago i got another call relating to a case that is pending, a plea deal. The issue is that no matter what or how much i want to Move On, like, so many of those people ow who now say nothing happened, theres nothing to see here, so, therefore, we should all Move On, i cannot do that still even more than six months later because of those things, the mental health, the trauma, the Physical Therapy, my pending surgery on my shoulder. So as much as i want to, i cant get away from that. You and your fellow officers i think did the rest of us a favor by talking about some of what youre talking about now. I want to play some of what Officer Dunn said to his fellow Law Enforcement brothers and sisters in Law Enforcement at that hearing that day, and well talk about it on the other side. Im now receiving private Counseling Therapy for the persistent emotional trauma of that day. R ive also participated in many Peer Support programs with fellow Law Enforcement officers from around the united states. I know so many other officers continue to hurt both physically and emotionally. I want to take this moment to speak to my fellow officers about the emotions theyre continuing to experience from the events of January 6th. Theres absolutely nothing wrong with seeking professional counseling. WhAt We went through that day was traumatic. And if you are hurting, please take advantage of the counselina services that are available to us. Since the testimony that you all provided last monday, we have learned that two additional officers who responded to the January 6th insurrection have died by suicide. And i wonder if you can just speak to what is obviously ongoing and what the public can do. How can these conversations be had in a way that supports whato you are all still very much going through in realtime . Its tough coming forward to talk about it. I know for me, my case what drove me to come forward and talk about the whole ordeal on January 6th was when i saw the family of Officer Dunn, Officer Fanone, literally begging some of these congressmen and elected leaders that they provide a promise just to get them out of their hair, out of the way. Ei and then the minute they turn around, they deny everything. They gave those Family Members a sense of false promise. E and when i saw them doing that, it broke my heart. I started crying. M my wife walks into my room because i still was recovering from my leg injury, and she saw me sobbing, and i couldnt even talk. An and she asked me whAt Was wrong with me, and i just pointed to the tv, look what theyre doing. When i did that, i saw my wife, my mom, and my son doing the same thing in their position, begging for an acknowledgement that something bad happened not only to me but to the country, to the country, to the democratic, process, to my felw officers. And it takes a lot for people to come forward. For me i waited, i waited, and i waited months because i want to talk about this within a week or two after it happened, but i gave it time. I know i was not in the right mind because i was so upset and very emotional. Everything happened to us. D d i took my time. But i was also waiting for other leaders, other Police Officers and also elected leaders to acknowledge what happened and come forward to talk about it. Some of the people in the White House, my thing was, okay, maybe after this happened on January 6th, maybe somebody is actually going to come forward and speak the truth and acknowledge that nothing was happening from the White House, that everything for five hours or more than five hours when us, Capitol Police and Metropolitan Police and throughout this whole ordeal at the capitol, when was the president trying to assist us . When was he this was some of the question that i had even when i was battling his own supporter. When is he going to tell them to stop . When is he going to tell them to this is not what i had in mind . And then later on i learned that three hours later into it instead of sending the help thAt We needed, he just sent a message begging them to continue, praising them. And then two hours later, well,t everybody go home, we love you. How is that love when we, the go Police Officers and elected leader, are put in the position thAt We could get killed when we try to protect and doing our job . To me thAt Was unbelievable because theres no way that he did not know whAt Was happening. There was no way that he nobody at the White House At W that time told him that this is bad and something really horrible is happening in our own government, in another branch of the government that he, including the Vice President of the united states. And youre talking about, if this is not a matter of national security when you have the Vice President , his own Vice President at the capitol and Ri Everybody in the succession of the Chain Of Command to the in presidency is there at the same time. When are you going to send help to help those members including the Police Officers, which we cu were left on our own just to you know, as a sacrifice for his ego. I remember that video coming out the same way you do. It was stunning in which he said to the insurrectionists, we love you. Sergeant aquilino go knell of theo united states sorry, sorry. It was kind of like, you ki know, have a good day, we had a good time, come back next monday. And meanwhile we still are dealing with the injuries. Wh meanwhile im still dealing with all these things. It was not a lovefest like certain people want you to believe. Youve seen the footage at the entrance. It was not a tour. It was not like a tour either. This was horrible, and people need