>> the most informed and most obnoxious and proud of it. that is our broadcast for this wednesday night and thanks for being with us. on behalf of all of my colleagues at the networks of nbc news, good night. goodnight. september 11th, 2001. the day of the al-qaeda terrorist attacks on our country that was a tuesday. part of what new yorkers remember about that day was that it was a local election day. that tuesday in new york city. a beautiful early fall day. when, planes hit the buildings, and the buildings came down, in lower manhattan turned into hell. but, afterwards, even before the next tuesday rolled around, inside a week of the 9/11 attacks happening, something else on a different scale, but also terrible and terrifying, started to happen in a whole

bunch of places all over the country. and at first, we did not know, if this was a second act, for the 9/11 attack. to the offices of nbc news, and abc news, and cbs news, in the office of the new york post, someone in explicitly, to the offices of the national enquirer tabloid in florida, somebody mailed anthrax. it was not just a white powder that they called and racks. in a terrorizing no in order to scare people, it was actual anthrax. potent and threats. and it was mailed to those news organizations. it was also mailed to the offices of two different united states senators, it was real anthrax. it was potent and more than 20 people were infected by the anthrax. sent through those mailings. five people were killed by it. it was a mysterious attack, both then and now. but it did start right after the 9/11 attacks, when the country was absolutely reeling, and we didn't know if

it was a second act to the attacks from the morning of tuesday september 11th. it added this bioweapon's terror dimension. to our out of control fear and terror at the time. it's almost hard to explain. that different dynamic. that different dimension of it. now that we are 20 years down the road from it. but if you lived through, it you know it was a real fear. and one of the things the u.s. government did, in places like the u.s. congress and u.s. supreme court, parts of government that they thought they could be a next target, of what appeared to be an ongoing anthrax bio warfare attack. one of the things that happen in certain parts of the government, is they started immediately to stockpile and antibiotic called cipro. it's a broad spectrum antibiotic that you can take to fight an infection, caused by something caused by something like anthrax. >> it cipro was made by the bayer corporation. in the immediate aftermath of

the -- the anthrax that went on for a little while after 9/11. demand for bayer bears antibiotic for this drug cipro skyrocketed for obvious reasons. the u.s. government told bayer that they wanted to have enough cipro on hand to treat 12 million americans, simultaneously. and bayer said, okay sure, but in order to build up that much of a stockpile, in order to make that many cipro tablets, it's going to take us more than a year and a half. that's just how long it's going to take us to do that. is that ok? . no that is not okay. the u.s. government was saying listen, we don't need this drug to save people 20 months from now. we're being attacked by somebody mysteriously mantling poems anthrax to all different kinds of people, right now. we need it now. and bayer basically said tough. this is our drug we on the path and on and that's how long it's going to make it. and then something interesting

happened. some other companies came forward and said hey, we know this is bears drug and they hold depend on it, and they're the only ones allowed to make, it but if we are allowed to make it we can make that drug ourselves really quickly they came forward and said they could make generic versions of it that would fill the entire order the u.s. government wanted, and 12 weeks. that bayer was saying it would take them 20 months, these companies said we can make a generic and make the whole order filled in 12 weeks. we're happy to do it. and democrats in washington, very quickly said we should do that. we need more than bayer can give us, fine let's let other companies jump in and make more. is the path and really more important than that? a democratic senator named jack schumer from new york city, who is just been walloped in the 9/11 attacks, he led the charge for the democrats, saying the government had the legal right, to break up bayer's in an unusual circumstance like.

