remarks from teachers and or school staff because other gender expression. and 86% said that recent politics have negatively impacted their overall well-being. how could it not? black points out that in the start of 2022, then what all the problems we have in this country, but since the start of 22, 022, lawmakers have proposed 325 separate anti-lgbtq bills, 130 of them targeted the rights of transgender people, especially youth. this map on your screen from the washington post, shows the states that have passed anti trans laws since 2018. tennessee, has the most with a total of seven laws passed. tennessee, which ranks the 41st in terms of poverty in this country. what are they addressing? anti-trans bills. that's their priority. and what is the most distressing? is that more than half of transgender youth in this

country have seriously considered suicide. that right there is white showing up for these vulnerable young people is so important. i want them to know, i want you to know, that you are not alone. we love you! and we will always support you! remember, if you need help, ask for it! and if you are in a position to give help, please get it! and on that note, i wish you all a very good night. from all of our colleagues across the networks of nbc news, thank you for staying up late with us! and i will see you at the end of tomorrow. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ mary beth whistle about is a city clerk in madison wisconsin. spent the last 15 years running elections in that city. here she is 11 years ago, holding a mock election, in 2011 she was trying to figure out how much extra time voters would need to cast their

ballots in 2012 under the state 's new voter i. d. law. >> madison city clerk, and today we are having a mock election in the city county building to time various scenarios of voter i. d. and figure out how to do the best practices for 2012 before we actually have an election. >> whistle bail says she chose to do this work because she wanted to combat voting inequities in madison. she encourages every new wisconsin election clerk to go through the training to similarly find their why. quote they have to focus on why they are doing this work. what it comes down to is making learning accessible to those who are eligible to vote. that's why we keep showing up, day after day. her why is more important now than ever. because in 2020, mary beth contemplated not showing up. she almost quote. that is because after election day, 2020, mary beth started to get death threats. they included online

discussions contemplating which weapons to use against her. at one point, she says, people spoke about linching her. maribeth received so many threats that year that she began worrying about the safety of her elections staff and her family. she screened visitors at the office, and she kept the blinds closed at home. but ultimately, she decided to stay on the job for another five years. so maribeth witzel-behl will all be on the job this election day. across this country, staying in the job has not been easy for a lot of people. in new mexico, people who claim to be voter fraud investigators have inundated election officials with an assortment of really unusual requests. like asking for images of all 130,000 ballots cast in 2020, and digital records on where those votes were cast. in nevada, republican activists have accused the register of accounting fake votes. and they've called for her to be fired or locked up. a familiar refrain. after threats against her and her family, she resigned in

june. she is not alone. top elections officials in ten of the 17 counties in nevada have resigned. many after facing harassment and threats. we have seen a similar exodus in pennsylvania and south carolina and texas where 30 % of election officials have left office since 2020. 30%! it was major news this summer when three gillespie county election officials in texas resigned in august, leaving the county without any elections staff, just two months before election day. one of those officials said she resigned after being stalked repeatedly. and receiving death threats related to the 2020 election. and that is what happened in a county that trump won by 59 points in 2020. the job of administering an election in any county in america right now is exhausting and it is scary. so much so that the workers who are the backbone of our election infrastructure are on their way out the door. and that is intentional. trump allies have targeted

these officials to force them out of their jobs. it is working. the brennan center says that one and three election officials, they know someone who has left because of safety concerns. clearly what we are asking of these officials is a lot. more than it ever has been. back in wisconsin, the dane county election clerk is a man named scott mcdonald. dane county is one of two wisconsin councils where trump demanded a recount in 2020. not coincidentally, for both are democratic counties in a purple state. earlier this week, i traveled to wisconsin to talk to scott macdonald. to find out why exactly he is so worried. >> when did you start doing this job? >> ten years ago. >> and, like, what was it like ten years ago, this job? >> it was great, we had the first same-sex marriage license done here. we had marriages out on the front of the steps. it was fun. but it has become a sort of

