a publicly owned utility company. the city's mayor is taking responsibility and apologizing on behalf of the power company. he said that poor communication has been part of the problem. austin energy says that unlike 2021, it was not a power grid failure causing the mass outage this time. i see trees brought down power lines. but either way, those without power are the ones who are still suffering. there is one problem that is similar to 2021. a lack of enough state support. it has been up to austin, it's ct leadership and it's publicly owned -- to turn the power back on. texas can and must do better for its people. that's it for today. i am -- castro, in for alicia menendez. i will see you tomorrow for more american voices. but right now, it is time for a man. hey, always a pleasure. great to see you. thank you so much.

and good evening to you and welcome to ayman tonight. we are following two major breaking news stories. the u.s. military has shot down that suspected chinese five a loon. and at a democratic national committee has voted to officially shake up the presidential primary calendar. then, trump legal trouble. one former associate might be flipping on his old boss. and making history. three black state attorneys general will join me to discuss their historic elections. police reform, and finding republican policies. i am ayman mohyeldin, let's get started. let's kick off this hour with some breaking news. as we mentioned, the u.s. military has shut down that suspected chinese surveillance balloon off the carolina coast on orders from president biden. at about 2:40 pm eastern and f 22 fighter jet fired a missile at that balloon, puncturing it, while it was about six nautical

miles off the coast near myrtle beach, south carolina. president biden said this right after the balloon was shot down. >> i told them to shoot it down. >> a recommendation? >> they said let's wait until the safest place to do it. >> biden was not immediately clear how long recovery of the balloon will take -- joining me now are returned u.s. army colonel and msnbc military analyst jack jacobs and -- colonel, i would like to start with you. talk to us about how this kind of operation may have been conducted. obviously, the president gave the orders on wednesday. but give us the analysis assessment from the military about carrying out this operation. >> well, i think the joint chiefs of staff announced that they should wait -- because there is some fear that the debris would fall on populated areas. and they did shoot it down just after it crossed over the atlantic. they used an f 22 raptor, who

service ceiling at about 60,000 feet was about as high as the balloon had gone in any case. they could have used a 20 millimeter cannon, but the planes would need to get fairly close to the balloon. instead, they used a muscle, which actually did not have to explode. it had a proximity fuse, which could have exploded right outside the balloon. but in any case, even if it did not explode, it whipped right through the balloon. they practice this several times elsewhere. don't forget they were thinking about doing this when the balloon first crossed into american airspace. they had plenty of time to practice. >> colonel, really quickly, it seems obvious at this point of where the flight path of the balloon was. this was more symbolic and setting a message to china that it is to actually disrupting the intelligence and gather -- apparently, the u.s. was already jamming any kind of

capacity that the balloon had. taking it down at this point was purely symbolic. >> yeah. the first thing we did was start to jam it because the decision was made early on to let across the united states. i know there is a lot of concern that it should have been shot down earlier and in fact, it could've been shot down when it crossed into american airspace up near alaska and before it went into canada. but the concern -- we were able to jam all that stuff, in any case. and now that the debris has fallen into what is reported to be only about 50 feet of water, recovery efforts may wind up getting all or most of the equipment and then we will be able to figure out what it is they have, what they're using, and what they got. >> matthew, what do you make of the white house's handling of this? there are two parts to this story on a few levels. this is not the first time something like this has happened, as the american military and government have

acknowledged. but it did come on the eve of this high level meeting between the u.s. secretary of state. the stakes were higher. how do you think this administration has handled all of this given the fact -- and we know that the right will always look for something to criticize the president on. they wanted just to get into a shooting war with this -- how do you think the white house has handled it? >> well, you know, i think in the midst of all this, the white house has handled it very well. i mean, they did not just shoot and then came in this. they went and they did their research, figured out what the best course of action is and they did the appropriate action and this. what i'm amazed at and you have mentioned, it is how quickly fox news and the republicans are willing to say, shoot it down and ask questions later and figure it out later. it reminds me the reporting on this and how they have discussed this actually reminds me of orson welles --

