Transcripts For MSNBCW American Voices With Alicia Menendez

Transcripts For MSNBCW American Voices With Alicia Menendez 20200919



thanks for spending part of your saturday evening with us. tonight we launch our new prime-time lineup and our new show, "american voices." we'll bring you the biggest political stories of the week, but we'll also stay focused on what's at stake and why it matters and bring you the perspective of those who are both doing the work of making america more equitable and those who lives are most directly impacted. to me, it is a big responsibility, a huge responsibility to get the stories you care about right and to treat them with the care that they deserve. so that's what you can expect from me and from our team. we're proud to bring you "american voices." . you can disagree without being disagreeable, that quote from ruth bader ginsburg. it is no wonder that there has been an outpouring of love and support, remembering the supreme court justice today. ginsburg died yesterday from cancer complications in her washington, d.c., home surrounded by her family. she was 87 years old. the notorious rbg, as she was called by the kids, became a pop culture icon in her later years, the subject of a biography, a biopic biopic, and an operata, to name a few. she was a warrior for those underrepresented and underserved. mourners began gathering on the steps of the supreme court almost immediately following news of her death last night. those vigils continued into today as people grasped the loss and celebrate the life of this iconic woman. in virginia, where early voting has begun, some even said that ginsburg's death inpyre einspir to action. >> i was planning on early voting, but this pushed it. i made sure i was here this morning. you know, i was going to do it before the election day, but with the news, i made sure i was here this morning. >> ginsburg's dying wish was that the senate would not confirm her replacement until after the election. instead, senate majority tleerd mitch mcconnell announced within hours of her death that the senate would vote on her replacement. the president spoke about it just a short time ago. >> we'll be making a decision. i think the process can go very, very fast. i'll be making my choice soon. and when the choice is made, i'll be sending it over to mitch in the senate. and they will do what they have to do. i think we'll have a very popular choice, whoever it may be. but we'll be sending it over to the senate. i think the choice will be next week, yes. i do. >> a brutal political battle for the future of the high court looms. the stakes are high. the fate of the aca, daca, voting rights, and abortion. joining me now, melissa murray, professor of law at nyu and a former clerk to judge sonia sotomayor, joan, author of, "okay, boomer, let's talk," and actress and co-author of the book, "sanctuary." paula, i want to start with you, because you are at one of several memorials being held for the justice across the country. this, of course, came together very quickly. tell me how it came together and what you're expecting to see there tonight. >> reporter: it came together very organically. i heard the news last night. i was heartbroken. i was fearful, i was enraged. and i knew that we needed to do something. we needed to pay our respects and honor the justice with the utmost love and community and organizing that we could. and i just put it out on twitter and very soon after that, various people were also responding on social media and so now we have, we have memorials setting up all across the country. we're here in new york city, we don't know how many people we will be expecting tonight, but i know that it will be beautiful and it will be the beginning of what will be sustained political action to make sure that no justice is nominated before inauguration. >> melissa, i just want to say, president trump has now taken the stage in north carolina. our producers will be listening in and we will bring you if any of that becomes relevant to our discussion. but melissa, i want to stay focused for a moment on the legacy of justice ginsburg. what is this outpouring of support say about her legacy? >> well, i think if you are anyone who has been trained in the law or even knows a little bit about the law, you will have known something about justice ruth bader ginsburg. she was an absolute icon. someone who changed the face of equality law in this country. and the outpouring that you're seeing really is about the impact of her life and her legacy. and again, the fact that you are seeing people gather at courthouses, you are seeing the president talking about replacing her within 24 hours of her death shows you what enormous shoes she brought to the court and how big those shoes are to fill. this is someone who created a huge legacy and the president is intent on reversing that legacy. >> jill, my recovering lawyer, what do you believe is the justice's most indelible contribution to the history of the court? >> ginsburg's work on gender equality is certainly her most indelible contribution, throughout the whole course of her career. she absolutely was -- >> jill, i'm going to have to stop you right there. we're going to dip into president trump and let you come back and finish that thought. let's take a listen. >> -- justice and her courageous battle against cancer inspire all americans. you may agree, you may not, disagree with her, but she was an inspiration to a tremendous number of people. i say all americans. justice ginsburg's close relationship with a friend of ours, a friend of mine, justice scalia, is also a powerful reminder that we can disagree on fundamental issues while treating each other with decency, dignity, and respect. our thoughts and prayers are with her family. thank you very much. thank you. thank you. so article ii of our constitution says the president shall nominate justices of the supreme court. i don't imagine it can be anymore clear, can it? i don't think so. what do you think, thom. thom tillis, i don't think it can be anymore clear. [ chanting: fill the seat ] >> this can only happen in north carolina! >> i hope you hear that back home. look at all of that press. that's a lot of press. that's a lot of fake news. that's a lot of fake news. well, i hope they hear, so the chant -- this is a new one. "fill that seat." this is the chant. this can only happen to me, "fill that seat." no, it says the president is supposed to fill the seat, right? and that's what we're going to do. we're going to fill the seat. i love that chant. we hear more chants -- there's a lot of genius in those chants, i have to tell you. you said it better than you can say it, you can read a speech, but what's better than those words. "fill that seat." you know what you do? you come up, you say, fill that seat, you leave and you've said everything. there have been 2 times a vacancy opened during an election year or prior to an inauguration. 29 times. that's a lot. every single time the sitting president made a nomination that included -- did you ever hear of george washington? did you ever hear of thomas jefferson? or how about the great abraham lincoln, when he wore the hat, especially. with the great hat. i want to try one of those hats. i love that. think of it. 29 times, every single time, nobody said, oh, let's not fill the seat. we won the election. now, we have some senators that, you know, they -- forget it. think of it. i won't say it. i won't say it, susan. i won't say it, susan. but thom tillis is with us. can i tell you that? we have great republican senators. we have great people. and we have a great country. that's really -- we have a great country. and we're going to keep it that way. so we win an election and those are the consequences. you know, it's called "fill that seat" and that's what we're doing. the supreme court was a very central issue in both the 2016 presidential election and then the 2018 midterm elections. where, by the way, i didn't run. you know, we had a lot of people, a lot of people said, oh, he really took a little bit of a she lashellacking. not nearly as bad as others. we actually gained seats in the senate. we gained two seats. but we didn't run, and a lot of people said, sir, we'll never vote in 2018. i said, no, no, vote, they just didn't. i think we were like 9 million people decided they wanted to wait. and they've waited. and you see what's going on. you see what's happening. you see the enthusiasm that we have. which, by the way, we set a record in 2016. the bad news for the democrats is, we are more enthusiastic now, not even close, than we were -- >> our team will continue to listen to that. i want to bring our panel back in. jill, tough crowd there chanting "fill that seat." you have the president referencing the constitution and the crowd cheering. i wonder what you make of that response. >> i found that response offensive and disgusting. the president can't even pronounce ruth bader ginsburg's last name, gives a whole show of pretending to care about her legacy, and then not only violates her dying wish, but is surely going to try to appoint someone who's going to spit all over her legacy, who will undermine not just abortion rights, but things like access to contraception, voting rights, and who will essentially make it impossible for any progressive legislation to be -- >> paula, i think that jill's camera just froze there. hopefully we'll get her back, but i imagine that you want to pick up where she left off. i mean, what is at stake? what is on the line as the senate considers a possible nominee? >> i want to respond directly to the idea of filling that seat. us. our side, the people that are here tonight, the people that will continue to be