dark version of that now. i'm worried about my staff, i'm worried about staff across the hall, that's the city clerk's office. >> yeah. >> there is inadequate services security in this building. this building wasn't set up to be secure, it was set up to be open. >> yeah. >> our own staff was glad they could just walk right in, i'm like, well, that's kind of the problem. didn't have to go through weapons screening. and that is a good thing. that is an open government. but for us, you know, you can't be able to walking off the street and come all the way back to my office like he used to be able to do. we have stop the steal rallies a block away. and it would be hard to just point that down here at our office. so-- >> have you received death threats? >> i've gotten some vague ones. >> what are vague death threats? >> oh, like, you should--you have committed sedition. there is a lot of that. but they are just vague enough. when you talk to the police, they are always like, if you like a game of clue. they have to have an iron plate in a billiards room or something, and then they have to tell you the time they are going to attack you for them to listen to you. that has been a problem for clerks around the country.

but they are just vague enough that nothing happens. >> do you worry about your safety? do you worry about the safety of your colleagues? >> it is more like russian roulette. because it seems like something has to happen it ties to this place. because i feel like one time the president tweeted about my office, but he didn't say anything negative. i felt like it felt like a click and miss in a chamber. like it just missed something happening. but then in another county or another place in the state it will all focus in on that person. there will be some accusation of fraud. it was either innocent mistake or they don't understand how it works. so it just seems to be like it will congregate in a location. you don't know where or when it will be in a swing state. >> yeah. >> and it will probably be in a democratic area of those swing states. >> it has been kind of quiet, it's like a quiet before storm, that's how it is right now. because we don't know what is gonna happen. typically, if they win, the ones, the election deniers win. and it's fine.

>> right. >> that's how it works. and then if it is a close election, then suddenly they will find problems with it and try to dispute it. that seems to be the pattern now. >> this period we are now in as what scott mcdonald called the quiet before the storm. over the last several months he and other county clerks and election officials have gone through specialized training courses for the first time ever. so they know what to do if someone wants to carry out on their threats. they have learned some skills that will hopefully help them de-escalate any situation that becomes dangerous. and they have learned how to do that in person. >> people are so, in a sense, these clerks are worried that firearms will come to the equation. >> oh yeah, wisconsin law states in the west are heavily armed. >> wow. reasoning with an enranged

person is not possible. >> okay, so what does that mean, what do you do? >> you try to repeat back what they are upset about and try to work with them on possible solutions. >> -- that's kind of difficult, right? because the essence of this is that they are wrong about what they think. >> right, but what is frustrating to me and one of clerks is that a lot of these citizens, they genuinely believe what they are saying. >> right. >> they have been misled. and they are upset. and they think something is happening to their country. so there is some sympathy for that. because, you know, all of us want to make sure that the election is fair and free. >> right. >> we kind of agree with their base concern. it is just that they have been lied to by grifters. >> okay, so this is like escort them into an area where you are not in a group situation. >> yeah. >> communicate the process, never attempt to de-escalate a potentially violent situation without calling for backup. it says know how to signal for help from other staff without escalating the crisis. do you have a secret signal? >> well, part of it now is having that plexiglass so they can just hold in here. that was, since the whole.

it was so easy for people to just come in and jump the counter before. so number one, now at least we have a barrier. but we do have panic buttons all over now. that is a new feature. >> you have panic buttons? >> oh yeah. >> i just, i mean, i just have to stop and note that, like, this is the county clerk's office. and you have plexiglass and panic buttons. like, what has happened to america? >> yeah, it's not a good sign. >> there are people, these are people who are involved in the running of government and elections. like, this requires a totally different set of skills to: manage, a an incredibly situation -- but also resolve it. that is a lot to ask the clerk. what is the general emotional, like, ten or if people who come here and are really angry. i would assume they were all, kind of-- >> yeah, so this office we didn't get, we haven't gotten much of that. it was the recount that was really on full display. >> yeah. >> they were, like, they were closed arms. red faced. yelling. not listening.

