06/23/21 06/23/21 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] y amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> this vote, i am ashamed to say, as further evidence that voter suppression has become part of the official platform of the republican party. amy: senate republicans have used the filibuster to block debate on the most sweeping voting rights bill considered by congress in decades. we will look at the for the people act and the fight over the filibuster with the reverend william barber of the poor

people's campaign and elizabeth hira of the brennan center for justice. >> the for the people act is america's gre next civil rights bill, a chance to change how we drive districts, protting the right of every voter to vote, changing who gets a seat at the tle to run and represent everyday americans, lifting of policies that matter to all of us. amy: then the white house says it will miss its goal of getting 70% of adults at least partially vaccinated by july 4th, alarming public health officials as the covid delta variant rapidly spreads. >> we are not done in two we completely crush this outbreak. the delta variant is currently the greatest threat in the u.s. to our attempt to eliminate covid-19. the good news, our vaccines are effective against the delta variant. conclusion, we have the

tools so let's use them and crush the upright. amy: all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. senate republicans blocked the sweeping voter protection bill "for the people act" from advancing tuesday in a major but expected blow to democrats and to voting rights. the move comes amid a crackdown on voting rights in republican-led states and as calls mount to abolish the filibuster so democrats can circumvent republican stonewalling. vice president kamala harris spoke after the vote. vice pres. harris: this is about the american people's right to vote unfettered, about their access to the right to vote in a meaningful way. nobody is debating i don't believe whether all americans have the right to vote.

the issue here is is there actual access to the voting process or is that being impeded? amy: president biden and democrats have vowed to keep fighting to protect voting rights at the federal level. we'll have more on this story after headlines. i need to yield the a, reuters reports dozens of people have been killed after an airstrike in the tigray region. a bomb was reportedly dropped on a market tuesday afternoon. ethiopian military block several ambulances from reaching the scene. thousands of people have been killed in the region's is ethiopian military invaded last november with support from eritrea. there have been widespread reports of war crimes, including sexual violence. aid groups warn millions are at risk of famine. amy: japan has restarted its first nuclear reactor in over three years, despite major concerns over its safety and widespread public opposition to japan's continued use of nuclear power.

energy experts say the government is not heeding the lessons of the devastating triple disaster of 2011, which killed nearly 20,000 people after a 9.0 magnitude earthquake triggered a tsunami and a nuclear meltdown at the fukushima power plant. some residents still remain displaced 10 years later. the u.n. and other rights groups are condemning the government of nicaraguan president daniel ortega over its mounting crackdown of opposition ahead of the november election. at least 15 people have been arrested this month, including five presidential candidates. ortega is widely expected to run for a fourth presidential term. meanwhile, mexico and argentina have withdrawn their ambassadors to nicaragua. the biden administration also imposed new sanctions on four nicaraguan officials and retake allies earlier this month. -- ortega allies earlier this month. this is jose miguel vivanco of human rights watch. >> we are asking

secretary-general good terrace to go to the united nations security council and report on the seriousness of what is happening in nicaragua, not only around the flagrant violations of human rights but also the repercussions and the point of refugees who have had to flee nicaragua. amy: in mexico, people were killed after a series of shootings in reynosa after gunmen in vehicles opened fire at the crowd. among the victims were taxi drivers, workers, and a nursing student. mexican president obrador has called for an investigation. reynosa is located across the border from mcallen, texas, and has been contested territory for drug cartels. on tuesday, the state of tamaulipa's top prosecutor blamed infighting between members of the gulf cartel for the weekend shooting. tens of thousands of people have been killed or disappeared in mexico amid a years-long, u.s.-

backed war on drugs. the committee to protect journalists says israel must investigate last week's bombing of arab israeli journalist hassan shelan's home. shelan, who writes for ynet, survived the attack. the group says it's at least the third attack on an arab israeli journalist in less than a month. the united states government has seized dozens of website domains linked to iran, including state owned press tv.com, popular english language new site. they also shut down yemen and iraqi channels. journalist and news host tweeted -- "if a country did this to u.s. media outlets, it would be seen as an act of war." a hong kong, news outlet apple daily seit is shutting down less than a week after authorities raided its newsroom, arresting editors and executives of the pro-democracy paper, and froze its accounts under the sweeping national security law. meanwhile, the trail for the

