trade between native americans and the virginia colonists. sunday at 6 p.m. eastern on american artifacts a tour of richard nixon's birthplace located on the grounds of the richard nixon presidential library. and sunday at 8 p.m. eastern on the presidency, programs on thomas jefferson, on the president you an education and an interpretation conversation between jefferson and abigail adams. add a tour of his gardens at monticello. exploring the american story, american history tv this weekend on c-span3. >> joining us is derek johnson, the president and chair of the naacp. thank you very much for joining us this morning. want to begin with the debate on capitol hill yesterday on the senate side over voting rights legislation. first, your thoughts on this bill that passed the house.

>> guest: it's really important for members of congress to respect our constitution and get access. were not asking for individuals who arere questionable whether r not they should be able to cast a a ballot. we are talking about citizens of this nation who pay taxes, who keep our systems running, the critical workers in the about us to get through the pandemic, individuals who work in the hospitals, hotels, who serve our food. these are individuals who simply want tovis participate and we should be operating looking towards the future and not continue to operate based on the past of vote suppression of marginalizing individuals who may or mayay not agree with certain policy members. >> host: for the people act passed the house yesterday. the senate rules committee it.ted you have theha leadership, the majority leader chuck schumer and the minority leader mitch mcconnellea show up, a rare

appearance at the senate rules committee to debate this legislation before it heads to the floor. this is what is in the bill. automatic voter registration, strengthen early absentee mail voting, protect against flawed purges of voterer rolls, create small dollop of non-taxpayer public financing system for federal offices, call for constitutional amendment to overturn scotus decisions united decisions. independent redistricg commissions and enhance resources to stave off foreign threats on election. i want to play the minority leader's argument against this legislation and how do you to -- and how do you respond. @cspanwj --[video clip] >> and 2016, this was presented as a massive overhaul and

emergency repair job for a broken democracy, that is what it was back then. last autumn, voters made a decision democrats liked a lot better. suddenly there side stop calling our democracy broken. now, our democracy was beyond reproach. but curiously enough the democrats still want the exact same sweeping bill just as desperately. the truth is quite simple, our democracy is not in crisis and we are not going to let one party take over our democracy under false pretense. voter turnout last november blue 2016 out of the water. the 2020 election saw the highest turnout in decades. the hysterical attacks of the political left has thrown at the new election law in georgia for example have been thoroughly

debunked by fact checkers. african american turnout last fall was twice as high in mississippi as it was in massachusetts. none of the shifting made up rationales for the sweeping set of changes hold any water at all. host: your response to the minority leader? guest: he is absolutely wrong. the naacp and many civil rights groups have been working hard to open up access to voting for years. 2016 was a wake-up call to recognize that a foreign nation that interfered with our election. that should give us all pause and we should all be concerned with foreign interference. secondly, the notion african americans turned out in large numbers in november somehow makes our democracy ok. we all witnessed what happened on january 6. our democracy is teetering.

you have a whole set of individuals who refused to accept the outcome of elections. this is squarely an issue of officials trying to select their voters as opposed to voters selecting elected officials and to change the reality of the political party the minority leader represents is out of step with the majority of americans. they are trying to do all they can to create a 1950's reality when we are in 2021 looking for 2030 in 2050 and they need to adjust their policy, their outreach and to be more appealing to a majority of americans and not try to shrink our democracy to the point where it's no longer a democracy and it is only about individuals who are sitting in office trying to do the bidding for their high wealth donors as opposed to taking care of our infrastructure, making sure young people have an opportunity

providing the necessary support for elders and protecting the right of the disadvantage. that's what we should be fighting for and we should be doing that as an inclusive community around democratic principles that all citizens who are eligible should be allowed to cast a ballot. host: we are talking with derek johnson, the president and ceo of the naacp about voting rights. we want to join the conversation with your questions and comments. democrats dial in at 202-748-8000, republicans, 202-748-8001. independents, 202-748-8002. text us with your thoughts with your first name, city and state at 202-748-8003. do the democrats in the senate have the votes to pass this legislation? guest: i think the outcome will show whether or not they have the votes. i commend individuals for pushing this. for many in the civil rights