honestly, what helped us was that the trump lawyers just wanted to get out of there and go to the court. so they were helpful in de-escalation. because they were just trying to invalidate thousands of our ballots and get to the supreme court. so the yelling wasn't really in their interests. >> escalating behavior, change in voice, heavy breathing, sneering or use of abusive language, glaring or avoiding eye contact. i mean, this is all, this sounds terrifying, i have to say. i am listening to this. i'm reading this. thinking, like, i would just want to extricate myself from that situation. do clerks say, hey, wait a second, i'm just not gonna deal with this? if they are still working, are there any that are like, yeah, no thank you. i am not going to. i will just hands off of someone else. i can just imagine wanted to just tap out. >> well, there is two things. often this doesn't happen very often. so for most clerks, they're worried about it but they haven't had something too terrible. maybe someone is a little bit angry. but, you know, they get them

when they have to pay their taxes or they get -- so they get this in other areas. but the other thing is, they are so dedicated to their job. i mean, they love their job. they take it seriously. and they know it is important. >> how responsive has law enforcement been to your concerns about threats that you make be facing? >> well, they have been helpful. i think part of the problem though is that they deal with people getting threatened all day long. >> yeah. >> so when they hear, you know, i got a threat on email from a proton email that you can't trace. it's hard for them to do a lot about it. for them, it is kind of common. but, you know, what i try to explain to them is that it is meant to be destabilizing our democracy. because if people leave, who knows what they are doing, where they replaced by? and then what happens? they make mistakes. and it just continues to fuel the cycle. a ha, we have a -- mess up, it's fraud.

and that serves, again, the interests of raising money online. or intimidating election officials. >> it is meant to destabilize our democracy. it is meant to fuel the cycle. scare the people who run the elections. force out the season professionals. forced changes to voting roles. make it harder to hold fair elections. to try and solve a part of this problem. some counties are increasing security for these officials to guard against threats. states across the country have been tapping into federal and state funds to protect election workers with physical safety measures ahead of election day. wisconsin is no exception. dane county budgeted $95,000 to design a more secure election center complete with security cameras, plexiglass and a panic button. this is what that looks like. >> well yeah, you can see-- >> you can basically just walk in here. >> here before you could walk all the way back to my office. no problem. >> because we would have 3000

couples coming in here. >> right, getting married. >> yeah. they would sit out here we and we would take them back. >> anybody can open the store right now? >> now they can, yeah. >> okay, so you open the door. and then? >> now, at least there's a block. for, you could just walk. this was open before? >> yes. we had that little swing door to keep kids from running all the way to the back. because people would have their little kids in here. [laughs] they would take off. >> so now, when did you install this? >> less than a year ago. >> and then you have cameras? >> they just got wired yesterday. in fact, i don't think these are on yet because they have to do something in a closet. >> and then there are panic buttons throughout? >> yes, yeah. >> and can you locked the door remotely? >> no, although it does look at four. but no. we do have the ability to just block it, like old school. >> but you physically have to go and do that. >> yeah. so what we would do is just

exit that way. >> you can get out, there's another exit? >> yes. yep. >> have you done drills? >> oh yeah. yeah. and then we are doing one when we -- we are doing one in another week where we evacuate this place on election night. so how do we keep it going on election night? because that would be an obvious thing to do. you know. >> how do you keep the vote going on? >> oh, we can do it, we can keep the vote going on. we can get out of here. >> jesus ... but where you exercising, like, you know, precautions and, like, drills prior to 2020? that kind of stuff? >> we had plans, and we talked about it, and we had it set up. but now we reenact it. and there is definitely a higher level of wanting to make sure that we know exactly how to do it and not thinking about it. that was the one of the things, if your body can do it your

mind -- >> they are getting trained in de-escalation, they are staging drills, have stalled panic buttons in their offices. they're doing everything they can to protect their colleagues and make sure they can still do their job. still, election workers across the country have left their positions. and those who remain are facing this frightening game of russian roulette as they try to preserve the cornerstone of america's democracy. november 8th is election day. you want what's yours. that's why tide loads of hope is expanding to provide clean clothes to more people in crisis. with every purchase of tide hygienic clean you can help too. and it's easier than ever to get your projects done right. with angi, you can connect with and see ratings and reviews. and when you book and pay throug you're covered by our happiness check out angi.com today. angi... and done. there's a different way to treat hiv.

