elise stefanik reveal the growing battle for the soul of the republican party. today, one prominent member of the gop suggesting it may be time for a third party for those who won't go along with donald trump's election lies. more on that as well. plus, president biden says a tough new jobs report proves his big plans need to be passed, but republicans they have another idea, cutting off some aid to the unemployed. and later on this hour, you're going to meet a very special 7-year-old. morgan bug is going to join me to talk about the fight that she waged with a very big company to make her wish a reality and look like herself and her favorite educational app. her story is coming up, and you don't want to miss it. but we do want to start with diving back into the efforts to restrict voting across this country. we just heard from ellison barber in texas, but this goes way beyond that state. in florida this week, governor

ron desantis signed a bill. in ohio, republicans introduced a bill on thursday that would limit the number of drop boxes and impose new restrictions on voter registrations and absentee voting. and in arizona, the republican-controlled senate is still in the process of an unprecedented private recount of the 2020 election results in maricopa county. to break this all down, i want to bring in texas state representative chris turner and christina ramirez, executive director of next gen america. welcome to you both. thank you so much for joining us on this. chris, i want to start with you on this one and i want to jump off what ellison, one of our reporters, left us off on which was the possibility that what we're seeing on the ground in texas to stop some of these voter restrictions can actually make a difference. can it with such a tight timeline in place? >> yasmin, thank you for having me on today, and look, i was out there at that rally a couple hours ago. it was great to see so many

people come out on a pretty warm saturday morning to demonstrate their outrage against these vote suppression bills that republicans are moving through the legislative process. and i think it does matter. i think that republicans need to hear from texans all across the state that efforts to suppress the vote in texas will not be tolerated, and if they pass these laws, they risk a huge backlash with the voters in the next election, so i think it does matter and i was glad to see so many people out here today. >> you, along with other democrats, fought to add amendment after amendment to some of these bills. what was your experience like, and what were you a able to amend? >> right. well, democrats prepared and filed more than 140 amendments to the bill, senate bill 7, and in addition, democratic member

john turner from dallas called a procedural -- what we call a point of order on the bill, which really brought things to a standstill thursday night into early friday morning for several hours. and so, in the end, republicans did accept some amendments to the bill. one of the notable ones, there were several, but one of the notable ones would address the injustice of crystal mason, a woman who was sentenced to five years in jail for casting a provisional ballot, which she thought she was eligible to vote. it's one of the many outrageous examples of how so-called voter crimes are prosecuted in the state of texas under the current leadership. and there were a number of things that also pared back some of the more egregious parts of the bill with respect to poll watcher authority and regulations regarding assisting another voter who needs assistance in order to cast a ballot. but make no mistake, this is

still a terrible bill. it's an unnecessary bill and it's one that's based on the big lie perpetrate bid donald trump. so it's a bill that should die but it does leave the house in a little bit better shape than it came to us. >> so, i guess the big question here is what needs to happen in order to stop more bills like this coming up? to restrict americans from voting in our subsequent elections. my colleague, ellison bar we are, who we just spoke to, actually interviewed beto o'rourke a little bit earlier today. christina, i want to take a listen to that and have you react on the other side. >> there's only so much we can do here in texas. we really need the biden administration to step up and support those of us in georgia, in texas, and arizona and kansas, across the country, fighting these voter suppression bills and offer us some protection and ensure that every eligible voter can cast their ballot. we need federal action right now and we need the for the people act to pass the senate.

>> so, christina, what does federal action look like? what does offering support look like? because we have heard the president speak out against some of these bills that are going to restrict people from voting in this country and these states. but what does action look like here? >> i think what we have to remember, especially for communities of color in the south, is that to win the right to vote, the one we have now, it took federal action to protect black and brown communities right to the franchise. and sadly, in 2021, we need federal support again. right now, we see hr-1 that is sweeping legislation that would actually protect the right of people, every single american to vote. and i want to be really clear that what's happening in texas, in georgia, that what is being said is that there is voter fraud being perpetrated, especially by black and brown voters, and there is no fraud