community we were really concerned when the supreme court ruling came down on citizens united. we were concerned when the supreme court decision came out with the voting rights act. we must restore our ability to have confidence in our election. in australia, a 90% -- 96% of the population actually votes. in canada it's around 92%. we talk about a high voter turnout if only 60% of americans vote. that's not a representative democracy. we should be striving towards allowing access to the ballot box, not limiting access and not trying to select voters but allow voters to select elected officials. to really carry out, this should be -- they should not be a win lose proposition, it should be a proposition that we can actually

appreciate here in the united states. >> if the democrats do not have the votes in the senate, that sure they limited the filibuster to pass the bill? guest: the filibuster rule is a segregationist rule. regardless of this vote the filibuster was problematic. it was used to slow down progress. between the filibuster and the rule used by southern members of the senate to pull out any efforts to integrate schools, those are rules that have prevented true progress in this country. think about social security program, when it was adopted, southern senators were able to slow the bill down and say we will only support it if agricultural and domestic workers were exempt from the social security program. 80% of african-americans at the

time were agricultural or domestic workers. so for my community we were locked out of a safety net for elders, locking generational opportunity to grow wealth. those rules should be thrown out the window yesterday. for this vote and any future vote. we want product -- we must progress and not be stalled by a mindset that is not healthy for this country. host: let's go to calls. willie in texas, a republican. caller: good morning. host: go ahead. caller: can i ask an honest question, this gentleman comes on, the naacp is no longer -- i used to think the naacp no longer had the public used to have, but apparently it does now in this cancel culture.

the naacp is falling into that lane. why do you let people like this guy spout on about russian interference in the 2016 election when there was none, but the minute someone talks about the 2020 election and talks about the fraud, the evidence of fraud and election improprieties that was there, you cut them off summarily. you have people like this gentleman who also talks about the filibuster is racist when it absolutely had nothing to do with race. all you have to do is get out of the revisionist history in their minds and view the real history about the filibuster. i would like just a little bit of fairness here because again, i'm a republican, i'm a conservative first. what's going on here when he talks about things like the

voting rights act being good, no it has not been. it was voted on by the supreme court there were certain provisions that no longer were applicable to today. host: you have a few issues there, which one do you want him to respond to? caller: i'd like him to respond to the fact that there was no russian interference, it's been proven, no collusion by the trump administration in the 2016 election and he said that and i would like him to explain why he thinks that so even though the mueller report clearly showed otherwise. guest: well there's been ample support and evidence that have come before congress that there was russian interference. i never mentioned about collusion with trump. i talked about russian interference, there's been ample evidence to show that.

secondly, the filibuster rule was used by southern segregationists to block progress. not revisionist history, in lyndon johnson's book, in his biography he talked about when he was one of those segregationists that use to use the rules of the senate to slow or impede progress. all of those senators from the south used the filibuster rule to impede progress. finally, when you look at the 2020 election, there is been no true -- proof. trump appointed judges reviewed much of the cases that came before them and all of them were summarily dismissed. so let's not try to create a parallel universe where you talk about revisionist history, let's rest on the fact we are a united states of america with citizens who are entitled to the right to participate and we must protect

those rights because if we don't protect those rights, we will cease to exist as a nation we have grown to become. host: let's go to michael in georgia, democratic caller. caller: good morning. i would just like to say especially the republicans don't understand the georgia bill. the georgia law, they took the power away from the secretary of state and gave it to the state representative. they're going -- and use all that stuff going on in arizona, we don't need that here in georgia. host: talk about the georgia law but also what's happening in arizona. guest: what we've seen in georgia in november and in the runoff was not in the hands of