h g wells war of the world's. they raised all this crazy talk like it was independence day, the movie, scared all these people without any information and everybody freaked out, when apoplectic about it. and the biden administration calmly to the job. >> yeah, it was like a big flex by a lot of the right-wing, saying if this was them in charge, they would've shot this down before it even entered americans face. that kind of doesn't make sense. but there you have it. the republicans were quick to demand biden shut down this balloon. do you think he was right to wait until it was clear off the u.s. coast? sure they have done it earlier? as soon as they spotted it in alaska? >> it was a very narrow window of opportunity between the time it was first spotted of alaska and the time it crossed into canada, a great conversations were taking place between the united states and canada about what to do. by that time, it was already over the united states.

we were jamming it to make sure that no information was passed to the chinese and then we could easily, casually, when until it crossed into the atlantic. so, there is a narrow window of opportunity to shut it down. but at that, point we had not yet practiced how to do it or what we would used to do it and by the time we figure that out, it was over the united states. so, on balance probably, a pretty good series of decisions. >> all right, colonel, thank you so much. please stick around, matthew. we will talk to a lot more through the show. after the break, we will discuss a federal prosecutors comparison of donald trump to an infamous mob boss. we will tell you about that. you about that. ♪♪ inner voice (kombucha brewer): if i just stare at these payroll forms... my business' payroll taxes will calculate themselves. right? uhh...nope.

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close donald trump came to a possible indictment over his business dealings. nbc news has obtained experts from mark -- detailed account into the

manhattan district attorney's office sprawling investigation of the ex president. he was a lead prosecutor in that investigation before he resigned and he writes the office considered charging trump with racketeering, sandra goring around allegations that he inflated the value of his assets. he added that trump reported some values had doubled -- what they were actually worth. the pattern he claims was unmistakable, leading him to conclude the statements had to be intentional. in another excerpt obtained by the new york times, he describes trump's willingness to go after whoever crossed him and his ability to stay one step ahead of the law. it can only be compared to one person, the head of the gangrene organized crime family. -- said that he has not read the

book and, quote, will not comment on any ongoing investigation because of the harm it could cause to the case. he has also defended his decision to -- and also joining the conversation, cynthia -- former federal prosecutor and msnbc legal analyst. cynthia, i wanted to get your reaction to the stunning revelations to the book. what did you make of the racketeering investigation that he described? what does it take to prove these kinds of allegations in a court of law to our viewers who may not be familiar with what racketeering is? >> let me say this about the book. i am not impressed with this. i think it's ethically challenged. he should not be commenting on what happened in the da's office when they have pending cases and when the attorney general has a pending case that is also similar. it was strikes me as totally

improper. it hurts the case. it taints the jury pool. and it is just bad all-around prosecutors everywhere. >> do you think he has now given away too much since the investigation is not officially done or closed, but he has reveal too much about what the inner workings were? >> yes. absolutely. for example, he comments on things that supposedly he said or did not say about witnesses and the stormy daniels case. that is not good. he is going to have to pick a jury from this jury pool and they will have read these things that supposedly he said were negative -- if you're actually interested in figuring out justice and -- why is he talking about specifics about a case that the attorney general has brought in a civil case that is coming up in the fall? and then, what if jurors have

read this book? anyone who reads this book will not be qualified as a juror in the case because they know too much. and so, it messes with the jury pool and i just think it is improper. you know, i was a prosecutor in the da's office there. i can't imagine writing anything about any case i ever had. i was a prosecutor in brooklyn, not manhattan. it is just not something that is acceptable behavior to career prosecutors. and this guy had a reputation as being a bit of an ego. and bigfoot coming in. and he cemented it with a spoke. >> fair enough. totally respect your opinion on that. can i get just get you very quickly to explain the racketeering part of the investigation? i totally get what you are saying about he should not have done this. but from what you understand racketeering to be, what is the significance of that in terms of trump's potential exposure? >> well, allen bragg is going to make a decision about if he is going to do a case that