being perpetrated by black and brown voters. the fraud is being perpetrated against us. and the impact is not just the target, yes, are black and brown voters, this legislation, but its impact is far-reaching. it impacts every single texan, every single american, because in texas, if elected officials enacted the will of the majority of texans, marijuana would be legal in our state. 1.5 million texans would have healthcare access through medicaid expansion. and the minimum wage would be $15 an hour. that's the legislation that they're trying to stop. and what we need desperately, again, is federal action that is going to make it easy, accessible, and protect the right of every single american to vote, because democracy doesn't die by one fell swoop. it dies by a thousand cuts, and that's what we're seeing happening. >> okay, so no offense to chris here, but i want to read from the "new york times" talking about democrats essentially

scrambling here, and here's what they say. locking effective legislative or legal ways to stop republicans from introducing new voting limits, democrats are applying pressure on their allies in washington and trying to energize supporters. so, i mean, give me your reaction to this and the overall democratic approach to trying to stop these bills from moving forward. >> well, you know, these bills are moving forward after the gutting of the voting rights act, and so this legislation, much of it wouldn't have been able to move forward at all if we still had the voting right act intact and that's why democrats have put forward legislation like hr-1. we know that across the board, americans are concerned about protecting our democracy, but we need deep investment in key states and also at the federal level. you know, it's not lost on black and brown voters that it took

people mobilizing, marching, and some even dying for us to have the right to vote, and we worked as communities of color to make this country be a full democracy, and it may take us again to save it and make sure we remain one. this legislation, again, is why we need such desperate action at the federal level because it's not just about an amendment here or there. it is about trying to restrict and keep americans from voting because we know that democracy is perhaps the most powerful tool ever created by man to foment change, and the elite and powerful will always be threatened by democracy, not just in texas but in every single state. >> you know, and chris, i want to end on this quickly here, which is this question of whether or not this could actually backfire on republicans. when you look at exit polls out of texas from the 2020 election, i mean, trump got a significant amount of the brown vote. he got a significant amount of the latino vote, 41% to biden's 58% of the hispanic latino vote.

amongst latino men, trump took 44%. latina women, 38%. is there any question as to whether or not this strategy from the republicans could actually backfire on them? >> well, i think it is going to backfire on the republicans eventually, and sooner rather than later, and i agree with christina, i think it is imperative that congress pass not only hr-1 but also the john lewis voting rights act that myself and the leaders of other major legislative caucuses in the texas house have written to our congressional delegation, urging them to do everything they can to pass the john lewis voting rights act because getting a strong voting rights act is the only way to stop republican legislatures like in texas and other states from passing these voter suppression bills. but i will say with respect to the vote in texas in 2020, texas is increasingly becoming an

electorate -- a very diverse electorate, reflecting our population. while donald trump did make some gains in the rio grande valley in south texas, the most populated areas of our state, harris county, dallas county, et cetera, still overwhelmingly in those communities of color and hispanic community and certainly in the african-american community voted overwhelmingly for joe biden and kamala harris and that's why republicans are bringing these bills, because they know they're going to lose these elections here. >> texas state representative chris turner and christina ramirez, thank you both. have a good rest of your day. let's to the war inside the republican party after years fighting in the republican trenches, liz cheney is clinging to her post and other gop leaders and former president trump are publicly throwing their support behind her assumed replacement, elise stefanik. ali vitali is following this on

capitol hill. you got republican lawmakers that are set to meet behind closed doors on wednesday where they're likely going to decide cheney's fate. how is this going to play out? >> reporter: yeah, yasmin, this is all likely to come to a head on wednesday. it's going to be a secret ballot and that's going to be the moment when we find out if house republicans are going to keep congresswoman liz cheney as the number three leader in their party or if they're going to oust her, potentially in favor of congresswoman elise stefanik. keep in mind, these votes are separate. the vote on wednesday, right now, is going to be about cheney. the vote about stefanik will be separate from that. but wednesday's gearing up to be a pretty big news day, broadly, yasmin. not only are house republicans going to be grappling with the issue of liz cheney, they're also going to be seeing the gang of four meet with biden at the white house on wednesday. that means kevin mccarthy along with senate minority leader mitch mcconnell as well as the top democrats, chuck schumer and nancy pelosi, and this is the first time that biden is going

to be meeting with mcconnell officially, anyway, now that he is president. we know that they've had some history as both of them serving in the senate. and then, one day later, bipartisanship continues at the white house as senator shelley moore capito of west virginia, who's really been the leading republican negotiator in regards to these infrastructure packages, one being put forward by republicans, the other being the roughly $2 trillion package that the white house would like to see passed here on capitol hill. those numbers are pretty far apart. republicans putting forward a plan that's just about $600 billion. the white house, as i mentioned, closer to the $2 trillion. seems like a big gap, but senator shelley moore capito told my colleague garrett haake maybe it's not as far apart as we think. >> ward 568, where would you be if that's all you had? and it's not that big a gap. not nearly as big.