out every single night will be sure that that seat is not filled. if you thought -- if the president thought, if the administration thought that the kavanaugh nomination was a difficult nomination, i can guarantee you that this will be tenfold more difficult. we will have more people in washington, d.c., we will have more people out on the streets. the rage in which women have been having been forced to live right now during this pandemic, i think, is going to be seen on a scale that we haven't seen before. what we want is fair, what we want is a just democracy. and we will only get that if the scotus, if the supreme court justice is not set until after the inauguration. >> melissa, you had president trump there saying every sitting president has made a nomination. of course, obama didn't actually get that nomination brought up for a vote. do you think this gets decided in the u.s. senate or do you think this gets decided at the ballot box? >> well, what will happen and what should happen may well be two different things. the truth of the matter is, is that this election is already underway. early voting has already begun in a number of states. people are trying to make their voices heard. and their voices should be heard in the selection of a new justice. our constitution contemplates that and the president should allow that process to happen. there should be no nomination until the inauguration of the president. whether that's president trump or president biden, but we should wait. and we talked about the 29 times that this has happened. as you say, the one time he does not mention is of course when president barack obama nominated merrick garland and leader mcconnell did not even allow garland, a noted jurist of incredible stature, to receive a vote on the floor of the senate. it's not just abortion rights, it's not just voting rights that are at stake, the very legitimacy of this third vote is at stake in this election and this process. >> jill, i want to give you the last word. you wrote a piece for "the washington post," arguing that if mcconnell pushes through a swift confirmation and biden is elected, then biden should pack the court if he wins. can you tell me what that looks like? >> sure. if the republicans manage to essentially steal a second supreme court seat, the only way that we restore fairness is for congress to pass an act expanding the court. i think it should be by two seats, but there's some debate over that, and for biden to sign it. he has the power to do that as president. congress has the power to do it, and that really is the only way to, as melissa said, begin a step back towards something rep semiablin resembling representative democracy. >> melissa, our producers are listening to this rally and they tell me that the president has said the nominee will be a woman. i don't think there are a lot of people that would find that very surprising. that was, of course, part of their calculus. does that change the conversation at all? >> no, it's very clear that any woman who would be nominated by this president is one who, despite the similarity in gender, is not going to follow the legacy of ruth bader ginsburg. this is essentially like when justice clarence thomas was replacing justice thurgood marshall. yes, there's another person of similar ethnic background in the seat, but the commitments are fundamental lip different. this is not a question we even need to deal with. the fundamental legitimacy of the court is at stake and to honor that legitimacy, the president needs to stand down and this needs to go to the people and the ballot box and let the people be heard. >> melissa, jill, and paula, thank you all. up next, i'll speak with those impacted by most by ginsburg's decisions, and later, we'll talk about the brewing confirmation fight and what hangs in the balance. confirmation fight and what hangs in the balance needles. essential for sewing, but maybe not for people with certain inflammatory conditions. because there are options. like an "unjection™". xeljanz. the first and only pill of its kind that treats moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, or moderate to severe ulcerative colitis when other medicines have not helped enough. xeljanz can lower your ability to fight infections. before and during treatment, your doctor should check for infections, like tb and do blood tests. tell your doctor if you've had hepatitis b or c, have flu-like symptoms, or are prone to infections. serious, sometimes fatal infections, cancers including lymphoma, and blood clots have happened. taking a higher than recommended dose of xeljanz for ra may increase risk of death. tears in the stomach or intestines and serious allergic reactions have happened. needles. fine for some. but for you, there's a pill that may provide symptom relief. ask your doctor about the pill first prescribed for ra more than seven years ago. xeljanz. an "unjection™". ruth bader ginsburg used her platform on the high court to push for equality. it was evident in her decisions and especially in her dissents. in 2007, she dissent in ledbetter versus goodyear tire and rubber company, going against a decision that made it harder for workers to sue their employers over wage discrimination allegations. in 2015, ginsburg sided with lbgtq plus rights in a landmark decision to give same-sex couples the right to marry. she voted to uphold the affordable care act in 2012, saving obamacare and those who still depend on it. and this summer, she voted to protect daca recipients from president trump's attempts to dismantle the program, something he is still trying to do. with me now is ria tobacamar, laura packard, the founder of health care voter and a stage iv cancer survivor, and juan escalante, who's awaiting his daca renewal. laura, i want to start with you. we'll be hearing a lot about obamacare in the coming weeks. and i wonder for you, what the justices' decision in this case meant in terms of your life and your health. >> well, health care is at risk in this election, including my health care. i'm a stage iv cancer survivor and the affordable care act saved my life. while i was going through treatments in 2017, every day, there was renewed attacks on the aca from congress and from trump. and now it looks like there's a possibility that they'll have the votes that they needed to destroy it altogether. >> not only is there the possibility of a repeal of aca, it is happening in the midst of a pandemic. it is happening as many americans await a vaccine, which we are being told is one of the only ways we will see our way out of this pandemic. how does the timing of this affect the larger conversation around obamacare, around aca, and around the reason that a lot of americans are planning to vote between now and november? >> 135 million americans have pre-existing conditions. and we're all at risk if they succeed. many of us have been living sheltered at home since the pandemic, afraid to go outside to face this virus. the administration completely bo bongeled the response, so six months later, 200,000 americans are dead and we're still afraid to leave our houses. and there's no end in sight on that. so now we're going to turn again to taking away the health care of millions of americans? >> juan, my friend, you were among some of the first people i thought about when i heard this news. because there are a lot of americans who worry about the court and what it means for their lives. you have lived through what it means to watch a decision at that court, and know that it impacts your status in this country. so i want to hear both your reflections on justice ginsburg's efforts to defeat that repeal of daca and also, as you look forward to this november and beyond, to the possibility of a new court, what that means for you and for your life as a dreamer in this country. >> absolutely. and i think, you know, the first and foremost, you know, consequence that we need to acknowledge of justice ginsburg's passing is that her legacy will ultimately be remembered as somebody who fought for people who were often sidelined by politicians, the voiceless. and her role in the court was paramount because she made sure that the law was applied equally to as many people as possible. and for, you know, dreamers, daca recipients like myself, it is obviously a very scary time. the supreme court ruling that came out this summer, when it came down to daca, definitely continues to hold the program amid an administration that is determined to cancel it at any cost. and the loss that we see in justice ginsburg is not just of a great intellectual and a great interpreter of the law, when it comes down to her role as a supreme court justice, but also of that as an ally. and i think that looking forward to an election where there's not -- there's no, you know, daylight in between the current president of the united states, donald trump, who continues to attack immigrants and the alternative, joe biden, who has promised to essentially continue to protect dreamers and daca recipients like myself. >> ria, i want to play you some sound from a voter this morning in virginia. take a listen. >> what does her death then mean to you, especially to come out and vote with -- >> it means taking away all the rights that we fought to get. taking away gay rights, rights for women, anything that my kids perceive, i don't want anything taken away from them. so i'm here. >> ria, this fear of rights being taken away, is that a founded fear, and do you think it is shared by many voters? >> well, let me just say, alicia, first, we here at the aclu are in mourning, because justice ginsburg has been one of our own. and it's impossible to overstate the impact she had on gender que equality in this