to acknowledge that because the danger and the severity of that moment to our democracy, to the capitol, to lawmaker, to his own Vice President , thAt Was a sentence to death that he sent his supporter to do that. And when he says ill be right there with you after his speech and then he wasnt there, he literally sent them over to do whatever he told them to do, and now he wants to change the narrative. Now there are people who want to change and whitewash everything. Its a complete betrayal and a violation of the oath of officeh in my opinion. Sergeant aquilino gonell, its a privilege to get to speak to you with the united states Capitol Police. Thank you so much for being generous with your time tonight. Thank you for having me. So theres new reporting from Politico Today that indicates po that the select committee investigating the January 6th insurrection has taken over a house Committees Probe of former president trumps Pressure Campaign on the Justice Department in those final weeks in office. Specifically politicos reporting that the House Oversight Committee dropped two planned interviews with trumps former acting a. G. Jeffrey rosen and Rosens Number two, richard donahue, passing those interviews instead to the January 6th committee. Rosen and donohue are of particular interest right now because of two developments. First the revelation the Ws President called the acting a. G. Almost daily. And, second, the proof that backs up those revelations, notes, contemporaneous notes taken by Rosens Number two, richard donahue, showing trump told rosen, quote, just say the election was corrupt and leave the rest to me and our congressmen. Ren. Now that trump is no longer president and not protected against the Justice Departments rule against indicting a sitting president might a criminal investigation against the expresident come next . In an Oped Today in the Washington Post two former u. S. Attorneys and constitutional Lae Professor argue it should be. They write this. The time has come for the Justice Department to begin if it hasnt already a criminal investigation into the former president s dangerous course of conduct. If were to maintain our Democracy And Respect for the rule of law, efforts to overturn a fair election simply cannot be tolerated and trumps conduct o, must be investigated. Joan joining us now, one of the authors of that piece, Barbara Mcquade, the former u. S. Attorney for the eastern district of michigan, currently a Law Professor at the university of michigan. Torf and Devlin Barrett is here, the Washington Post security and Law Enforcement reporter. In thank you for your time tonight. Barbara, its a great piece. For our Viewers Detail the crimes Donald Trump could be and should be investigated for . Well, at this point of Course Doj should just begin investigating. U rbfo theres enough evidence, i think, in the Public Domain to suggest any number of crimes that have been committed. Number one, conspiracy to defraud the united states. Y en its one of the things Robert Mueller charged against the internet research agency, obstructing the administration of government. In this Case Congress in certifying the vote. Number two, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding. That is a charge that has been h laid against some of the protesters there that day. Possibly even rico, which is the organized crime statute, using the president s office as the machinery to engage in other crimes that are called racketeering acts. Rsvenier those could include extortion, and the Rico Statute permits both federal extortion acts, could be these pressures on rosen as well as state crimes. So it could be these pressures extended against the secretary of State Of Georgia. The Big Kahuna would be Seditious Conspiracy or inciting insurrection. I dont know whether the evidence will go that far. And then theres some smaller sw charges like Voter Fraud and commanding a federal employee to violate the Hatch Act. But all of those things need tor be investigated so that prosecutors can decide whether the evidence is there. Ga and to let it go for political reasons, we argue, would be a grave mistake. You know, devlin, its such a sign of the ethical and legal potential monstrosities of the expresident that Barbara Mcquade mentions illegal Voter Fraud and Hatch Act violations as the smaller things in the list of seven. I wonder if you can speak to the fact that Donald Trump has brazenly flouted norms slash laws forfive years, and the impediment was always that you could not indict a sitting president. Robert mueller describes five or six acts of what sound like criminal Obstruction Of Justice and a whole lot of joint missions with the russians. But there was never a serious conversation about investigating and charging him because he was president. Has that changed Behind Closed Doors at the Justice Department . To my knowledge it hasnt changed yet, but you have to remember there is a constant collection of evidence. And, you know, in theory could that View Change . I think we have to see. I think one of the the big things we have to see is what does Jeffrey Rosen say specifically about his te conversations. We have the notes, and obviously theyre quite damning. But i think it matters a lot what Jeffrey Rosen actually says in front of a microphone. And i think the same holds true for Richard Donohue and a th handful of other senior Justice Department officials who wrestled with this in realtime. And so i understand her argument here. Shes a very smart lawyer, but i do think theres a lot more to the picture that needs to be understood before you can make