and you know, this just depends on the appetite and i think we're willing -- we're not going in there to say, final offer. this is not our final offer. now, am i em bowered to do all of this myself? that's why i would say probably not. >> reporter: and yasmin, something that i'm going to be looking for next week, especially out of that meeting with capito and other senators in the white house, is going to be how republicans start talking about infrastructure packages as well as the other push that the administration wants for the american jobs and families act in light of those jobs numbers that did not match expectations this week, and some republicans are using to say that clearly these big federal packages are not doing the job of bringing the economy back up to speed. i would mention, the white house has a very different view of those. a lot of democrats seeing in those numbers the need for packages that not only shore up traditional infrastructure but also make sure that things like child care and paid leave are included and put at the center. >> yeah. yeah, especially when you talk about the disparity and the jobs lost between women and men

during this pandemic. we're going to be talking about that a little bit later on in this hour, at the bottom of the hour, with peter baker, so you don't want to miss that conversation. ali, my friend, good to see you. thank you. so, republicans who are against the hold former president trump has on the party may be few and far between but according to former trump official and anonymous author miles taylor, some prominent republicans are planning to announce a new coalition to fight back against, the quote, radicals, as they're calling it, in the party. >> next thursday, the day after the vote to oust liz cheney, you are going to see a group of prominent republicans, ex-republicans, and independents announce the need for a new common sense coalition in american politics. we will come out publicly and say that the gop is broken. it needs to be fixed. and if it can't be fixed, we need to rapidly hasten the creation of an alternative. >> all right, let's talk about this. charlie sykes, founder and

editor at large of the bulwark and an msnbc contributor and juanita toliver, welcome to you both. charlie, i saw your tweet online promoting the fact that you were going to be on my show. i love it. a bus on fire going through mud talking about what's going on inside the republican party. can't get much better than that. let's get into it. let's talk about this idea, charlie, of this new coalition, right, this new, i guess, party, should we say, that we hear about from miles taylor about the folks that want to abandon this loyalty to trump and find allegiance elsewhere. >> yeah, i think, look, it's very clear that common sense republicans are being driven out of the republican party. look, the cheney -- the purge of liz cheney is not just an indication that loyalty to donald trump is the litmus test. it's a specific kind of loyalty. you have to actually embrace the big lie about the election. you have to embrace donald trump's conduct and his

conspiracy theories, so where do -- where is the rational center of the party? right now, there's no place for it in the republican party. so, i do think you're going to see folks gathering together as kind of a common sense resistance, a center right alliance. i don't know that it's going to be a third party. i think that it's going -- will have to be flexible. it will have to align with democrats so that it does not become a spoiler party, but i think it's very, very clear that there is no room in the republican party for people like liz cheney and many -- and many of the very, very prominent republicans who are going to sign on to this statement that miles was referring to. >> well and i got to say, i find this fascinating, right, this idea of this new coalition or party or whatever you want to call it. being folks that don't support donald trump. because i remember being out in front of the capitol on january 6th and talking to some of those rioters who said to me, there needs to be a new party, folks

that support trump, creating a new party, because the republican party does not represent us anymore, but in fact, it seems the opposite has happened. in fact, donald trump has completely taken over the republican party. it should honestly be called the trump party at this point. and it's kind of these, like, mild-mannered center right, as charlie just put it, republicans, nontrumpers, anti-trumpers or never trumpers that are, in fact, wanting to create their own party. >> yeah, yasmin, that's exactly right. like, the -- i'm sure the party that the rioters were talking about on the day of the insurrection is going to look markedly different from what miles is previewing here and while i appreciate the big names that will be signing on to this, i definitely think it's important, given the reach that trump's impact is having not only at the federal level but at state levels and parties and state legislatures and the local level with republicans up and down the ballot implementing legislation, implementing changes that align with this same big lie, yasmin, i think

