from landfall. somewhere right near the connecticut/rhode island border. you can see clearly where the storm is located just south of block island. and it's all heading up towards rhode island. current wind gusts, the highest gusts right around block island. that's where we are seeing winds up to about 50 miles per hour. providence now starting to pick up to 35. once you start getting into the 30s and 40s, that's when we're going to start getting some tree damage and possibility of power outage. it is really confined to the tail end of long island, eastern connecticut, and all of rhode island. martha's vineyard also just had a gust of 40 miles per hour. the winds have weakened even more now. we were at 70, now we're down at 65 miles per hour. we want this thing to get as weak as possible as it's moving on shore. it is coming on shore pretty

quickly, about 16 miles per hour. that puts it about 30, maybe 40 miles from the rhode island coast. by 2:00 p.m. it's clearly on shore, and then it's just going to rain itself out. notice the winds are not an issue as we get through this evening. the highest gusts will be out on long island, possibly block island, newport. the legacy of this storm we've already had tremendous amounts of rain around new york city and portions of new jersey. still a couple flash flood warnings. 36 million people are in flood watches. it is going to pour this afternoon, all night tonight, and periods of tomorrow. we are going to see additional rainfall totals up to about 5 to 6 inches. i'm happy to see we've gotten the storm a little bit weaker, now down to 65 miles per hour. >> bill karins, one question for you. did i hear you correctly that you say this is going to impact

36 million people? >> that's how many people are in the potential risk area for flash flooding. so not all of those people are going to get flash flooding. but in that green area that i showed you, that's where the heavy rain is going to set up over the next two days. we still have serious issues to deal with in the days ahead. >> well, stay tuned to msnbc. do not change the channel. thank you bill karins for that reporting. turning now to nbc polling that was just released moments ago. for the first time in his presidency, joe biden's approval rating is below 49%. it's a four-point drop in approval compared to april and a nine-point bump in disapproval. the poll was conducted before and during and immediately after the fall of kabul. just 25% of adults approve of biden's handling of afghanistan

and 60% disapprove. he is also set to give an update on afghanistan at 4:00 p.m. eastern today. 53% approve of the handling of the pandemic. a whopping 16% drop compared to april. the promise of april has led to the peril of august. joining me now is the editor-at-large and also an msnbc contributor. thank you so much for joining. what can we make of these drops in support for biden at this moment? >> yeah, good to be with you this morning. and i'm actually just kind of digesting these numbers, too. i think some of the things that stuck out to me, so many americans feel like the worst is yet to come. 42% compared to only 19% who felt that way in april. back in april 61% of people polled felt like the worst was behind us.

but i think with what we've seen with the delta variant, as we continue to see headlines about hospitalization rates going up with children going back to school and concerns over, you know, whether they will be safe, them continuing many children not being able to be vaccinated yet and having to navigate mask mandate discrepancies depending on which school district you live in. i think you have a lot of people and especially a lot of the women voters that we talk to who are worried about what this means for their children and their families, worried about whether they're going to be able to keep a job in this economy. the president's approval ratings dropping. the early days of his governing were met with approval. but now we're seeing this administration really being tested now that we are well past

the 200-day mark of this administration. >> i do have a question though. you mentioned the economic issues. what factor do you think that we are going to see with americans play in favor perhaps of joe biden when it comes to see the child tax credit hitting their bank accounts some time in mid-july? we're expecting the second wave of that hitting sometime soon. we're also looking at how s.n.a.p. benefits have been extended for families. do you think that those factors will play into the favor of the joe biden administration? because we know they have been betting heavily on these economic packages to help them. >> i think it's going to remain to be seen, maria teresa. part of this poll asked americans about how they felt the president's response to the coronavirus and also from an economic perspective if they felt like the economic efforts

to respond to this pandemic have been effective yet. and so watching kind of how that changes over time i think is going to be really important for us to keep an eye on. certainly we have heard from so many parents who have said that that child tax credit is going to fundamentally change their lives. they're spending it on basic necessities for themselves and their families and that that money has been a life line to them. seeing what happens with that going forward and looking into the midterms, that could be something that could factor into some of these congressional races, what members of congress do to help their constituents continue to navigate this pandemic. because we know also that this poll showed going into the midterms, the economy and covid are right up there in terms of voter priorities.