any kind of determination about criminal activity here. And, barbara, im sure thats your understanding as well, that as we start to see these pieces come into public view, it makes your argument stronger. Yeah, of course. And i agree with devlin that i dont think theyre ready to indict today, but there is enough already in the public Erw Domain to serve as whats known as preddication. That is, you know, nonfrivolous facts, that there was a crime that occurred here. And so i think thAt Would merit those additional investigative steps. And when prosecutors s, investigate, they can get text messages. They can get emails. They can put people into the Grand Jury and ask them what happened. Esetha i think one of the most damningt things that has come out in addition to those notes you reference, nicolle, is the Draft Letter from Jeffrey Clark thAt We saw that in Mine Mind lays out the Road Map of what the End Game here was and the conspiracy. That letter was to be addressed to State Of Georgia telling them what to do about their own t election, telling them the legislature under federal law can come in and substitute its own vote for the vote of the people. Here it is. It seems to me he lays out what could be the Game Plan if congress could throw out enough of these Election Results and he fail to certify the election, it then gets thrown to the house where the majority of delegations were republican. S there was a path to victory for Donald Trump as long as people believed the big lie. And its amazing. It puts his Phone Call in different light, too, when you read that letter from mr. Clark. Barbara mcquade, former u. S. Attorney for the eastern district of michigan, Devlin Barrett, the Washington Post reporter, to be continued. Thank you again both so much for your time tonight. Coming up for us, will the u. S. Military be stepping up its efforts in the fight against Thl War on covid. More on that just ahead. Re on t. Wow. So sudden. Um, were not about to have the we need Life Insurance Conversation again, are we . No, were having the were getting coverage so we dont have to worry about it conversation. So youre calling about the 9. 95 a Month Plan from Colonial Penn . I am. We put it off long enough. We are getting that 9. 95 plan, today. jonathan is it time for you to call about the 9. 95 plan . Im jonathan from Colonial Penn Life Insurance company. Sometimes we just need a reminder not to take today for granted. If youre age 50 to 85, you can get guaranteed acceptance whole Life Insurance starting at just 9. 95 a month. 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The Department Of Defense employs 1. 4 million active duty men and women plus a civilian Work Force of more than 700,000, which is why as private companies have started to require their workers to get vaccinated against covid, all eyes have been on the u. S. Military to see if the nations largest employer would mandate vaccines too. President biden has already required all federal employees get vaccinated, and many Service Members are already required to receive certain vaccines. But the u. S. Military has a complicated history with mandatory vaccines after it required all Service Members to receive an experimental Anthrax Vaccine in the 90s. President biden has asked his secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to first study whether or not the Covid Vaccine should be mandatory for the u. S. Military. The Defense Secretary will make his final recommendation to the president in the next few days. Joining us now is nbc News Pentagon Correspondent courtney kube. Courtney, tell me where this stands and if you have any Tea Leaves you can read about what Secretary Austin is inclined to recommend. So hes inclined to make this mandatory for u. S. Service members and i think well see that in the next literally couple of days that that announcement will come out. So its hes already telegraphed that by the way. And President Biden said last week he wanted the Defense Department to look at this. You mentioned in intro that the dod has a complicated history and with vaccinations, mandatory vaccinations, and thats the crux of this issue right now. All along weve been hearing from people close to the pentagon and Secretary Austin that they did not want to make this mandatory because of the Militarys History with vaccines like the anthrax. Theres been this reticence to make anything with authorization mandatory for the military because they dont want to make it look like theyre using the military as Guinea Pigs for a new experimentation. This is different. We already have millions of people around the world who have taken the vaccines including many military members themselves. More than 62 have gotten the doses when you look at the different services. So thats, i think, what changed the calculus here for the military. We know now that Secretary Austin is open to this. Theyve looked at it. Weve been told even after the president made the announcement last week, we were told it would happen quickly in a matter of days so we should expect that announcement to come very soon. I was trying to find a tweet you put out tonight. Youve listed the vaccines already required for men and women in the military, and id ask you to do that again for us. Obviously the Anthrax History is recent, and i believe we should give credit where credit is due. I believe right now today as of august where are we, the 5th . The military is vaccinated at slightly higher levels than the general population. But come at this however you see fit tonight. This is coming. This needs to happen, and, frankly, it should happen