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that republicans have promised to do if they retake control of congress in the midterm elections. they have promised us that they will cut medicare and social security. they have unveiled a bill that will increase prescription drug prices for seniors. they say they will consul

popular infrastructure spending that got bipartisan approval in congress. they say they will cut taxes make deeply unpopular tax trump 's permanent. and they are intending to get all of that by issuing threats to shut down the government and crashed the world economy. fortunately, we don't have to imagine what it would be like if republicans get their way. their economic vision has been lab tested over the last few weeks in a place called the united kingdom. the country's new conservative prime minister liz truss implemented a radical economic plan of tax cuts and deregulation that was cheered on this side at the atlantic by republicans and pundits across fox news. so how did it go? >> it has been a night of astonishing scenes at westminster, with reports of jostling, man-handling, bullying and shouting. outside of the parliamentary lobbies in a supposed vote of confidence in the government. the deputy chief whip was reported to have left to be

seen saying i am absolutely effing furious. i just don't effing care anymore, before he resigned alongside the chief whip. but we have just been told that they have now officially on resigned, but have secretary has definitely gone. in short, it is total absolute abject chaos. >> that we'll have? today, lustrous abruptly quit after just 44 days, making her the shortest serving prime minister in uk history. in just 44 days trust managed to crater her country's economy throughout the entire government in the chaos. and earn her party its worst approval ratings in history. but apparently, that is the economic plan republicans would like to roll out here. and if they managed to take over congress, americans do not have the option to kick them out after 44 days. we will be stuck with him for years. so if democrats want to make sure that that doesn't happen,

what should they be doing in these final weeks of the midterm election campaign? >> this week, they are getting some advice from a former democratic official. >> i think we do get into trouble, look i used to get into trouble whenever as you know you guys know well. whenever i get -- started when i was behind a podium as behind opposed to when i was behind a crowd. there was times when i would get, you know, it would sound like i was hearing a bunch of policy -- that's not how people think about these issues. they think about them in terms of, you know, a life i am leading day-to-day. how does politics, how is it even relevant to the things

that i care most deeply about. my family my kids. you know work that gives me satisfaction. having fun. not being about scale. >> that's a lesson for the democratic party. >> sometimes democrats are, right? it's like, you know, sometimes people want to feel as if they are not walking on eggshells. they want someone which meant that life is messy and that all of us at any given moment, you know, say things the wrong way. you know, make mistakes. and that attitude, i think, of just being a little more real and a little more grounded is something that i think goes a long way in counteracting what is a systematic propaganda that i think is being pumped out by fox news and all of these other

outlets all the time. >> former president obama is about to get back out on the campaign trail for democratic candidates. but first, he sat down for that interview with my next guest. joining us now is john favrow, former speech writer for president obama and host of the wilderness, a podcast about the history and future of the democratic party. he is also co-host of the little known podcast pod save america, which this week featured against named barack obama. john, thank you for being here, my friend. i'm gonna get right to it. the president in that clip that we just played his, on the one hand, sort of explaining why he thinks, what the work the democrats need to do. but he is also kind of giving his thesis about why he thinks people support republicans. and i wonder what you make of his words?

do you think that the fundamental problem here is one of the messaging and not of substance? and that is really just about how democrats deliver the message? >> i think it is both. i think that, like, people. but the president was talking about is that, it is the same thing i heard when i talk to focus groups and voters all across the country. like, they just don't think that politics is speaking to their lives. or that anything is happening in government that is actually making their lives better. and everywhere you go, people are talking about inflation, they are talking with the cost of living, they are talking about how they can't afford housing. and sometimes democrats, especially online democrats will try to, like, argue voters out of their feelings. right? be like, well, don't you understand democracy is at

stake? not shooters and there's bigger issues here? what do you care about inflation. what people want from their government's policies and politicians who will, like, fight for them. who will approve their lives. and i think what the president, what president obama was reminding us all. like, if people don't think the government is fighting for them. if they don't think that the people they are electing are fighting like hell for them, and they are going to tonight and they are not going to vote. or they're in about for the other party. >> i just wonder, i mean, i'm sure the biden white house is like a god at the idea that

nobody understands what they have done on student debt. what they have done on climate, what they have done on covid. like, does not do that resonate when you go out there and talk to people. when you get the thoughts from president obama. does he think it has just been a failure of communication on some incredibly landmark legislation that is passed. to help people in their normal, everyday quotidian lives? >> well, like, so, let's say the inflation reduction act for example. fantastic piece of legislation. it can linger the cost of production -- prescription drugs. beef up affordable care act subsidies to make health care more affordable, fight climate change as well. big's investment ever in climate change. most of the effects of that bill are not going to take effect for a couple years.