country. when ruth bader ginsburg founded the equal rights program, the supreme court had never saw a law that discriminated against women that it didn't like. and then over the course of eight years, she changed that, making it impossible that a man who sought survivor benefits to care for his son would not be entitled to benefits on the same terms as a woman. she understood that it was necessary to dismantle patriarchy to not only liberty women, but for all of us to thrive regardless of who we are and regardless of our gender. >> i want to go around the horn here and start with you, lauren. what is on the ballot now or what is brought into focus on the ballot in the last 24 hours? >> health care is on the ballot. my senator, cory gardner, is one of the key votes. he has never stood up for people with pre-existing conditions to date, but now we have to see what him and other vulnerable senators will do. >> juan? >> the life of almost a million dreamers is on the ballot. and for my senator in my home state of florida, ray scott, a freshman in the senate, there's no clearer choice than to stand up and acknowledge that this would undoubtedly impact people like myself and my brothers in the sunshine state. >> ria, juan, and lauren, thank you all so much. as americans mourn the loss of ruth bader ginsburg, advocates are looking to turn that despair into action. next, how to motivate the movement as americans start heading to the polls. start heading to the polls ...a powerful 5g experience for america. it's 5g ultra wideband, and it's already available in parts of select cities. like los angeles. and in new york city. and it's rolling out in cities around the country. with massive capacity. it's like an eight-lane highway compared to a two-lane dirt road. 25x faster than today's 4g networks. in fact, it's the fastest 5g in the world. from the network more people rely on. this is 5g built right. only on verizon. and mine's unlisted.. try boost® high protein... -with 20 grams of protein for muscle health- -versus only 16 grams in ensure® high protein. and now enjoy boost® high protein in new café mocha flavor. it's time for theraflu hot liquid medicine. powerful relief so you can restore and recover. theraflu hot beats cold. a lot goes through your mind. with fidelity wealth management, your dedicated adviser can give you straightforward advice and tailored recommendations. that's the clarity you get with fidelity wealth management. they're going to be paying for this for a long time. they will, but with accident forgiveness allstate won't raise your rates just because of an accident, even if it's your fault. cut! sonny. was that good? line! the desert never lies. isn't that what i said? no you were talking about allstate and insurance. i just... when i... let's try again. everybody back to one. accident forgiveness from allstate. click or call for a quote today. thousands of people poured into the streets across the country, reacting to the death of justice ruth bader ginsburg. take a look at this sign from a march in san francisco. we won't let you down, rbg. for some, that means voting and votinging now. it's the first weekend of early voting in virginia. long lines of voters showed up first thing this morning. some said they were motivated by the passing of justice ginsburg. >> i just hope that anybody that's feeling sad today think about what rbg can do. that's get out and vote early. >> it's absolutely going to get people fired up to vote and it should. if this doesn't, then nothing will. >> for more on this moment of action, let's bring in brittany packnick cunningham, activist and an msnbc contributor, and erin ryan, host of crooked media's hysteria podcast and a "daily beast" contributor. brittney, this is a country and an electorate that is feeling deeply, deeply pessimistic. you have seven out of every ten americans saying that they think the country is on the wrong track and they think that there are a lot of people who watch the news unfolding in the last 24 hours, and it is easy to feel pessimistic. what do you say to them? >> i say i understand. and we still have the opportunity to make a different choice. i am so grateful that there are people throughout our history, throughout pour bloodliour bloo have seen even more dire circumstances or just as dire circumstances and made a different choice. they chose to fuel and funnel their anger and their frustration and their sadness into action. they chose to actually create a container of organizing and strategy to hold that anger and to press toward a different future. we lost a lot of the giants this year that made sure that we did that. elijah cummings, c.t. vivian, john lewis, and most certainly, ruth bader ginsburg. it's on us to make sure that we're not waiting for anymore singular heroes or saviors, but that we save ourselves. >> erin, i wonder what you make of president trump just within the last hour saying that he plans to nominate a woman. >> i mean, it doesn't really matter to me if he nominates a woman, because i know the type of woman he's going to nominate. and that's the type of woman that uses her power to hurt other women. and i wanted to go back to something that brittney said about optimism and going in with a working attitude and a belief that we can do it. ruth bader ginsburg herself lived a life of quiet optimism. and she believed in slow change. that only happens when you engage with the structure that you're working with. i think ruth bader ginsburg was a feminist hero and icon, partly because she used her power to make sure that it was easier for everybody else who was coming behind her. everybody else who was coming from any sort of disenfranchised background. and a woman that donald trump would be nominating for the supreme court is not somebody that i can imagine being a person who would use their power to help other disenfranchised people. this is going to be a woman who wants to slam the door shut. >> brittney, we keep hearing that the election is 45 days away. it is not. it is happening right now. how does this news change the contours of this race? >> well, i certainly am hoping that it brings a level of urgency, investigation, and engagement. i say investigation, because there are a lot of convoluted and complicated institutions that people are going to be encountering right now, and that in the shadow of ruth bader ginsburg's death, they have new questions about. they're wondering what's possible, can we change this whole thing, can weinstitutions? and to that i say, not only can we, must we. we have to recognize that we're doing ourselves a disservice if we continue to treat the supreme court and other american institutions like these precious, immovable sacred objects that cannot be altered. many of the people who are saying that believe in a declaration of independence, that very clearly gives us as citizens the right and the responsibility to alter the american institutions that are no longer serving us. the supreme court wasn't divined by god. it was created by people. and people change the size of the supreme court six times. the last time, though, was in 1869, and plenty has happened since then, not the least of which is an aspiring fascist actually making his way to the oval office sp, so we owe it to ourselves to intentionally focus on transformation and get voters and elected officials excited and accountable to the idea of transformation for the supreme court, for the senate filibuster, for statehood, for d.c. and puerto rico, and for so much more, because voters are going to be energized by this. but what they need to see on the other side of november 3rd is a set of elected officials and a country that is willing and ready to meet this moment. >> erin, i see you nodding your head vigorously, but i want to bring in one more point before i come to you, which is that the courts are often thought of as a motivator for conservative voters and not as much necessarily for progressive voters. but you have this recent pew poll that shows that 66% of biden supporters say supreme court appointments are a top issue compared to 61% of trump supporters. i wonder what those numbers tell you, erin. >> i think what those numbers tell us is that for the first time in maybe a little bit too late, voters on the progressive side are realizing just how in danger a lot of really important laws are to us. you know, the voting rights act was gutted by this supreme court. you know, roe v. wade is in danger of being totally dismantled by the supreme court. i think that one of the things that has been really hard about ruth bader ginsburg's death is that when somebody this important dies, you want to have the space to mourn them. and i think that the fear of what is going to happen with her legacy and what the ghouls in washington are going to do to dismantle everything she tried to achieve, the fear has trespassed on our space to mourn and to actually give honor to this woman who was a big, big a trailblazer and who made life easier for the people who came behind her. >> brittany, i, of course, agree with erin's assessment there about the fact that there needs to be time and space to grieve. and i particularly hope that her family is being given that time and that space. for people across the country, who are with you and erin and are grieving this moment, how do they honor justice ginsburg's legacy in the next 45 days. >> well, i think you're absolutely right, ruth bader ginsburg was a mother and a grandmother and a friend and someone who lived a life, as erin already said, of optimism and a fight. and i think that's precisely how we honor her. it's frankly a shame that she had to spend some of her last moments on earth trying to make sure that her legacy wouldn't be wrapped up in donald trump's. and what we have to make sure to do is to answer what she had to do in those final moments, with a very clear mandate, that we will no longer tolerate this kind of behavior, that we will no longer tolerate being constantly put in jeopardy, especially knowing just how much somebody like ruth bader ginsburg stood in the gap for people who couldn't actually pursue some of these equities ourselves. we needed her to be our voice. so i think it's critically important that not only do we show up and vote in the next 45 days, but beyond these 45 days, that we actually remain engaged and hold people accountable to taking us into an america that serves all of us and not just some of us. >> brittany and erin, thank you both. coming up, the fight to fill a vacancy. how difficult will this one be? how difficult will this one be s, count on boxes. 