eastern, nine nasty words, english in the gutter, then now and forever. columbia university professor john mcwhorter looks at how profanity has evolved over time. sunday at 9 p.m. eastern on afterwards, in her latest book, purses, elizabeth warren talks about persistence in her life as a professor. a u.s. senator and democratic presidential candidate. she's interviewed by washington post white house reporter andy linsky sunday at 10 p.m. eastern precision bombing during world war ii is the subject of malcolm gladwell's new book "the bomber mafia," a dream, a temptation, and the longest night of the second world war. watch book tv this weekend on c-span2. ♪ "washington journal"

continues. host: joining us as 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 is passed the house. guest: it is important for members of congress to request -- respect our constitution and give access to voting. we are not asking for individuals who are questionable whether or not they should be able to cast a ballot. we are talking about citizens of this nation who pay taxes, who keep our systems running, a workers that allow us to get through the pandemic. individuals who work in hospitals and hotels who serve our food. individuals who want to participate and we should be operating looking towards a future and not continue to

operate based on the past of suppression and marginalization of individuals who may or may not agree with certain politics. host: further people act passed the house yesterday, the senate rules committee debated it. you had the leadership, the majority leader chuck schumer and the minority leader mitch mcconnell show up 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 and absentee mail voting. protect against flawed purges of voter rolls. free small dollar nonpayment -- nonpublic financing, a call for a constitutional amendment to overturn the citizens united decision. prohibit coordination between super pac's and candidates, require states to use independent redistricting 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. they were all segregationist and they were democrats. so we opposed them just as vigorously as we are opposed to the republicans because it's not just about party affiliation, it's about access to the ballot box. it's about making sure the constitutional creed that all men and women are created equal and endowed with certain inalienable rights. it's about making sure we as american people are treated equitably and equal across the board. it's not about partisanship. that's the problem with much of the dialogue. we believe the dialogue to make it about partisanship and we don't realize it's about treating human beings as citizens who are eligible to fully participate in our system.

we should move away from the partisan conversation. i do agree with the caller that there has to be some examination of where we are in this moment, how we got here and how we fight to have a different future, but we cannot do that if we settle on a demagogue personality or partisan bickering, we must do that to recognize there should be a form of civility, aspiration of inclusion that we actually create and there should be assurance that assistance -- citizens can fully participate in this democracy with a level of democracy -- respect that we should demand or respect -- expect. caller: good morning. i've been watching and i'm glad you are on the show. the naacp has to come correct

with everybody. with the only one keeping this country together. let me tell you something, in this country they do not want unity. we are the only culture, the black people, fighting to keep this country together. we have to start our own. stop trying to fit in, look what they did to georgia. we've been doing good forever. let's do like all of them, don't worry about america. everybody come out here and turn against us. all these talk shows on so many

tv channels all about hate, that we've never done anything for this country. we've got to stop fighting -- trying to fit in with these people. a lot of people are tired. we are not fitting to see here -- we have problems in our inner cities. host: ok. heard your point. guest: i want to thank the caller for voting because now he's engaged in the process. it is frustrating when we have sacrificed so much as a community, african-americans, to make this democracy work. whether it's christmas addicts, the first person killed during the revolutionary war, fighting for our freedoms for the nation with the men who went and fought abroad in world war ii who came home and realized the freedom they were fighting for abroad

they did not appreciate here. or all those who voted for the first time, it's our responsibility as a community to push for the qualities that we think are important. our tax dollars are paid for this government. we should no longer see ourselves as victims of government, but owners of government and make sure it's for the needs of our community. host: john, in virginia, independent. caller: good morning. just listening to the guy who was talking. he had a lot of great points. the only thing we are dealing with right now, we are dealing with a group of people who don't mind being lied to. they carry that lie and they will carry that until the day they die. we have to beat them at their

own game. if they don't want us to get water in lines of people waiting to vote, let's get about 1000 people handing out water. they don't want us, let's get buses and bring the people to the polls. we have to beat them at their own game. guest: when we fight, we win. all the obstacles put in front of us, we fight so we can win because we believe in this country despite this country not always believing in us or allowing us the opportunity. we will continue to push and fight so i absolutely agree with the caller. it's frustrating to know that so many people bought into the concept of america, but it's for us to continue to fight for the america we would like to see. i am america despite one other people would try to do.

to make this the america that we -- this the america we want for our children. host: you can go to naacp.org and follow them on twitter and also follow their ceo and president derek johnson. ♪ announcer: c-span's washington journal, every day taking your calls live on the air on the news of the day and we discussed policy issues that impact you. coming up thursday morning, texas republican congressman michael burgess on the house gop vote on congresswoman liz cheney. the colonial pipeline cyberattack, and the pandemic response. then michigan democratic congresswoman dan killed he

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♪ announcer: midco supports c-span as a public service, along with these other television providers, giving you a front row seat to democracy. merrick garland and the houma security secretary were on capitol hill. both officials agree that white supremacists remain the most persistent and lethal threat. lawmakers asked about the investigation into the u.s. capitol attack. this is two hours.