first person to be charged under the national security law started today. tong ying-kit was arrested last year after he collided with police officers while riding a motorbike and flying a flag with a popular protest slogan. in spain, a group of catalan separatist leaders have been released from a prison a day after they were pardoned. in 2017, the spanish central government cracked down on the separatists following an independence referendum and the catalan parliament's declaration of independence. some of the freed leaders will still face a ban on holding public office. political leaders who fled spain are not included in the pardon. this is pere aragonés, president of the government of catalonia. >> the decision taken today by the spanish government is a recognition t sentences were unjust. it is time for amnesty and the right to self-determination. amy: international coalition of over 200 groups is calling on the biden administration to permanently end the so-called global gag rule, which bars non-profits in other countries

from receiving u.s. funds if they provide abortions or even refer or counsel people on abortion. biden rescinded the rule but it remains at risk of being reinstated in future republican administrations. "the new york times" reports four of the saudi men who participated in the abduction and killing of "washington post" journalist jamal khashoggi in 2018 received state department-approved paramilitary training in the u.s. the training was provided by the security company tier 1 group, which is owned by private equity firm cerberus capital management. in immigration news, the biden administration is allowing some -- asylum-seekers who were enrolled in trump's "remain in mexico" program, and ordered deported to their home countries for not being present in their u.s. court hearings to revive their asylum cases. under remain in mexico of thousands of asylum seekers were forced to wait in often dangerous conditions in mexico while their cases made their way through u.s. courts. buzzfeed reports many of them couldn't make it to court

because conditions were too dangerous to travel, while other asylum seekers never arrived to their court hearings in the u.s. because they were kidnapped by cartels, were ill, or denied entry because they were pregnant. this comes as immigrant justice advocates continue to denounce the biden administration for expelling and turning away asylum-seekers who recently arrived to the u.s.-mexico border. as of june, the group human rights first has tracked more than 3000 kidnappings and other attacks, including rape, human trafficking, and violent armed assaults, against asylum seekers and migrants expelled to or -- expelled at the u.s.-mexico border since president biden took office. interior secretary deb haaland announced tuesday her agency will investigate the impact of

government-run schools that sought to force the assimilation of indigenous children. the interior department, which oversaw the schools, will also ek to identify burial sites at the schools. last month, the remains of 215 indigenous children were discovered at one such school in canada. this is secretary haaland. >> i come from ancestors who entered the horrors of indian border schools assimilation policies carried out by the same department that i now lead. the same agency that tried to eradicate our culture, our language, our spiritual practices, and our people. to address the intragenerational impact of indian boarding schools and promote spiritual and emotional healing in our communities, we must shed light on the unspoken trauma of the past. amy: pulitzer prize-winning journalist nikole hannah-jones says she will not join the

faculty of the university of north carolina at chapel hill next month without tenure. hannah-jones, creator of the 1619 project, says political interference and influence led to the school board's decision to deny her tenure, which drew protest and sharp criticism from faculty, students, fellow academics, and some funders. -- some donors. and new yorkers voted in highly dissipative primary election tuesday. in the heated mayoral race, brooklyn borough president and former new york police officer eric adams is leading with over 31% of the vote, but it will likely take several weeks to announce a winner with the new ranked choice voting system. civil rights attorney maya wiley is currently in second place with 22% of the vote, followed closely by former sanitation commissioner kathryn garcia. 2020 presidential candidate andrew yang has conceded after

receiving less than 12% of the tallied vote. journalist ross barkan, who has written critically about adams, said he and other reporters were barred from adams' election night party. talk show host curtis sliwa has won the republican nomination. meanwhile, in a stunning upset in buffalo, new york, india walton has beaten byron brown. walton, who is african american, this will be buffalo's first woman mayor if she wins the general election in november. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. the war and peace report i'm amy goodman in new york, joined by my co-host juan gonzález in new brunswick, new jersey. hi, juan. juan: hi, amy.

welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. amy: before we talk about the major block overwrites legislation in washington, can you talk about what is happened so far, though we certainly don't know final results, in the first -- in the primary in new york for mayor? juan: yes, amy. well, it does look like eric adams has a pretty substantial lead in the count. he is got almost a 10% lead over maya wiley. clearly since nework is embarking on right choice voting for the first time in mayoral election, there still a long way to go was not now there will be a process of tallying the second, third, fourth, fifth choices of voter so it will take a while. i think the most interesting thing that is happened is the

onus complete come flats -- complete collapse of andrew yang who was covered by the press as a front runner for most of the time of this mayoral campaign. eric adams, former police captain was a reformer against police abuse within the department but w has emerged as a more centrist candidate and focusing on how not only his experience in government, but his ability -- his willingness to tackle rising crime in the city. another part of adams' political viewpoint that has not gotten as much coverage, he's a picks of of charter schools. -- big supporter of charter schools. he got millions of dollars from many billionaires who are also charter school backers. so that remains to be seen how if he does survive in the final count, what is policies will be

toward the public school system. i think interestingly, adams is leading in all the outer boroughs of new york city while kathryn garcia, the former sanitation commissioner, won a majority of voters in manhattan. this will be interesting to see. my sense is that adams will probably prevail, but we don't know because we are in uncharted territory when it comes to rank choice voting. amy: of years ago adams described himself as a conservave republican. juan: yes. having known eric adams for many years, i think iconservative republicanism was more a matter of convenience at that time, he thought he could get further within the republican party than the democratic party because most of his policies i would not consider to be what we consider today republican policies.

amy: we will certainly continue to cover this closely watched race in new york city. when we come back, senate republicans have used the filibuster to block debate on the most sweeping voting rights bill considered by congress in decades. we will look at the for the people act and the fight over filibuster with reverend william barber and elizabeth hira. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: "hang on to your ego" covered by frank black. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. senate republicans have used the filibuster to block debate on the most sweeping voting rights bill considered by congress in decades. every democrat voted to open debate on the legislation, the for the people act, but not a

single republican agreed to. for months, senate democrats have been trying to reform the filibuster, but they have fallen short due to opposition from two fellow democrats -- joe manchin of west virginia and kyrsten sinema of arizona. this all comes as republican state lawmakers are passing sweeping measures to suppress the vote around the country. according to the voting rights lab, 18 states have enacted more than 30 laws to restrict voting since the november election. senate majority leader chuck schumer said tuesday the fight to protect voting rights is not over. >> once again, senate republicans have signed their names in the ledger of history, alongside donald trump, the big lie and voter suppression, to their enduring disgrace. this vote, i'm ashamed to say, is further evidence that voter suppression has become part of

the official platform of the republican party will stop -- party. now republican senators may have prevented us from having a debate on voting rights today, but i want to be. clear about one thing -- the fight to protect voting rights is not over by no means. in the fight for voting rights, this vote was the starting gun, not the finish line. amy: senate minority leader mitch mcconnell accused the democrats of trying to stage a power grab by trying to pass the for the people act. >> later today, the senate will vote on whether to advance democrats transparently to tilt every american permanently in their favor. by now, the rotten inter-workings of this power grab have been thoroughly exposed to the light. we know it would shatter a decades-old understanding that campaign finance laws should have a bipartisan referee and turn the federal election

commission into a partisan majority cudgel for democrats to wield against political opponents. amy: we are joined now by two guests. reverend dr. william barber, cochair of the poor people's campaign and president of repairers of the breach. elizabeth hira is an attorney at the brennan center for justice's democracy program. former congressional staffer who helped to craft the original iteration of the for the people act. lead author of a new report on the legislation titled "equity for the people." we welcome you both to democracy now! first, elizabeth hira, can you explain what happened? it was not a vote on the content of the for the people act. this was a procedural vote. it was 50/50. explain why harris presides but does not vote and why you need to get to 60 just to happen discussion. >> tha you for having me. that is a great question to start off with.

there is reporting yesterday about how this was that this -- stunning defeat and in of the bill but that is not accurate. this was only the beginning. yesterday's vote was not a vote on the merits of the bill but to open debate on the bill. the practice, usually there is a discussion you have to vote to have in the next thing you do is vote on the content of the bill. yesterday's vote was to open debate and we had 50 democrats behi the decision, but the way things work in the senate is the filibuster where 60 votes are needed to overcome the filibuster and proceed with debate. all yesterday indicates is we did not have the 60 votes to start the debate but is only the a fight of the apple. this is a procedural point that she could people hope. you don't need 60 people to get together. there's a workaround that is not