already. We cant afford to have 30 of our military unvaccinated. We cant afford to have Navy S. E. A. L. S and fighter pilots and other people in the military on the front lines of all our global conflicts coming down with covid. Theyr in barracks, theyre in vehicles, theyre on ships. Weve already had the uss roosevelt, an aircraft carrier, have to come back to shore because they had an outbreak last year. This is about national security and transcends politics and really cuts how dangerous this antivax Rhetoric And Agenda has become. Its endangering our national security. To have hundreds of thousands of american men and women in uniform every Day Biden waits our enemies are celebrating. So i think it should have happened already and i hope it happens soon. You and have had a lot of really frank conversations about the military as a reflection whats going on in the rest of our broken badly damaged politics. I mean, how much of this is a reluctance to step in and something thAt We all know has been highly politicized . All of it. Biden needs to all of it. Biden needs to bite the bullet here and do whats right for our national security and do whats right for the army. When i was in the army, i got all kinds of things put in my arm, and you didnt have an option. You cant decide youre not going to wear Body Armor when you go out on patrol. You cant decide youre not going to wear a helmet. These things are designed to protect you and so will the vaccine. So if youre not going to take the vaccine, get out of the military. This is really about the core of not just the Vaccination Effort across the country but our national security globally. So i hope biden will bite the bullet here, step forward, take whatever political flack he has to do because lives are literally at stake. And, courtney, it seems as your reporting suggests that that is the view from the top of the pentagon. What is the process . Is it simply Due Diligence . Is it simply looking like they had a chance to ask internally how this would happen . Or is it really as paul is suggesting, all because of the political moment . So i mean the secretary did he wanted to consult with medical professionals before they made this mandatory, and there actually is a process they have to follow. President biden has to issue a waiver because this is Emergency Use Authorization medication. He has to issue a waiver before they can make it mandatory for members of the military. Its expected thats going to happen. And, you know, i think whAt Well hear when they make this announcement that it will be mandatory for all active duty Service Members. I think well hear the word ready a lot. The military needs to remain a ready force. Its exactly what paul was just talking about. We have these people deploying all over the world, places where there are a lot of vaccines and where there are outbreaks of covid. And its a matter of keeping those men and women ready to fight at all times. And thats going to be the argument that i expect, according to a number of Defense Officials theyve spoeng with, that i expect Secretary Austin to make here for why he made this decision. Well keep watching with both of your help. Nbc News Pentagon Correspondent. And our friend, the host of the independent americans podcast. Thank you both so much for being here with us tonight. Coming up for us, as the rest of the america remains largely divided on ideological lines between the vaccinated and unvaccinated, is there anything that could break through and persuade those skeptics . That conversation is next. Today the number of coronavirus cases thin u. S. Reached a sixmonth high. The average daily cases are now nearly five times what they were just one month ago. Half of all new covid cases and hospitalizations this past week come from seven states, florida, texas, missouri, arkansas, louisiana, alabama, and mississippi. Those seven states also happen to be the seven states with the lowest vaccination rate. See a pattern, folks . Meanwhile the biden Administration St. Reportedly developing a plan to require proof of vaccination for all foreign visitors traveling into the u. S. And just tonight the Washington Post is reporting that the administration is considering withholding federal funding from certain institutions in an effort to spur more vaccinations. As Vaccine Mandates become a reality of Daily Life in places where Vaccination Rates are already high, what can be done to slow the spread of the deadly virus in the rest of places in our country . To help us answer that question one of our favorite people to turn to, dr. Ashish jha. Dr. Jha, i now wake up and search twitter for whatever youve said and weighed in on because its not a spin on the days news, but you do cut through and get to the bone. And i wonder if you can do thAt With what seems to be happening as the Delta Variant has made clear that it sees simply unvaccinated states, not Red States, not Blue States. But in this country those happen to be Red States. If we move toward Vaccine Mandates, are we simply going to get less and less covid in the places that are wearing our masks and getting our vaccines and having mandates . If the rest of the country doesnt follow suit, will it really help the whole country . Yes, nicolle, first of all, thanks for having me on. Its a great question. I would say two things. First of all, even in a lot of the Blue States, there are pockets of unvaccinated people, and so everybody has work to do. This is not just a pure Red State or Blue State problem. Though, obviously, as you point out, seven states are really driving so many of the infections