this in order to let other companies make cipro, so we can have enough. so if the anthrax, continued and god forbid millions of americans needed to be treated, then this country could be treated. even republicans in congress conceded that although they were not inclined to do something like that, under normal circumstances, these were not normal circumstances, and in this case, if the administration came forward and said yes that's what we want to do, republicans in congress said, they would support it to. they would break the pattern if need be. well ultimately happened back in 2001 is the george w. bush administration threatened to but did not break the, patent for cipro. that said, they use the threat that they might, that very real bipartisan threat that they might and they could, they used that threat to make bayer go back to the drawing board and reconsider what exactly they could do to make the u.s. government's demand for their drug. with that real threat looming over them, bayer thought about

it again in decided, actually it might not take 20 months, they announced they could not only dramatically ramp up their production of cipro, but they might be able to drop the price of it by nearly 50%. and so bayer kept its patent, back in 2001. and the u.s. government got its drug supplies. but bayer at the time, knew they almost did not keep their patent. they knew their u.s. government almost took over their patent. and that real threat of them is what gotta them off the mark, that was 20 years ago. today, a version of that story is playing out again, on a much larger scale. this time is not a mysterious bioweapon arriving in the mail. on the heels of a world changing terrorist attack. this time it is a global pandemic, killing millions of people in every country on earth. and until there is a cure, what we need to stave off the tide, of literally tens of millions of deaths, our vaccines against

covid-19. vaccines against covid-19, which we have, for which we have. but the vast majority of the world still does not. and the current system that we have got, for trying to get vaccines out to everyone all over the world, so far is not working. it is at least not working quickly enough. just take one example of india. the apocalypse underway in india right now. the huge nation of over 1.3 billion people. they have only got 2% of their population vaccinated. and you can see what is happening there in terms of massive infection. mass illness. mass death. a completely overwhelmed health care system. people dying in the streets. infection out of control. 2% vaccinated. in contrast, we have got more than 40% of our adults fully vaccinated. over 80% of our seniors, people over age 65, had had at least one dose. which offers significant protection. that's good for us. right, we are on our way.

even though our numbers are not high enough yet. they are 2% in india. that is a problem that is a human catastrophe right now in india. it is also a catastrophe for the whole world. including for us. because the cdc said yesterday, the new covid variant that is emerged from india, has already been found in five u.s. states. right now, the way the global vaccine rollout is going, which is excruciating we slow, and to -limited places, some countries are not even expected to get vaccines at all until 2024. which means, not only a huge ongoing, growing global death toll, it means the continued generation of new and more infectious and dangerous variants of the coronavirus. which ultimately myth may render our existing vaccines and effective. which sends us back to jump. the companies, that are making vaccines, have done amazing work. they moved heaven and earth to

get those vaccines done and to get them on the market, safe and effective. the vaccines approved in the united states, already are miracles. they are scientific miracles. and those vaccines have the potential to save the world, if the world can get them. right now the world is not on track to get them. in anywhere near the timeframe that they need to get them, in order to get the pandemic under control. and in order to prevent the emergence of variants that will render movement of the vaccination efforts we've already made, and we still moving along with. the company that has developed these vaccines have had the benefit of u.s. government support already. to fund the development of the vaccines. and they're testing, into ramp up manufacturing capacity, the government has helped them to the tune of billions of dollars. these companies have also sold hundreds of millions of doses already. including to the u.s. government. which in addition, helped pay for the vaccines development in the first place. but now, faced with most countries on earth not having

access to vaccines, anywhere near the numbers they need, now today, the biden administration has made this incredibly dramatic announcement. that, they support breaking the patent. they support waving the patents. in a limited way. for covid vaccines. basically what's that means is they support, giving out the recipe, for the vaccines. so other companies, other countries, all over the world, can make their own generic versions of these vaccines, that work. so like, those companies that came forward and said we know bayer as the pattern but we can make cipro generically if you just let us do. at the biden administration in this instance, with covid vaccine, is saying yeah let's make them do it. let's make generic drugs. and this was, undoubtedly a hard call for them. the trump administration was adamantly opposed to doing this. they lead the global resistance to doing this. trump supporting republicans in congress, have said they are adamantly opposed to doing. this and they have been

