Skip to main content

tv   The Rachel Maddow Show  MSNBC  February 28, 2023 1:00am-2:00am PST

1:00 am
potential 2024 bid? >> first of all, i don't think the country has a stomach for a primary challenge among democrats. democrats don't have the stomach for it. i think also among democrats, he has the ability, biden does, to speak to working class voters in the rural areas and other areas and to speak to the base of the party. biden is the one who can do that. i don't see any other democrats were able to do that. >> i don't either. donna edwards, and mike lux, thank you both very much. that is all in on this monday night. i'm michael steele in for chris says. the rachel maddow show startsadt >> the rachel maddow show starts right now. good evening, rachel. >> good evening, mr. steele. you look fantastic in that chair. you seem like you're right at home. >> thank you very much. i appreciate that, especially coming from you, lady. >> thanks to you at home for joining us this hour. we've got a really interesting show for you here tonight.
1:01 am
if you've ever been to london or if you're like me and you basically spend every waking hour you're not working, eating, sleeping or fishing watching british crime dramas set in london, which is what i do now because i'm a middle-aged childless lesbian -- anyway, whether you've been to london or spent a lot of time in london in your mind, you might have noticed these blue plaques on the london landscape. the british government puts up these blue disks, these blue plaques on historic sites of all kind not just in london. and some of these historic plaques are exactly what you'd think, exactly what you'd imagine. winston churchill 1874-1965, prime minister, lived and died here. or this one. lived here as a law student. francis bacon, participator,
1:02 am
lived and worked here 1961-1992. lady diana spencer, princess diana, lived here. some are exactly what you would imagine. some are harder to guess at. this is one featured in the "the new york times" not long ago that commemorates the discovery of the cato street conspiracy. in case you don't know that say an 1820 plot to kill everyone in the british cabinet and the british prime minister. this one is for the first woman to qualify as a dentist in england. i had no idea. this one is for luke howard, namer of clouds. it sounds like a tarot card reading but he was actually a namer of clouds and that blue plaque marks where he lived and
1:03 am
died. so that's a part of the british landscape, a very familiar thing. a couple weeks ago a new one went up that was a new idea. you might remember in recent history great britain had a prime minister this past fall who lasted like five minutes. she was like anthony scaramucci. she was like mike flib, national security advisor. she was there for a minute and then she was gone. her name was liz truss. she was elevated to prime minister in september. as soon as she got in as prime minister she proposed a whole new very controversial kind of insane tax system, and that proposal instantly tanked the whole british economy, and then basically just as quickly as she got there, poof, she was gone. she didn't even make it two months as prime minister. you might remember there was this live stream of a head of
1:04 am
lettuce and they put googly eyes and a weighten oit, and this was a live stream. it was a proverbial race to see if liz truss would last longer as prime minister or would the lettuce last in terms of its shelf life, which one would last longer. the lettuce outlasted liz truss. she was out before two months was up. so it was a narrow window of time, liz truss. but in the midst of that narrow window of time a big new historic blue plaque was put up on a house in london, and it looked just like one of those famous blue plaques you see marking historic sites all over england except it was really oversized. you can tell it's not made of metal. and what it says is the u.k. economy was crashed here, 55 toughten street, september 23, 2022. it was the day liz truss had
1:05 am
announced her disastrous economic plan, which indeed did crash the british economy, and the contention here by the people who made this plaque is that disastrous plan had been dreamed up by an extremist dodgy rightwing think tank based at 55 tufton street in london. that was done by a group called led by donkeys. and we're going to show on the screen some other things they've done including projections and bill boards and things. led by donkeys is a weird name, i know. a long history for that phrase used by people criticizing the leadership of the british military in world war i and other conflicts. critics would say the british every day soldier, the british infantryman was a good soldier but the british leadership was
1:06 am
bad. so they had this saying lions led by monkeys which is soldiers led by terrible generals. and it shortened to led by donkeys essentially meaning the british citizenry is good but the british political leadership is terrible. they've been doing stuff with bill boards and projections and big blue fake historic plaques ever since. that's this group, led by donkeys. that's the kind of stuff they do. i want you to watch what they just did in the last few days, and i will warn you -- just watch this for a second. this isn't the sort of thing you can just listen to. you have to look at it. i'll tell you it won't be clear what they're doing for the first bit of this tape i'm going to show you. watch for a few seconds and you'll figure it out. and one important thing to note as context where this is happening the thing i'm about to show you, this is the street in
1:07 am
front of the russian embassy in london. ♪♪ >> this is just a few days ago in london. you can see what they've done here, right? they had paint, blue paint and yellow paint in these wheelbarrows. they blooped the paint on to the road and then they let regular, every day traffic, the cars and
