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All in starts right now. Good evening from new york. Im chris hayes. It was a big day for the future of american democracy. We will get to that significant action in a moment, but before we do, just give me a second to go back to the context of what happened in the last election. I think it has been obscured by the sabotage and disinformation and violent insurrection unlike anything weve seen in the history of the country stoked by the former president. Remember this, last november, right, once in a cent ray pandemic, we got a glimpse of what a full or fuller participation version of our democracy would look like because due to the pandemic, state after state, jurisdiction after jurisdiction, and i should note this is both democratic and republican there were fights over this. But across the board, more or less on the whole in the aggregate, all these places did something praise worthy and novel. They took steps to make it easier to vote. They did this by expanding eligibility for mailin voting and early voting and adding drop boxes for ballots. Theres a Public Health concern. You dont want everyone crowding in on election day. So, people found ways to make it easier to vote so you wouldnt have that. And the results were clear. It worked. Turnout was the highest it had been in 120 years, nearly 67 of eligible voters casting a ballot. And also there was no uniform drubing of one party by the other. It was not a blowout. It was a competitive election. Yes, joe biden won by a healthy margin, 7 million votes. 70plus Electoral College votes. But remember republicans gained seats in the house. They won some key senate races, right . Now, rather than looking at that outcome and thinking, wow, we could be a Competitive Party even in high turnout elections, which would have been a totally rational conclusion. Republicans said, no, oh, god, never again. We want fewer people to vote. We need to do everything we can to manipulate the Very Mechanisms Of American Democracy to give ourselves a competitive advantage, or its over for us. Now, today the senate had the opportunity to stop that assault on democracy, to rebalance the Playing Field with a vote on the for the people act. And what that bill would do theres a lot of parts had it not been killed by the republican filibuster this evening, would create a Permanent National floor for voting access kind of similar to the rules we saw across the country during the pandemic that led to that historic turnout, highest level of democratic participation we have seen in our lifetimes. But of course republicans view that as a purely partisan exercise. And think of this. That is because in their heart of hearts, in their deepest souls, they do not trust their own message enough to appeal to a majority of americans in a high turnout election. Mitch mcconnell even called it a power grab. Later today the senate will vote on whether to advance democrats Transparentally Plan to tilt every election permanently in their favor. By now the rotten Inner Workings of this power grab have been thoroughly exposed to the like. Its a recipe for undermining confidence in our elections, remaking our entire system of government to suit the preferences of one far end of the political spectrum. Obviously laughable bit of projection. What mcconnell claims democrats are doing is exactly precisely what has happened in state after state controlled by republicans. Earlier this year in georgia, sweeping Voter Restriction Law passed with just republican votes, Transparentally Partisan, you might say, in the state house and in the senate signed by republican governor. In iowa legislatures added new restriction for no reason. And a Party Line Vote signed into law by a republican governor. In montana two bills changing Election Laws passed the legislature almost entirely on a Party Line Vote. Governor of course also a republican. In texas, another restrictive bill passed in the senate. Party line vote, Transparentally Partisan. Before the House Democrats walked out and killed it. But theyre not done yet. Okay. So, thats the scorecard on Transparentally Partisan attempts to tilt the field, right . In term of undermining trust in the system, i mean, come on, spare me. What are we doing here . I mean, Mitch Mcconnells Republican Party is the one whose leader undermined the election even before and during and after and then culminating whipping up a violent insurrection. And then Mitch Mcconnell himself refused to vote to sanction or remove him. And now state after state is falling down the Republican Partys conspiratorial rabbit hole. As Pennsylvania State senator who chairs a Key Committee now says he wants a similar audit in his state. In fulton county, georgia, a judge is deliberating whether to allow an audit. Democratic state lawmakers in those states and all across the country have been watching this assault on Voting Rights. 480 of them signed on this letter to congressional leadership pleading with them to pass federal Voting Rights legislation. Some of those Texas Democrats who walked out of their own state house to kill that restrictive voting bill have been on capitol hill pushing for federal action. Arizonas democratic secretary of state, katie hobbs, the target of threats and harassment and vitriol, called out her own state seine na, Kyrsten Sinema for refusing to get rid of the filibuster that stands in the way of passing this law. Full democratic immunity is the only way to get this done. Senator Raphael Warnock, spent a lifetime working on these issues, before being elected thanks to last years incredible turnout eloquently laid out the stakes today. Right now across the nation, Constitutional Rights are being assaulted. And i fear that if we dont act as a body in this moment, we will have crossed a dangerous rubicon in our nation that will make it extremely difficult for the next generation to secure Voting Rights for every eligible american. This is not our house. This is the house of the people. We are stewards of that trust. We have to ensure that the voices of the people can be heard in their own house. In the end we ended up where we knew we would end up. 50 50, Party Line Vote in the United States senate tonight. Stark division, one party that is radicalized against democracy and in pursuit of its own power, a party whose leader can count on every member of the caucus no matter where they are not to defect on the most elemental questions. A party that has come to rely not only on winning over voters but on manipulating the machinery of access as texas congressman Ronny Jackson explicitly copped to yesterday. We have everything working in our favor right now. We have redistricting coming up, and the republicans control most of that prose is in most of the states around the country. That alone should get us the majority