lobbying the biden administration against making this change. pharmaceutical companies are more against this than anything else they can imagine. their own business line is based on this idea that it get to invent things and then on a patent on it that lets them have monopolistic control on that drug, and all of the revenue it generates, for a generation. but, as hard as the decision must have been, for the biden administration, it helps, it matters, that at the end of the day, honestly this is something that president biden explicitly promised he would do, if you are elected president. abby barkan is a lawyer, an activist, in that and he's also dying from als. he uses a computer speech assistance, to speak, since als took his ability to speak in his own voice. using that computer assisted technology, he did an interview, a hard one, a hard charging interview, with then presidential candidate joe biden less, summer last july. and in that interview, he got

this explicit comment from candidate joe biden. >> the world health organization is leaving an unprecedented global network, to promote international cooperation in the search for covid-19 treatments and vaccines. but donald trump has refused to join that effort. cutting america off from the rest of the world. if the u.s. discovers a vaccine first, will you commit to sharing that technology with other countries? and will you ensure there are no patents to stand in the way of other countries and companies mass producing those lifesaving vaccines? >> absolutely. positively. this is the only humane thing in the world to do. this guy's whole idea of america, america on its own, it has made america alone. we are out there by ourselves. what is he doing? it lacks any human dignity. what we are doing. so the answer is yes. yes, yes, yes.

and it's not only a good thing to do, it's overwhelmingly in our interest to do as well. overwhelmingly. >> thank you for that commitment. >> the answer is yes, yes, yes, yes. absolutely, positively. it is overwhelmingly in our interest to do it. that was his promise. as a candidate. today, as president, the biden administration made good on that promise. president biden's u.s. trade representative, announcing the administration's decision and precise and definitive terms. i sort of never thought i would see something like this from the u.s. government. but here it is. this is a global health crisis and the extraordinary circumstances of the covid-19 pandemic call for extraordinary measures. the administration believes strongly and intellectual property protections, but in service of ending this pandemic, supports the waiver of those protections for covid-19 vaccines. we will actively participate in

negotiations with the world trade organization, needed to make that happen. the administrations aim is to get as many safe and effective vaccines to as many people as fast as possible. as our vaccine supply for the american people is secured, the administration will continue to ramp up its efforts working with the private sector and all possible partners. to expand vaccine manufacturing and distribution. it will also work to increase the rummage here eels needed to produce those vaccines. that last bit there, actually is key. the raw materials. it's one thing for the u.s. to say, it's a huge thing for the u.s. to say, we support suspending the patents, waving the patterns here. we support other countries being given the recipe for making their own generic versions of the covid vaccines. it's a huge thing. but it is another thing altogether, for the biden administration to say that they are going to make sure, that the raw materials, the ingredients, the specialized equipments, the trained

personnel, the expertise, the know-how, all get out to the world as well. so not only do people have permission theoretically, to make their own vaccines, they actually can. without huge ramp of -- an expertise and raw materials in particular. to make the vaccine. generic or not. we can only increase supply by so much. the biden administration is saying, we will leave global negotiations, to give companies in countries around the world permission to do this, and to give them the ability to do it safely. this is a huge deal. this is a huge decision for the biden administration. obviously, it's 180-degree u-turn from where the last administration stood on this issue. but it is an advance in terms of the united states saying, we will lead the world on this issue. we will take responsibility, for getting this done globally. if this is done rights, it means the united states of america will not only lead global negotiations to get this

part of it, done it will lead the world to make sure there is a global response. so this thing does not haunt humanity, including us, for the rest of our time on the planet. the only way out, from covid-19, is for the whole world to get ahead of it. and the only country on earth, capable of leading the whole world of getting ahead of it is us. in that is what the biden administration is banking on. being able to do. and they are banking on us, the american people, believing in that again. so this is a really big deal. it is a decision that potentially could save tens of millions of human lives. it could make the difference as to whether or not we do ever and this pandemic. or if this is it. it's a huge deal. we will have one of the world's foremost experts on, this that will be joining us to talk on it a little bit later on. i'm very much looking forward to that conversation.