and issues like voting rights, student loans or even justice reform rank a lot lower, which is something that stood out to me that these are certainly priorities of the administration. but in terms of what is going to motivate voters in 2022, it'll be interesting to see how those priorities move up and down in the months ahead. >> thank you so much for breaking that down. that was quick. >> i do what i can for you. >> i know you literally just got it into your hands so i appreciate your time and your ability to succinctly tell us what is going on. joining me now is democratic representative richie torres of new york. he is the vice-chair of the house of homeland security committee. congressman torres, thank you so much for joining me. can you talk to me a little bit about what we can expect today at 4:00 from the president? because i know that a lot of moving pieces right now in afghanistan, how many people are going to be airlifted, how commercial airlines are going to

be able to play. can you just give us a little peek into what you expect from the president today? >> i expect the president to reassure the american people that he's going to make every effort to evacuate every american and all the afghan allies safely. it's important for the president to educate the public about the complexity of the situation in afghanistan. the president chose to withdraw not because it was politically expedient but because it was the right thing to do. the fact that the afghan government crumbled at the time we left tells us everything we need to know about the taliban takeover. >> one of the things that we just covered was a new nbc poll saying that right now the president's approval ratings are down. a lot has to do with the covid surge that we're seeing. can you speak a little bit about what you think reading your tea leaves what you think how this will impact his midterm

elections? i know it's soon, but often times that's how we're trying to track. how is the public going to react to the biden administration? >> well, look, i would be careful not to overinterpret particular polling results at a particular moment in time. overall the biden presidency has been a success between the expanded child tax credit and the extended s.n.a.p. benefit. president biden has done more in a few months to strengthen the american social safety net than any president in recent memory. an argument could be made that he is to this presidency as fdr was. regarding afghanistan, the options that afghanistan were never good versus bad, it was bad versus worse. and certainly the withdrawal was bad, but the alternative would've been infinitely worse,

which is an indefinite deployment. >> the amount of relief that the build back together agenda has actually alleviated for children in particular. one of the things we learned in july is that as a result of the child tax credit, you saw roughly millions of children being lifted out of poverty almost overnight. and then over the weekend last weekend the announcement of expanding the s.n.a.p. access to food for families. can you talk a little bit about that and why do you think that's being buried? >> look, the president has made historic contributions to the social safety net. there are 40 million americans who depend on s.n.a.p. i represent the south bronx which has among the highest rates of food insecurity, which was the hardest hit by covid-19 during covid. the unemployment rate here rose to as high as 25%. with mass unemployment often comes food insecurity that has

put real strain on the s.n.a.p. program. for far too long, the benefits of the s.n.a.p. program have lagged behind the actual cost of living. most families on s.n.a.p. typically run out of food. three-quarters of families exhaust their benefits within the first two weeks of a month's cycle. according to the urban institute, the maximum s.n.a.p. benefit falls well short of covering the cost of even a modestly priced meal in 96% of counties in america. so the fact that the president is providing the largest benefit increase to s.n.a.p. recipients is a game changer for those who live in places like the south bronx. >> well, it levels up onto the pathway of a thriving middle class if we have children that are not hungry when they go to bed but actually awake and alert in the classroom the next day. i do want to ask you one last question in your role as being part of the homeland security committee.

when we look at the taliban, one of the concerns is that al qaeda might resurge in afghanistan. is that a concern of yours? >> look, it's a situation that we have to monitor carefully. but i agree with the president's focus on counterterrorism. we have to ensure that the united states is protected from terrorism. and we need to focus on protecting the american homeland from terror attacks. >> are you concerned that you're not going to get the cooperation from your republican colleagues when it comes to anything that is going to address the situation in afghanistan? >> i always have a concern that republicans are going to act politically. when the trump administration negotiated an agreement with the taliban that would have required withdrawal by may 1st, i do not recall widespread outrage from the republican party. so, the criticism has been selective. >> one of the things that

congressman who joined me at the top of the hour is that the august 31st deadline, do you concur? >> i doubt that's a firm deadline. there's no doubt in my mind that the president is going to ensure that every american is evacuated because the safety of the american people in afghanistan should be non-negotiable. it is an arbitrary deadline, but i suspect it can be moved if necessary. >> democratic representative richie torres, thank you for spending your morning with us. be well. stay dry. next, a journalist and his afghan driver were kidnapped by the taliban almost 13 years ago. they both escaped. but now the driver is trapped in afghanistan with an uncertain fate. plus, how the republican party is weaponizing the greatest part about america, its diversity. and tropical storm henri could bring deadly storm surges