formally changing the rules but technically changing the rules where you can get 50 senators together with the vice president as the tie-breaking vote, choose to technically change the rules to defeat the filibuster, to overcome that and say, hey, 51 will change the rules. we can decide to open debate on the bill. at a minimum, america deserves that discussion. let's discuss this. they chose to not take that opportunity. that is not the end of the road. democrats will have to figure out how to get together to take advantage of the procedural workaround. the only thing that will make them do is to continue doing from the people this is a politicapriority. juan: i would like to ask you about the actual content of the bill. there has been a lot of discussion this is a sweeping

bill, there has been very little public infortion about the specific provisions of the bill. it is pretty sweeping. not only election day holiday for the first time in the united states -- many other countries already have that, obviously -- but there are all kinds of changes to the enfranchisement felons who have completed their terms across the country, there are the two weeks of early voting nationwide, there is also a requirement for super pacs to disclose their donors. could you talk about many of the separate provisions republicans essentially see this as passing this bill would doom them for decades to come? >> yes. as you say, thank you for the question, i think the bill as a massive democracy reform package that makes sense because it comprehensively fixes so many things.

many of us were watching the 2020 elections and say, how is that happening in 2020? this bill creates a wholesale opportunity for us to fix the things that have been wrong in our democracy. it would include automatic butter registrations when voters go to the dmv can register to vote. if you opt in, we have the potential to bring tens of millions of americans under the roles through that process. another reform, same-day butter registration which we know is one of the most single most effective interventions to bring young people onto the rolls. largest electric block. they pass the boomers. they're not registered to vote at the same rate. it would bring the most diverse group of americans on the voter rolls. this has been tried in states all across the country. all hr 1, as 1 does is states

have to admit him -- minimum. same-day voter registration, automatic voter registration. so many places, 29 states in america, restrict enticed about even after you return to your community. we know because of mass incarceration, the people of color are deeply overrepresented in these numbers. voter id -- we have communities of color, women, transgender people significantly like access to identification that reflects their identity and legal name. this would provide a workaround so you can make a sworn statement confirming your identity so you don't lose your right to vote because of co-worker says you don't look like you should look in your idea. not just voting rights.

there is been a sweeping wave of voter suppressive efforts, not only bills passed, but 48 states the brennan center is found 389 bills have been offered to suppress the right to vote. the work to bring people onto the voting rolls this bill also asks a civil rights question, which infrastructure could we change in america to change the fact that government does not reflect the people? i hope we will have an opportunity to get into it more. the quick version i give is 117th congress, current congress, is the most diverse in net can history. which is fantastic except it is 77% white 73% male, fewer than 5% of people in the last congress reported ever having worked a blue-collar job, and a fun factor hope people will share is limited and house of representatives only got their own bathroom on the house floor in 2011.

they had to lk out prior to that. these structures were not designed to include all of america. this bill is an opportunity to disclose big money, creates small -- [indiscernible] it is sort of revolutionary and the ability to take commonsense things and fix them up in addition to a package that says voter should be in line promised 30 minutes. i could spend all day talking about it but i recommend you look at the brennan center that clearly lays out the content of this bill. juan: i want to bring reverend william barber into the conversation. welcome back to democracy now! reverend, your reaction to what transpired yesterday in the senate and what needs to be done for those who want voting rights reform? >> thank you so much to both you and amy. let me say what my sister just

it is what democrats oughto be doing. he ought to be laying out this bill, not just saying things like we are fighting jim crow. this bill is trying to address what is happening to all people and with republicans are doing in real sense is being against all people. what she did is what they should be doing, what should have been done before. laying out the scope of this bill. yesterday, all we saw is what we already knew. mcconnell is -- and his republican cohorts are just politically mean. there committed to keeping alive voter suppression that started with the southern strategy. we already knew that. we knew that last year when we saw them willing -- more willing to take a supreme court seat -- they would not pass covid really

put rush through a way to replace the supreme court seat. we alrdy knew at. the other side is we have to say this i appreciate the leaders thing it shows were republicans are but morally, we also have to talk about manchin and sinema. he is part of the problem and the mindset, the soalled moderate democrat stuff there is no such thing as you will protect the right to vote moderately. he will assure domestic tranquility moderately establish justice moderately. this good have been over and done with. the democrats could have gone to the session -- the vice president could have been the deciding vote. at some point, if you're saying this is the thing that keeps democracy from falling, this is the moment, the other people are

totally committed to voter suppression, you know you can't compromise with them because they don't even believe there is a problem. so this is the thing, then y must act with the por you have, the power you wer given. manchin once this compromise. this sets up a possibility of that replacing the john lewis bill because he wrote the bill and that would be a travesty. we start arguing on manchin compromise. we never have photo id. he wants that. we are in court fighting right now -- i come from a state where we beat voter id. why does the senator from west virginia were 79% of his people what a full vote on this bill conveyed 1% of democrats, why is he -- what is he could to put a compromise forward that weekends -- wekens?