in terms of what else is going on in the news, today also today, a federal judge ruled that the national moratorium on evictions, the ban on kicking people out where they live, which went into effect because of the pandemic, went into effect last year, today a federal judge ruled that the u.s. government does not have the right to impose a freeze on evictions. the justice department says they will appeal that judges ruling. so we expect that will probably mean, the existing eviction ban will stay in place at least temporarily, while this thing weight makes its way through the courts. that's potentially a big deal, for what it's worth, this is a trump-appointed judge, who's trying to throw out, the freeze on evictions. it's the justice department under president biden that will now file an appeal, to try to keep the eviction freeze in place. we are also watching the justice department today, for any sign that they may appeal exclusive court ruling, that led the show with last night. a federal judge in washington ruling yesterday afternoon, that trump attorney general

bill barr, was quote disingenuous, and that he and other trump administration justice officials basically lied to the court. and lied to the public, about then attorney general bill barr's decision to not bring federal criminal charges against president trump, after the mueller report laid out more than ten instances of criminal obstruction of justice, by the than president. judge amy berman jackson, ordered the justice department to release to the public, a document that the trump justice department has been trying to keep secret for years. it's a document about their decision, not to bring criminal charges against trump. the judge says that she has seen that document, although the justice department tried to stop even her from seeing it. she said she has now seen, it she has reviewed, it she said the trump administration, the trump justice department lied about what's in that document. she now wants it released to the public. the biden justice department, now has to decide if they are going to appeal that ruling from the judge. or if they will comply with.

it and go ahead and release that document. the release of that document, and the attending drama about why they lied about it, why they tried to keep that documents secret for years. that will obviously put a very hot spotlight back on the question of why trump in fact was not charged, with obstruction of justice despite all of the evidence of justice that was laid out in mueller's investigation. before you look at, up and just tell you, know the statue of limitations is not up, for what it's worth. the statue of limitations on trump's conduct, that was described in that part of the mueller report, it's generally a five-year statute of limitations. that stuff was in 2017, 2018, 2019. so there is still time. just saying in case the justice department decided that was a question of whether or not he should be charged, is still open. after facebook today issued its

weird pseudo-legal-ish decision, in which they announced they were upholding the ban on trump from that social media platform. former president trump immediately started sending a statements, that were apparently decide to remind everyone why he was kicked off that platform in the first place. right after they said he was still kicked off facebook, he put out public statements, reiterating his fantasies. that he secretly is still president. calling himself president. as if he's president now. saying that the last u.s. election should not count, because it was fantasy. he said there was some mysterious fraud that no one can quite describe. which is the only reason biden appeared to win, but really trump won. he puts out that statement. it's like oh yeah. now i remember why you are kicked off all the social media platforms. you told all your followers that you are still secretly president and they needed to avenge the fraud. that you are fantasizing about. and that led to them violently attacking the u.s. capital, to try to stop the certification

of the election results. oh yes, thank you for the reminder. that's why your band. they just re-upped your band today. now i remember why they banned you in the first place. former president trump's statement on his election fantasies today, appeared to be focused on arizona. which he has made multiple statements about over the last couple of weeks. arizona is where republicans are continuing with this cuckoo for cocoa puffs, audit. of the presidential election results in arizona, which is being run by a qanon promoter which is never had any previous experience with elections or auditing won the. news's from that thing, was amazing. the auditors admitting today that after a couple of weeks, of hammering away at the 2.1 million ballots they are reviewing, they are through much less than 10% of the ballots. that led much of the arizona pressed to do the math on this thing to the quick conclusion that apparently they are going to try to drag on this audit,