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you may be familiar with the story of david rode by now. he's the american journalist who was held captive by the taliban in 2008. and now he's trying to save the family of the afghan who saved his life all those years ago. executive news editor of new yorker.com and an msnbc contributor. i believe that you have some good news to share about your friend who was able to get out of afghanistan. can you share the good news? >> yes. his wife and children were in a crowd -- all together it took them 14 hours. they fought their way through a crowd for four or five hours, were pushed back.

they then waited and they were able to sort of get into the airport with the help of someone inside. and i'm just trying to keep this big because i want to keep everyone safe. they are waiting for a flight to afghanistan, they are in the airport. i am thrilled, i'm so lucky. it's an stoorld great thing. but they arrived in the airport late at night, and they had no food and water for the next i think roughly seven to eight hours. they slept out in the open with thousands of other afghans. and they're now out, i believe, in the open sun. so the situation at the airport and around it remains terrible. seven people have died in stampedes i believe in the last 24 hours. i'm lucky, he is lucky, his family is lucky. but many, many other afghans are not. >> one of the things that i think the audience needs to better understand is that you were held captive by the

taliban. how dangerous is it for afghanis who helped americans in afghanistan right now, if they cannot get out? >> during the seven months i was in captivity, my guards told me they were convinced that the 9/11 attacks were staged. they believe in sincerely there's a lot of cynical brainwashing but they believe that afghan women were being forced to work as prostitutes on u.s. military bases. they saw our driver. he was also eventually able to flee, and he and his family are safe and outside of afghanistan. but they saw any afghan who worked with americans as traitors, and they were eager to kill tahir and assad. and the estimate is that 300,000 afghan civilians worked on american aid projects.

they built schools and health clinics, they worked with journalists like me. those are the people you see desperately trying to get inside the kabul airport now, again, 300,000. >> so something that struck me as i was reading up for our interview was that 70% of afghanis are young and that the only life that they know are the ones where the american forces came in and tried to create a modern afghan. does this give you hope that they don't have this legacy of taliban rule, that they have an understanding of modernization where they want to continue thriving, where women can be shopkeepers? give me some insight to that. >> that number is correct. and the young population is large. afghanistan is a deeply divided country. so, young people who grew up in cities are better educated. they want to be like dubai, turkey, they want to have a modern country. they love mobile phones, they

love cable tv and social media. the rural areas are deeply conservative and that's where the taliban gets its support. america found itself between rural conservatives and very sort of more moderate urban afghans. look, we can pull out, if that's the president's decision. we can do it in a far more orderly way. this was a rushed, chaotic, and poorly planned withdrawal. this hurt the president politically in the polls. and that's because americans care. so, i don't think the august 31st deadline to pull out troops is realistic at this point given the tens of thousands, possibly hundreds of thousands of afghans that have supported the united states and want a chance to be able to get out. >> david, thank you for sharing your personal story but also the importance of having the ability for americans to do all they can to get our allies out. thank you. >> thank you. many lawmakers are picking