so if people hear, oh this bill was passed and it's gonna lower the cost of prescription drugs. but then they go to the drugstore and the cost of their prescription drugs the same, and they are filling up their gas tank and it is too much money and they can't afford housing. like, all of the messaging in the world is not gonna fix the fact that they don't feel the effects of that legislation in their. life what i did hear from some people's, like, i love the stimulus checks. but the stimulus checks were a year and a half ago. i am still struggling to pay rent or to make my mortgage or to pay my bills. so i think the challenge is that, like, people are still struggling with high costs. and when they look to washington, they don't see that anyone is doing anything about it. now, i do think the democrats can go out there and say, well, look. republicans oppose it against all this stuff. if you put republicans in charge, they are going to crash the economy unless -- cuts to social security and

medicare, that's what they promised. and you have to draw the economic contrast and frame republicans as the party that is gonna fight for their rich friends. and democrats the party that is gonna keep fighting for working people. >> yeah, and you make a great example over in the uk, right? someone that is following through on executing a lot of the same policy prescriptions, and it has been an abject failure. the thing that separates us from the uk is that the people in the uk, some of the leaders, are actually admitting that it was an abject failure. but you would never get from today's modern republican party. but i wonder if you think that there is any acknowledgment even privately inside republican circles that maybe they are headed in the wrong direction given what has played out in the uk. i think back to brexit in the way that that was the canary in the coal mine for a lot of people who never thought trump could win. it was like, look at what is happening across the pond. it is an indicator of what is coming over here. do you think we have learned our lesson in terms of looking at the global petri dish as a lab for different political ideas? >> i don't think republicans

have learned their lesson until. because well they know that when they're campaigning, they should, like use cultural issues to divide people. every time they take power, every time, whether it is congress for the presidency. what do they do? they try to cut taxes for the rich, and they try to gut social security, medicare health care programs. which is what they always do. and you saw this play out over the last couple of, weeks you mentioned it earlier. i have already said, well, joe biden is gonna be the president if we take congress. so we are not gonna getting legislation passed. but, we are gonna use the debt ceiling, we are gonna hold the global economy hostage to make sure that we get cuts to medicare, social security, maybe get a another huge tax break for the, rich extended term tax cuts, do all the stuff that is really really unpopular with voters. but they cannot help themselves. because this is, like, their core economic philosophy. it is all they have. and they are just gonna make inflation worse by giving a bunch of tax cuts out to rich people who are gonna spend more money. >> i just, i wonder whether democrats have not made enough hay about that, given the comments, you know, kevin mccarthy -- >> no, we haven't! >> saying we are gonna go to the global economy hostage to give the wealthy more money. bernie sanders has been really vocal. he is out on the campaign trail

doing his own stunned campaign. he is saying, look,, we cannot just focus on reproductive choice as the issue for the midterms. we have got to be stronger on an economic message. and i sense that you would agree with sanders on that. >> yeah look, we talked about this on the pod today. like, i don't think it's an either or. right? campaigns they have, they run plenty of ads. there is a stump speech, you can talk about. both like, you have to talk about reproductive rights. both for the moral reasons, but also because it is politically popular to protect abortion access in america. but the closing argument also has to include this economic case. it has to include the fact that republicans, if they get power, are going to track the global economy slot they can help the rich. and they are going to screw over working people like they have done before. it is the best contrast democrats have. it happens to be the truth. and i really do think the democratic candidates need to hammer that home. every single day between now and election day. >> do you think that is gonna be obama's message. he is going out on the trail, i will note, not as much as biden is going out on the trail. what do you make of that? and also, was the podium really the problem in terms of obama's handing to professorial? i mean, that's what he thinks. >> yeah, it was the podium. [laughs] no, he could, he won't -- he can sign professorial because he can be professorial. but no, i do think that will be

