♪ ♪ good evening and welcome to "politics nation." tonight's lead, jim crow 2.0. right now our conservative majority supreme court is demonstrating just how abstract they consider our freedoms to be as voting rights undergo a concerted assault from republican lawmakers. this week our highest court doubled down on its devotion to

language over lived experience, essentially ruling that states can introduce discriminatory voting laws as long as there are other available means for minority voters to get around them. if nothing else, it shows just how successful the trump administration was in, one -- and i do stress one area, and that was the entrenchment of the right wing in our court system, guaranteeing that the judicial abstraction of the court is reinforced by the legislative inaction in our congress, where the gop has made it clear that no legislation protecting the franchise can expect to pass. for the same house republicans that voted nearly unanimously to federalize juneteenth last month also voted 2 to 1 for keeping tax-funded memorials to dead

confederates in our u.s. capital this week. it fits because their senate caucus also voted nearly unanimously to silence a bipartisan investigation last month into why living insurrectionists defiled our capitol earlier this year, leaving house democratic leadership no choice but to press on mostly without them as speaker nancy pelosi's select committee to investigate january 6th takes shape with just one republican of principle on board. all of that tonight on "politics nation" starting with the perfect guest. joining me now, house majority leader congressman steny hoyer, democrat of maryland. congressman hoyer, let me go right to it. speaker pelosi's select committee on the insurrection -- my language -- it was revealed to the public this week with one republican, congresswoman liz

cheney, in that 13-member group. republican leader, minority leader kevin mccarthy has told his caucus not to accept an appointment at risk to their committee assignments. watching all of this happen as house majority leader, i wonder how you would describe the path that brought congress to this point, because despite my political differences with political republican lawmakers in the past, i still can't imagine most of those lawmakers being so unbothered by an assault on the capitol and then being disproportionately more forceful in their response to its investigation. >> well, i think it is very sad, reverend, as you point out, that the response that the republicans have had to the insurrection that occurred, the violent insurrection which led to the deaths of both civilians and police personnel in the attacks on police and the

threats that were in the capitol on both the vice president of the united states, a republican conservative, and speaker nancy pelosi, just tragic that the response has not been more effective, not more expressing the anger that i think was reflected on that night certainly through senator mcconnell and kevin mccarthy. but it has not reflect edit self in the days since, maybe because trump has said "i don't want any action taken." in any event, it was unfortunate. it was also unfortunate, as you point out, that the commission, which was a bipartisan commission and met all of the criteria save one that the republicans wanted in terms of being even, in terms of having equal authority on subpoenas and investigations, the only thing it didn't do was to have a commission that was going to look at every wrong thing that had happened or every

demonstration that happened in america. what we wanted to do, what the american people want, what history needs is a focus on what happened on january 6th. why did it happen? how did it happen? who participated in making it happen? how do we prevent it from happening again? so when i was asked if they don't approve the commission in the senate, are you going to move ahead and i said, of course, because history demands that we move forward, the institution demand we move forward, our democracy demands that we move forward and that's what speaker pelosi is doing. i think the eight people she has appointed with it being chaired by bennie thompson of mississippi and including liz cheney who showed she has the courage, the fortitude and the integrity to call them as she sees them. so i am very hopeful that leader mccarthy will, as we did in the benghazi investigation, participate -- >> right. >> -- appoint members and proceed. >> now, congressman, help me out.

why did so many of the same lawmakers who last month voted overwhelmingly in favor of a national holiday celebrating black freedom from slavery voted this week to keep statutory of slavery's most passionate defenders, are those that quite literally that founded a hostile nation, why did they vote to keep those people, those statues in our u.s. capital? >> i don't know that i'm the one that could answer that question. they have to answer that question. i don't have an answer as to why they would do that. again, they're soft peddling the insurrection that occurred on january 6th with one member -- a number of members saying absurdly, oh, well, they just looked like tourists visiting the capitol. anybody who has seen the videos knows that's not true. and when they are treating insurrectionists or people who promoted hate and separation and