1:08 am
buses and tracks that would otherwise be driving over this part of the street, they effectively drafted vehicles into this protest to with the wheels of their vehicles spread this paint to create a huge, bigger than life ukrainian flag over the entire street in front of the russian embassy. look at that. led by donkeys did this to commemorate one year since russia invaded ukraine. you can see some of the details of this. they held up signs for cars heading into this in traffic and it says drive slowly in big letters. i think you could probably make this out at the bottom of the sign. it is, well at the top ukraine solidarity protest but at the bottom says washable paint. they are assuring people in their cars that if they drive on this paint it'll be okay. the group said what they used actually was food grade, literally edible, nontoxic, fast
1:09 am
drying paint that would wash off. so it wouldn't have hurt any of the cars or bikes or people who rolled through or walked through this stuff. but they did paint the street into a giant ukrainian flag. and it will presumably have infuriated the russian government. three men and a woman were arrested for doing this. we don't know what charges they are facing. we are told though that all four of them who were arrested were on the blue paint team. apparently the yellow paint team was able to jump over and help out after their colleagues got taken away by the police. i should also tell you for good measure this block of base water road was also this weekend renamed kyiv road so now the russian embassy in london is on kyiv road. that was london. just a few days ago. over this weekend, we saw not just protests all over the world in solidarity with ukraine and protesting the russian invasion, we saw inside russia individual brave russians get arrested for
1:10 am
staging teeny tiny little protests. for staging even one man or more often one woman protests denouncing the war. in some cases it was literally a single person just saying they were against the war or a single person holding a single sign. in some cases with a single word on it. that's, that was enough to get you arrested in russia. for saying one word against the war in public. but russians knowing that would be the case still did it. that was russia this weekend. this was mexico this weekend. look at this. more than a hundred thousand people turned out in mexico city. while there were also simultaneous protests in more than a hundred other cities in mexico. you might remember here on this show last week we reported on big crowds in israel protesting the israeli government's new plans to basically take over the judiciary, take over the courts and put them under political
1:11 am
control. this time last week we saw huge protests in israel against that anti-democratic proposal. from the israeli government. now here we are less than a week later in mexico, absolutely massive crowds. in this case protesting more anti-democratic plans. protesting plans by the mexican government to get rid of the elections authority, basically the independent elections watch dog agency. mix co is not known as a paragon of can-do good government, but here are huge numbers of people turning out in peaceful protest to say, save our democracy. don't take that part of it away. do not take away fair elections administration here. you cannot take that over. we will defend that institution. we will defend small "d" democracy. this was mexico just this weekend. today here was nbc news sounding an alarm about a coordinated,
1:12 am
massive scale effort in one american state to try to disqualify tens of thousands of people from voting. this is an alarm being raised by the group fair fight action in the state of georgia. that is who is raising the alarm. the alarm is being sounded in this exclusive reporting today. right after the 2020 election in georgia with all that went with that there was a big, very controversial anti-voting rights bill that republicans passed in the georgia legislature and the republican georgia governor signed. you probably remember that. it led to nationwide news coverage, a bunch of boycotts of georgia and all that stuff. well, that, anti-voting bill in georgia gave individuals the right to file unlimited numbers of challenges against the eligibility of specific voters. and while there can be unlimited numbers of voters challenged, the law also mandates that election officials have to respond to each of those
1:13 am
challenges within ten days. you can see where the problem might lie here right? now it is paying off as expected, exactly as they wanted it to. last year in the midterm election in 2022 in georgia conservative activists filed eligibility challenges against, get this, 92,000 individual voters in that one state. 92,000 americans individually had their voting eligibility challenged by conservative activists and individuals. and elections officials are mandated by law to respond to each one of those challenges within ten days. this is a way to not only make life miserable for the people you are targeting but also a way to swap elections offices so they can do nothing other than contend with these bulk challenges. a new way to legally absolutely mess with the administration of
1:14 am
elections and the individual right to vote by the tens of thousands. the group fair fight action, which is a voting rights and pro democracy group in georgia, they are raising the alarm about this, suing in federal court to try to stop this from continuing to happen to georgia voters. nbc news reporting it today exclusively again to sound the alarm about the fact this is happening in georgia and also effectively to give the whole country a heads up that, you know, if anti-voting, anti-election, anti-small "d" democratic forces haven't gotten to this yet in your state it is working great in georgia and likely coming your way. you may or may not by now be able to see the theme that is emerging from these seemingly disparate stories, right? the thing these all have in common is people coming