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there are leaders in this country, mainly in red southern states, who are actively putting their citizens at risk for the coronavirus. so local groups are taking matters into their own hands. >> i decided to take it because i was tired of seeing a lot of people dying from covid. i personally know more than ten people that died from covid, and it's terrible. most of the people dying in this community, they're like me. when i got the vaccine i felt free. >> that was one of several ads produced by vota latino, a

foundation that i co-founded and ran in populations with high latinx populations. google analytics found that the people who saw that simple ad were 54 times more likely to search "get covid vaccine" on google. local grassroots groups appear to be effective. the white house is now backing training and resources for barbers and hairstylists and a thousand black-owned barbershops and salons, arming them with the correct information to promote vaccination and fight back against misinformation with their customers. the director of shots at the shop program joins me now, and the director of the university of maryland's center for health equity. doctor, thank you so much for joining me. i have to tell you, one of the things that i love about this is that you are using cultural

understandings and nuances for the african-american community and meeting them where they are. talk to me about your program. >> well, first of all, thank you so much for inviting me onto your show to talk to your audience about shots at the shop. imagine this. why not go where people are? meet them where they are. and we all have our reasons. and by meeting people where they are and answering their questions with dignity and respect, we can move the needle. no shame, no blame. some people just aren't there yet. we're asking them to absorb a lot of information. so, imagine going into a trusted setting like a barbershop and beauty salon. you have to understand that no self-respecting black barber or stylist would ever say i'll get you in and out in 15 minutes. [ laughter ] so, for the past 15 years we have been looking at underlying

issues. here we are we pivoted and we've turned these places into trusted information centers, and that's what we need right now, to move from vaccine hesitancy to vaccine confidence. >> most folks don't realize that the reason that there is vaccine hesitancy among african-americans and the latino community is the massive inundation of disinformation targeting us mostly online. one of the things that we've heard, for example, was that people were afraid because they thought they were getting a micro chip put into them by the government. other things we heard is that it was going to create infertility among young women. all of that is bogus. tell us about why that work is so important that you're doing to counter that disinformation? >> first of all, let me congratulate you for getting behind a campaign to produce

countermeasures to this misinformation. our black and brown communities have been marinating in misinformation. the micro chip, the magnetism, the infertility, all bogus. and yet people are afraid. so i think we need to take the time to answer their questions with dignity and respect. and we do weekly town halls. the campaign has now enrolled over 1,000 barbershops and salons. and they're literally giving life-saving vaccines in the barbershop and salon. so, i think that the real game changer is that we did not anticipate the funding and the verocity of groups misinforming

their constituents. that should concern us especially right now when we actually have a solution. these vaccines are safe and effective. and the most important thing we can do to get to freedom is to get people vaccinated. >> i love that you engage with dignity and respect for the folks that are hesitant. thank you for your work. >> make it a great day. >> you too. we continue to follow tropical storm henri which is set to make landfall later this morning. we'll take you live into long island, next. millions of vulnerable americans struggle to get reliable transportation to their medical appointments. that's why i started medhaul. citi launched the impact fund to invest in both women and entrepreneurs of color like me, so i can realize my vision and give everything i've got to my company, and my community. i got you. for the love of people. for the love of community. for the love of progress.

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abbvie may be able to help. president biden has approved emergency declarations and ordered federal assistance for new york and connecticut as tropical storm henri closes in on the northeast. heavy rain and strong winds already hitting parts of the northeastern coast. this is another look at montauk earlier this morning. nbc news janessa webb is on westhampton beach, new york. janessa, things look pretty dicey there. where are you? janessa, can you hear me? i'm going to go ahead and cut to kathy. >> hey, i can't hear you very well. we still have a very strong storm. i know it has been downgraded to a tropical system. but, man, the winds continue to whip out here.

and the storm surge is really starting to pick up across westhampton beach. look at these angry seas that we're seeing. i'm going to hold onto these poles out here because the winds have just picked up in the last two hours. we've been out here since about 4:00 a.m., and, man, just in the last few hours things have dramatically changed even though the system has been downgraded. everyone's talking about yes it's now a tropical storm. but the impacts, they continue to be the same. take a look at what we are seeing right now. the visibility has really been reduced across westhampton beach. now, no reports of any power outages, but still asking people to stay at home. i just checked flight delays. we have over 900 delays across the northeast. now, i've been watching this storm system since tuesday as it formed across bermuda. and we know the track was a

significant change. and it has been pretty erratic the whole time. and so that's exactly what we are seeing. the now, the biggest concern for the next few hours, yes, is that landfall that we are going to see in connecticut or rhode island. so that's still up in the air. but this tough weather across the northeast into long island, it's going to remain for at least the next five hours. so we are not out of this storm just yet. maria, losing ifb but i hope you got all of it. >> hold on tight with the waves behind you. kathy, how are people preparing in rhode island? >> hey, maria. we just got to this scene. as you can see, we're being slammed by heavy bands of rain, strong winds. i'm not sure if you can see behind me, but the waves are just relentless. right behind me is ocean road.