segregation being honored in the capital of the united states, it should not happen. that's what that vote was about. why? as you know, we have 72 republicans, so it wasn't as if -- and including mccarthy, who voted with us, and scalise, their two leaders. however, why over 100 of them voted no, they'll have to answer that themselves. it was not a good vote. it did not speak well for the party that claims to be the party of lincoln. >> now, i have to get to this, congressman, while i have you here. we had a legislative setback last month with senate republicans blocking debate on hr-1, the for the people act. then our conservative supreme court ruled this week that arizona's voter restriction laws do not violate section two of the voting rights act, a nasty precedent at a crucial time. it is why i as president of national action network will be marching in washington next month with martin luther king

iii and others, but it is also why the justice department is now suing georgia and vice president harris is leading the white house response on voting rights, because if neither congress or our supreme court can help, it seems the executive response is all that's left, at least for now. your response to what cards that the democrats have left to play on this issue, congressman? >> well, reverend, you and i have both walked across the edmond pettis bridge with john lewis, commemorating bloody sunday, march 7th, 1965, and the subsequent signing just months later of the voting rights act. as kagan said in her dissent in the california case, i believe, or the arizona case, she said the voting rights act is the best of america, but in some respects the need for the voting rights act is the worst in america. we have no option but to keep

fighting. that's what john lewis said, keep your eye on the prize. the prize is an america that lives out the promise of equality, which, of course, is most important in terms of access to the ballot, the access to having your voice in our democracy. we're going to keep fighting. al, you know i have said publicly over and over again, we need to get rid of the filibuster. the filibuster is undemocratic. it thwarts the will of the majority of the people in the united states of america. it is a rule that the founders did not contemplate. you know, it is not as if the founders didn't contemplate in some instances having the necessity for an overwhelming vote, an extraordinary majority. they did so with a veto override, they did so with treaties, they did so with a conviction of the president on impeachment, and they did so for many of the constitutions. so they knew there were certain

times when they wanted greater than a majority, but they did not contemplate nor did they articulate any concept of having more than a majority of vote in either house to pass a proposition for the people. that's what we're seeing. i hope that at some point in time the members of the united states senate say enough, the majority is going to rule. the voting rights act and other bills that are supported by the overwhelming majority, and in some cases 85% of the american people that support comprehensive background checks to make their communities safer. at some point the majority needs to see its voice articulated and represented in the united states senate. >> now -- >> so we're going to keep fighting. hr-1, hr-4, absolutely critically important and we're going to keep fighting until we get that done. >> now let me turn -- >> but you're right, the department can take action, they are taking action and they need

to take all of the action they can and we need to amend the law. >> let me turn to police reform. as i understand it of the three primary negotiators, just one is from the house of representatives, congresswoman karen bass, a member of the congressional black caucus. do you have any insight about what's been holding up the process? >> well, i think we know what is holding up the process. republicans are holding up the process, and republicans are holding it up. you will have to ask them why. obviously cory booker is fighting hard in the senate. tim scott says he wants to get a bill. i certainly hope that is the case. jim clyburn has told our caucus he believes there's a path forward for a meaningful bill. that's the key phrase. we don't just want a symbol, we want accountability. we want to make sure people of color, particularly african-americans, are safe when

dealing with the police. that doesn't mean they won't deal with the police any more than i won't deal with the police if i do something wrong, but it means they will be treated as everybody else is treated, and that is with the respect that is due a citizen under the law and under the constitution of the united states. so i am hopeful that senator scott and senator booker and other members of the senate will be able to come to an agreement that the house can pass not just a symbol but substance so that we can have accountability. very frankly, when a member of congress does wrong -- i'm a lawyer, when a lawyer does wrong, when a member of the clergy does wrong, they need to be held accountable. our police to whom we give a great deal of power and we demand courage and integrity, that they as well should be accountable when they do things that are obviously wrong and

harmful and against justice in america. >> and i might add, as i say often, it is not an anti-police bill at all. >> absolutely not. >> it is good for police because it keeps good police, which are the majority, from being smeared by those that step out of line with no accountability. i have to go back to something you said as i let you go. we have marched across that edmond pettis bridge together in some of the commemorative marches, you and i would be among those that would go with john lewis every year. i can honestly say from prior conversations there's no one john lewis respected more than you, congressman hoyer. thank you for being with us, congressman steny hoyer. coming up on "politics nation," republicans want you to believe crime is running wild and president biden is to blame. i refute their big lie. and hard-core trump supporters have been lined up all day for his florida rally just hours from now.