1:15 am
together, coming together in groups large and particularly groups that are small, groups well organized, groups loosely organized, groups that are official like fair fight in georgia, groups that are unofficial like the brave protesters we've been talking about in places like russia. people coming together and whatever numbers make the most sense, against powerful forces that can otherwise feel too big to take on. people coming together with other people to find a way to stand up anyway. even when it feels like you are up against all the power in the world and you are up against something that is impervious to your protest. finding a way to do it anyway. finding a way to puncture the silence. finding a way to let it be known somebody is against it and that someone is you. and, yes, sometimes it is a large group like we saw in
1:16 am
mexico city. sometimes a small group. sometimes it is not even a group. sometimes it's just one person. i said tonight is going to be an interesting show. part of the reason is because of a guest we're going to have on the show tonight who is somebody you've never met before. this is someone who is taking a stand very much on her own, personally as an individual, in a way that is making a very loud noise. she is a state senator in nebraska. she happens to be a democrat. she is from blue city, omaha in red state nebraska. and republicans of course have a big majority in the legislature in nebraska, nearly 2-1 majority. that means republicans are pretty much able to do whatever they want in terms of state legislation. one of the things they decided they are going to do like republicans are doing in lots of states right now in nebraska republicans decided to make a new law targeting trans people, banning doctors and nurses from providing care to trans young people. and this one state senator from omaha standing alone, she is absolutely, positively, unmovably determined that the
1:17 am
republicans should not be able to do that with state law in nebraska. that they at least should not be able to do it without her fighting it with everything she's got. it turns out one of the things she's got is the power as a single senator to filibuster every single piece of legislation that comes up good or bad, every single bill in the state legislature this year. they are 36 days into a 90 day session. she says she's got all the time in the world. she plans to filibuster every single bill. she says she will not relent. she will bring the entire thing to a standstill because that is the only thing she can think to do to try to protect trans people from what the republicans are trying to do to them. she has allies who agree with her in the legislature and is not alone in her feelings about this legislation or opposition
1:18 am
to it but is standing alone in terms of what she is doing about it. she is basically laying down on the proverbial tracks in her state and is going to join us live in a few minutes. you are going to want to meet her. but, you know, there's a lot going on in the news right now and i feel like right now in particular there is a lot that can feel overwhelming. for just starting year two of russia's war pounding away at the people of ukraine. domestically we have anti-semitic and antigay and anti-trans hate crimes and harassment and violence. frankly running pretty wild in the streets right now. and disturbingly it is not just street stuff. it is also dove tailing with right wing legislation targeting minority communities everywhere that conservatives are in charge. that is both dispiriting and also dangerous. in east palestine, ohio, the train derailment there is an environmental catastrophe whose dimensions we do not yet fully grasp. this really may be the kind of
1:19 am
thing that takes decades and literally billions of dollars in a multi generational commitment to clean up and make right for the people and the land and the water there. this is a very situation -- very serious situation in east palestine and it is now steam rolling into a right wing, provocative, dangerous, false narrative in conservative media and among white supremacist groups where they're characterizing this train derailment as a war on white people. and something around which white power groups should organize and try to recruit. again, it's happening at the street level with street fighting white supremacist groups, but it's also dove tailing with bug time politics and big time conservative media. and that can be particularly combustible. amid that kind of mess, amid all of that mess, there are groups
1:20 am
of people who are being creative and brave and standing up and fining a way to make themselves heard and try to change things. in east palestine, interestingly, part of what's happening is that these two diametrically opposed u.s. senators from that state, one democratic veteran, one republican nubey, they're now releasing joint statements and working together to try to get an agreement for immediate and long term health monitoring for families in the town of east palestine and surrounding areas. they're trying. you take big, overwhelming, scary situations, and we're in the middle of a lot of them right now in this news cycle. what do you do about it? well, if you look around, there's always these instances we've got to report on and learn from right now of people finding a way, some way to get at them, to take them on, to make a difference at an individual human level.