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because he was able to fill antonin scalia's seat that barack obama had nominated merrick garland for. and as you know, barack obama made that nomination in march of 2016 and republicans said, that is too close to an election to fill a supreme court seat, right? that this should be decided by the voters. this is, you know, hundreds of days before election day, they said, it's too soon. and they were very, very clear in saying -- and we promise, if the time comes when it's a republican making a nomination in the final year of his presidency, we are going to hold them to the same standard. there's no reason to believe that they were ever serious about that, but that was how they justified this so-called mcconnell rule, which he made up out of thin air. and so now you have this nomination that's going to be made, you know, 40-something days before an election. they are going to, by all -- by all accounts, they're going to jam it through. i don't think we know whether they're going to jam it through before the election or during the lame-duck session, and it's the sort of culmination of this crises of minority rule that the united states has been suffering under for several years, where we repeatedly have had presidents who have lost to the popular vote able to stack the courts, helped by senators who only represent a small sliver of the country, but have disproportionate power. so again and again and again, you have the majority of this country shut out of all decision making processes, and sort of suffering under the dominion of a minority that hold them -- not just holds them in contempt, but as we've seen with coronavirus and as we've seen with the forest fires, literally doesn't often care if they live or die. and so we -- the only way that a biden administration can restore some semblance of democracy to a system that has been so captured by this kind of minority rule doom loop is to use some of the legislative tools available to him, right? the size of the supreme court is not mandated in the constitution. the filibuster is not mandated in the constitution. these are, you know, norms, these are traditions, and for too long, i think the democrats have tried to uphold norms and traditions, but they can't do it single-handedly. those things are important, but you can't do it alone. you can't have one side that is willing to pursue power at all cost, that thinks that standards are for suckers, and the other side insisting on playing very decorously by an outdated mode of rules. michelle, as always, you lay out a consistent set of rules. and i swoop in with an unsavory question. is there the appetite or the political will to get that done? >> there's absolutely the appetite within the democratic party, and it's only going to swell if republicans pursue this illegitimate supreme court nomination. there is video on top of video of republican senators saying that they will not do exactly what they are about to do. and so i think that in the past, there's been backlash. there was obviously a backlash when fdr tried to pack the court. but at the time, the court was seen as legitimate and apolitical. and i think that if you have republicans who delegitimize the supreme court to this extent, not only will there be an appetite for it, i think democrats will be howling for it. you had chuck schumer just today saying that nothing is going to be off the table if republicans do this. you've had eric holder calling for democrats to do this. so this is no longer just some sort of fringe idea. this is quickly becoming, i think, a mainstream notion in the democratic party. >> i want to ask you about republicans, of course, because you have susan collins a few hours ago, issuing a statement saying that the person who wins the presidency should choose the next justice. that, of course, echos some comments from senator murkowski. i do want to underline, though, that saying that the next president should choose the nominee isn't necessarily saying, i will not vote for the nominee if a nominee's name is put to a vote. so i wonder both what you make of collins, and i don't know if you got to see some of the sound earlier from president trump at this rally in north carolina, but there was a very stark contrast, where he evoked susan collins' name. you heard the crowd jeer, and then you heard cheers for thom tillis, who has come out very adamantly in support of this idea that the president should be able to put forward a nominee and that a vote should take place. i wonder what you make of that overall? >> i would never put any sort of faith in the reliability or civic decency of susan collins. you know, that said, i don't think it's in her political interests to come galloping to trump's defense here. her vote for kavanaugh was very unpopular in maine. she's increasingly unpopular in maine. she's far behind, i think, that you're not going to have support in maine for this nomination. and so, certainly, if it comes to a vote before the election, i can't imagine why susan collins would, you know, would risk even her small chance of re-election to vote for this nominee. i think if it gets into the lame duck, it becomes a little bit more complicated if she's already lost, and then it becomes a calculation about whether it's more important for her to preserve her reputation or to preserve her take place place in the republican party. >> michelle, before i let you go, you saw the fund-raising haul that came in last night for democrats, for progressive groups. i wonder what that tells you about the state of the electorate? >> well, i think it tells you that you know, you were just talking about how historically there's been this idea that the right is motivated by the supreme court and the left isn't. but progressives just lost somebody who means so to them, who was such a stalwart, who they felt protected by. and i think they are terrified by what's going to happen next and they are furious about. we talk a lot about enthusiasms in elections. i think we should talk about anger in elections. who has the anger on their side. i don't think there is any question that this calamity that has befallen us, i don't think there is any question it is going to motivate democrats in november. >> all right. michelle, thank you. up next you can stay a lot with a collar especially if you are an associate justice with the supreme court. proof i can fight psoriatic arthritis... ...with humira. proof of less joint pain... ...and clearer skin in psa. humira targets and blocks a source of inflammation that contributes to joint pain and irreversible damage. humira can lower your ability to fight infections. serious and sometimes fatal infections, including tuberculosis, and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened, as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. tell your doctor if you've been to areas where certain fungal infections are common and if you've had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flu-like symptoms or sores. don't start humira if you have an infection. humira is proven to help stop further joint damage. want more proof? 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[laughs.] neighbor's hair. (stasha vo) when everything shut down, i thought, "you know what? people have been asking for online classes for the longest." it was amazing. business kept growing and growing and growing. (stasha vo) i feel blessed that i can still connect with others. support others. and i am still going. >> why isn't election day a holiday? the majority of americans support the idea. i'm not looking for a day off. i am looking for ways to make voting easier. voting is literally the most democratic thing we do and yet it can be uniquely difficult. clearly this isn't going to happen this year but maybe a new administration and new congress should think about it. the lead supreme court justice ruth bader ginsburg will not be just remembered for her groundbreaking life but for her iconic style. from her over sized glasses to her fancy collar she often used fashion to send a message. she used the color she wore with the black robes to emphasize her presence as a woman on the court and the challenges she overcame to get there. fans tracked which ones she would wear to broadcast her support or dissent toward a particular court ruling. her fierce push to break barriers propelled her to icon status with her collars becoming synonymous with the notorious rbg image. though she has passed on her larger than life image lives on in the hearts of many. >> it was because of her work that i had a good job that allowed me as a single woman to support myself and choose to have a family. >> i think rbg is the epitome of a lawyer. you look at someone like that and it is the michael jordan of our industry. >> it is heart breaking to hear she has passed and suffered and she is a hero especially for women. 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Transcripts For MSNBCW American Voices With Alicia Menendez 20200919