slash recount, well into the summer. around the time everybody was arriving to the conclusion that this thing is going to have to go for weeks and weeks and weeks if they stay at this pace. the venue, where they are doing, it the arena where they are holding this supposed recount, announced publicly that actually they are not welcome to stay. they have got other things booked for that space. and so they are not going to be allowed tuesday past the middle of may. so, they are doing this thing at a pace that will require them to be there all summer. they will not have any place to do, it's as of a week and a half from now. so that's a complication. the local abc station in phoenix, also reporting today, that the so-called official observers of the audit, are required to sign, nondisclosure agreements. which of course, a nondisclosure agreement prohibits you from telling any buddy something that you've seen or experienced. so their observers, but they're not allowed to tell anyone what

they have observed. also seems like a little bit of a complication. also, one of the guys running the audit, explain today on camera, that what they are doing with the ballots, why it's taking so long, why they have been through less than 10% of them already is because they're taking a very, very careful look at the ballots. what are they looking for? they are looking for bamboo. because, it's possible that maybe, china came over and made joe biden president, buy something something asia bamboo ballots, something. >> the other day at the press conference you are talking about bamboo. what is that about? >> there's accusations of 40,000 ballots, were flown in. into arizona. and it was stuffed into the box. and it came from, the southeast

part of the world, asia. and what they're doing, is to find out if there is bamboo in the paper. that camera right there, that they take a picture of the ballot. >> they came over, from the southeast part of the world, and they put it in the box. there you go. trump is president. they are looking for bamboo, in the ballots. because trump is secretly president, because china, or maybe just asia, made bamboo ballots and flew them to arizona, and they can find them with a camera. so they have to use the camera, and all of the ballots. republican parties in the verge of kicking out some of their house leadership. because of insufficient loyalty, to donald trump. donald trump, is now the

animated focus of the republican party right now. because of their absolute outrage that he is not being allowed back on social media, to keep promoting the idea, that he secretly won the election. he wants to promote the fact that arizona's recount is going to prove, that he secretly won the election. what are they doing in arizona? they're looking for the bamboo. because, bamboo, asia, planes, that must look at the camera. i mean, one of these parties is not like the other. but this is how we are proceeding building into the future right now. lots to get to tonight. stay with us. to get to tonight stay with us stay with us is couple was on a camping trip... ...when their windshield got a chip. they drove to safelite for a same-day repair. and with their insurance, it was no cost to them. >> woman: really? >> tech: that's service you can trust. >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪ ice t, stone cold calling on everyone to turn to cold washing with tide.

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administration announced he would back a proposal to let other countries manufacture generic versions of the covid-19 vaccines that have been developed by big pharmaceutical companies and offer the world's best hope at beating back this pandemic and saving tens of millions of

lives. it sounds like a technical change, it sounds like a business thing, but to people who follow this thing, people in the public health world, this is a huge deal. you probably heard the group doctors without borders, they're known by their acronym in french, here is how they announced -- how they reacted to the news. they said this is huge, the united states of america's putting lives over profits they then go on to list another amount of countries that have yet to endorse this proposal canada, uk, brazil and asking when they will follow the example sits by the united states and said's get on the right side of history. other expert groups pushed for this change are calling for the biden administration now that they've made this call to stand their ground, to make sure that this gets

announcement today but in order to make this manifest, it's going to take a lot of work and a lot of strength, i know that people like you are going to be pushing them hard to do so. thank you for helping us understand. >> thank you, and thank you for having us on. >> much more ahead to next, stay with us. can help you build a complete financial plan. visit letsmakeaplan.org to find your cfp® professional.

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here's storm number one. 2016, woman in texas went to her local polling place to vote but she discovered her name wasn't on the voting roles there, after the suggestion of a poll worker she -- she was told we were not sure the problem is, but fill out a provisional ballot, so if there is a problem we won't counted. few months later, she was arrested and charged with illegal voting. because when she filled out that provisional ballot she was on supervised release after completing a prison sentence for of federal conviction, she thought because she had served her time she was then eligible to vote. she didn't know that under texas law you're not eligible to vote until you have completed probation or supervised release after released from prison. even though it was a technical and complex misunderstanding, and even though her ballot was counted she was convicted for