basically maris what the attorney general is doing on the civil side. new york state has a racketeering charge, which mirrors the federal. it is called something else. but it basically mares that. i just don't think this book is anything but negative. and it will not affect any charges. >> matthew, yesterday bloomberg's tim o'brien, someone very familiar with trump's finances, we should note, said that trump would probably be flattered by that comparison to john -- he said that the ex president once told him how much he admire the monster, in the way that he ran his organization and the loyalty aspect of it. what is your reaction to that? >> i mean, donald trump has shown a propensity to admire -- so, i mean, just look at vladimir putin. he loves putin. he seems to have some buddy

buddy we are at relationship with the head of north korea. i mean, i think donald trump would love that. i think in private, he would say, dang right, that is what i want to be. i want everybody to behave just how they would in that kind of organization. that does not surprise me about trump. as i was listening to cynthia and i agree with her second criticism, it's amazing to me that even the people that we think are the good people that are in the orbit of donald trump, even in a negative way, seemed to get infected with this narcissism virus that doesn't do anybody any good. >> i wonder -- and i don't disagree with you. but i wonder how much of this is frustration on some of these prosecutors parts who have sought to try and bring some kind of accountability to donald trump and have seen the system not do that, not hold him accountable and then take their frustrations to the public in writing books like this? could that be a part of the motivation, cynthia? could you make the argument

that by coming out with this book, yes, he is giving a little bit away, but he is also put public pressure on alvin bragg and others with coming forward with the details of what he knew about this investigation? >> it doesn't seem like alvin bragg is that impressed with him at all. he pushed back on some very important, basic things, from what we understand, in the book. for example, the two of them had big arguments about the quality of michael cohen as a witness and i have to say, even though he has a ton of experience, alan bragg seemed to be right to me. allen bragg said, i don't want to put michael cohen on as a witness. at least he's not the star witness. because the guy is a liar and he will be a problem. anybody who's ever tried a case knows, you could just go to school on michael cohen for hours an hours about -- and it will hurt the case. so, it seems to me that on some level, he validates with this book, oddly, the ability for

brag to do an evaluation. i do feel like everybody is frustrated with what is happened with trump, which he seems to always get away with it. after, all in this case, michael cohen went to jail. he's not the one who had the affair or wrote the check or violated the business practices or had the campaign. so, it is frustrating. i get it. but the core crime of trump's overthrowing the election. the core crime of trump's the obstruction. what has to do with that and what has to do is stealing documents and lying to federal prosecutors, that is the core problem with trump. >> yeah. >> we need to focus on that as much as possible. >> i would argue the core problem with trump is trump's moral character. >> when you think -- of all of the things in trump's orbit that have ended up in prison -- allen weisselberg, michael cohen, people like michael flynn who lied to the fbi --

people who have worked to him, roger stone, paul manafort -- there is this frustration that it is always the people around him that take the fall for him. and i think that is -- >> here is what i think. i agree with all of that. and many of us don't think donald trump has escaped accountability throughout this. but i think what is happening in the end. i don't know if donald trump will ever end up in an orange jumpsuit. i hope he does. because i think he's guilty of so many different things. but the worst thing is that -- it's happening to donald trump. he is branded a loser. and people are starting to abandon him in what he thinks is his party. and so, does he belong in jail? i hope a court can finally determine that in the course of this. but in my mind, trump is already getting branded the worst thing possible for donald trump, which is a loser. >> matthew and cynthia, thank you so much. i really appreciate. it coming up, congresswoman