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thanks for spending part of your saturday evening with us. tonight we launch our new prime-time lineup and our new show, "american voices." we'll bring you the biggest political stories of the week, but we'll also stay focused on what's at stake and why it matters and bring you the perspective of those who are both doing the work of making america more equitable and those who lives are most directly impacted. to me, it is a big responsibility, a huge responsibility to get the stories you care about right and to treat them with the care that they deserve. so that's what you can expect from me and from our team. we're proud to bring you "american voices." . you can disagree without being disagreeable, that quote from ruth bader ginsburg. it is no wonder that there has been an outpouring of love and support, remembering the supreme court justice today. ginsburg died yesterday from cancer complications in her washington, d.c., home surrounded by her family. she was 87 years old. the notorious rbg, as she was called by the kids, became a pop culture icon in her later years, the subject of a biography, a biopic biopic, and an operata, to name a few. she was a warrior for those underrepresented and underserved. mourners began gathering on the steps of the supreme court almost immediately following news of her death last night. those vigils continued into today as people grasped the loss and celebrate the life of this iconic woman. in virginia, where early voting has begun, some even said that ginsburg's death inpyre einspir to action. >> i was planning on early voting, but this pushed it. i made sure i was here this morning. you know, i was going to do it before the election day, but with the news, i made sure i was here this morning. >> ginsburg's dying wish was that the senate would not confirm her replacement until after the election. instead, senate majority tleerd mitch mcconnell announced within hours of her death that the senate would vote on her replacement. the president spoke about it just a short time ago. >> we'll be making a decision. i think the process can go very, very fast. i'll be making my choice soon. and when the choice is made, i'll be sending it over to mitch in the senate. and they will do what they have to do. i think we'll have a very popular choice, whoever it may be. but we'll be sending it over to the senate. i think the choice will be next week, yes. i do. >> a brutal political battle for the future of the high court looms. the stakes are high. the fate of the aca, daca, voting rights, and abortion. joining me now, melissa murray, professor of law at nyu and a former clerk to judge sonia sotomayor, joan, author of, "okay, boomer, let's talk," and actress and co-author of the book, "sanctuary." paula, i want to start with you, because you are at one of several memorials being held for the justice across the country. this, of course, came together very quickly. tell me how it came together and what you're expecting to see there tonight. >> reporter: it came together very organically. i heard the news last night. i was heartbroken. i was fearful, i was enraged. and i knew that we needed to do something. we needed to pay our respects and honor the justice with the utmost love and community and organizing that we could. and i just put it out on twitter and very soon after that, various people were also responding on social media and so now we have, we have memorials setting up all across the country. we're here in new york city, we don't know how many people we will be expecting tonight, but i know that it will be beautiful and it will be the beginning of what will be sustained political action to make sure that no justice is nominated before inauguration. >> melissa, i just want to say, president trump has now taken the stage in north carolina. our producers will be listening in and we will bring you if any of that becomes relevant to our discussion. but melissa, i want to stay focused for a moment on the legacy of justice ginsburg. what is this outpouring of support say about her legacy? >> well, i think if you are anyone who has been trained in the law or even knows a little bit about the law, you will have known something about justice ruth bader ginsburg. she was an absolute icon. someone who changed the face of equality law in this country. and the outpouring that you're seeing really is about the impact of her life and her legacy. and again, the fact that you are seeing people gather at courthouses, you are seeing the president talking about replacing her within 24 hours of her death shows you what enormous shoes she brought to the court and how big those shoes are to fill. this is someone who created a huge legacy and the president is intent on reversing that legacy. >> jill, my recovering lawyer, what do you believe is the justice's most indelible contribution to the history of the court? >> ginsburg's work on gender equality is certainly her most indelible contribution, throughout the whole course of her career. she absolutely was -- >> jill, i'm going to have to stop you right there. we're going to dip into president trump and let you come back and finish that thought. let's take a listen. >> -- justice and her courageous battle against cancer inspire all americans. you may agree, you may not, disagree with her, but she was an inspiration to a tremendous number of people. i say all americans. justice ginsburg's close relationship with a friend of ours, a friend of mine, justice scalia, is also a powerful reminder that we can disagree on fundamental issues while treating each other with decency, dignity, and respect. our thoughts and prayers are with her family. thank you very much. thank you. thank you. so article ii of our constitution says the president shall nominate justices of the supreme court. i don't imagine it can be anymore clear, can it? i don't think so. what do you think, thom. thom tillis, i don't think it can be anymore clear. [ chanting: fill the seat ] >> this can only happen in north carolina! >> i hope you hear that back home. look at all of that press. that's a lot of press. that's a lot of fake news. that's a lot of fake news. well, i hope they hear, so the chant -- this is a new one. "fill that seat." this is the chant. this can only happen to me, "fill that seat." no, it says the president is supposed to fill the seat, right? and that's what we're going to do. we're going to fill the seat. i love that chant. we hear more chants -- there's a lot of genius in those chants, i have to tell you. you said it better than you can say it, you can read a speech, but what's better than those words. "fill that seat." you know what you do? you come up, you say, fill that seat, you leave and you've said everything. there have been 2 times a vacancy opened during an election year or prior to an inauguration. 29 times. that's a lot. every single time the sitting president made a nomination that included -- did you ever hear of george washington? did you ever hear of thomas jefferson? or how about the great abraham lincoln, when he wore the hat, especially. with the great hat. i want to try one of those hats. i love that. think of it. 29 times, every single time, nobody said, oh, let's not fill the seat. we won the election. now, we have some senators that, you know, they -- forget it. think of it. i won't say it. i won't say it, susan. i won't say it, susan. but thom tillis is with us. can i tell you that? we have great republican senators. we have great people. and we have a great country. that's really -- we have a great country. and we're going to keep it that way. so we win an election and those are the consequences. you know, it's called "fill that seat" and that's what we're doing. the supreme court was a very central issue in both the 2016 presidential election and then the 2018 midterm elections. where, by the way, i didn't run. you know, we had a lot of people, a lot of people said, oh, he really took a little bit of a she lashellacking. not nearly as bad as others. we actually gained seats in the senate. we gained two seats. but we didn't run, and a lot of people said, sir, we'll never vote in 2018. i said, no, no, vote, they just didn't. i think we were like 9 million people decided they wanted to wait. and they've waited. and you see what's going on. you see what's happening. you see the enthusiasm that we have. which, by the way, we set a record in 2016. the bad news for the democrats is, we are more enthusiastic now, not even close, than we were -- >> our team will continue to listen to that. i want to bring our panel back in. jill, tough crowd there chanting "fill that seat." you have the president referencing the constitution and the crowd cheering. i wonder what you make of that response. >> i found that response offensive and disgusting. the president can't even pronounce ruth bader ginsburg's last name, gives a whole show of pretending to care about her legacy, and then not only violates her dying wish, but is surely going to try to appoint someone who's going to spit all over her legacy, who will undermine not just abortion rights, but things like access to contraception, voting rights, and who will essentially make it impossible for any progressive legislation to be -- >> paula, i think that jill's camera just froze there. hopefully we'll get her back, but i imagine that you want to pick up where she left off. i mean, what is at stake? what is on the line as the senate considers a possible nominee? >> i want to respond directly to the idea of