back. Sorry, four days ago. That alone should get us the majority back. Why listen to the voters . Who cares what the voters want . We control the process for redistricting. That alone. Think about that phrase there. That alone. That alone, independent of the will of the people. That alone, independent of democracy. That alone gives us power. Who cares what these people think . You know, all this reminds me of 2016 and the nomination of Merrick Garland to the nomination of the Supreme Court. And remember president barack obama and the democrats plan was to choose a compromised consensus candidate, had been lauded across the aisle. It was a way to sort of shame them into confirming him. But of course that didnt work. And there was no plan b. Now, in the democrats defense, there wasnt that much they could do. They did not control the senate at the time. There was not much they could do to force the issue. But now theyve got 50 plus one votes. They have the power if they choose to wield it. That is the question, whether they will choose to wield their power or not. There is no question about which choice Mitch Mcconnell would make if the shoe were on the other foot. Congressman james clyburn, south carolina, is the House Majority whip, and he joins me now. What is your reaction to that vote today, a vote that didnt have a lot of suspense because i think we suspected it would end up here . Well, i feel very strongly that this begins the process. Thats all thats happened here. And we are going to move forward doing what we have to do. The Vice President spoke eloquently to the fact that we are going to move forward. We are going to move forward with the Voter Empowerment act, which is a part of s. 1 and the john r. Lewis Voting Rights and advancement act. Were going to look at what you mentioned has been put forward, and i think that Stacey Abrams has already spoke favorably of it. And i, too, said that its a great first step. So, lets take a look at what hes putting forward. And i think that we ought to make a run to try to get the votes that are necessary to get it. If you dont, then i think its time for us to take a hard look at the filibuster. And let me be clear. I have never asked that the filibuster be eliminated. I do believe that we are due for constitutional institutions what weve done with the budget. Reconciliation is used in order for us to maintain the full faith and credit of the United States of america. And we ought to use reconciliation to demand democratic principles and move forward with our pursuit of a more perfect union. So, i just feel very strongly that the filibuster can be maintained while at the same time not allowing to apply the constitutional issues just so you dont the budget issue. Its worth emphasizing this point for a moment because there is at this point no conceptual coherence to the filibuster. There are two major exceptions, reconciliation, which, again, is a sort of obscure budgetary process, and then nominations, right . We got rid of that up to and including sproem Supreme Court justices and judges that have lifetime tenure. That wasnt handed down by moses in the tablets or passed down by the founding fathers. Thats complete happenstance. Thats exactly right. When you study this issue, you find out it was an oversight. Someone made a mistake, and its been used and turned into a tradition. And so tradition means in and of itself that sometimes youve got to have better laws and get beyond tradition. And look, its clear in article 1 section 4 of the constitution of the United States of america that the federal government maintains control, must maintain control. If you look at the federalist papers, its right there. Hamilton spoke to it eloquently. On three pages there, he says that federal elections must remain with the federal government. What you see here is republicans tried to turn over from pressing elections to states. That is exactly what has happened. And for Mitch Mcconnell to stay this is a takeover on our part, it is just the opposite. How Many Democrats in georgia voted for the deal be passed down there or in texas or in florida or in iowa as you just pointed out . Not a single democrat voted for any of these. So, to say that the law is no good unless you have bipartisan support will say to me that you dont believe in the 50th Amendment because the 50th Amendment that gave blacks the right to vote passed by one party vote. Its an excellent point, the 15th Amendment 14th as well we should note. In fact, big part of countrys under military rule, but it was a strange time anyways. But the deeper question to me here, congressman, is this idea of the sort of specter and to me the kind of code of federalizing elections when that is weve been fighting on that turf forever about who controls elections. And this is not a new argue. No, its not. And its never been a real problem before. As you know when i came along, i could not vote until i was 21. We have now lowered the voting age to 18. States didnt do that. The federal government did that, decided that we were sending young men at the age of 18 and 19, 20 years old off to war, and they ought to have the right to vote on whether or not that should occur. And thats what the federal government, the congress, used to lower the voting age to 18. States came along later because they didnt want to have two systems. So, this argument is very clear. The history is there. The record are there. And i dont know why Mitch Mcconnell would stand on the senate floor and misrepresent what is going on here the way he did. And that was the biggest misrepresentation ive seen from him in a long, long time. Thats saying something. Congressman james clyburn, always a pleasure to get some time with you. Thank you very much. Thanks for having me. Do you remember earlier this year there was a procedural vote in the senate on raising the minimum wage to 15 an hour as a test vote. And Kyrsten Sinema infamously recorded her no vote like this, a gesture that was equal parts glib and subsequently wrong, which seems to describe a lot of her political ethos. Today shes got a new oped that is the Written Embodiment of the thumbs down moment. Well take it apart, ahead. Nt well take it apart, ahead the visionary lexus nx. Lease the 2021 nx 300 for 359 a month for 36 months. Experience amazing at your lexus dealer. Cookies and breyers. 359 a month for 36 months. Thats like getting two desserts wait. Do we have to thank our moms twice . 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This was shortly before Senate Republicans blocked having a debate on the for the people act election reform bill. There are advocates, there are lawyers who are working on Voting Rights issues for decades, both legislatures and in the courts. And she filed an amicus brief before the Supreme Court in january concerning the Voting Rights act. That case has yet to be