and we have seen several police vehicles blocking the entrances to the roadways. obviously this is a very dangerous situation. we don't want people out on the roadways. and that is something that officials have been telling residents throughout the new england area to stay off the road, especially now as the storm is inching near the area. this is something that we are going to being seeing as far as the conditions go, deteriorate over the next couple of hours. but this is what we are talking about, the intense wind gusts, the heavy rain and the potential later on for inland and coastal flooding. i'm struggling to stand here because the wind gusts are so intense right now. yesterday obviously a lot of people heeded the warnings. they were getting ready ahead of this storm, prepping and obviously getting those batteries and generators ready to go. hopefully you have those ready because power outages could be extremely prolonged. we're not talking about hours here, potentially days. so obviously we'll be standing ground here, monitoring the

situation here in rhode island. maria? >> janessa and kathy, thank you so much for your reporting. turning back now to our other top story, afghanistan, where the chaos at the kabul airport is intensifying this morning. the british military reported seven af began -- afghan civilian deaths. flights with over 850 americans took off yesterday en route to the u.s. sky news has the latest on the ground in kabul. >> reporter: the taliban are beyond the british lines. things have calmed down quite a lot. i think people are beginning to understand that if they're rioting or they're shouting and screaming, there's no way they can get any work done. so the processing is taking place here. so that's the british side. now this is going towards the americans. this pen has been slightly

empty. i think this is the area where they're going to the united states, they're getting processed. we now know that the united states will only accept people with passports, visas or green cards. pretty much everyone else, they're on their own because they can't really cope with the numbers that are trying to get in. it was always a lot more than the united kingdom. these people have been here for days probably. i mean, it is actually quite remarkable. thousands upon thousands are in here. these are british soldiers here who are assisting, and they're somewhat penned in while they do try to go through the process period. it is calmer than yesterday, much better today. as i said, the message has to get through to the people that if you don't do as you're told and you don't just wait, there is no way they can process anyone. but it is pretty miserable in there. there's not much water.

they've been there for hours, some of them days. and all the time you get that sense that this relief operation has a limited time in it. there's much discussion amongst the politicians as to whether it can be extended. a lot of that will have to do with what the taliban has to say. but it's grim work, it's calmer. but that could change any time. >> thank you for that report. the 2020 census confirmed that america is a nation of diversity. more multicultural than ever. but there are forces at work silencing the voices that make up this great nation. next, what happens -- what needs to happen to stop that suppression. our past for power, we can harness the energy of the tiny electron. we can create new ways to connect. rethinking how we communicate

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america is a diverse multicurl country. that's a fact. the 2020 census found that

people of color made over 37% of the total population. the share of people who identified as hispanic, latino or multiracial grew the most. this is undoubtedly a win for america. more diversity means more voices, perspectives, and inclusivity, and an increasingly interconnected world where we have to tackle climate change and other issues, having diverse perspectives gives us as a country a cutting edge. except not everyone sees our strength in a multicultural america, and there are real forces getting to work right now to diminish the power of some citizens who happen to be of color by cutting our access to the voting booth. they're weaponizing the census data. our modern voter suppression history is rooted in the 2010

census findings. take shelby county, for example. the small county at the center of alabama has a population of just around 200,000 people. in 2013, it single-handedly gutted the voting rights act of 1965, opening the flood gates for voter suppression for years to come. that year justice roberts supreme court invalidated a key portion of the voting rights act known as preclearance, which essentially made sure states could not pass discriminatory laws that restrict people of color from voting. republicans in shelby county argued the requirements were outdated and too excessive and unnecessary. in the dissent, however, justice ruth bader ginsburg said throwing out preclearance is like throwing away your umbrella in a rainstorm because you're not getting wet. and just like that what had been

described as the heart of the voting rights act was gone. it was no accident that shelby county, a teeny tiny county in the south became the bell weather for voter suppression three years prior to the supreme court decision. the 2010 census found that, like many counties across the nation, shelby saw an explosion of diversity. according to the u.s. census, shelby county had a nearly 297% increase in its latino population, a 95% increase in african-americans. and a fifth of their population was between the ages of 5 and 17. that's important because it meant that there was a generation of young latinx, african-americans, asian-americans, and white allies coming of age getting ready to cast their first vote in the coming elections. and that's what they did. in 2018 latinos became the second largest voting bloc.