filling that seat. us. our side, the people that are here tonight, the people that will continue to be out every single night will be sure that that seat is not filled. if you thought -- if the president thought, if the administration thought that the kavanaugh nomination was a difficult nomination, i can guarantee you that this will be tenfold more difficult. we will have more people in washington, d.c., we will have more people out on the streets. the rage in which women have been having been forced to live right now during this pandemic, i think, is going to be seen on a scale that we haven't seen before. what we want is fair, what we want is a just democracy. and we will only get that if the scotus, if the supreme court justice is not set until after the inauguration. >> melissa, you had president trump there saying every sitting president has made a nomination. of course, obama didn't actually get that nomination brought up for a vote. do you think this gets decided in the u.s. senate or do you think this gets decided at the ballot box? >> well, what will happen and what should happen may well be two different things. the truth of the matter is, is that this election is already underway. early voting has already begun in a number of states. people are trying to make their voices heard. and their voices should be heard in the selection of a new justice. our constitution contemplates that and the president should allow that process to happen. there should be no nomination until the inauguration of the president. whether that's president trump or president biden, but we should wait. and we talked about the 29 times that this has happened. as you say, the one time he does not mention is of course when president barack obama nominated merrick garland and leader mcconnell did not even allow garland, a noted jurist of incredible stature, to receive a vote on the floor of the senate. it's not just abortion rights, it's not just voting rights that are at stake, the very legitimacy of this third vote is at stake in this election and this process. >> jill, i want to give you the last word. you wrote a piece for "the washington post," arguing that if mcconnell pushes through a swift confirmation and biden is elected, then biden should pack the court if he wins. can you tell me what that looks like? >> sure. if the republicans manage to essentially steal a second supreme court seat, the only way that we restore fairness is for congress to pass an act expanding the court. i think it should be by two seats, but there's some debate over that, and for biden to sign it. he has the power to do that as president. congress has the power to do it, and that really is the only way to, as melissa said, begin a step back towards something rep semiablin resembling representative democracy. >> melissa, our producers are listening to this rally and they tell me that the president has said the nominee will be a woman. i don't think there are a lot of people that would find that very surprising. that was, of course, part of their calculus. does that change the conversation at all? >> no, it's very clear that any woman who would be nominated by this president is one who, despite the similarity in gender, is not going to follow the legacy of ruth bader ginsburg. this is essentially like when justice clarence thomas was replacing justice thurgood marshall. yes, there's another person of similar ethnic background in the seat, but the commitments are fundamental lip different. this is not a question we even need to deal with. the fundamental legitimacy of the court is at stake and to honor that legitimacy, the president needs to stand down and this needs to go to the people and the ballot box and let the people be heard. >> melissa, jill, and paula, thank you all. up next, i'll speak with those impacted by most by ginsburg's decisions, and later, we'll talk about the brewing confirmation fight and what hangs in the balance. confirmation fight and what hangs in the balance needles. essential for sewing, but maybe not for people with certain inflammatory conditions. because there are options. like an "unjection™". xeljanz. the first and only pill of its kind that treats moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, or moderate to severe ulcerative colitis when other medicines have not helped enough. xeljanz can lower your ability to fight infections. before and during treatment, your doctor should check for infections, like tb and do blood tests. tell your doctor if you've had hepatitis b or c, have flu-like symptoms, or are prone to infections. serious, sometimes fatal infections, cancers including lymphoma, and blood clots have happened. taking a higher than recommended dose of xeljanz for ra may increase risk of death. tears in the stomach or intestines and serious allergic reactions have happened. needles. fine for some. but for you, there's a pill that may provide symptom relief. ask your doctor about the pill first prescribed for ra more than seven years ago. xeljanz. an "unjection™". ruth bader ginsburg used her platform on the high court to push for equality. it was evident in her decisions and especially in her dissents. in 2007, she dissent in ledbetter versus goodyear tire and rubber company, going against a decision that made it harder for workers to sue their employers over wage discrimination allegations. in 2015, ginsburg sided with lbgtq plus rights in a landmark decision to give same-sex couples the right to marry. she voted to uphold the affordable care act in 2012, saving obamacare and those who still depend on it. and this summer, she voted to protect daca recipients from president trump's attempts to dismantle the program, something he is still trying to do. with me now is ria tobacamar, laura packard, the founder of health care voter and a stage iv cancer survivor, and juan escalante, who's awaiting his daca renewal. laura, i want to start with you. we'll be hearing a lot about obamacare in the coming weeks. and i wonder for you, what the justices' decision in this case meant in terms of your life and your health. >> well, health care is at risk in this election, including my health care. i'm a stage iv cancer survivor and the affordable care act saved my life. while i was going through treatments in 2017, every day, there was renewed attacks on the aca from congress and from trump. and now it looks like there's a possibility that they'll have the votes that they needed to destroy it altogether. >> not only is there the possibility of a repeal of aca, it is happening in the midst of a pandemic. it is happening as many americans await a vaccine, which we are being told is one of the only ways we will see our way out of this pandemic. how does the timing of this affect the larger conversation around obamacare, around aca, and around the reason that a lot of americans are planning to vote between now and november? >> 135 million americans have pre-existing conditions. and we're all at risk if they succeed. many of us have been living sheltered at home since the pandemic, afraid to go outside to face this virus. the administration completely bo bongeled the response, so six months later, 200,000 americans are dead and we're still afraid to leave our houses. and there's no end in sight on that. so now we're going to turn again to taking away the health care of millions of americans? >> juan, my friend, you were among some of the first people i thought about when i heard this news. because there are a lot of americans who worry about the court and what it means for their lives. you have lived through what it means to watch a decision at that court, and know that it impacts your status in this country. so i want to hear both your reflections on justice ginsburg's efforts to defeat that repeal of daca and also, as you look forward to this november and beyond, to the possibility of a new court, what that means for you and for your life as a dreamer in this country. >> absolutely. and i think, you know, the first and foremost, you know, consequence that we need to acknowledge of justice ginsburg's passing is that her legacy will ultimately be remembered as somebody who fought for people who were often sidelined by politicians, the voiceless. and her role in the court was paramount because she made sure that the law was applied equally to as many people as possible. and for, you know, dreamers, daca recipients like myself, it is obviously a very scary time. the supreme court ruling that came out this summer, when it came down to daca, definitely continues to hold the program amid an administration that is determined to cancel it at any cost. and the loss that we see in justice ginsburg is not just of a great intellectual and a great interpreter of the law, when it comes down to her role as a supreme court justice, but also of that as an ally. and i think that looking forward to an election where there's not -- there's no, you know, daylight in between the current president of the united states, donald trump, who continues to attack immigrants and the alternative, joe biden, who has promised to essentially continue to protect dreamers and daca recipients like myself. >> ria, i want to play you some sound from a voter this morning in virginia. take a listen. >> what does her death then mean to you, especially to come out and vote with -- >> it means taking away all the rights that we fought to get. taking away gay rights, rights for women, anything that my kids perceive, i don't want anything taken away from them. so i'm here. >> ria, this fear of rights being taken away, is that a founded fear, and do you think it is shared by many voters? >> well, let me just say, alicia, first, we here at the aclu are in mourning, because justice ginsburg has