across the country. Second is i think this is a time for people to step up, people who were apolitical. University president s have to step up in all states and say theyve got to mandate vaccines. That should happen everywhere in america. So if we see civil society stepping up, we can get rid of this Blue State and red State Stuff and just get people protected. Can you tell me i mean a lot of what i think People Flock to your feed for is the science. Can you tell can you explain what is happening with the Delta Variant . It feels like we have an outofwhack and i know the White House feels this way too almost disproportionate reaction to the phenomenon of Breakthrough Infections while most of the danger is still for unvaccinated adults who are still vaccine eligible young people. Absolutely. If you think about it, these vaccines really are terrific, right . Weve said they have great efficacy at preventing any kind of infection and then they have superb efficacy at preventing hospitalizations and deaths. But when you have this much infection spreading in the country, 800,000 americans getting infected, you would not be surprised if five, ten americans are having Breakthrough Infections every day. Why are there that many . Because theyre surrounded by so much virus because of the outbreak really focused on unvaccinated people, its spilling over into the vaccinated. Thankfully most vaccinated people are not getting very sick. Theyre not dying. And so while Breakthrough Infections are a problem, theyre not driving this pandemic. At this point it is a pandemic of the unvaccinated being driven by unvaccinated people. And unvaccinated people are doing most of the suffering, unfortunately, as well. Can you look at any other country that had the Delta Variant attack their unvaccinated populations before we did and project out what the next few days and weeks are going to look like for our country . Yeah, absolutely. There are a lot of countries that have dealt with the delta wave. The u. K. Really started about two months before we did. So they gave us a head start. Were told they gave us a peek into our future. In june and july we were warned this wave was coming unfortunately a lot of governors and political leaders ignored it. The good news from the uk is the cases have turned. After two months of pretty horrendous increases they have turned. I think thats going to happen here in the united states as well. So if that holds as we get sort of to The End of august into september im hopeful were going to see Infection Numbers turn more quickly in the vaccinated states because it has more immunity but im hoping everywhere in the country were going to see that. One of the more compelling things i see as im consuming news in my regular life are the horrific tragedies of Deathbed Pleas for people to get vaccinated. Just on the Messaging Side or anecdotally in your own life, do you hear those messages from people who were in the camp of vaccine skeptics having terrible sicknesses or losing Loved Ones . Is that breaking through . I think it is breaking through. And it is actually heartbreaking to see those. Because i know people love to sort of beat up on the unvaccinated. I have a lot of sympathy for people who have been bombarded by misinformation and only sort of at the their most critical moment of their life when theyre very, very ill theyve come to realize theyve been fed a lot of disinformation and theyre suffering because of it. So weve got to keep up on our work of countering that misinformation by getting good information out there to people. Its a very tough situation, but i hope the political leaders also step in here and amplify the good science people need to hear. Dr. Ashish jha, dean of the brown University School of public health, one of our favorite people to ask all of those questions to. Thank you so much for making some time for us tonight. Coming up for us, signs of movement on federal voting Rights Legislation as Run Away texas democrats hiding out in d. C. Face brandnew pressures at home. Well tell you about it next. Hoe well tell you about it next front desk. Yes, hello. Im so. Please hold. Those days are done. I got you. All by yourself. Go with us and find millions of flexible options. All in our app. Expedia. It matters who you travel with. When senate republicans blocked the for the people act earlier this summer, Majority Leader Chuck schumer described the failed vet as, quote, the starting gun, not the finish line. He promised that democrats would not let the fight for voting Rights Legislation die. Now more than six weeks later it appears senate democrats are closing in on another vote. The Washington Post is reporting that key senators have been working behind the scenes trying to tailor a narrower bill that could rally democrats and even bring some republicans to the table. Democrats say they expect a deal within days that could set up another vote before the Summer Recess next week. Meanwhile more than 100 State Legislatures from across the country are in the nations capitol. Theyre joining texas democrats who spent the last three weeks in d. C. Pushing members of congress to pass federal voting Rights Legislation. They say they would stay out of texas until the special legislation there to block their State House from passing the texas voting bill. That session ends tomorrow. Today Texas Governor Greg abbott called a second session with new items starting the next day. Joining us now is Representative Trey Martinez fischer. Thank you so much for spending some time with us tonight. First i want to get to the u. S. Senate and the