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voted to remove democratic congresswoman al hahn omar from the house of foreign affairs committee. fulfilling a long sought conservative wish. the move came after -- from their appointments to the house intelligence committee. another far right dream come true. i will have a whole lot more in the double standard when it comes to ilhan omar later this evening. but first, let's recap some of the other important items i guess for republicans this week? among them, they included fighting to allow lawmakers to carry firearms into a congressional hearing. holding a meaningless vote condemning the, quote, horrors

of socialism. turning a hearing on pandemic aid into an unhinged goose chafed about, yes, critical race theory. and filing articles of impeachment against the department of homeland security alejandro mayorkas. joining me now to discuss this messed up weeks of priorities of house republicans as democratic congresswoman jasmine crockett of texas. congresswoman, thank you so much for coming back on the show. great to see you again. first, i would like to get your reaction to the decision of the dnc to change the presidential primary calendar. south carolina will now be the first day to vote. nevada and michigan have also moved up in the calendar. iowa has also so moved up in the calendar in the dnc basically says that reflects the diversity of the democratic party earlier on in the process, which is significant. your thoughts? >> i am out of taxes. and texas is normally one of the first states. in fact, we have the first

primary best past cycle. and so, we do not necessarily need texas -- we have seen where we go when texas is in the league. and so, no, i absolutely think it makes sense. we should have something that is a little bit more reflective of who we are in this country. because their ends up being, like, a rhythm that we hit. there's a stride that we hit. so often, people talk about biden and they talk about south carolina and they talk about the shift in that rhythm. and so i think it is important that we have those diverse voices that make up who we are in this country. weighing in earlier. so that if there is a direction that we are going in, we are going in the direction of the majority of the people that actually subscribe to the democratic party. >> let's get back to the republican priorities this week. i went through some of the list of priorities among them, you are republican colleagues removing congresswoman ilhan

omar from the foreign affairs committee. what did you make of how all of that played out? >> listen, you know, it felt like i was back in the texas house for a second. we do a lot of harmful things. we do a lot of racist things. this was not about antisemitism at all. if it were, then definitely there were a lot more people that needed to have been addressed on the republican side. i was unable to actually participate in the debate. but one of the things that i was able to do was -- that one minute was all about what was her crime? and so, what i did was i brought out this glaring disparity to george santos and his ability to be seated on committees before most, if not all, democrats were seated on committees. and the fact that they decided to basically man handle him and say, hey, we need you to go ahead and stand down off of

your committees. let's make you look -- because we will go after ilhan omar and we know that you have a lot more issues that you are facing then she is facing. and so, i decided to make sure that i made it clear that she had not committed a crime. she had not even -- and yet, someone who has allegedly committed crimes, not only here but abroad, was absolutely seated on his committees with no questions, no qualms. >> as i mentioned, you have republicans holding symbolic votes on the, quote, horrors of socialism. they want to -- they want members of congress to be able to carry firearms into committee hearings. can you just tell us, like, when you got into republican colleagues in the cafeteria on capitol hill, are they kind of looking at you an embarrassment? do you look at them and say, what are you guys doing? i mean, do they actually believe this stuff or are they held hostage to their leadership?

>> i will say it like this. i do not really know what most peoples perceptions of marjorie taylor greene's. but she doesn't talk to anybody. she just kind of moves about the capitol in her own way alone. the interesting part is she and i had a back and forth this week because i introduced the amendment so that we could bring back the civil rights and the committee to oversight. and for a second i thought she was going to vote for my opinion. i was, like go marjorie! unfortunately, she had the wrong reasons for wanting to support my amendment. but ultimately, she did not vote for my amendments. but she honestly operates by herself. we see george santos by himself very often. you see matt gates by himself very often. they are not actually hanging out together and i think there is an idea that they are buds and they hang out, but they