he wants to weaken the ability of the attorney general to force -- there's nothing in his compromise the disenfranchisement. what we should have right now is the best voting rights lawyers impact -- [indiscernible] democrats need to use their power. republicans went to majority for supreme court nominees for lifetime appointments. this is about the life of this democracy. we need to go ahead and pass this bill, end the filibuster and pass this bill. in state houses across this country, some of the poorest states, the reddest states, there passing voter suppression laws. this is the connection you also have to make most of the same people pushing voter suppression laws to deny and abridge the right to vote are also against expanding health care, against living wages come against the

true infrastcture bill against -- you have to connect the two, the voter suppression also suppresses us moving forward on the things that would lift all americans. the truth of the matter is, manchin ought to be ashamed of himself for coming from a state -- that is why today people ar coming from west virginia and kentucky -- we marched on his office we could go tsay mcconnell and manchin, it i time -- we wish mcconnell would change, probably won't, but manchin and the others need to with this foolishness. we should not be going through this for another three or four months. voter suppression is two of the committed races and the greedy aristocracy to undermine the vote of the people. it is not just a black thing, it is in fact a way in which powers like the u.s. chamber of commerce wield power by promoting and supporting those

persons under the political system that were suppressed to vote. lastly, something dr. king said. the threat of the free exercise of the ballot by the negro and what masters alike resultein the establishment of a segregated society was not that is what happen when the negro and what messes the south right to unite and build a great society, society of care for all people. this is not just a black thing. this is a fear of the american people, fear a black and white and brown and asian and 80 people coming together in pushing this nation forward. we need to put all of this political gamesmanship. if this is the moment that our democracy is threatened, then act like it. vote to end this filibuster. vote and give the vice presint the power to cast that one vote to pass these bills and then do living wages, too. in the george floyd bill and

infrastructure. let the voters decide next year at peoples whether or not they like the direction of the country. amy: let's go to a clip of the georgia senator raphael warnock speaking on the senate floor about the importance of the for the people act. >> let's not kid ourselves. in this chamber of all places, a few month after january 6, this is dangerous stuff. and that is one reason we need to debate the legislation before us. i am hoping to include a provision in traduced yesterday with some of my colleagues that will prevent logicians from being able to overrule local election officials and therefore subvert the voices of the people. this provision will also protect local election volunteers from harassment and intimidation.

right now across the nation, constitutional rights are being assaulted and i fear if we don't 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. amy: that is georgia senator raphael warnock come the secretary of state there has not another 100,000 voters off the voter rolls in georgia. senator raphael warnock will have to run again in 2022. elizabeth hira, senator warnock talk bout what happened to local election officials in the brennan center has done several reports. one on the number of election officials around the country who are terrified right now, who fear for their lives, who have been threatened, many who are quitting. can you talk about that? >> my colleagues at the brennan

center and put together this phenomenal report based on direct work with election officials who are getting death threats in their homes, threats against their family, threats against their safety. it is driven by the big lie about voter fraud that people have been driven into hysteria by misinformation and disinformation, legibly there votes don't count. this comes back to what reverend barber was saying, the big lie is a dog whistle and in some cases straight up racism more people are being told that some americans votes don't cap as much as others. -- don't count as much as others. the beauty of the for the people act it provides financial support to get the job done that deals with the big picture question, through the support and for strictly provided in the for the people act we can trust and have confidence in our elections. there is money for paper ballots. th should be andminisative

effo for vot to get unted. i want to follow up on this other point -- amy: i want to play some of the election officials who spoke to the brennan center. >> there were people who showed up outside of election of fictional houses -- officials houses, threatened, phone calls. >> discussions about types of amnition and guns to use on me. looks it became a daily occurrence outside our facility to have 50 to 150 individuals outside. some were ard. >> there w a fit st of separating the building from the protesters. and they were armed. >> i was walking to the park and there was this big, big caucasian guy came out of his car and said, "i have been waiting for you. i want to know why donald trump lost. it is your fault."

