Over which she will likely preside. Republican senators with the solemn duty to offer advice and consent are attacking the anonymous knows race and gender before we even know her name. We have a member of the Senate JudiciaryCommittee Standing by to talk about the gops desperate smear campaign. And of course race is on the docket in courts across this land as the National Football league deals with a his tore rec lack of black leadership on the sidelines. Brian flores and his attorney is here to tell why he sacked the league with an historic lawsuit this week. And justice has yet to come for the family of Trayvon Martin nearly a decade after his senseless killing. His parents join us on what would have been his 27th birthday. We have a lot to get to, so joining me now is nor alex padilla of california. Senator, we mentioned you sit on the Senate Judiciary committee, so lets start with the Supreme Court. I would love to talk about the many qualified candidates joe biden has to choose from. And we are do so in a moment. But some of your republican colleague on the judiciary dont care about any of that. Saying this week he wants a nominee that, quote, knows a law book from a j crew catalog. Republicans probably cant stop this confirmation, but they can certainly try to debase the process and tarnish the nominee. Are you at all concerned about that . Im more than concerned. Im frankly insulted. Good to be back with you at such a critical time to think that before we know who the nominee is, several republican senator, not just senator kennedy from louisiana, shame on him, have come out the way that they have because of the president s commitment, his pledge to appoint the first black woman to the Supreme Court. He made the pledge as a candidate. He is keeping it. And im fully supportive of that. You know when i joined the senate last year, i became the first latino to represent the state of california. And in this important body. So i can attest firsthand representation matters. The perspective, the voice that we bring to these institutions is critical. And i look forward to being part of this history when we do confirm when we do confirm the first black woman as Supreme Court justice. Lets get to the nominees. There are a number of names out there, all of them with great life stories and qualifications. What i want to know is, republicans have been highly effective in identifying the socalled conservative values that they want for their judicial nominees. But what are the values democrats want to see on the bench . Yeah, and so for starters, yes, no doubt President Biden will select someone who is beyond very, very qualified. We know the names that are in the mix including a couple of californians. But whatever it will be will stand next to no one currently on the Supreme Court when it comes to education, when it comes to professional legal experience. If anything from my perspective has added value in bringing unique Life Experience to the deliberations. And it is one thing to say that well uphold respect for the constitution and the values that have made this country strong in our pursuit of a more perfect union, but the one thing that im looking for is also somebody who is willing to be bold and not shy with that voice and the deliberations at the Supreme Court. And now lets turn now to the fight for democracy. Yesterday the Republican National committee censured the two republican members of the january 6 committee, representatives liz cheney and Adam Kinzinger. In doing so, it suggested that what happened that day was, quote, a legitimate political discourse. I mean, i can only assume similar condemnation awaits former Vice President mike pence who yesterday said former President Trump was wrong in his claim that pence would have had the power to overturn the 2020 election. Republicans are at war over the future of democracy and it appears that the antidemocratic side is winning. Now that Voting Rights legislation seems stalled, what are democrats doing to try and combat this, senator . Well, too, we just got to continue to call it out for what it is. You know, too many republicans continuing to put allegiance to trump, head of a Leenlg Yanlgs allegiance of the constitution, not just Republican Voters or activists, but Republican Office holders including members of congress. Short term, we have to keep pressing the case, the urgent need for Voting Rights protection. That has not gone away and the conversations continue in the senate and congress. Im not giving up in figuring out a way around the filibuster to advance legislation this year. But november will be here before we know it and we will need to do what we need to do again to go to the polls. Imagine if we had 51, 52, 53 democrats or more in the senate how much easier it would be to advance votes rights protections. So we have to fight short term and long term, were not giving up. Before i let you go, as you said, you just celebrated your First Anniversary as a senator. Congratulations. But the clock is ticking down toward the midterms. And im wondering what else democrats can deliver for voters ahead of election day. Will we see some components of the Build Back Better act passed as smaller pieces of legislation . No doubt there will be some new version of Build Back Better maybe by a different name, maybe in one bill, maybe in two or three. There are just too many elements of Build Back Better that number one are popular, number two, are necessary. And you