really don't. they are loners and many of the policies that -- and this false equivalency that was drawn by marjory when it came to tyre nichols and ashley babbitt. he decided that he wanted to distance himself. and so that's honestly what i feel when we look at the republican party. there are constantly trying to distance themselves from the problem people. but they still support their policies because they think that's the only way they can be reelected. whereas, democrats overall, remain unified. >> can i talk about your efforts for a moment? you just alluded to it, you have the republicans trying to get rid of the house oversight committees -- you are leading the charge to reinstate that subcommittee as you just mentioned with that amendment. in light of the death of tyre nichols, does that mean now that you don't have marjorie

taylor greene's vote? there is no hope for this? where do things stand on that effort for you? >> she voted against me. she voted against me. >> i've gotta say, i don't know -- >> but she said she agreed with me. i thought we were vibe-ing, you know? she said she agreed with me. she also said that there needed to be an investigation as it relates to the conditions in jail and prisons and i agree with that. now, granted, her concern was for january 6th people versus the issues overall when it comes to -- >> she thinks the january fixed insurrection is civil rights being trampled on. >> correct. so i was like, okay, we should get to the subcommittee and then we can explore these things. but i don't know really what

her reason was for voting against terry because she seemingly was agreeing with me even though she was agreeing for all the wrong reasons. but at the end of the day, if i can get agreement, i'm here for it. that's what bipartisanship is. it's agreement. it doesn't matter what the motivation is. and, so you know, i thought that i was really going to -- vote clearly, i was wrong. >> that would have been a scene to have you and marjorie taylor greene hand-in-hand. we will see. anything is possible. congresswoman jasmine crockett of texas, always a pleasure. thank you for joining us tonight. >> all right, next, three state attorneys general from across america are joining me live to discuss critical issues facing their communities and yours from police reform to voting rights and abortion access and a whole lot more. we will talk about that next. hat next over. roger that. with polident cleanser and polident adhesive refresh and secure for any close encounter. if your mouth could talk it would ask for

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now have black men and women asked their top law enforcement officers, state attorneys general. it is a record and that deserves to be celebrated. and yet, it comes at a time when broader racial progress still seems uneven at best because it is a time or at a time when other black men and women are dying unnecessarily at the hands of police officers. this week, tyre nichols, the 29-year-old black man who was brutally beaten by memphis police officers was laid to rest. vice president kamala harris spoke at tyre nichols's funeral. >> as vice president of the united states, we demand that congress pass the george floyd justice and policing act. joe biden will sign it. [applause] and we should not delay. and we will not be tonight. it is nonnegotiable. >> there is a clear contrast between the initial police

report on tyre nichols and what we saw on police body camera footage. four of the five officers charged in the death of tyre nichols have prior work violations. his killing was unnecessary, unjust, and it is a reminder of the ongoing systemic issues with police saying that remain in our country. tonight, i'm honored to be joined by three state attorneys general from around the united states to discuss this issue and much more. andrea joy campbell of massachusetts. aaron d. ford of nevada. -- attorneys general, it's great to have you all with us. thank you for making time. andrew, i would like to start with you if i can. in your statement about tyre nichols's death, you write about the tremendous work needed to address corruption, police brutality, and racial injustice. talk to us about how you and your community members are doing on that front and what work would you like to see done to address police violence? >> first of all, thank you for

having me and it's great to be on with my colleagues, who of course have been doing the work for a long time. we all didn't need to see another video to know that we still need transparency and accountability in our policing systems and our current legal systems. in my past work as a local counselor in the city of boston, i worked on making sure our officers were equipped with body cameras. we now have a civilian review board to review incidents of misconduct at the state level. we have a post system, where an officer can be decertified based on certain behavior. but as attorney general, i have pledged to create a police accountability unit within the office. and that is critically important because even though in massachusetts we have not seen an incident quite at the scale and magnitude related to tyre nichols, there is still tremendous work to do. there are still folks who have being racially profiled. there are folks, of course, who