1:21 am
it can feel small but it really is the only way on all of this stuff. whether you are a senator, an activist, or just a random citizen. it is the only way. senator sherrod brown from ohio will join us tonight. he was just in east palestine today. nebraska senator mckayla kavanaugh will join us in a moment. you'll want to meet her. we have a lot going tonight. stay with us. goldmine. well she doesn't know that if she owns a life insurance policy of $100,000 or more she can sell all or part of it to coventry for cash. even a term policy. even a term policy? even a term policy! find out if you're sitting on a goldmine. call coventry direct today at the number on your screen, or visit coventrydirect.com. before dexcom g6, my diabetes was out of control. i was tired. not having the energy to do the things that i wanted to do.
1:22 am
before dexcom g6, i was frustrated. all of that finger-pricking and all of that pain, my a1c was still stuck. there is a better way to manage diabetes. the dexcom g6 continuous glucose monitoring system eliminates painful fingersticks, helps lower a1c, and it's covered by medicare. before dexcom g6, i couldn't enjoy a single meal. i was always trying to out-guess my glucose and it was awful. (female announcer) dexcom g6 is a small wearable that sends your glucose numbers to your phone or dexcom receiver without painful fingersticks. the arrow shows the direction your glucose is heading: up, down, or steady, so you can make better decisions about food, insulin, and activity in the moment. it can even alert you before you go too low or when you're high. oh, the fun is absolutely back. after dexcom g6, i can, on the spot, figure out what i'm gonna eat and how it's gonna affect my glucose. when a friend calls and says, "hey, let's go to breakfast," i can get excited again. after using dexcom g6,
1:23 am
my diabetes doesn't slow me down at all. i lead line dancing three times a week, i exercise, and i'm just living a great life now. i have eight grandchildren. now i'm able to keep up with them again. we're not afraid anymore. it's so easy to use. dexcom g6 has given me confidence and control that everything i need is right there on my phone. if you have diabetes, then getting on the dexcom g6 is the single most important thing you can do. once a patient gets on dexcom g6, it's like the lights come on. (david) within months, my a1c went down to 6.9. (earl) my a1c has never been lower. (donna) at my last checkup, my a1c was 5.9. (female announcer) dexcom g6 is the #1 recommended cgm system, and it's backed by 24/7 tech support. call now to get started. you'll talk to a real person. don't wait, this one short call could change your life. (bright music)
1:24 am
i wish that shaq was my real life big brother. what's up, little bro? turns out, some wishes do come true. and it turns out the general is a quality insurance company that's been saving people money for nearly 60 years. for a great low rate, and nearly 60 years of quality coverage- go with the general.
1:25 am
i am scared for what's going to happen in five or ten or 15 years. that is my biggest concern. there are so many kids in this town and they keep saying cancer is a big thing and it is just terrifying because i have a 10-year-old daughter and 8-year-old son and are they going to in ten years be diagnosed with cancer from this? where is safe? >> today marks 24 days since an 18,000 ton, 151-car, mile plus long train, norfolk southern
1:26 am
freight train, derailed in east palestine, ohio. the train was carrying hazardous materials and chemicals including a known carcinogen called vinyl chloride. this terrible derailment in east palestine is truly terrible. that said, it is not the first train wreck in recent memory for the good people of ohio. for them not even the first recent train wreck involving norfolk southern. in october, in early october a norfolk southern freight fright train crashed in sandusky, ohio reportedly because of issues with the engine. a month later on november 6th another train hauling crash derailed along the ohio river near steubenville, ohio. the first one in sandusky, early october the local paper just yesterday reported congratulations, you can now drive north through the
1:27 am
underpass where that wreck happened back in october, but the southbound lane is still closed. and city officials say there is no telling when that might open again. this is months later after the much smaller derailment that didn't make national news at all. that sort of scale of impact is worth keeping in mind when it comes to the epic disaster in east palestine. the spill there was toxic industrial chemicals. the environmental and health impact has already up ended thousands of people's lives indefinitely. norfolk southern today released their latest corporate tally on help they are providing locally for the recovery. norfolk southern says they've committed more than $11 million to support the community which includes $5 million in direct assistance to families plus some money for schools plus a sort of running tab of small scale good deeds like the 100 floral arrangements norfolk southern says it bought from a local flower shot for delivery to a
1:28 am
nursing home and assisted living facility. if you own the mile plus long train that just crashed and created an epic, still unreeling disaster with consequences that span multiple states and potentially multiple generations flowers i'm sure are nice but the question in east palestine tonight is how much help is that community going to need not just now but for years to come? and importantly, right now, who will get to decide that? who will set the appropriate monitoring and assistance in motion? who makes sure things are put right now and for good? joining us now is ohio u.s. senator sherrod brown. he met today with people who live in and around east palestine and told people there today, quote, i am here for the long haul. senator brown, i appreciate you taking time to talk to us tonight. i know this is a really busy time for you. >> thanks, rachel. wonderful to be back on your show.