the core of obama's message without knowing what his stump >> my favorite part of the interview as when he says, basically, people vote for republicans because they are not about skill. >> yeah, i mean look, it was interesting to hear and say that. because i do think that, you know, he started that answer by saying, look, we have all made this progress. especially in the last several years. whether it is the metoo movement, black lives matter. and there is a lot of change going on in this country. and i think the point he was trying to make is, when people aren't there yet. when voters aren't there yet. you have to give them space to come along. it doesn't mean have to sacrifice your values, doesn't mean you have to compromise your principles. but you have to allow people space to grow and learn from their mistakes. or say something wrong once a wall and then grow and learn from it. and i don't think democratic politicians necessarily do that. but i think, you know, the

larger discussion, the national debate can sometimes go to that place. i think what barack obama was trying to say is. you know, like, he won the presidency twice by being open to trying to bring a lot of people along. >> sometimes people just want to not feel as though they are walking on eggshells. so spoke of former president obama. john favrow, former obama speech writer and host of the wilderness, also positive america. john, it's always great to see, you thank you for your time and, wisdom this evening. >> eugene, alex, thanks for having me. >> we have much more ahead this hour, just this week, there been horrific reports on what some women in this country have tried to endure because of the abortion bans in their home states. social richards, former president of planned parenthood will join me live here in studio to talk about just that and the politics over abortion rights ahead of the midterms. that is coming up. but next, news of donald trump's legal issues continues to come in as we wait on the subpoena in the january six committee, stay with us.

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fanduel and draftkings, two out of state corporations don't hesitate. making big promises. what's the real math behind prop 27, their ballot measure for online sports betting? 90% of profits go to the out of state corporations permanently. only eight and a half cents is left for the homeless. and in virginia, arizona, and other states, fanduel and draftkings use loopholes to pay

far less than was promised. sound familiar? it should. ♪ ♪ ♪ vote no on prop 27. it seems like decades ago, back in 2018 trump was in his second year in office. it also just so happened to be the second year of special counsel robert mueller's investigation into the president and his campaign's dealings with russia. and the big question everyone had at the time was, would trump sit for an interview with mueller? trump said multiple times that he was looking forward to sitting down with mueller, and that he would, quote love to do it. as soon as possible. but we all know what actually happened. >> the president refused a request to be interviewed by you and your team? >> yes. >> and is a true that you tried for more than a year to secure an interview with the president?

>> yes. >> and is it true that you and your team advised the president 's lawyer that, quote, an interview with the president is vital to our investigation? >> yes. >> and is it true that you also, quote, stated that it is in the interest of the presidency and the public for an interview to take place, close quote. >> yes. >> but the president still refused to sit for an interview by you or your team? >> true. >> after more than a year of trying, donald trump refused to sit down with the special counsel. and now, amid the myriad investigations into the former president, we seem to be having a bit of déjà vu. a week ago, the january six committee voted to subpoena trump for his testimony. and while we wait for the committee to formally serve that subpoena, according to reports, donald trump has told allies that he is absolutely willing to testify to the committee. but only if that testimony is public. politico also reports today that trump has hired a separate

law firm that also represents mike flynn to specifically deal with the subpoena. now, over at one of the justice department investigations into the president, this one being the mar-a-lago documents fiasco, most sources close to trump tells cnn that the former president is considering a more cooperative approach in that matter. by allowing federal agents to search us property again. this reportedly because the justice department thinks there might still be some government records at his palm beach club. once the trump has refused to hand over. but if past is prologue, we know what happens after these reports of trump willing to cooperate. we know how they and. don't hold your breath. ld your breath