been one of our own. and it's impossible to overstate the impact she had on gender que equality in this country. when ruth bader ginsburg founded the equal rights program, the supreme court had never saw a law that discriminated against women that it didn't like. and then over the course of eight years, she changed that, making it impossible that a man who sought survivor benefits to care for his son would not be entitled to benefits on the same terms as a woman. she understood that it was necessary to dismantle patriarchy to not only liberty women, but for all of us to thrive regardless of who we are and regardless of our gender. >> i want to go around the horn here and start with you, lauren. what is on the ballot now or what is brought into focus on the ballot in the last 24 hours? >> health care is on the ballot. my senator, cory gardner, is one of the key votes. he has never stood up for people with pre-existing conditions to date, but now we have to see what him and other vulnerable senators will do. >> juan? >> the life of almost a million dreamers is on the ballot. and for my senator in my home state of florida, ray scott, a freshman in the senate, there's no clearer choice than to stand up and acknowledge that this would undoubtedly impact people like myself and my brothers in the sunshine state. >> ria, juan, and lauren, thank you all so much. as americans mourn the loss of ruth bader ginsburg, advocates are looking to turn that despair into action. next, how to motivate the movement as americans start heading to the polls. start heading to the polls ...a powerful 5g experience for america. it's 5g ultra wideband, and it's already available in parts of select cities. like los angeles. and in new york city. and it's rolling out in cities around the country. with massive capacity. it's like an eight-lane highway compared to a two-lane dirt road. 25x faster than today's 4g networks. in fact, it's the fastest 5g in the world. from the network more people rely on. this is 5g built right. only on verizon. and mine's unlisted.. try boost® high protein... -with 20 grams of protein for muscle health- -versus only 16 grams in ensure® high protein. and now enjoy boost® high protein in new café mocha flavor. it's time for theraflu hot liquid medicine. powerful relief so you can restore and recover. theraflu hot beats cold. a lot goes through your mind. with fidelity wealth management, your dedicated adviser can give you straightforward advice and tailored recommendations. that's the clarity you get with fidelity wealth management. they're going to be paying for this for a long time. they will, but with accident forgiveness allstate won't raise your rates just because of an accident, even if it's your fault. cut! sonny. was that good? line! the desert never lies. isn't that what i said? no you were talking about allstate and insurance. i just... when i... let's try again. everybody back to one. accident forgiveness from allstate. click or call for a quote today. thousands of people poured into the streets across the country, reacting to the death of justice ruth bader ginsburg. take a look at this sign from a march in san francisco. we won't let you down, rbg. for some, that means voting and votinging now. it's the first weekend of early voting in virginia. long lines of voters showed up first thing this morning. some said they were motivated by the passing of justice ginsburg. >> i just hope that anybody that's feeling sad today think about what rbg can do. that's get out and vote early. >> it's absolutely going to get people fired up to vote and it should. if this doesn't, then nothing will. >> for more on this moment of action, let's bring in brittany packnick cunningham, activist and an msnbc contributor, and erin ryan, host of crooked media's hysteria podcast and a "daily beast" contributor. brittney, this is a country and an electorate that is feeling deeply, deeply pessimistic. you have seven out of every ten americans saying that they think the country is on the wrong track and they think that there are a lot of people who watch the news unfolding in the last 24 hours, and it is easy to feel pessimistic. what do you say to them? >> i say i understand. and we still have the opportunity to make a different choice. i am so grateful that there are people throughout our history, throughout pour bloodliour bloo have seen even more dire circumstances or just as dire circumstances and made a different choice. they chose to fuel and funnel their anger and their frustration and their sadness into action. they chose to actually create a container of organizing and strategy to hold that anger and to press toward a different future. we lost a lot of the giants this year that made sure that we did that. elijah cummings, c.t. vivian, john lewis, and most certainly, ruth bader ginsburg. it's on us to make sure that we're not waiting for anymore singular heroes or saviors, but that we save ourselves. >> erin, i wonder what you make of president trump just within the last hour saying that he plans to nominate a woman. >> i mean, it doesn't really matter to me if he nominates a woman, because i know the type of woman he's going to nominate. and that's the type of woman that uses her power to hurt other women. and i wanted to go back to something that brittney said about optimism and going in with a working attitude and a belief that we can do it. ruth bader ginsburg herself lived a life of quiet optimism. and she believed in slow change. that only happens when you engage with the structure that you're working with. i think ruth bader ginsburg was a feminist hero and icon, partly because she used her power to make sure that it was easier for everybody else who was coming behind her. everybody else who was coming from any sort of disenfranchised background. and a woman that donald trump would be nominating for the supreme court is not somebody that i can imagine being a person who would use their power to help other disenfranchised people. this is going to be a woman who wants to slam the door shut. >> brittney, we keep hearing that the election is 45 days away. it is not. it is happening right now. how does this news change the contours of this race? >> well, i certainly am hoping that it brings a level of urgency, investigation, and engagement. i say investigation, because there are a lot of convoluted and complicated institutions that people are going to be encountering right now, and that in the shadow of ruth bader ginsburg's death, they have new questions about. they're wondering what's possible, can we change this whole thing, can weinstitutions? and to that i say, not only can we, must we. we have to recognize that we're doing ourselves a disservice if we continue to treat the supreme court and other american institutions like these precious, immovable sacred objects that cannot be altered. many of the people who are saying that believe in a declaration of independence, that very clearly gives us as citizens the right and the responsibility to alter the american institutions that are no longer serving us. the supreme court wasn't divined by god. it was created by people. and people change the size of the supreme court six times. the last time, though, was in 1869, and plenty has happened since then, not the least of which is an aspiring fascist actually making his way to the oval office sp, so we owe it to ourselves to intentionally focus on transformation and get voters and elected officials excited and accountable to the idea of transformation for the supreme court, for the senate filibuster, for statehood, for d.c. and puerto rico, and for so much more, because voters are going to be energized by this. but what they need to see on the other side of november 3rd is a set of elected officials and a country that is willing and ready to meet this moment. >> erin, i see you nodding your head vigorously, but i want to bring in one more point before i come to you, which is that the courts are often thought of as a motivator for conservative voters and not as much necessarily for progressive voters. but you have this recent pew poll that shows that 66% of biden supporters say supreme court appointments are a top issue compared to 61% of trump supporters. i wonder what those numbers tell you, erin. >> i think what those numbers tell us is that for the first time in maybe a little bit too late, voters on the progressive side are realizing just how in danger a lot of really important laws are to us. you know, the voting rights act was gutted by this supreme court. you know, roe v. wade is in danger of being totally dismantled by the supreme court. i think that one of the things that has been really hard about ruth bader ginsburg's death is that when somebody this important dies, you want to have the space to mourn them. and i think that the fear of what is going to happen with her legacy and what the ghouls in washington are going to do to dismantle everything she tried to achieve, the fear has trespassed on our space to mourn and to actually give honor to this woman who was a big, big a trailblazer and who made life easier for the people who came behind her. >> brittany, i, of course, agree with erin's assessment there about the fact that there needs to be time and space to grieve. and i particularly hope that her family is being given that time and that space. for people across the country, who are with you and erin and are grieving this moment, how do they honor justice ginsburg's legacy in the next 45 days. >> well, i think you're absolutely right, ruth bader ginsburg was a mother and a grandmother and a friend and someone who lived a life, as erin already said, of optimism and a fight. and i think that's precisely how we honor her. it's frankly a shame that she had to spend some of her last moments on earth trying to make sure that her legacy wouldn't be wrapped up in donald trump's. and what we have to make sure to do is to answer what she had to do in those final moments, with a very clear mandate, that we will no longer tolerate this kind of behavior, that we will no longer tolerate being constantly put in jeopardy, especially knowing just how much somebody like ruth bader ginsburg stood in the gap for people who couldn't actually pursue some of these equities ourselves. we needed her to be our voice. so i think it's critically important that not only do we show up and vote in the next 45 days, but beyond these 45 days, that we actually remain engaged and hold people accountable to taking us into an america that serves all of us and not just some of us. >> brittany and erin, thank you both. coming up, the fight to fill a vacancy. how difficult will this one be? how difficult will this one be s, count on boxes. 