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You work in the civil rights division. how much latitude, how much power does an attorney general have in terms of what civil rights laws get enforced? >> it has a ton of power, chris. and certainly in the title ix context and in title vi, the doj has authority to advise all the agencies what about the law is, what their obligations are, what they're required to do. they -- on some statutes, the doj enforces, they're the only people who can do the enforcement. in the voting rights context, in the police misconduct context, in suing states to meet their obligations under olmsted, the disability...

Jeff sessions was siding against children. >> what is striking to me is the amount of power the doj has and something people opposing jeff sessions's nomination were talking a lot about. obviously the people supporting him recognized the power of it. you work in the civil rights division. how much latitude, how much power does an attorney general have in terms of what civil rights laws get enforced? >> it has a ton of power, chris. and certainly in the title ix context and in title vi, the doj has authority to advise all the agencies what about the law is, what their obligations are, what they...

Of action today. let me put the question to you. do you think a piece of legislation like this could pass today? and do you think the republican party needs to root itself more seriously in equal protection work in the congress? >> i think a republican party that wants to be taken seriously has to be attentive to the civil rights and civil liberties of all of its citizens. that's always within my sense. i was involved intimately in the last major bipartisan civil rights legislation passed, and that was the americans with disabilities act in 1990. and i saw up close, precisely, how men and weap...

Of action today. let me put the question to you. do you think a piece of legislation like this could pass today? and do you think the republican party needs to root itself more seriously in equal protection work in the congress? >> i think a republican party that wants to be taken seriously has to be attentive to the civil rights and civil liberties of all of its citizens. that's always within my sense. i was involved intimately in the last major bipartisan civil rights legislation passed, and that was the americans with disabilities act in 1990. and i saw up close, precisely, how men and weap...

I think mr. alexander, also, was speaking to today and the lack of action today. let me put the question to you. do you think a piece of legislation like this could pass today? and do you think the republican party needs to root itself more seriously in equal protection work in the congress? >> i think a republican party that wants to be taken seriously has to be attentive to the civil rights and civil liberties of all of its citizens. that's always within my sense. i was involved intimately in the last major bipartisan civil rights legislation passed, and that was the americans with disabilit...