have had unfortunate incidents with police officers. and there still a lot more work to do to ensure our systems have processes within them to hold officers accountable when something goes terribly wrong, while doing the work of diversifying our state agencies and making sure there are transparent and accountable to the people they serve. >> you have said that law enforcement must listen to the pain of the community. why do you think they are not listening? with everything that we have seen with police violence, it seems there are still police departments that are not listening to these communities and their pain. what is your understanding of why that is not happening? >> listen, i think the last communication certainly needs to remain open -- here in nevada, similar to what happened in massachusetts, we've made great strides in trying to improve relationships between law enforcement and communities. i say we because i am a part of law enforcement. what we've done is passed bills that have a duty to intervene

in that when an officer sees bad things happening to one of our residents or one of our citizenry, then they're supposed to intervene and their repercussions because of that. we are waiting for the federal government to pass the policing act, the george floyd act. but we are also in our own state, passing -- to allow me to investigate police departments, to improve began the relationship between law enforcement and the communities that we serve. we will serve communities that have no trust and all in law enforcement. and in fact, i -- what i endeavor to do is create that trust where it is never existed and it begins with listening to the -- i will say this before i give you the mic back. we do not need to go to minneapolis or to memphis or elsewhere to understand the turmoil that is between law enforcement and our communities. in our own state, we have had instances like williams and gomez, that of under cut the trust between law enforcement and the community and we need

to continue to work to rectify those issues. >> can you talk to us about how your office works with police officers and policing in your state? what steps would you like to see taken towards accountability? >> sure. so, one of the things andrea mentioned, having a decertification statute. i worked with police chiefs and sheriffs and states attorneys to make sure that the certification statute we had in our state was enhanced, so that we can have accountability that touches things beyond conviction for a felony. we know that it is very difficult. it is rare that a police officer gets convicted for a felony, even if he or she commits one. we wanted to make sure that there was accountability in those cases, we also added the patterns and practices investigation authority for our office that andrew ford

mentioned and we advocated for the inclusion of that george floyd justice and policing act that state agencies would have the authority to clean up investigations because the department of justice cannot handle it throughout the state. we need to work collaboratively with doj in order to make sure we work towards constitutional policing. >> let me change pace for a moment. attorney general campbell, you are the first black woman to be elected attorney general in massachusetts and the first black woman to any statewide office in your state. talk to me about what it means to you to take on this role at this time and be breaking these barriers? >> i see it as an incredible opportunity. i spent my day today actually behind the wall visiting man in a prison here in massachusetts, really speaking to him -- them while i recognized the historic nature of my victory,

what it means to them and so many folks across the commonwealth. we still have work to do. i am very faith driven. i don't feel as though me being in this role is by accident in this moment in time. i was of course emotionally overwhelmed by the video of tyre nichols. but at the same time, it's an opportunity to really address systemic racism that still exist in this country. and all of the injustices that we see. most of my life has been connected to a loss in my life -- connected to the prison system. all of my biological parents are deceased. my twin brother, the same. cycling in and out of the prison system. and as a result of being in that system, losing their lives in many ways. so, this is an opportunity to really deliver for constituents all across massachusetts. but to do it in partnership with folks across the country to address systemic racism and racial justice. >> attorney general kwame raoul, you have talked about the significance of your position as a black attorney general and

having a presence in the space. can you talk about how diversity and these leadership roles makes or does not make a difference? we saw black police officers beating a black man in memphis, tennessee. the diversity in and of itself may not be enough to bring about the reform this country needs. >> yeah. listen. after the murder of george floyd, i wrote a letter to my staff and i reflected in my letter my own personal experience as a black man, who was raised on the south side of chicago. my own experiences, unfortunately, with unconstitutional policing. being the father of a young black man and a young black female, who have had their own encounters. and so, those lived experiences brought to the office of chief legal officer of the state, brings about a perspective that we have not had in many other states.