five years in prison. five years from prison. that is story number one. here is story number two. guy and delaware, a guy named bruce filled out a voter registration for his mother last year even though his mother had been dead for a dozen years, he then requested an absentee ballot in her name, with a vote for donald trump for president in 2015, the state of pennsylvania flag the poll but he signed and sent back a letter swearing that she was actually still alive. he did all of that in order to cast a fraudulent vote for donald trump, he pled guilty to it in court. he was just sentenced, he got five years probation. so can you spot the difference crystal tries to vote because she doesn't know that she is not technically illegible, her vote is never counted, five

years in person. bruce in pennsylvania a scheme to cast a dead person vote for donald trump, including swearing that the person wasn't dead after he got caught, all this forgiven, five years probation. i know there has to be something that explains the radical difference in prosecution and punishment of these two people, i just can't quite put my finger on it. meanwhile, two other republican gentleman in pennsylvania are also currently facing voter fraud charges, one guy who just like bruce berke meant registered his dead mom to vote, another guy who went and cast his ballot at the polling place, came back 45 minutes later wearing sunglasses to cast a ballot in his son's name. somehow a poll worker saw through his disguise. voter fraud is very rare, there are a few instances here and there, they're usually ridiculous. after the november election

when republicans were having trouble finding any example of the giant epidemic of democratic voter fraud, the republican lieutenant dan patrick publicly offered a 1 million reward for anybody providing evidence of voter fraud in the 2020 election. for months now, his counterpart in the great state of pennsylvania john fetterman, of pennsylvania, has been needling dan patrick about this. when are you gonna cough up that million bucks? i have three cases of voter fraud right here in pennsylvania, three trump supporters, where is my money? one was a guy casting a ballot for trump in his dad's mother's name. i have a second one if you want to try that. but despite the texas lieutenant governor's inability to find any type of voter fraud, not even 4 million bucks, republicans in texas are

pushing ahead with this idea that the some fans to see about voter fraud -- it was so severe that dozens of texas companies not known for taking strong political stances have now come out and spoken out against it. the leaders of texas took a forceful step today to try and get the business community to do more and to try to rally the community against with texas republicans are trying to do to texas voting. one of those leaders joins us now next, stay with us. the bowls are back. applebee's irresist-a-bowls all just $8.99. the john deere z365r ztrak mower, cuts the hassle out of yardwork. ♪ ♪ run with us, because the best job is the one that's easily done. nothing runs like a deere.

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and ask your doctor if biktarvy is right for you. in 2020, harris county texas broke its all-time voter record. it did so almost a full week before election day. more people voted early in harris county texas last year than voted in all of 2016. they set that record in large part because the county made a huge push to expand voting access, to the county citizens. they howard ton of new poll

workers they made it easier to vote by mail, they did a bunch of innovative stuff like offering 24 hour polling places, they offer drive-through voting, during a pandemic, over 127,000 people. about 8% of all harris county voters cast their ballots using the drive-through option. and all those different things paid off, together, big time. more people voted in harris county than ever before. well now, republicans to control the texas state legislature made a mission to make sure that does not happen again. they have to bill specifically targeting big populous counties like harris county, with the aim of stopping the kinds of innovative things the county put in place to make it easier to vote last year. which is in part by yesterday, 175 business leaders, from the houston area, sent a letter to the republican legislature, saying why they oppose this bill. but, as you can see from the houston chronicle headline there, one key group was missing, the greater houston progression. which is the region's largest chamber of commerce.