legislation there. I think it seems you guys have really helped focus and narrow, but i want to ask you whats happening in texas. Are you guys going back, or are you staying . You know what . Im not going back. As long as congress is working, and it looks like theyre working very hard, i will be here, and were going to see this come to a head and hopefully we can see a vote in the u. S. Senate before The End of next week. I heard your colleague talking about loving the legislation but needing an inch, making argument publicly that something, albeit narrow, would be better than nothing. Tell me how those conversations have changed the deliberations in washington. Absolutely. First and foremost, nicolle, i dont think the administration understood how high the hurdles have been. Texans have done a good job of making it a crime in the state of texas. I can recall discussions with Manchins Team to understand how easy it is to vote in West Virginia and how hard it is to vote in texas. I said at some point, well take the West Virginia standard because its a lot easier to vote in West Virginia than it is in texas. As it relates to the national conversation, clearly anything that can be done to make voting easier would be an improvement in texas. Anything that could be done to have almost a noexcuse Absentee Program would be good, providing provisions, more documents to prove you are who you are. There are a number of things in this proposal this would open up voting in texas and it would be refreshing, but we recognize when it comes to Voting Rights in america, we should have one standard and only one standard. The republicanbacked Voter Suppression and Voter Campaign has been one of the most widely successful statebystate legislative pushes in my career. I mean, they have proposed, i think, almost 400 Voter Suppression laws in 49 states. 22 of them have been passed into law. Do you feel like at the national level the democrats are on their high game to meet that lethal threat to Voting Rights . You know, i think its become increasingly clear the republicans want to hijack elections. We saw it with the big lie, and now were seeing states moving to change the way you vote in your state. So, yes, i think democrats are waking up. Here in texas, you know, we saw this coming when we saw the voices being silenced in georgia and we saw voices being silenced in florida, and as we spent a lot of time with lawmakers from other states in the last couple of dales, while they were giving us Praise And Encouragement for our stand, we made it clear we were prepared because we saw what happened in their states. So, yes, State By state, republicans are rolling over, silencing the voters. Somebodys going to have to push back and say no. Right now thats us here in texas. We hot by rallying the nation and making Voting Rights the top agenda on policy, we may see something before The End of next week. A lot of Coverage Centers around the intractable nature of the debate around filibuster that Senator Manchin and Senator Sinema are devoted to as is the president. Does congress have that baked in the cake, or are you pressuring Joe Manchin to reconsider his position on the filibuster in your private meetings . Ive been a lawmaker for 20 years. I understand our rules and our procedure. You know, theres an identity to the institution. You want to be loyal to the institution. But at some point there comes a time you come to realize you have a tradition thats impeding on our constitutional right. Really we should not have a Tradition Or Rule or relic of Jim Crow actually take Center Stage with regard to our Voting Rights and the u. S. Constitution. Look, i understand the need to work and find a pragmatic and bipartisan response. I understand that, you know, if and when this bill gets filed, there are a number of provisions that may have been put in and taken out to invite bipartisan support, and i hope there is support. But in the event theres not and we have to recognize that democrats have done all they can do and our democracy is on the line, you know, republicans are fighting like they have everything to lose, i think we need to do the same thing because its that important to our country. What awaits you in texas . Do you guys fear retribution or charges . Do you know . I mean for me i hope its a beautiful wife and two lovely daughters is what im looking forward to. Yes, of course, there is this fear of arrest and retribution. Listen, we take it serious, but i always take this job very seriously. We have said the governor can call as many Suppression Sessions as he wants. Were going to stay here and defend democracy. I think at this Juncture Everybody knows well put all of our tools on the table and we know how to use them and use them effectively. Were not going to bow down when it comes to taking our Voting Rights away as fellow texans. Were here to defend our Country And Voting rights and were not going to be intimidated by the threat of arrest. Texas State Representative Trey martinez fischer. Thank you for taking the time to taus to us tonight. Well be right back. O us tonight well be right back. That does it for us tonight. Thank you so much for watching. Well see you tomorrow. Ill see you tomorrow as well. Way too early is up next. Hospitalizations are surging in covid hot spots. Florida just set a new record, and a growing number of them are children. The question is will governor Ron Desantis Stick with his decision to ban Mask Mandates in schools. Plus, a historic town in Northern California is devastated by a massive wildfire. 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