the democrat or african-american community, that was a republican elected secretary of state who saw a process -- over process and when it was completed he verified there was no fraud. this wasn't a party against another party, but this was republicans who oversaw the election and that election was carried out. so let's not go to a place in feed into this conspiracy theory , of the big lie that could undermine this and erode the confidence in our system. the same thing in arizona. what we are witnessing is an atrocity. i look forward to the justice department stepping in to make sure the individuals who are overseeing the count are not allowed to manipulate anything. at the end of the day the election has been certified. and whether or not there something that can change in arizona, we are looking at the

administration that won the election. arizona won't change the outcome. let's begin to repair any systems that need repairing, let's open up access to voting and let's become the democratic nation we claim to be around the globe so we can make things the trust of other nation as we send our young people abroad to fight for our constitution. host: from the wall street journal, the arizona law passed by the legislature and signed into law by the republican governor. would stop ballots automatically being vote -- being mailed if they don't vote in an early ballot in two consecutive cycles. voters would remain registered to vote and would be warned before pulling from the west. guest: the question is why. public policy around voting should take a few things into account.

what policies are being put in place to protect the integrity of elections and then what is there to open up access. we are not opening up access or protecting integrity, why? a set of policies seeking a problem grade there were no problems. if we do have a problem, we have a federal floor to provide access to all voters free from any encumber meant, free from voter suppression and often so that we can know that citizens who are eligible, citizens who are eligible are able to cast an effective ballot. what's the harm they are -- there? the only problem i can see there is policymakers are using the big lie to select voters as opposed to voters having the ability to select the policymakers.

host: we will go to barbara next, and independent. caller: good morning. ok. this person you have on their is spouting a bunch of lies. let's get back to he said let's follow our constitution. hr one that the democrats are proposed is very flawed. in your constitution it says congress can change the time and manner in which they hold their elections but it only applies to representatives and senators. all this other stuff they have in their is unconstitutional. that does not affect local elections, it does not affect state elections and it does not affect the presidential

election. as far as all this stuff about the supreme court turning down these cases, they did not even want to hear it. it wasn't of the supreme court said you're wrong, they just did not hear all of the evidence. we have proof out here the dead people voted, that people that did not live in the district voted. some states even proved that people below 18 years of age voted. host: where do you read about this evidence? caller: where do i read about it? it comes from some of the media, i am no longer on the internet. i listen a lot,oan has had proof after proof of this stuff. this thing that's going on in

arizona, it is not to change the elections, it's to prove that we are either right or we are wrong. host: ok. guest: i have no words for that. proof is proof, present it. you have individuals were federal judges who were appointed by donald trump who have rejected all of the information because there was no evidence. host: powder springs, georgia, republican. caller: i've just been listening to derek johnson. i'm a member of the naacp and i'm also involved with other organizations. i really feel we need to examine

the organizations that represent -- supposedly represent both republican and democrat. to make it more balance. and start examining the legislative branch and judicial branch, the executive branch. we need a lens to rebuild a collective body of thinkers who can come together and eliminate this one sidedness. we need you to start looking at bringing more republicans in the naacp so you can have a balanced view because rejecting your views on the organizational views it seems like we are one-sided. you will republicans were concerned about the community, you will republicans concerned about the process. you really need to do a collective search to balance our

organizations individually and obtain collectively as an organization. we need to look at all the systemic issues and take a one by one and revisit our constitution and on the basis of our constitution and moral law and revisit this whole thing because we as a country are going in the wrong direction. host: i'm going to have derek johnson respond. guest: we are a nonpartisan organization. when i talk about the segregationist era, those were democrats. lyndon johnson is a senator was one of the biggest segregationist. senator russell was a huge segregationist. anti-washington journal segments can be found online at c-span.org. we have to leave this one now for live coverage of today's white house briefing with press secretary jen psaki. >> a of the president's family cabinet. as a quick