and that perspective, even within my office, and freeing up others in my office to bring their perspectives from their diverse backgrounds, is a healthy thing towards working towards good policy and the enforcement of good policy. >> mr. ford, you are the first black attorney general in nevada. talk about the challenges and the highlights of this office for you as a first as well and what it symbolizes for your state. >> as you say, in my church, i am blessed to be in this position. i view it as an honor. i view it as an opportunity. and i view it as a responsibility to speak truth to power from a position of power. utilizing a voice that isn't represented in this particular office. i know we're talking about more than more just policing. particularly. but in the aftermath of george floyd as well, i spoke to the issue from a very personal perspective. i'm a black man married to a black woman, raising three

black sons and a black nephew. george floyd was not the first time we had to engage in a conversation around the death of a black man at the hands of police. it was not the last, clearly. and so, what we look to do in this position is to utilize our position in order to enhance communication between law enforcement and the communities that we serve and beyond enhance communication and trust. i view this as an opportunity to do exactly that. and i am blessed and highly favor to be here. >> andrea joy campbell, aaron d. ford, kwame raoul, please stick around. we will continue this conversation right after a quick break. k break. (dock worker) right on time. (vo) robots can predict breakdowns and order their own replacement parts. (foreman) nice work. (vo) and retailers can get ahead of the fashion trend of the day with a new line tomorrow. with a verizon private 5g network, you can get more agility and security. giving you more control of your business. we call this enterprise intelligence. from the network america relies on. something's happening at ihop.

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on issues that help them lose the 2022 midterms. the gop is continuing to target voting rights and abortion access, doing so at their own political peril. our state attorneys general are black with us. andrea joy campbell of massachusetts, aaron d. ford of nevada, and kwame raoul of illinois. mr. ford, since 2020, we know that myth busting and -- have become a large part of election officials work. as we are approaching 2024, how can and does your office get ahead of potential threats to election officials and to the overall integrity of our elections? is there a way to prevent these attacks on our democracy in your state? >> well, it's a great question, and what we do here is work

hand in hand with our chief elections officer. i'm happy to say we were able to elect francisco aguilar, not an election denier. we will be working with him to ensure folks understand the process behind voting. the safeguards we have in place to protect the right to vote. and what i will say is just reflecting on my own ancestral personal experiences is that the right to vote is going to remain sacrosanct. i will do everything i can to make sure people can vote. and to do so free from turmoil and attacks. as i said last election cycle, we stay ready so we don't need to get ready when it comes to pushing back on nonsensical lies around the voter process and we will be doing that going for it as well. >> mr. kwame raoul, last summer, you joined a coalition of 21 attorneys in asking the supreme court to not weekend voting rights in the case of merrill

versus mitch liken. talk about the -- are actually two sides of the same coin, they are actually connected? >> we ought to be fighting for the access to -- making voting easier. meanwhile, we have efforts throughout our country to make voting harder, to disenfranchise people in the redistricting process. the wonderful thing about state ags is that we can work collectively to protect voting rights, to protect our democracy. in fact, it is a former chief deputy from andrea joy campbell 's state who heads up state united who has gathered us state agencies and others around the country to protect democracy throughout the country. i am not just concerned with what happens within the state of illinois, i am concerned

with what happens throughout the country to make sure that people have access. to make sure that they are fairly represented in the redistricting process. >> miss campbell, the other thing that we have seen republicans go after's reproductive rights in this country. this week, 20 republican attorneys general warned cvs and walgreens against mailing abortion pills in their states, indicating that they would take legal action to fight it. you talked about the importance of standing up for reproductive rights in this country. what do you make of this move? >> it is going in the wrong direction. and if anything, it is indicative of what we are seeing, of course, at least a pro -- supreme court level. taking away protections that were guaranteed. and if i had been reminding folks -- potential to your attorney general is and you are state. i know everyone on this panel is fighting to make sure all women and folks have the right to choose.