find out what the ex-president is likely to say about the criminal charges filed this week against his family business and one of his most trusted executives. but first, my colleague joshua johnson with today's top news stories. joshua. >> thank you, rev. hello to you. some of the stories we are watching this hour, fire officials in miami-dade county say demolition crews could bring down the remainder of the partially collapsed champlain towers condo building tomorrow. concerns about the stability of the structure hampered rescue efforts. 22 people are confirmed to have died in the collapse. 126 are still believed to be missing. another possible complication for the rescue effort, tropical storm elsa. check out the path. the system has been downgraded from a hurricane as it moves through the caribbean south of the dominican republic. forecasters say it could regain hurricane strength today or tomorrow, on track toward florida and the southeastern u.s. stunning video shows the moments that a mudslide swept

across rows of houses in japan. take a look at this. the mudslide killed two people and left at least 19 more missing. it happened in a small seaside town near tokyo after days of heavy rain. people who live near that area have been asked to evacuate as researchers search -- rescuers search for anyone who may be trapped. we'll have more "politics nation" with the reverend al sharpton next. with relapsing forms of ms... there's a lot to deal with. not just unpredictable relapses. all these other things too.

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♪ ♪ for this week's gotcha, i want to address one of the republican's latest lies about president joe biden. a tall tale so convoluted you have to split it in two just to sort it all out. the falsehood goes like this. violent crime rates are going through the roof and it is all because of this president's plan to defund police departments. i'm going to start with the latter half of that lie because it is incredibly easy to debunk.

not only does president biden oppose initiatives to defund police, championed by some reform activists, he actually wants to increase funding for police. president biden proposed that some covid-19 relief money get funded into police budgets, an initiative many republicans opposed. so let's dive into the other half of the republican lie. fearmongering about rising crime rates, because while it is true that violent crime rates rose in 2020 and appear to be on an upward trajectory so far in 2021, you can see by looking at this chart of the fbi data that violent crime is still close to its lowest point over the last 35 years. if you break that fbi data out and categorize it by crime type, you see that most types of

violent crimes actually went down in the last year with homicide being the notable outlier. so what caused this jump in homicides? one factor was the steep increase in domestic violence murders. when americans were confined in their homes during the pandemic, some of them were forced to quarantine with violent partners. that isolation coupled with budget crises among many anti-domestic violent advocacy programs led to a doubling of domestic partner homicides in some counties. it didn't help that the violence against women act which funds many of those programs was actually allowed to lapse by congressional republicans during that same time. meanwhile, even some republicans blame biden for the rise in violent crime, the reauthorization of the violence against women act, which was originally sponsored by

then-senator joe biden in 1994, is being held up by republicans in the senate. the other major factor behind the rise in homicides is rising gun violence. the nonprofit gun violence archive tracked nearly 4,000 more gun killings in 2020 than 2019, and gun violence is yet another issue that the president is ready to tackle, but he's forced to do so without any republican support. president biden's gun plan is multi-tiered and popular among the american people, so naturally republicans a maligning it at every turn, all while proposing no solutions themselves. to those republicans who would exploit the deaths of their fellow americans for partisan gain, we see you. we see your cynicism, we see your inaction. we see you trying to shift the blame, and none of it is going to work.

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♪ ♪ welcome back to "politics nation." it is independence weekend but we've had no holiday from politics. i want to bring in my panel to tahe big news we've seen this week. juanita toliver is a democratic strategist. susan de percio is a republican strategist. both are msnbc political analysts. susan, in a few hours former president trump will hold a rally in sarasota, florida. his most rabid supporters have been lining up for days. as you see, thousands are there some three hours before the rally is scheduled to start. now, it is his first appearance since his company and its cfo were charged with running a