amy: that is scary come those forces of election officials put together by the brennan center. elizabeth hira? >> what you are seeing manifested there is a disbelief about the possibility that the american vote could be saved because there are fissures in america being frankly amplified by hostile forces like reverend barber was talking about. there are people who do not with the american democratic experiment to be succeeded. it is recognizing every american person, no matter how much they been marginalized in history, is part of the american policy and have a seat and a place here. their vote matters. they should have a seat at the table. only when you undermine that vision you get people saying, hey, you will not replace us. you get these frightening messages. that brings me to the point and wanted to raise that reverend

barber was talking about, these pieces of the bill where having to watch negotiate away, the greatness about the fact yesterday was only the beginning and not the finish line is that speaking have been able to change the structure of this bill and able to change supportl of this bill. anybody was work in washington knows to exist an attorney. two weeks ago people were tripping over themselves to announce joe manchin said this bill was dead and would go nowhere. all of us know yesterday mr. manchin was at the negotiating table with democrats after having been rejected by republicans for his compromise bill. what is in the bill is still open season. what senator warnock was talking about, protecting the critical provisions that reverend barber raised, only with the clamor of the people continuing [indiscernible] the pfeiffer redistricting -- the pfeiffer redistricting. i think it is important to come

back to this point, election officials are being attacked because we are being told our democracy and elections are working. gate 1 will fill a gap to let people know infrastructure a safe and sound and supported and everybody is welcome no matter the color of your skin, gender, gender identity. all of it is supported in the bill by making changes to let every american in. the critical point is it doesn't matter for its own sake, it matters because it lets americans get to the work we need to do. washington is focused on political infighting that everyday citizens can't afford to care about. we have people in food pantry lines. we have an economy -- the basic problems -- juan: i want to bring in reverend barber. i want to ask him if he has any further comments but also if you could talk a little about the john lewis voting rights act, which is likely to come to the

senate floor later this year. your thoughts about whether this legislation will fare any better than what is happened so far with the for the people act? >> welcome it will if we don't have gamesmanship among the democrats. when you have power, you will more responsibility than the people in the majority. my hope -- we also heard from the senate majority leader that he got manchin to the table with an agreement to bring his compromise bill up with the things that actually take awaa bunch of what my sister was talking about. we can't have that. there's nothing in the compromise bill about modernizing the vong sysms. nothing about the felony disenfranchisement. but yowant to replace that with something you never had nationwide which is a fmal voter id? listen, you cannot face something as dangerous as my dear friend senator warnock said, we have been at a dangerous point in then you say, "i see you drowning, but let's have another compromise, another

debate." the power is with the democrats. that is why we are marching today and will continue. what we're saying is we need -- we don't need an insurrection we need direct action, nonviolently. we need to get in the streets and march. come to d.c. this is the moment. we can't afford to see something compromised away. the voting rights act was compromise. that is why we have the fights today. the civil rights act was compromised in 1964. we have had much of that. some things are not negotiable. the 15th of them is as no state, nothing to do has the right to deny or abridge. all of the things that mcconnell want to do is an abridgment of the rights, which means it is violating the constitution. this should be easy. this should be an easy -- we have done this.

you all want to use this coward filibuster that is really nothing but notification. we are going to 50 and we're going to the one. you can debate will bring it to the floor. you can come over if you want to. listen, they can still come on over. if not, they have to understand they are not going to shut down. we the people now have to move in the streets. this is not just emailing and texting time. we will continue. i want to say one other thing, we have to lift this everybody. it can't just be a black issue, black versus white. republicans want tt. the denial of this bill hurts everybody. lastly, i don't normally talk about stuff like this, but this is how dangerous what senator manchin is doing, lingering and keeping this out there and negotiating.