the right and access to an abortion. the right apparent the way they so choose. and so this is critically important. in massachusetts, i am really proud that we are leading the way on these issues in many ways. we've got to find the right to an abortion in our health plans. there's legislation that has been passed to make sure that your health care plans can be used to access these critical health care services. we just launched a hotline that is free and confidential for anybody in the state or anybody looking to come to massachusetts with these health care services to be able to call to get their questions answered. not just patients, but also providers. and, so this is an area where, frankly, the democratic attorneys general are stepping up across all states to really push for this basic right that we should all have. and at the end of the day, this is about justice. this is about power. it is all connected to the racial justice conversations we are having. and so we also linked to

maternal health disparities as well. i'm really excited to be working with my folks across state lines to make sure that these rights are protected. >> we've talked about police reforms, women's rights, voter integrity. and a whole lot more. i do want to ask you about education for a moment. all three of you. on wednesday, the college board released a new syllabus for the ap african american studies course that governor ron desantis in florida contested. they cut out mentions of black lives matter. they cut out mentions of criminal justice, reparations, the names of prominent black authors. miss campbell, what is at stake when education is so blatantly watered down under this guise that officials in florida are saying is indoctrination and not education? >> that is exactly right. i'm really proud to come from a state that has incredible academic institutions that stood up immediately to call this out and did it collectively, working not only

across various higher at institutions here in massachusetts, but across state lines as well to make sure that we were fighting for just folks to have basic information about this country. it may be painful to talk about slavery and racism, to look at the 16 19 project, to really understand why systemic racism continues to show up in different forms in this country, but it is critical. you can't solve for address a problem if you are unwilling to talk about it. and you know, education is the foundation on which our children -- and i have two young boys. and folks have access to this information. it is critical. we have an opportunity to stand up, to actually i think center issues of education. most folks view a attorney general asked top caught or just a prosecutor. we also have an obligation to stand up to make sure that our folks are getting the education

and the fact that they need. and most importantly, we will transform this country to be equitable and anti racist and live up to its values and democratic principles. >> your thoughts -- >> yeah, listen, i'm fresh off of a reelection campaign. i was on the trail, telling folks that someone used the word progressive in a bad way. but remember the opposite of progressive is regressive. so many republicans are trying to be regressive and take our country backwards. you know, the united states supreme court obviously have taken us back 50 years and reproductive rights. you can say get in florida and apparently now you can say black. we are moving from history to his story. remember that phrase? and it occurred to me that what we need to continue to do is push back against this. i am greatly disappointed in the ap course at this point. and the college board. my son has taken 11 ap classes. he will not be taking this one because it is not true history,

apparently. it's not something that he is interested at in this juncture. i will pass the mic to my colleague. i am reminded of the book, the miseducation of the -- where he talks about, when you control the way a man thinks, you don't need to worry about how he acts. we are trying to control the minds of the citizenry, so they don't understand the self efficacy that they can have in true history. i will push back on that across the board and i am sorely disappointed. >> we are almost out of time. but i will give you the final word. >> well, i am the father of a recent college graduate, who studied african american studies. i'm so glad that she did and that she can relate it to not just history, but the condition of african americans and america today. it's important for everybody to be uncomfortable with our history. it is important for us to know our history and to know how it

relates to the conditions that exist today for african americans in america. >> it's a real privilege to speak to the three of you tonight. i greatly appreciate your time. three attorneys general from the state of massachusetts, nevada, illinois. andrea joy campbell, aaron d. ford, kwame raoul. greatly appreciate your insights this evening. more ayman after the break. re ayman after the break ly recommend it! zifans love zicam's unique zinc formula. it shortens colds! zicam. zinc that cold! people remember ads with a catchy song. so to help you remember that liberty mutual customizes your home insurance, here's a little number you'll never forget. ♪customize and save♪ only pay for what you need. ♪liberty liberty liberty♪ ♪liberty♪ science proves quality sleep is vital to your mental, emotional, and physical health. and we know 80% of couples sleep too hot or too cold. introducing the new sleep number climate360 smart bed. the only smart bed in the world that actively cools, warms,