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because he was able to fill antonin scalia's seat that barack obama had nominated merrick garland for. and as you know, barack obama made that nomination in march of 2016 and republicans said, that is too close to an election to fill a supreme court seat, right? that this should be decided by the voters. this is, you know, hundreds of days before election day, they said, it's too soon. and they were very, very clear in saying -- and we promise, if the time comes when it's a republican making a nomination in the final year of his presidency, we are going to hold them to the same standard. there's no reason to believe that they were ever serious about that, but that was how they justified this so-called mcconnell rule, which he made up out of thin air. and so now you have this nomination that's going to be made, you know, 40-something days before an election. they are going to, by all -- by all accounts, they're going to jam it through. i don't think we know whether they're going to jam it through before the election or during the lame-duck session, and it's the sort of culmination of this crises of minority rule that the united states has been suffering under for several years, where we repeatedly have had presidents who have lost to the popular vote able to stack the courts, helped by senators who only represent a small sliver of the country, but have disproportionate power. so again and again and again, you have the majority of this country shut out of all decision making processes, and sort of suffering under the dominion of a minority that hold them -- not just holds them in contempt, but as we've seen with coronavirus and as we've seen with the forest fires, literally doesn't often care if they live or die. and so we -- the only way that a biden administration can restore some semblance of democracy to a system that has been so captured by this kind of minority rule doom loop is to use some of the legislative tools available to him, right? the size of the supreme court is not mandated in the constitution. the filibuster is not mandated in the constitution. these are, you know, norms, these are traditions, and for too long, i think the democrats have tried to uphold norms and traditions, but they can't do it single-handedly. those things are important, but you can't do it alone. you can't have one side that is willing to pursue power at all cost, that thinks that standards are for suckers, and the other side insisting on playing very decorously by an outdated mode of rules. michelle, as always, you lay out a consistent set of rules. and i swoop in with an unsavory question. is there the appetite or the political will to get that done? >> there's absolutely the appetite within the democratic party, and it's only going to swell if republicans pursue this illegitimate supreme court nomination. there is video on top of video of republican senators saying that they will not do exactly what they are about to do. and so i think that in the past, there's been backlash. there was obviously a backlash when fdr tried to pack the court. but at the time, the court was seen as legitimate and apolitical. and i think that if you have republicans who delegitimize the supreme court to this extent, not only will there be an appetite for it, i think democrats will be howling for it. you had chuck schumer just today saying that nothing is going to be off the table if republicans do this. you've had eric holder calling for democrats to do this. so this is no longer just some sort of fringe idea. this is quickly becoming, i think, a mainstream notion in the democratic party. >> i want to ask you about republicans, of course, because you have susan collins a few hours ago, issuing a statement saying that the person who wins the presidency should choose the next justice. that, of course, echos some comments from senator murkowski. i do want to underline, though, that saying that the next president should choose the nominee isn't necessarily saying, i will not vote for the nominee if a nominee's name is put to a vote. so i wonder both what you make of collins, and i don't know if you got to see some of the sound earlier from president trump at this rally in north carolina, but there was a very stark contrast, where he evoked susan collins' name. you heard the crowd jeer, and then you heard cheers for thom tillis, who has come out very adamantly in support of this idea that the president should be able to put forward a nominee and that a vote should take place. i wonder what you make of that overall? >> i would never put any sort of faith in the reliability or civic decency of susan collins. you know, that said, i don't think it's in her political interests to come galloping to trump's defense here. her vote for kavanaugh was very unpopular in maine. she's increasingly unpopular in maine. she's far behind, i think, that you're not going to have support in maine for this nomination. and so, certainly, if it comes to a vote before the election, i can't imagine why susan collins would, you know, would risk even her small chance of re-election to vote for this nominee. i think if it gets into the lame duck, it becomes a little bit more complicated if she's already lost, and then it becomes a calculation about whether it's more important for her to preserve her reputation or to preserve her take place place in the republican party. >> michelle, before i let you go, you saw the fund-raising haul that came in last night for democrats, for progressive groups. i wonder what that tells you about the state of the electorate? >> well, i think it tells you that you know, you were just talking about how historically there's been this idea that the right is motivated by the supreme court and the left isn't. but progressives just lost somebody who means so to them, who was such a stalwart, who they felt protected by. and i think they are terrified by what's going to happen next and they are furious about. we talk a lot about enthusiasms in elections. i think we should talk about anger in elections. who has the anger on their side. i don't think there is any question that this calamity that has befallen us, i don't think there is any question it is going to motivate democrats in november. >> all right. michelle, thank you. up next you can stay a lot with a collar especially if you are an associate justice with the supreme court. proof i can fight psoriatic arthritis... ...with humira. proof of less joint pain... ...and clearer skin in psa. humira targets and blocks a source of inflammation that contributes to joint pain and irreversible damage. humira can lower your ability to fight infections. serious and sometimes fatal infections, including tuberculosis, and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened, as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. tell your doctor if you've been to areas where certain fungal infections are common and if you've had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flu-like symptoms or sores. don't start humira if you have an infection. humira is proven to help stop further joint damage. want more proof? 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(stasha vo) i feel blessed that i can still connect with others. support others. and i am still going. >> why isn't election day a holiday? the majority of americans support the idea. i'm not looking for a day off. i am looking for ways to make voting easier. voting is literally the most democratic thing we do and yet it can be uniquely difficult. clearly this isn't going to happen this year but maybe a new administration and new congress should think about it. the lead supreme court justice ruth bader ginsburg will not be just remembered for her groundbreaking life but for her iconic style. from her over sized glasses to her fancy collar she often used fashion to send a message. she used the color she wore with the black robes to emphasize her presence as a woman on the court and the challenges she overcame to get there. fans tracked which ones she would wear to broadcast her support or dissent toward a particular court ruling. her fierce push to break barriers propelled her to icon status with her collars becoming synonymous with the notorious rbg image. though she has passed on her larger than life image lives on in the hearts of many. >> it was because of her work that i had a good job that allowed me as a single woman to support myself and choose to have a family. >> i think rbg is the epitome of a lawyer. you look at someone like that and it is the michael jordan of our industry. >> it is heart breaking to hear she has passed and suffered and she is a hero especially for women. 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