it made it possible for red states like texas and georgia to move forward with new restrictive laws that disproportionately impact people of color. texas, despite a certifying a fair free election last year is fighting hard to make it more difficult for people to vote. it begs the question, why? because by the 2022 midterm election when governor abbott is on the ballot, an additional 2,000 latinx youth will be able to vote. this is no accident that each of these states are changing the rules. they're upset not by how many americans are voting. it's a matter of who cast those votes. every american regardless of political party should be deeply offended by these shenanigans.

democracy with a small d. that small d demands full access to the voting booth in order for it to survive. our vote is our nation's life line, which is why it's crucial that the congress pass the people for the voting rights act. regardless of zip code, everyone is playing by the same rules. americans voted in historic numbers in 2018, ushering the most represented congress in history. we risked our health to vote to continue down the path of progress. congress must act now to ensure that a modern multicultural america can continue engaging in our democracy and continue what we set out to build, an enfranchised america that makes good on its promise.

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growth the majority of whom are u.s. born. however, the census doesn't track those who live in the united states. it also decides how congressional districts can be redrawn and how many house seats are allotted for each state. due to the census data, the following states will each lose one congressional seat. california, new york, illinois, pennsylvania, ohio, michigan and west virginia. and here are the states that are gaining seats. texas will pickup two seats, and then florida, north carolina, colorado, oregon, and montana each pick one up. if you notice, most of the states gaining seats are states that went for donald trump in 2020 and most of the states that are giving up seats went for joe biden. now, a seat here and there may not sound very consequential, but right now democrats are hanging onto their majority in the house by a thread. republicans need only five seats to take control of the chamber, and those seats could be added back simply by redrawing

district lines before the 2022 midterm elections even take place. joining me now is jasmine crockett of texas, and reverend dr. william barber, cochair of the people's campaign and the president of the repairers of the breach. thank you so much both for joining me today. i want to start with you, reverend barber. because one of the challenges that we've had is that there seems to be a stalemate right now in passing the for the people's act, but this can have dire consequence if we allow republican-controlled statehouses to draw up a lot of these district lines as i mentioned before. can you speak to the urgency that we are facing right now? >> well, you're exactly right. we don't need one or the other. we need a for the peoples act because it deals with gerrymandering, it deals with access to the ballot t deals with getting dark money out of politics. we also need the restoration of voting rights act for future bills. that will deal with preclearance. i come from a state after the shelby decision, one of our

senators said now that the headache has been removed and based on that they passed the worst voter suppression law and the worst gerrymandering we had seen, it took us four years, 1200 arrests to beat them. they spent $6 million of state money to try to defend retrogression. this is very serious business and it's easy to do particularly because we don't have preclearance. the house has to stand strong and say no infrastructure bill until we protect the infrastructure of our democracy, which is voting rights, and the infrastructure of our daily lives, which is living wages and progressives, while they're in the senate or house, need to say that and put the same pressure that manchin and sinema have done with their one or two votes, they need to use their 80 or 90 votes to say you don't get anything until we do right by this democracy. we have an attack on our democracy. not just on black people. and dr. king said in '65, he

said the great fear of those who want to divide the country is for the black masses and white masses to come together, form coalition that's can fundamentally change the economic architecture of the nation. that possibility is with us now and we can't allow people to take it from us with she's shenanigans going on in state legislatures across the country. >> so, representative crockett, one of the things we learned from last time around was that texas had technically gained four seats in the 2010 census because of the rise of latino and african americans in that state. it didn't quite pan out that that turned out to be representational government, meaning that these different communities did not see that reflected in the final shake out of congressional lines. you now have identified two additional seats this time around mostly because of the increase in the latino population. are you confident that with the leadership that we have right now in the texas state legislature that you will see an adequate representation of the people of the population of texas that this represents?