15-year tax scheme and is being held just a few hundred miles from the site of the horrific building collapse in surfside, florida, which according to "the washington examiner" angered republican governor desantis, who the governor now denies this. what political condition is the former president in as he takes the stage tonight, susan? >> well, he is going to his people. so they're going to cheer and yell and hoot and holler, and my guess we'll hear something about locking someone up. we'll hear enemies list, and we'll hear a lot of witch hunts. but it will just be a rehashing of everything else he has said. the only thing that may make a little news is that he will respond to the charges put against him, against his company, the trump organization this week, as you said, but other than that, rev, it is just going to be the same old garbage, which is why no one

including fox covers this and puts it up live. >> juanita, let's spend some time on those charges against the trump organization because they are unlike any accusations we've ever seen against a business run by someone who held the highest office in the land. there's a count of grand larceny against his top executive, four counts of criminal tax fraud against the organization, four counts of falsifying business records. the list goes on. you can see it on the screen. yet, according to an adviser, when the ex-president found out he was not going to be personally charged with anything his response was, quote, this is going to hurt sleepy joe, end of quote. we have seen trump evade accountability for wrongdoing and turn accusations around on his political enemies so many times. do you really think he can get away with it again? >> look, rev, he is marveling in the fact he has gotten away with

it to this point, but he has to zoom out. he has to understand that the prosecutors aren't done yet, right. like the pressure that they're applying to someone like weisselberg who has been with his family's company since his dad was running the shop is really showing years and years of loyalty with weisselberg, and now prosecutors are applying pressure on him with these formal charges which come with potential jail time up to 10, 15 years, to see if they can flip weisselberg to get to trump. so while trump might be confident at this point, what he is not aware of is what is happening in weisselberg's mind right now as he's facing these charges and potential jail time because prosecutors know to get to trump they have to flip weisselberg because weisselberg will know more information about trump's intentions, trump's frame of mind, trump's bookkeeping practices in terms of what he showed to bankers versus what he showed to tax administrators and be able to essentially provide witness testimony that could really land

trump in hot water. so, sure, trump is celebrating in this moment, and as susan mentioned he is probably going to call it a witch hunt tonight at his rally, but what matters is what prosecutors will be able to get out of weisselberg now that he is facing these formal charges. >> susan, let's move on from trump to republicans who still hold office. since the gop stonewalled bipartisan attempts for an investigation into the events of january 6th, speaker pelosi has appointed eight representatives to a select committee including one republican, outspoken trump critic liz cheney. minority leader kevin mccarthy has the opportunity to put forth other republican members of those supposedly florida congressman matt gaetz and georgia congresswoman marjorie taylor green have expressed much interest. what can democrats do to make this badly needed investigation feel legitimate to americans of

both parties without turning it into a political circus that some congressional republicans want to provoke? >> well, rev, i believe that the investigation is completely necessary. i believe that pelosi's moving forward with good faith, as she did negotiating with the republicans, and the republicans got everything they wanted, mind you. but that is not to say that no matter what happens with this investigation, the republicans will make it political. i'm not saying it is right, the right thing to do. i'm saying what we're going to see, because the republicans know an investigation hurts them. so they could be part of it, in which they'll have to endorse it which would have been problematic, or they could choose not to have anything to do with it and just attack it as political. that's what they're going to try and do. it will be successful at some point. now, if -- i think mccarthy will probably put up, you know, his

five names that he can and it will be up to speaker pelosi to see how much she wants to veto gaetz or marjorie taylor green, which i think she should, but the good intentions will be -- will meet resistance by republicans except for liz cheney, who knows how to fight like them. so i think she could be actually very helpful on this. >> juanita, the supreme court's decision up holding voter restrictions in arizona this week, i just talked to steny hoyer about it, the editorial boards of both "the washington post" and "the new york times" addressed the fall-out, saying the roberts' court, quote, systematically dismantled the voting rights act and abandoned voting rights. it seems as if we are headed into a real crisis for democracy if neither congress nor the courts can be counted on to protect voting rights, especially for communities of

color who so often see them infringed. where do we go from here? >> look, rev, i did appreciate your exchange with steny hoyer about this because what we've seen with roberts is not only this decision where conservative justices have really shown up and shown out for the gop essentially, empowering states to go even further, but we also know in 2013 they took away section five with the pre-clearance with the doj. so now i don't think advocates are ready to give up on congressional action. what we all know is that the courts is not the place to up hold voting rights. the courts have shown us that they will not do that time and time again, and as justice kagan wrote they've essentially foreclosed on the ability to challenge voter suppression bills like we've seen across the country and actions, especially when they lead to racial inequity. so what we have now is a situation where advocates are going back to apply pressure to members of congress, especially in the senate, because it is