charlie hit the nail on the head in terms of the fact that this is not going to be a party. but this is definitely going to be a safe space that aligns with what we saw in 2020 with the lincoln project and other anti-trump republican spaces where they could speak out against the gop. they can call out different policies and ideas, and they can align themselves away from the republican party. but really emphasizing the vise grip that trump has on the party right now. with so many state legislatures across the country passing voter suppression laws, with people out there moving and continuously censoring elected officials who voted against trump and voted for his impeachment, this needs to happen at the federal, state, and local levels. >> i find this snippet from the "new york times" piece today just astounding, charlie. they also provided stark evidence that the former president has not only managed to squelch any dissent within his party but has also persuaded most of the gop to make a gigantic bet that the surest way

to regain power is to embrace his pugilistic style, racial divisiveness, and beyond the pale conspiracy theories rather than to court the suburban swing voters who cost the party the white house and who might be looking for substantive policies on the pandemic, the economy, and other issues. all of this kind of loyalty and dedication to donald trump is literally just a huge bet, and i'm not -- i'm not a betting woman. but the odds are not in his favor from what we have seen over the last six months, the results of the 2020 election, quite frankly. >> before i answer that, i mean, you know, the scenes from the republican party this weekend, you know, think about what's happening in virginia where you have this convention of -- with the super trumpy versus trumpy lite. you have matt gaetz and marjorie taylor greene campaigning together in florida. they are republicans in good standing while they're about to throw liz cheney under the bus and then you have donald trump

sitting down in mar-a-lago, spinning out one conspiracy theory after another while you have the cyber ninjas performing this bizarre audit in arizona and republicans trying to suppress the vote around the country. it is a remarkable moment and i think what people need to, you know, at least have in the back of their mind is, what if it succeeds? what if they win the bet? because this is no longer just an internal crisis of the republican party. this really is a crisis for american democracy. if these folks, in fact, get back into power any time soon. >> and juanita, you talk about the voting record between liz cheney and elise stefanik. liz company votes 92% of the time along trump lines, versus elise stefanik, who votes 77.7% along trump lines and if you want to talk about a conservative voting record, liz cheney blows elise stefanik out of the water so this has nothing to do with conservative values at all or issue-based at all.

>> nothing to do with issues, nothing to do with values, nothing to do with legislation and it's all about the cult of personality. who within the republican party can match the same energy that trump's bringing, and we heard mccarthy say it on his hot mic, right? the fact that they have no confidence in the fact that cheney can deliver that message in an enthusiastic way that will rile up their base, and that's what they're looking for in her ascension and stefanik's ascension to gop leadership potentially this week. >> charlie, juanita, thank you to you both. enjoy the rest of your day, guys. >> thank you. coming up. >> up in the sky, it's a bird. >> it's a plane. >> it's a massive piece of space junk. at some point this weekend, a 20-ton piece of a chinese rocket is going to fall back into earth's atmosphere. what we know about where and when this is going to happen and why it's causing some experts to be a bit concerned. that's coming up next. concerned that's coming up next.

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welcome back, everybody. anxious eyes are closely watching a chinese rocket thos expected to enter earth's atmosphere this weekend but we don't know where or exactly when and that uncertainty is sparking some concern. sarah harman is following this story very closely from london. what more do you have? >> reporter: hi, yasmin, i think most of us would be lying if we didn't admit that we've been scanning the horizon today with

perhaps a little more interest than your. we do have an updated prediction right now from aerospace corporation. most of the predictive models right now are showing that this is likely to land somewhere between 7:00 p.m. eastern time and 5:00 a.m. eastern time, so based on their modeling, by tomorrow morning, this will all be over, and we'll know where it's landed. their models right now are putting it in the atlantic ocean. obviously, that's a best case scenario, right? the hope is that this uncontrolled re-entry will mostly be incinerated and whatever's left ends up in an ocean. that's best case scenario and it's not improbable because 70% of the earth's surface is water. however, the other 30%, that could be a problem. what i have been talking today to scientists trying to get them to give me sort of a risk estimate, like, how worried should we really be about this, something i've heard is, think

of it like the lottery. the chances are you personally are not going to win, but the idea that no one is going to win, is that a bet you're willing to take? and that's really the risk when we talk about these uncontrolled re-entries. these are dangerous in a worst case scenario. they could land in a heavily populated area. now, so far, that hasn't happened but we do know that a chinese rocket body did land in ivory coast last year. bits of debris were found. fortunately, no one was hurt, but there were buildings damaged. and what a lot of scientists that i have been speaking to today are saying is that this needs to stop. these uncontrolled re-entries are not an appropriate risk, and china really needs to think about the level of responsibility it has when it's putting something into space. yasmin? >> all right, nbc's sarah harman for us. thank you. up next, everybody, republicans push a rollback on

help for the unemployed but the president says it's proof more help is needed, not less. >> i want to remind everybody, it was designed to help us over the course of a year, not 60 days. a year. plus, a first grader creating change, thanks to morgan bug, a virtual education program is now more inclusive. morgan is going to join me next hour to talk about the importance of feeling represented. lk about the importance of feeling represented. did you know that your toughest cleaning problems