when wwent to west virginia, i got a threat that said if you keep marching, we will kill you. when you keep this stuff out here like this instead of just dealing with it, just go ahead and deal with it and move on. that is what republicans do. they don't wait around. they will deal with their wrong. they will move on. democrats need to move on. all of this playing around, manchin my change -- he is not going to change. we need to get this done most of it can get done. we are going to call on him to be a true mountaineer, west virginia mountaineers are always free. sinema, she needs to move. not one democrat said during the election, if y elect me, i will stand here for the for the people act, compromise -- by the way, the for the people act is the john lewis hill. the voting rights act -- they put his name on it but the for the people act is the john lewis

bill. he wrote that bill. that is history written in his blood -- is dream written in his blood. the voting rigs act was already passed years a. we just need to restore preclearance that was knocked out by the supreme court eight years ago. that had eight years since 2013 to fix this. we need to do this and do this now and it needs to happen. we don't need to keep lingering and playingames and begging. we're going tsay to manchin, mountaineers are supposed to always be free. even robert byrd when he change from big suppression nest and racist to being about the constitution and justice, he came up with ways -- he did not even like this kind of filibuster because it is a cowardly thing. you don't have to debate. all you have to do is that you

don't have steve. honor the legacy of senator byrd and mother jones who said pray for the debt and fight like hel l for the living. people are willing to put their bodies on the line but we need a season now have nonviolent action all across this country and in states and we're going to try to signal that on today. people need to begin and say "now is the time that we keep this democracy from spiraling downward to something that is other than the promise that has been made to us." this is the moment we either breathe life and resuscitate this democracy or we continue to snuff it out. when you are in crisis, the last thing you need somebody doing is standing over you saying "well, i wonder, are we going to help them? let's debate a compromise."

there should be no compromise when it comes to protecting the right to vote from being denied or abridged. amy: reverend dr. william barber, co-chair of the poor people's campaign and president of repairers of the breach. he is speaking to us from washington, d.c., where he is leading a moral march on manchin and mcconnell today. and elizabeth hira joining us from new york with the brennan center for justice, lead author of the report "equity for the people: s.1/h.r. 1 and the fight for an inclusive democracy." we willing to that report. next up, the white house as it will miss its goal of getting 70% of adults at least virtually vaccinated by july 4. alarming public health officials the covid delta variant rapidly spreads. we will talk with an epidemiologist about what this means. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: "disparate youth" by santigold. this is democracy now, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. we turn now to the coronavirus. we look at growing concerns the highly contagious delta variant could cause new surges of

covid-19 here in the united states and worldwide. white house coronavirus adviser dr. anthony fauci issued this warning tuesday. >> we're not done into we completely crush this outbreak. the delta variant is currently the greatest threat in the u.s. to our attempt to eliminate covid-19. good news, our vaccines are effective against the delta variant. conclusion, we have the tools so let's use them and crush the outbreak. amy: this comes as the white house says it will miss its goal of getting 70% of adults at least partially vaccinated by july 4th. vaccinations are available for anyone ages 12 and up in the united states, but just 45% of americans are fully vaccinated and only 16 states have fully vaccinated more than half of their populations. earlier this week, the world health organization warned the delta variant is fast becoming the dominant source of new covid-19 cases globally.

for more, we are joined by dr. ali khan, epidemiologist and dean of the college of public health at the university of nebraska medical center. he's the former director of the cdc's office of public health preparedness and response, and the author of "the next pandemic: on the front lines against humankind's gravest dangers." welcome back to democracy now! explain what the delta variant is and why it is so significant when it comes to low number of vaccinations throughout the south and in states like utah in missouri. >> always a pleasure to chat with you. before talking about the delta variant, let's talk a little about the good news. 50 million americans have been fully vaccinated here in the united states and after a two week pause, stall of cases, slowly seeing cases come back down again in the united states. unfortunately, there are multiple states that have not

been very aggressive in vaccinating people. what we're seeing now our cases, small efforts in areas where there has not been good vaccination. the delta variant. the virus mutates all the time nest multiple types of variants. sometimes those variants become variants of concern because they're more infectious, more deadly, or don't respond to our treatmts very we. delta is one of those variants. when we had this conversation two or three months ago, we were talking about the alpha variants, which quickly within eight weeks became the dominant variant in the u.s. now this delta variant is 60% more infectious than the alpha variant. definitely leads to look more like severe disease. while the vaccine is very effective for severe disease, it is not as effective or mild disease. this variant went from i think

like 2.7%, 22nd to now estimates are 20% to 30% currently. essentially less than a month. our expectation should be by july, this will be the dominant variant. juan: i wa to ask you about the broader picture, the worldwide picture, now with south american now being the epicenter of the covid pandemic throughout the world from a of the worlds population, 25% of the cases. also, the fact some countries that already have higher vaccination rates and those in the united states are still seeing surges in a cases, largely because those countries have received the chinese virus, countries like chile, bahrain,