imperative that they act because we know what is at stake here. we know the history in this country that black and brown voters have faced at the polls from intimidation to full-on tactics to suppress our votes that are still active and permeating states today. so it is imperative congress takes action, especially before this next midterm election because we know who loses here. it is not just black and brown voters, it is ultimately our democracy at stake. so i appreciated both of those opinion pieces from the publications because they hit the nail on the head. the supreme court has effectively gutted the voting rights act. but what comes next i think still falls in the lap of congress to act, but the clock is ticking, rev. >> susan, briefly, your thoughts on this battle for voting rights? >> well, the clock is ticking, and what people don't realize is the numbers for redistricting come out at the end of august. when i say that, the census numbers. so maps are going to be drawn very soon, a couple of months,

which to me means stop with hr-1, move to hr-4. get that passed immediately for it strips out everything else that i understand democrats want, but to protect the democracy as juanita said you have to get hr-4 in place, and it has to be done before redistricting. >> juanita toliver and susan del percio, thank you both. coming up, it is becoming a summer of extremes, including record-breaking heat in the northwest and a busy hurricane season with elsa gathering strength off the u.s. coast right now. these possible signs of climate change should be especially concerning to people of color. i'll tell you why next. it's fal long-lasting relief with a revolutionary, rollerball design. because with the right pain reliever... life opens up.

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as our western states smolder from some of the most extremist heat recorded, the gulf states just finished watching their ocean literally just burn. i'm watching these events from a grandfather's perspective and wondering about the world to come. and because of the communities i represent, i have to stress that while there is no immediate escape from that world for any of us, it will be the poorest among us that will suffer its effects first because, as we're about to discuss, they always have, but as the president's compromised infrastructure plan appears to have found its daylight, the concern is there that predominantly black and brown communities will both miss out on the opportunities to repair their communities now and prepare them for a very uncertain future.

joining me heather mctear tony, environmental activist and former epa administrator under president obama. you served under president obama. i want to emphasize it for our audience because that's where so much of black america is, and it is getting more vulnerable to extreme weather across those effects that all americans will have to contend with in the future. but according to the epa, black americans will already disproportionately likely to live near a toxic superfund site or place like cancer alley in louisiana where there are dozens of oil refineries and chemical plants. so many cases of cancer and respiratory disease that in march the united states called

it the threat to human -- to the human rights of the predominantly black residents of the region, i wonder if you could briefly walk us through some of the history of this issue. why are black americans so much luckier and likelier, i should say, to be poisoned by their environments than others? >> thanks so much, rev. i think you hit the nail on the head. more people of color, black and brown people, live in the southeast united states than anywhere else. quite frankly, since 1619 we have been on the front lines of environmental injustices due to historic and systemic racist policies that have plagued this country from the beginning. so even if we look at things like the 1950s housing regulations that created red lining and forced black people into communities that were next to landfills or in the same spaces where facilities were allowed to permit, we have constantly and always been in a space that has been polluted via the air, the water and the land.

so it is no surprise that black people and brown people alike are more likely than any other demographic to support climate action, to support climate infrastructure, and, more importantly than anything, to keep it going and to be resilient. that's why this infrastructure plan is so important and why we have to take this very moment to assure that the infrastructure dollars that are coming out will go to help black and brown communities and marginalized communities across this country really prepare for climate resiliency and really let's dig into the health and wealth building of our communities as we move forward in this green economy. >> now, i want to pivot to politics, to the politics of environmental justice. in your editorial in this week's "dame" magazine titled "how the infrastructure bill fails the climate crisis," on how this compromised version of president biden's infrastructure plan fails the nation and as such

black communities on climate. can you elaborate for our audience, ms. tony? >> i think of it this way. i worked my fair share of retail jobs, rev, when i was a younger person, and i don't know if you ever had this situation where your paycheck came up short and you were a little concerned because you know you put in the time and the hours, that's the best way to describe right now what we're feeling when we look at this infrastructure bill and we know what was put in and what has to come out. but like any good person, you go back to the manager and you say, "hey, we're short and we need to fix that," and i think that's exactly what is happening right now. when we look at the infrastructure bill that came out it was roughly $2.7 trillion before the bipartisan bill, and the majority of things that were cut out are what we think are the social infrastructure. that's workforce development, hospitals, education, and key places where climate policy and climate infrastructure is extremely important in poorer communities. so to see all of that stripped out is really undermining how black and brown communities can