pick whether it is the need to invest more in access to health care, affordable housing, the Child Tax Credit that needs to be extended, environmental protection. We see the impact of Climate Change not just wildfires in the west including california, but hurricanes in the south, flooding in the northeast, tornados in the midwest, everywhere in between. So i think that democrats will, number one, take off from what we already have, the bipartisan Trump Campaign package that has been signed in to law, that is why we see record job numbers that the president announced yesterday. Record wages and wage increases, that is a good thing, and the picture will only get better between now and november. Thank you, Senator Padilla, for being with us tonight. Now to the news from the world of pro football. As the number of black head coaches who survived this current nfl season with their jobs intact has dropped down to just one, Drawing Criticism from black fans. As one black former head coach addressed his own grievances against the league with a potentially historic lawsuit, he joins me now, former nfl head coach brian flores and his attorney. Thank you both for joining us here tonight. Certainly we appreciate you coming in live. I have to start with some added context for our audience who might not follow football. This week you filed a federal suit against the nfl contending that in addition to a pattern of Racial Discrimination across the league, you say in the lawsuit that your most recent employer, the Miami Dolphins, asked you to intentionally lose games against your will, while two others, the New York Giants and denver broncos, effectively used their interviews with you to check a box on diversity, manipulating the nfls own rules to close the gap. In a league that is still about 60 to 70 black as far as players but has never had more than 20 black head coaches and now down just to one in 32 teams, of course we have to point out that the nfl and those three organizations have issued statements denying your claims. Make your case, coach flores. Clearly you turned a losing team around. And you got fired. You are doing interviews for other jobs. Why would you put your career on the line . Well, i would say Senator Padilla just said it a few minutes ago. Representation matters and there is a lack of representation for black and minority coaches and executives and just representation in leadership positions as a whole in the National Football league. And that has to change. This lawsuit isnt about me. It is about that lack of representation. It is about the people and generations that will come behind me. And it is about the young people, Young Boys And Girls like my kids. Ive got three young kids that are 9, 8 and 5. They are not limited to just being players. They can be coaches, they can be executives. They can be owners. But, you know, as it sits right now, there are no examples of that. John, as attorney, lets go on the record. The Miami Dolphins claimed that the firing was because of organization issues, other than owner steven ross said that an organization can only function if it is collaborative and it works well together. He also denied that they paid the coach money to lose games. The giants said that brian flores was in the conversation but ultimately we hired the individual we felt was most qualified to be our next coast. The broncos say that the allegations are false and that their processcst. The broncos say that the allegations are false and that their processcoachst. The broncos say that the allegations are false and that their processcoacht. The broncos say that the allegations are false and that their process. The broncos say that the allegations are false and that their process was fair. And the nfl released a mem toe to all 32 teams titled our commitment to decide versity, equity and inclusion saying that the results of the nfl coaching Diversity Efforts are unacceptable. And stating that racism and any form of discrimination is contrary to the nfls values. And that we understand the concerns of flores and others this week. Attorney, i mean, facts are the facts. 32 teams, one black coach. No black owners. Never was a black other than. Flores doing interviews for the jobs. When do he thing that they can just buy Chicken Dinners and throw money at social Justice Groups that dont fight Social Justice and deal with the systemic problem in their league . Well, rev, now they are forced to deal with it because coach flores lent himself, his career, to this cause. And you hear different statements from the various organizations and even from the league, but the numbers speak for themselves. You know, this situation is not limited to coach flores. This is a situation that every black minority candidate whether for coaching, executive positions, they experience this all the time. As you know, this is not just limited to the nfl. The issue is that our country really goes and takes leadership from sports. Especially the nfl. So how you know, we have to really fight against the nfl, the racist policies, and we have to stand up and were doing that in this lawsuit and saying it is not going to happen anymore. These Window Dressing Statements of a commitment to diversity are not enough. Especially when you dont see it. You know, coach flores, this being Politics Nation, i was interested to read that the same week the washington franchise finally settling on a name, several former employees of that organization mostly women