glia, that have up to 60% of their products -- population vaccinated, but are seeing a surge in cases. >> that is two questions i maybe three. well we had great news about next nations in the united states and many other countries, that is not true worldwide. worldwide, there's only been about 2.7 billion vaccines administered and 17% of the global population. there's a long way to go in vaccinating the rest of the world. that inequity is showing up in lots of cases. mainly as you say, south america. south america, seven of the 10 countries with the most cases are in south america. there's also a second piece to that. undoubtedly, never of countries that chose chinese -- a number of countries that chose chinese

vaccines, despite very high coverages, actually coverages as high as israel, they are seeing a lot of cases. it is not just probably because thvaccine does not work, it has to do with fast the opened up, but there is real concern that these vaccines may not be very effective. i think it is really important for those countries to continue to test how effective those vaccines are not have a false sense of security because they have high vaccine rates and they are fine because they're absolutely not fine. amy: the world health organization said monday it is setting up a hub in south africa to help poor and middle-income countries. can you talk about the role the u.s. should be plain, poor and middle-income countries, producing their own covid-19 vaccines using the mrna technology behind the world's most effective shots.

>> the u.s. has been playing a leadership role both from a multilateral standpoint and a bilateral standpoint. president biden recent announcement of giving 500 million doses worldwide to the multilateral effort led by the who pretty much puts the u.s. and the lead compared to any other country. the u.s. has been showing dramatic leadership on a global stage and getting countries vaccinated and then bilaterally, for example, taiwan just got 2.5 million or something vaccines from the u.s. recently. bilaterally, the u.s. is supporting countries based on their political alignments. we are also -- the u.s. is also supporting india and other countries but i think there is always more that can be done to help support local production of vaccine. and how can we support that with patent issues to allow these vaccines to be made elsewhere

and the know-how to do it. let's be honest, 40 million doses a day is going to take as years to vaccinate the world. given how these variants keep popping up, and this weekend chase this down across the world, we are at risk of just another variant coming to the u.s. and restarting our outbreak and potentially more deadly variant that does not respond to our vaccines. juan: dr. khan, i'm wondering your advice on a question that many doctors are receiving now in terms of people with very young children, infants, toddlers come who are not yet eligible for any vaccine, the issue of returning to school in the fall, how their caregivers should be dealing with the children. your advice? >> i advice is we have lots of experience now globally and in the united states on how we can our kids back in school safely.

the number one way to do that is make sure we all g vaccinated. so every adult can every individual 12 and older can get vaccinated. when you get cases so low in the community, our younger kids between five and 12 will not be at risk. that is the secret. everyone who is eligible needs to get out and get vaccinated. amy: dr. rochelle walensky address this yesterday for a few days ago about i guess there is a few hundred reported cases of myocarditis, inflammation of the heart among peer young children. what is your concern about this? >> stay following up on dr. wilensky's comments come in independent group that advises the cdc and u.s. on how to use vaccines will be reviewing these 800 reports to

see whether or not they believe there is a link to the vaccine and then what advice they need to get the americans. they will compared to how often it usually occurs, how often it occurs with the vaccine, what the risk of e disease is, and how to protect kids. the good news has been these cases had pretty much been very mild but i'm looking forward to seeing the data today so we can make a more informed judgment about continued to vaccinate kids, especially kids potentially less than 12 years of age. amy: there is a discussion of booster shots in the united states when so many countries don't even have access to any vaccines. your comment? >> i think it is premature to talk about booster shots until we truly know with the duration of the immunity is in the u.s. we may potentially get cases so low that just routine public health measures can take care of it. a little premature to talk about booster shots. amy: dr. ali khan, thank you for

being with us, epidemiologist and the dean of the college of public health at the university of nebraska medical center. former director of the cdc's office of public health preparedness and response. author of "the next pandemic: on the front lines against humankind's gravest dangers." that does

hello and welcome to nhk "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in new york. u.s. president joe biden has seen a rise in violent crimes across the country, and he says he expects more in the heat of summer. now he's announced new measures to tackle gun violence. >> we have an opportunity to come together now as democrats and republicans, as fellow americans to fulfill the first