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we knew this wouldn't be a sprint. it would be a marathon. we have to build back better. that's why we need the american jobs plan i've proposed, to put us in a position where we can build back better. >> all right, so, president biden using the disappointing april jobs report to stress the need for new legislation. as republicans are using this as an opportunity to rail against extended unemployment benefits. america added 266,000 jobs last

month, well below the 1 million many economists had expected or anticipated. the reason behind the lower numbers seem to depend on what party you belong to. no surprise there. for more on this, we want to bring in peter baker from the new york times. peter, great to see you on this. pretty disappointing jobs numbers to say the least and i was talking about this at the top of the show and you heard from president biden there talking about the fact that this is the reason why he wants to get his infrastructure plan passed, but you have republicans saying, listen, you got to cut off those extended unemployment benefits, that's why people aren't returning to work. the chamber of commerce is agreeing with that sentiment as well. does it have any validity? >> reporter: well, i'm not an economist but you certainly hear that from employers, that it's -- there has been a disincentive for people to return to work if their jobs don't pay them as much as they're already receiving in terms of these enhanced unemployment benefits. these benefits will run out in a few months. it's not a permanent state of

affairs, obviously, at that point, that may change the equation for some workers. the other thing that progressives obviously would argue what would change the equation is get the minimum wage up. if the businesses are paying higher wages, that will outweigh the enhanced unemployment benefits and people will come back to work. it's a really interesting moment where both sides are looking at the economic and political impacts of this jobs report and trying to interpret what it means for their ideological and political point of view. >> yeah, i mean, you talk about the minimum wage and this idea of wanting to hike up minimum wage to give people incentive to return to work. ilan omar tweeting out the interests of big businesses are at war with the interests of the working class. they will spend millions of dollars and force you to work for them for pennies. businesses that pay their workers fairly aren't having trouble finding workers and if you business can't turn a profit without paying people starvation

wages, you shouldn't be in business. so on one hand, you have democrats saying that. on the other hand, you have people saying, listen, this is about getting child care to americans across this country. subsidize child care to americans across the country because the incredible amount of women that have had to leave the workforce during this pandemic, look at some of those numbers, we are at the lowest since we've been -- of women in the workforce since 1999. now it's 57% in 2021 t loss of 2 million women in the jobs force. that is huge. >> that is huge. i think it's a trend that preceded the pandemic. but clearly, you can see why the last year has accelerated or exacerbated that because kids have been at home until very recently, not in some school, everybody schools that have brought kids back in have done so on a hybrid basis, one day on, one day off, three days a week, four days a week, it's awfully hard for any parent to, you know, organize a work schedule, particularly in some of these lower wage jobs where you don't have the opportunity

to work at home in the way professionals do, a lot of professionals do. and so it's absolutely thrown the whole labor market, i think, into a very volatile situation. now, this should, again, start to shake out in the next few months as the vaccines accelerate and more people begin to get back to the workplace. we'll see what the permanent is going to be, but you're right, it's a big, big change in the workforce to see so many women dropping out. >> so, just quickly, one other thing i want to touch on and that was the communication strategy of the biden administration. a lot of folks are pointing to the fact that in order for biden to gain votes, to maintain control in 2022 of the house and senate, it's going to be economic success. it's going to be economic recovery. it's going to be jobs. it's going to be money in the pocket of folks across this country. and when you have a poor jobs report that doesn't bode well for the biden administration, so hence, one of the reasons why they're having to pivot and say, listen, we're trying to get it done. republicans are keeping us from doing this. but we have to get it done in order to increase jobs.