testified before a Congressional Oversight Committee alleging a pattern of abuse and Sexual Misconduct involving senior leadership. Some players and the teams other than Daniel Snyder in an email statement from the team, snyder apologized again for past misconduct that took place in his organization but denied the new allegations. And im not asking you to comment directly on those allegations. But i would be interested to hear if you think the league is due for a wider investigation by federal authorities because watching from afar, it seems like the culture of the organization is continually exposed as being toxic. But the money keeps rolling in. So it is tolerated. Would you testify in front of a Congressional Committee about what is going on in terms of Racial Discrimination . You know, let me jump in first because i dont know if weve committed him to testifying or that is something that well discuss with our legal team. But the reality is Congress Needs to step in and conduct hearings. That is not a secret. Ten years ago, we conduct hearings on steroids in baseball. So when the nfl is discriminating against black minority candidates and executive and upper management positions, is that not worth Congress Time in. I wont ask you if you will testify, but let me what ill say, what we do need is change. That is we know that and i think that this lawsuit, this is this is going to be the vehicle for change. And we need as many people to get behind this lawsuit to support, you know, what were doing. Because it is a class action suit. It is a class action suit. And my story is not the only one of its kind around the National Football league, from black coaches, minority, women in the nfl. I dont stand alone here. But it is hard to step out against the National Football league for a lot of reasons. Number one being we love to coach. I love to coach. And you are putting that in jeopardy when you challenge the National Football league. But it is bigger than football, it is bigger than me. And this is not about me at all. Clearly it is not about you, you are risking your coaching career. You know, on the field protests popularized by Colin Kaepernick and others is now six years old and the league is still dealing with the optics and fallout from that moment. And i thought about that reading some of the numbers from the university of Central Floridas institute in diversity and ethics in sport. Which found a nearly 12 drop in the number of black players in the nfl from nearly 70 in 2016 to about 58 last year. Have you gotten any sense that black athletes are turning away from the league now popular as it remains . I cant speak to those numbers. I know the players that im around, they love to play, they love to practice, they love to prepare. And i love to coach them. So i really cant speak to those numbers. When you say you love to coach them and i turned literally a team around and we all have heard about how you mistakenly got a text that was intended for a white named brian saying brian, congratulations, and this is forgetting a coachs job that you were getting ready to interview for, he thought that he was congratulating you in advance. And it wasnt that. When you read that, when you see the systemic elimination of people that have excelled like you have, how does it make you feel personally . As a wave of emotions. I think that text message confirmed a lot of the things that, you know, black coaches and minorities in the National Football league felt like were happening this back rooms and back room conversations. It just confirmed that. And that was really the day that i felt like, you know, we couldnt be silent anymore. There comes a time where silence is betrayal and dr. King said that. We cant stay silent on these issues anymore. You know, one of the things that struck me, john, about the coach here is that he comes from brownsville. And i grew up in brownsville. A little before him. He comes from a tough neighborhood and i grew up there and it is tough. But he, his mother who you said used to watch me doing rallies and tough, his mother and them fought to get him into a Good Prep School in brooklyn that you went to and my daughters went to. I didnt even know that my daughters knew the coach until this happened. And you made it. I mean, you wrote out of brownsville, made something of yourself, a roll model to people that they can break out. And then you are treated like this. I dont know if they know how tough you are because if you had to come off on ambor street and where we came from, you know, we can take a lot. But i think that the fact that you got out and didnt say im out, im going to protect i mean, it is something that i really admire about you. Thank you. I mean, i think you mentioned my mom and she passed away three years ago. She was adamant about us giving back to the community and not forgetting where we came from. And that is a big part of why we filed the lawsuit is it is not about me, it is about, you know, those who come behind me. I spoke to a team yesterday and talked to them about, you know, this sacrifice is for them. And i believe that. John, in the coming days i hope some of the celebrities and others come out and support and this being a class action suit, im sure knowing you the way that you work, that there will be other announcements of others joining on. Are you concerned that the nfl will attempt to derail the suit through arbitration before it ever goes to court . There is no derailing this t