really strengthen themselves right now. i think about mayors and communities across this country from urban places like columbus, ohio, that's been working on their climate plan for years now. that type of community and those plans that already exist could be leveraged with this additional funding, but when it is taken out of the infrastructure plan it puts us in a position that's really behind and forces us to run to catch up. quite frankly, black communities have been running to catch up for a long time. so we have to step it up faster, work with the administration to say "this is what needs to happen next," but also really take advantage, more than ever before, of the existing things within the infrastructure plan right now that will allow us to move forward. >> you know, i must say that i am heartened by the passion of so many young black activists around environmental justice. i see it in my national action network, younger members around the country. i look at it -- at you and other climate activists that we've had

here on the show. at some point i hope to get michael regan, now the first black man to lead the epa. but, still, i don't think that our communities get enough credit around this issue. a 2019 poll by yale university found 57% of black americans are concerned, if not alarmed by climate change. and to your previous point on infrastructure, a research report from april found that 68% of black adults think that climate policies should prioritize poor communities. so, again, we are the face of the suffering but not the movement as some yet might see. why is that, ms. toney? >> we have a number of issues and sometimes people think of climate, particularly environmental justice as one of

the boxes. you have to see it as the table all of the boxes sit on, because the way climate and environment impacts the black and brown community it comes from all angles. there are studies we can point to that show when you have extreme heat there are educational disparities that happen, particularly in urban communities where you have high rates of pollution as well as a large african-american or latino population. the same thing goes with things like police brutality and domestic violence. there are a plethora of different ways and issues we have to look at together collectively. rev, i got to say this. right now at this very moment we are all under attack from -- and being prevented from really moving forward because, as you just said, you know, black and brown people are very, very -- this is a very important issue to all of us. but if we are prevented from voting, if the voter suppression tactics that are taking place right now are impacting those people who are most likely to

vote on climate policy, we have a bigger problem. that's why it is so important for every environmental organization, all of the groups to come together. as president biden said, this is an all-of-government approach, but it is an all-of-community approach as well. we just saw this past week a major corporation, exxon, broadcast all over the news with one of their executives talking specifically about how they go against climate change and try to change did minds of people in communities like ours. we have to hold businesses accountable. we have to demand they're going to show up in a way that calls their card if they're going to support environmental justice and climate action or if they're going to be like exxon. it is going to take all of us putting all of these issues together, and we can do it and we can move forward. i really believe that. >> heather mcteer toney, thank you again. i'm thankful for all you do. you work with the environmental defense fund and you served as the first african-american, first female and youngest mayor of greenville, mississippi.

happy 4th of july. up next, my thoughts. stay with us.

tomorrow is the fourth of july. tonight, there will be fireworks and celebrations all over the country about the declaration of independence of 1776. this morning, i was reading a column about a book written by gordon hood about -- gordon wood about two of the founding fathers' relationship, thomas jefferson and john adams and could days and bad days. and it said in this particular article i was reading how when jefferson was in his last hours, who died at noon on july 4th day, he sent for his servants and i stopped there and i thought about the speech made in 1852 by frederick douglas, an

iconic speech about how do i an ex-slave view the fourth of july. i thought about how those servants watched as they watched a founding father in his last hours, adams in his last hours, who were some of the framers of the constitution, that fought against a monarchy. thought for the right for a participatory democracy. how they looked at that and then my brought it to 2021. how as we approach this weekend, a supreme court is limiting and helping to uphold impediments upon a participatory democracy today. so as we celebrate the fourth, celebrate it by doing what was declared, but never fully fulfilled for blacks and for women and others in this country. that is why on august 28th, we're marching in washington on voting rights, martin luther

king iii and i have joined others in calling this march. that is why before you celebrate, go into nationalactionnetwork.net and sign up to continue making that declaration work for everyone. that's how you celebrate the fourth. live up to what was declared but never fully fulfilled. that does it for me. thanks for watching. i'll see you back here tomorrow at 5:00 p.m. eastern for another live hour of "politics nation." msnbc continues coverage after the break. cs nation. msnbc continues coverage after the break.

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