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make mornings smoother with downy wrinkle guard fabric softener. the springfield leader sorry ♪ ♪ ♪ here is the lead from the springfield news leader in missouri. at 6:30 am on august 2nd, nearly 18 weeks into her pregnancy, melissa farmer experienced what doctors call a pre-term premature rupture of neck braids. her water broke before labor. the doctors recommended terminating the pregnancy, but there are nine days after the state of missouri banned abortions, that wasn't an option. at least not in missouri. instead, farmer was was left to make a series of trips across three states, and countless phone calls. in the end, farmer would risk her own life as she traveled to illinois for a lifesaving abortion. here is another story from the wall street journal of of tennessee. the patient was in her second trimester of pregnancy and her unborn baby had been diagnosed with genetic abnormalities that meant the child wasn't expected to survive. the doctor said she thought the patient needed an abortion, but tennessee has a total ban on the procedure.

the doctors decided send the woman on a roughly six-hour ambulance right-hander pregnancy in north carolina. where she arrived with dangerously high blood pressure and signs of kidney failure. doctors said. she kept asking if she was going to die, the doctor said. i kept saying, i am trying, i am trying, we are gonna make it happen. just need to get to you to the right place where you can be taken care of. thankfully, she got to the right place. and she survived. and then there is a man named amanda from texas, he recently spoke to the news outlet meteor. the man -- 18 years -- doctors informed her that a miscarriage was inevitable. >> i could make the decision for myself, we couldn't make the decision for our daughter, our doctors couldn't make the decision. i mean, they were just as furious as we were, because their hands were tied. had they acted, they would've

been charged with felony. i was left, you know, wanting either to get so sick that my life was at risk. or that my baby's heart stopped beating so that it could be over. three days later, amanda was admitted to the hospital with a 102-degree fever. she was diagnosed with sepsis and nearly lost her life. but was finally able to terminate her pregnancy under texas law that allows the procedure to save the life of the mother. this is the reality right now for women in united states. so much of the conversation heading into this election is focused on what republicans will do or could do if they gain power. but right now we have real world examples of women's whose lives are very much at risk from republican abortion bans. with the election less than three weeks away, and false tightening, how, how does this horrifying new reality affect what happens in november? does it?

joining us now is to seal richards, former president of planned parenthood federation of america, and cofounder of -- thanks for joining me. >> good to see you, alex. >> yeah, i wish we did not talk about this. which is a day, i think, a lot of us never thought, i mean, a lot of us never thought it would come. and, yet these stories have come so quickly. the horror stories. >> yep. >> do you think that there is a broad enough awareness of the terror and the fear and the life-threatening situations that women across this country are being put in every day? >> i mean, there is no way that there could be enough exposure to these stories. and, you know, actually, amanda, the women that you actually profiled from texas. she and her husband have been so forthright. and she even, herself said, you know, you are hearing my story. but i had good health care, i had a supportive family. you know, and she, i think what terrifies me, is the stories we are not hearing. like, we know millions of people in this country do not have access to adequate health care. do not have situations where

they can drive to another state. and of course, i think the other thing that is so horrifying about my home state of texas is that a doctor couldn't even have helped her, you know, get out of state. that is how the situation, you know, she arrived, the situation where she almost died. that is horrific. >> that was the precursor of her getting the abortion. is almost as if the state wants to make the situation so unbearable, and so life-threatening, that that is the only recourse women have. to get an abortion. you know what i mean? they have to get that sick, they have to have their lives in danger in order to get this procedure that they should've been able to access days prior. >> well, and of course her story. this, is like, the stories i'm hearing around the country. they have tried 18 months with fertility treatments to get pregnant. i mean, this was a very much wanted pregnancy. but obviously, it was complicated. that is what i'm hearing from women across america. they are terrified of getting pregnant in states with abortion bans. i spoke to a woman in dallas

the other day. she said her daughter is trying to get pregnant. she said, i am terrified about this. i'm terrified that she is gonna get, you know, there is gonna be complications. all i want is a healthy grandbaby. why is politics in the middle of my daughter's effort to have a child? >> well that's another factor in all of this, it's just the crapshoot that is pregnancy. some pregnancies just go horribly awry, and the psychological emotional pain of that is something that is incalculable. and then you layer on the inability to get the necessary medical treatment, and it is unfathomable to have to go through that. i wonder, you are a creature of politics, why is the polling tightening? why is the polling tightening with independent women, in september, independent women favored democrats by 14 points. now, independent women back republicans by 18 points. what do you think is happening there? >> i won't talk about that particular poll, because i think is an outlier. >> okay. >> these races are tightening,