>> yeah. look, i mean, obviously, it's just one month's report. we don't know for a fact this is anything more than a one-off. next month could be completely different. but having said that, this is a team, remember, biden, that feels a little burn from the their experience in 2009. biden was in charge of the recovery plan as president obama put it through at that point. there was a feeling that was going to take off the economy, they called it recovery summer. it didn't turn out to be that. it turned out to be much more modest than they had hoped, much slower recovery than they had hoped which cost them politically in the midterms. you're seeing the push to continue the spending. one thing that the obama administration didn't do was continue the spending at the level they had started at, and i think the lesson that people of this administration are taking there that is don't let up on the gas. obviously, there are consequences to that in terms of the deficit and debt and the debate about the size of government but i think that's only going to increase the motivation on the part of this administration to push for these

plans going forward. >> peter baker, thank you. after the break, everybody, a story that will really make you shake your head. it did for me. we'll be right back. did for me. we'll be right back. wanna grab pizza? bad move, guys! get a freshly made footlong from subway® instead! like a classic italian b.m.t.® stacked with fresh veggies. there's a subway® three blocks from here! choose better, be better. and now save when you order in the app. subway®. eat fresh. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

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began the call in his car, clearly parked, right? as he started moving, brenner changed his background to make it look like he was in a home office of some sort, giving him away, though, the seat belt across his chest as well as his commendable effort to look both ways while he seemingly was making a turn in his faux living room. brenner told the columbus dispatch he had meetings back-to-back, wasn't distracted and was in fact paying attention to the driving and listening to the discussion as well. the story came out as the state's house of representatives, by the way, is considering a distracted driving bill. distracted driving bill. he's on the phone, doing a meeting, in the car. i think brenner has some thoughts on this, so along with a head shake, we want to give you a high five every weekend. this week, it's two people who will be meeting on a basketball court tonight not only as opponents but as fiancees.

her proposal to fellow player reads, did a thing, another ring. she said yes. she's a two-time champion with the seattle storm and her fiancee is a guard for the phoenix mercury. the two teams tip off in a couple hours in a preseason game. we'll be right back. hours in p game we'll be right back. get to telly how liberty mutual customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need? i mean it... uh-oh, sorry... oh... what? i'm an emu! no, buddy! only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty. ♪ i'm morgan, and there's more to me than hiv. more love,... more adventure,... more community. but with my hiv treatment,... there's not more medicines in my pill. i talked to my doctor... and switched to...

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welcome back. in virginia, voters cast their ballots in the state's republican primary for governor, lieutenant governor, and attorney general. but what's perhaps most interesting about this convention is its unusual nature. it's gone drive-in style, something we've never seen before in a political primary. nbc's deepa shivaram has more from madison county. >> reporter: virginia republicans have been lining up in their cars to vote in this unassembled convention since about 9:00 a.m. this morning. this is the first time,

basically, that we've seen republicans here turn this into convention-style voting for such a large race. voters here are picking their governor, lieutenant governor, and attorney general, and it really differs from the way that democrats are doing things here. a month from today, they will have their primary election and the difference, yasmin, really comes down to access. in a regular primary, so many more people can walk through the door and access their ability to vote. but in this convention, only about 54,000 voters will be delegates here of voting. it gets a little complicated, though, because it's not like it equals one person is one vote. there's a weighted system here, a formula that tries to look at past gop turnout to have each district weigh a different amount. it is pretty complicated. if you're confused, i definitely was too and this all sort of comes, yasmin, as republicans are sort of confused and also kind of questioning security in this voting process and this election process. that's rhetoric that we heard a

lot from president donald trump, not really taking the results from the november election as face value, not acknowledging that joe biden had won the election. you hear from a lot of republicans, basically concerned about the security of this election system and this process, especially because it's so new, and i got to tell you, when i spoke with republican voters earlier today, they kind of had some mixed reviews on whether or not this convention, this drive-thru voting system was really the best way to conduct the democracy of choosing their next governor, for example. take a listen to what some of them said. >> i think probably what's lost is that sense of excitement, hearing the candidates live, all together, but you know, there was enough online, looking at youtube videos and things if you wanted to hear them in different forums or hear them answering questions live. there were opportunities to do that. >> reporter: so, yasmin, there are some different views on whether or not this has enough access for people to really take part in this election, and of course, the background is that the election results aren't coming out tonight.

they're not even really coming out tomorrow. experts here in virginia say it might take as long as thursday before we even know the results, so it is a very confusing process all around and really no end in sight right now. it's going to be a couple days before we know the answers. yasmin? >> all right, coming up, proof that you can create change no matter how old you are. we'll introduce you to a 7-year-old who felt overlooked by an education program with avatars and decided to take action. because of her, even more children can see themselves represented. stay with us. ♪ pepto bismol coats and soothes your stomach for fast relief and get the same fast relief in a delightful chew with pepto bismol chews. losing a tooth didn't stop you but your partial can act like a bacteria magnet, putting natural teeth at risk. new polident propartial helps purify your partial and strengthens and protects natural teeth. so, are you gonna lose another tooth?