1:29 am
good to see you again. >> good to see you, too. what do you think people should understand about the impact of this disaster and the impact on people in east palestine that's maybe missing from the national coverage and national discussion about this so far? what can you see from up close from having been there just today that we might not be able to see from a national media point of view? >> well, your intro into the story was exactly right. it is what it's doing to people now. we did a round table of sorts with 15, 20 local people, some from the local foundation, city council, sheriff, commissioners, towns people. we did -- a woman owns a candle shop and i think three generations, her daughter is helping her run it now, four miles away from their shop they own 40 or 50 beef cattle and what does that mean for them and people buying that? so there are all kind of down
1:30 am
the line, you know, the water is safe. the mayor says the epa says that they all are saying the water is safe in the east palestine water system but a lot of people have wells. we don't know about beyond there. we don't know as you say generation after generation what this means. reason i said i'm there for the long haul is one to make norfolk southern, who by the way just announced billions of dollars in more stock options for their stock holders especially their executives. that is how they give them such extravagant pay. they were about to -- they announced that the day before said they were about to the day before the derailment so we are holding them accountable. that is my biggest job. but also what do you do with the second generation and third generation? so that is why i'm there for the long haul. >> i was interested today to see a letter that you cosigned with the junior senator from ohio the new senator republican jd vance. you and senator vance obviously come from very different parts of the ideological number line
1:31 am
and very different men with very different approaches to things. but that makes it all the more interesting to see both your signatures on this letter. to the epa and the cdc saying, hey, we need to get out there right now and get a medical baseline. do voluntary collection of health indicators from people in this community so that if there is a health impact over time we have baseline data everybody agrees is good data that we can use so that any health problems in the long run can be incontrovertible. i have to ask you about the substance of that request if i have it correct and also what it's been like to work with senator vance on this. >> i don't know senator vance well but he is seeing the same things i'm saying and talking to a lot of the same people i'm talking to. he realizes the severity and the seriousness of this. so we're teaming up even though we don't know each other very well.
1:32 am
we are very different, have very different ideologies about government, the approach to government but we both see this is really important. bill johnson a local, very conservative republican congressman representing most of the river counties, he and i have teamed up on a number of things, too, on this. rachel, when you were talking, my mind goes on this when you think about long term impact to a bill senator tester and i wrote, a bipartisan bill and passed what was called the pact act and those soldiers, hundreds of thousands of our soldiers in iraq and afghanistan were exposed to these football field sized burn pits in those countries and are beginning to develop all kinds of illnesses. we listed 23 illnesses based on medical assistance and advice, cancers, bronchial illnesses that could come from those burn pits. and we're kind of approaching this the same way. these can be two years, five years, ten years down the line. we want to make sure we've covered those things. i bring sort of that experience with the pact act as a member of
1:33 am
the veterans committee to this in figuring out how do we look at this long term? >> senator sherrod brown of ohio, really good to see you. it's been too long. come back to the show soon. keep us updated on the situation in east palestine and have your office keep us apprised what's being done at a concrete level. we want to keep it on the air, sir. >> thank you. i am planning another trip in march. they'll see me a lot there and i have a really good relationship with the mayor and sheriff and some on council and citizens. we'll keep talking by phone and then i keep showing up. that is really important that they know somebody is on their side on this and that is just my mission and my job. thank you. >> senator sherrod brown of ohio, thank you, sir. we have much more ahead. stay with us.
1:34 am
i wish that shaq was my real life big brother. what's up, little bro? turns out, some wishes do come true. and it turns out the general is a quality insurance company that's been saving people money for nearly 60 years. for a great low rate, and nearly 60 years of quality coverage- go with the general.