that is for sure. but actually, what i think is interesting is that we are actually bucking historical trends. there are so many races, frankly, the democrats are competitive in right now. that i think if we were to look at what happened in other years, they wouldn't be competitive. and i think it is because of the abortion issue. we have seen a surge in women registering to vote. of course, in a midterm election it is all about who turns out. we have seen young people registering to vote, in kansas, of course, unbelievable turnout. completely unexpected. be back the ballot initiative by 18 points in a state that is majority republican state. so i actually feel like this isn't the only issue in the election, of course. >> yeah. >> but i think it is a motivating issue for a lot of voters who might otherwise be staying home. >> do you think that democrats need to, like sort of fold abortion into the broader health concerns and health care concerns that americans have? just because 2018 was such a landmark election for democrats, right?

and the message there was really focused, it was on health care, it was on rock is wanted to get rid of -- it was about the aca. the biden administration and democrats got alot to shore up coverage holes, to help people negotiate or to help the negotiation of prescription drug prices. there is a number of things in the health care sphere that they have made real progress on. and, yet health care and abortion are often seen as two separate conversations. or at least as we have seen it in midterm messaging. >> right, in the political realm of maybe, but not in people's lives. it is absolutely a health care issue. and that is why i think we are seeing, again, independents. republicans saying, this is actually such a deeply personal issue, pregnancy. as you said, a lot of pregnancies are complicated. the last thing that we need is government in our lives. it is why you see the republicans not talking about this issue anywhere. this is the most unpopular thing that they have ever done, and i think it is not only going to impact this election, i think it is going to impact the presidential election. because these stories, the ones you just showed.

they are not going away. >> right. >> it's gonna get worse, people are gonna be having their own experiences. and i think, what i am grateful for, people are willing to share just what it is like. because this is not right. this is not america. this is anti-freedom. and i feel like it is going to have a huge impact in this country. >> yeah, if there is a silver lining is that women are finally talking about their own personal traumas when it comes to pregnancy and reproduction. >> and men are as well. >> and men are as well, because it is shared trauma. it takes two to tango, also. >> that's right. cecile richards. they make it -- co-chair of american, brandon is always great to see you. >> it's a great to see you. >> thank you. >> we have one more story to get to tonight latest around desantis florida, we are talking about race and gender canal and your career. stay with us.

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he took office in 2019, desantis florida governor ron desantis has made it a priority to re-fashion the florida

public school system according to right wing conservative principles and honestly, right-wing nonsense talking points. you've probably heard of businesses two signature bills on this front. so-called don't say gay bill. which restricts teaching anything that can be deemed related to sexual or gender identity, from kindergarten to third grade. and there is a so-called stop work act which bans teaching of any lessons specifically about race and racism that makes any students feel discomfort. both laws are incredibly ambiguous. what counts is teaching something related to sexual or gender identity. just existing as an out gay teacher count. we'd learning about the work of martin luther king violate the stock woke activists single child felt uncomfortable during that lesson. all of that has been unclear from the start. as has what the punishment would be for violating these acts.

but yesterday both of those laws got their teeth. yesterday the desantis appointed state board of education voted unanimously on a rule change that makes violation of the don't say gay bill an stop woke act punishable. quote, violation of any of these principles shout subject to the individual to revocation or suspension of the individual educators certificate. with that certificate you cannot teach at the public schools in the state of florida. so as of yesterday, anyone can file a complaint against any florida public school teacher for anything they deem as indoctrinating their children about race or gender. and that complaint could ultimately cost that teacher not just their job. but their ability to teach at public schools in the state of florida, period. that does it for us tonight, we will see you again tomorrow. now it's time for the last word with lawrence o'donnell. good evening lawrence. good evening, alex, i was listening to your coverage about the possibility of donald trump testifying to the january six committee, even after he gets a subpoena. and of course, he will fight it all the way. and we'll pretend though at the same time, through strategic legs, oh yeah, he's thinking