>> you know, it's sad that i have to giggle. first of all, good morning to you. >> good morning. >> but the last thing that i expect is a representative government, you know. in working in the house we had to walk out, we had to flatter d.c. in order to avoid voter suppression laws. these two things go hand in hand, and it was very disappointing that my colleagues decided to go back to the floor and to give a quorum to the house because we know that they want redistricting more than anything. i mean, that only comes around once every ten years, and i fully anticipate that they want to make those two seats go to white male republicans. there is no question in my mind. in fact, a senator had said something similar to that before we even got numbers, way before we even started session. so i know where their minds are. i know where their hearts are, and it's very disappointing that

this party has decided that they don't want to just go out and try to be representatives for everyone. you heard our lieutenant governor this week blaming covid-19 spread on african americans instead of them attacking the minorities that are growing the state, they should just start to come up with policies that everyone could embrace. but instead they decide that they just want to delete us from the process and act like we don't matter. they just want to use our bodies for the numbers, but they want to make sure that they increase their power. >> and something, representative, that i want to drill down on is that texas is a multi-cultural state and it is being -- and you are seeing their reflected in texas, but this enthusiasm in texas is bubbling up. you have a majority of republicans that do not reflect that multi culturalism in the state legislature. talk a little about your colleagues in the texas democrats. how it really does -- it is a

microcosm of america that is all shades and hues. >> absolutely. we know that 95% of the growth in texas was due to people of color this last -- when we got the census. we saw that that was the data. and when we look at the texas house, 83 members of the texas house are republicans. when you look at the republican party, if you look at any of the press conferences that they've done, they don't look anything like the state of texas. that 95% growth, that tells us a little something. but the full picture is the fact texas is a majority minority state at this point. you look at those 83 republicans and i can tell you there's one african-american and there is one latino. when you look at the democrats on the other side, which we only have 67 seats, the majority of the democrats are actually latino members, and then it's black members and then it's white caucus members, and then it's asian caucus members.

we really look like what texas looks like and that's what's so scary to our republican colleagues. that's why we see the voter suppression bills going through. that's why we know when it comes to drawing the lines, when we looked at the growth, majority of growth was in the suburbs of our large urban centers. i can almost guarantee you they're going to do everything that they can to draw those seats as republican house seats. that's on the state level as well as on the federal level. >> reverend barber, one of the items that was so popular under the trump agenda was trying to really tribalize us and talk about this issue of america and access to the voting booth between black and everybody -- excuse me, white and everybody else. he would try to say that there was illegal voters that participated in the past elections and that's why these elections were illegitimate. all of this debunked by the brennan center, all of it debunked by the secretaries of states. can you speak of how dangerous

it is to create this balkanization of america and where our strength lies in collaborating in a multi-cultural america? >> you know, what trump was doing was regurgitating or vomiting up, if you will, a whole lot that was started by the southern strategy. that was the lie of somebody's going to hurt white people. strom thurman in the '60s said they wanted to make the republican south a party of the white people. it's a black issue, but it's bigger than that. in this country we have 140 million low income people. we're marching on manchin in west virginia doing a caravan this thursday. they filed voter suppression bills in west virginia that's hardly an african-american. what's going on? 56 million americans use access to the ballot they want to block. we know when we look at this country, we've got 65 million

poor and low wealth people in this country who can vote. that's a third of the electorate. we know that in 15 states -- in 15 states, if poor and low-wealth people organize around an agenda for health and living wages, they can determine the elections if one to 25% of those who haven't voted vote. >> reverend barber, i will give you the last word. that does it today. but thank you so much for joining us today. democratic state representative jasmine crockett of texas and reverend william barber, we'll see you marching. thank you both very much. that does it for me this weekend. thanks for spending part of your sunday with me. don't go anywhere. the governors of new york and rhode island are expected to give updates on hurricane henri in just a few minutes. msnbc will bring the latest developments on "the sunday show" with jonathan capehart that starts right now. a desperate scene in afghanistan as president biden prepares to addr