>> there is a group, sticking out like a sore thumb. for failing to speak up, at a time of enormous consequence. right now, voting rates are falling like dominoes, in faiths across the country. from georgia to arizona. to right here in texas. in yet, the largest chamber of commerce, in the houston area, is silent. >> that is the top elected official in harris county texas. singling out the largest chamber of commerce in the houston area, for their silence, and texas republicans attacking voting rights, even when so many other texas business leaders are standing up saying they will not abide by them. joining us now is harris county -- the chief executive of harris county, the most populous county in texas. judge, it's nice to see you, thanks for making time.

thank you. how important is business support for voting rights? how going to be in the end. as republicans and the legislature take aim at voting rates statewide. and seem to be taking aim specifically at things like your county. >> it's very important for all of us, to stand up against this. but the business community is uniquely positioned, to make a difference. this is not a transience quote unquote, political partisan issue. this is about are you willing to stand up, for and fight for american democracy. do you believe in american democracy. i think of martin luther king writing from jail, i think of the blood that has been spilled to protect that promise of america. to protect that light that we fight for around the world. and, when some folks are trying to turn democracy itself into a wedge issue, we need to stand up and make clear that voting

rights, democracy, is something we already won and have been done with. the business community, more than anybody else, can stand up and prevent this from becoming a wedge issue. >> judge, one of the reasons why i wanted to talk to you tonight is watching that press conference, you made the point that this chamber of commerce, the greater a few most in partnership, they won even let their members, take a vote internally. about whether or not they wanted to publicly oppose these bills. i wanted to ask you why you raise that point, and what you think that means. >> yes, it's almost hard to believe, but essentially i have heard from respected business leaders, major businesses in the houston area, of leaders in this chamber of commerce, that they requested that the leadership meets, and that they hold a vote to decide whether or not the chamber itself is going to come out in opposition to these voting bills.

and the response was, that no vote will be held. i was just on the phone with some of the chamber leaders are telling me we have a meeting tomorrow. it's a discussion meeting, but they're not going to be allowed to vote, and possibly taking a stance. so it's voter suppression. on the topic of voter suppression, and it does make you wonder. if you have to suppress the vote less the membership, come out against voter suppression ship, what are you doing here. you have to remember to rachael, these bills single out harris county, you pointed out innovations that are about bringing voting into the 24 century jury, republicans as well as democrats are using record numbers. they are attacking my constituents, my community, the community that this chamber, and these businesses are meant to represent. that's why it's just so ironic, and we need everybody to continue taking a stand. >> harris county texas judge, the executive of the county there, thank you so much for

your time tonight, so we are watching this closely as we're watching other states that are trying to be back these voting rates around the country. in texas it seems like things are getting quite intense, things are helping us understand tonight judge. >> thank you. >> we will be right back, stay with us. we will be right back, stay with us. >> tech: every customer has their own safelite story. this couple was on a camping trip... ...when their windshield got a chip. they drove to safelite for a same-day repair. and with their insurance, it was no cost to them. >> woman: really? >> tech: that's service you can trust. >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪

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little bit of breaking news in a story that we covered at the top of the show, this has just developed, the u.s. justice department tonight, the head of the civil rights department has

just sent this letter to the republican-controlled arizona state senate. essentially warning them that they are so-called audit of the 2020 presidential election, this recount they're doing of the presidential election result which is being resulted by a company who are qanon supporters, they are warning that that may be in violation of federal law, in part because they have turned over these actual ballots from a federal election to a private company, when ballots are legally required to be under the control of legal officials. interesting way, the people doing this audits say that they may go door to door asking people about their votes and that would constitute voter intimidation, under federal law. again, this record just sent tonight, we don't know what this portends but if the u.s. department is getting involved in this weird recount in arizona that could potentially be a big deal, watch this space. that is going to do it for us tonight. now it's time for the last word

with lawrence o'donnell. >> thank you, justice department. i was wondering about that. as we're watching this thing, rachel, and you're talking about it and all the great interviews you've been doing about it, it has all been so wild and it had the feel of illegality to it but i don't know enough about either the federal law, the arizona law to put my legal fingers on it. but here we are tonight with something that is starting to sound like it makes sense from the justice department. >> that is right. there is a reason, lawrence, why the federal government certifies various experts and entities who are allowed to do the kinds of work around elections that contractors are hired to do, whether it's recounts or audits or canvases, or a forensic investigations. with is a certification process for people to do that so you can't just be a random person off the street who heard about