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from endpoints to everywhere. welcome back, everybody. as communities of color continue to fight for representation, a 7-year-old girl in tennessee is sparking real change. first grader morgan bug was using the app freckle. it helps you create your own avatar but she realized there weren't options for black girl hair like her own. she spoke to her teacher and together they reached out to freckle with options for hair styles that morgan drew herself. two weeks later, there was success. the company responded, writing, quote, our product team recently added more hair styles based directly on your feedback. joining me is that very girl, morgan bug, along with mer mom and twin sister ellie and her first grade teacher, kelly ann joiner. hi, girls.

how are you? >> i'm good. >> morgan? go ahead, morgan. >> what am i supposed to say? >> she's just saying hello. >> how did it feel, morgan -- you can say whatever you want. you made a lot of changes. how did it feel, morgan, to not have something on that app, on freckle, that represents you, that represents what you look like and your hair? >> i felt sad because i didn't see hair that looked like mine. >> i bet you did. and maya, this is something we talk about all the time in a bigger picture when it comes to systemic racism in this country, not to bring that word into this conversation, but it's important for girls like morgan and her

sister, ellie, to have representation out there. how important is it for you and for your girls to feel as if they are being represented across all platforms? >> it's incredibly important. i know the catch phrase that everyone uses is representation matters, and that's true. there are students that need to feel represented, heard, and valid. if you're using an education platform, you should be able to see yourself in that platform and see yourself at all levels of the education system, leadership, teachers, curriculum, literature, it's pretty critical that our students feel represented and feel valid so that they can be their best. >> morgan, how did you come up with that picture that you drew? >> well, i came up with it because my mom makes my braids. my sister wears extensions. my mom makes we wear ponytails,

and i like to wear afros. >> and is what freckle made for you, does it look like those pictures? >> not really. because i feel it's like short like mine, and it's super long like ellie's. and i never drew buns. and they're too gray and -- >> morgan likes some of the styles and she'd like to see them add even more. >> yeah, i bet. at least they're trying, right, kelly? what was it like when morgan said, listen, i need help. trying to make an avatar to look like myself and nothing looks like me. were you surprised by that coming from morgan? is she that type of student to

be a leader and to want to create change? >> morgan's definitely a leader and definitely lets her voice be heard. i was more so upset and shocked because at the same time i was, like, wow, i was shocked they didn't have her hair styles either. so i may be her frustration and i just said, you know, what can we do? how can we fix it? let's make it better. she came up with the idea and said let's email them, and i said, okay, let's do it. she crew those pictures and, you know, doesn't take much. >> were you surprised they changed it, kelly? >> very much so, yes. but i was very impressed when they did reach out the second time. the first time was more generic, but i told morgan change takes time. but when they reached out the second time, i was blown away and very -- just wow. i was so shocked.

you know, i'm very proud and thankful that they did that and i just hope that other corporations will learn from this as well because representation does matter. >> it certainly does. maya, what do you want other people to take away from what your daughter did the changes your daughter created? >> that people understand that when children speak, we need to listen. and this was one app and i'm very excited that they listened to morgan's voice and they made the changes. i hope it has a ripple effect. i hope that the other apps, the other programs, the other curriculum creators, that they will listen to a voice like morgan's and realize it's 2021. we have to have representation and we have to take action so that all of our students feel affirmed with these educational

materials. >> they added additional wig opposing, a wheelchair, and skin colors and hair colors for their characters. as a result, all as a result of what morgan asked for, all as a result of what morgan wanted. morgan, bug, maya, ellie, great to talk to you. i'm yasmin vossoughian. i'll be back here tomorrow at 3:00 p.m. eastern. "politicsnation" with reverend al sharpton begins right now. good evening, and welcome to "politicsnation." tonight's lead, turning the corner and walking into a trap. right now the nation is brimming with optimism, first in even our hardest-hit states, both covid-19 cases and