1:35 am
(male announcer) important information for viewers age 50 to 85. have you thought0 years about getting life insurance to help your family with funeral expenses, but worried it would cost too much or that you wouldn't qualify? at colonial penn, we talk to men and women like you every day. and today i'd like to share three questions they often ask about our guaranteed whole life insurance. can i get this coverage on a fixed income? (jonathan) can you get this coverage on a fixed income? yes, you can. options start at $9.95 a month. that's less than 35 cents a day. and the good news is they won't ever increase.
1:36 am
a lifetime rate lock guarantees it. i'm not in perfect health. can i get this coverage? (jonathan) can you get this coverage if you're not in perfect health? yes, you can. the truth is, you cannot be turned down for any reason. your acceptance is 100% guaranteed. we don't require a medical exam or ask a single health question. what if my health changes? can i keep this coverage? (jonathan) can you keep this coverage if your health changes? yes, you can. the peace of mind this insurance provides can be yours for life. just pay your premiums and the policy cannot be cancelled for any reason. now, there's one question i'd like to ask you. are you ready to take the next step and help protect those you love? call the number on your screen to learn more.
1:37 am
1:38 am
a strong show of support today for a drag queen story hour event in the district. police keeping a close watch after tense moments at a similar event last week when members of the far right group the proud boys showed up in protest. news 4's derrick ward has more on how things went today. >> reporter: the scene along barracks road the street closure, the crowd, the heavy police presence, doesn't immediately say children's story time. but neither does this confrontation outside a silver spring book store last weekend surrounding another children's story time. as families started to show up for story time instead of facing a gauntlet of jeers they were guided by rainbow umbrella wielding escorts. still, even the young ones
1:39 am
couldn't have been oblivious to all the police presence. >> in washington, d.c. in maryland, all across the country now drag events need police protection and community escorts to shield people from violent, screaming crowds of right wing para military groups who now routinely show up to terrorize people at these events. and the stuff that is happening in the streets is sort of mirrored by or dove tailing with a huge surge in legislative attacks on drag performers and the lgbtq community, basically in every state where republicans now hold power. florida of course has gotten a lot of attention. governor ron desantis, the passage of multiple laws targeting gay people and trans people, targeted parents with abuse investigations. tennessee is in the news for a groundbreaking draconian law they're about to enact that basically bans drag entirely in that state. in tennessee, performing in drag
1:40 am
in public or anywhere where a young person might conceivably see you will be a felony punishable by up to six years in prison. i'm sure tennessee police will be delighted to have it among their new duties to raid performances or plays or tiktok shoots or accost people walking down the street to check that everybody is wearing what the police expect in terms of gender conforming underwear. sure they're delighted that is going to be among their new responsibilities. tennessee will be so much safer. and, yes, tennessee may be out in front but republicans have introduced bills targeting drag in over a dozen states. that's just the drag bills. republicans introduced literally hundreds of anti-lgbtq bills nationwide this year. nearly half of them specifically targeting trans people. iowa alone currently considering 19 bills, including a drag bill,
1:41 am
a don't say gay bill for schools, and a bill targeting trans youth. in nebraska a bill banning doctors and nurses from providing medical care for trans kids is also a top priority for republican lawmakers. in the nebraska legislature republicans hold nearly twice as many seats as democrats, so it has seemed like that bill would likely become law just as soon as they can get it to a vote. turns out getting that bill to a vote is going to be harder than the republicans expected. >> i have nothing, nothing but time, and i am going to use all of it. >> one democratic state senator in nebraska is taking radical measures to try to stop her republican colleagues from passing this bill targeting trans young people.
1:42 am
and so far it's working. watch. >> on the floor of the nebraska legislature work is at a standstill largely held up by one senator. >> you cannot stop me. >> for the second day in a row senator machaela cavanaugh stonewalled. >> i will not stand for legislating hate into our statutes. it will be very painful for this body. and if people are like is she threatening us? let me be clear. yes, i am. >> reporter: cavanaugh promised to take every single bill to cloture meaning hours of debate on every single bill that comes to the floor. >> take your names off of that piece of poop. lb574. talk to the speaker. demand good governance. be better. be who the children of nebraska deserve. >> nebraska state senator machaela cavanaugh has brought the nebraska legislature to a halt.
1:43 am
they have a 90-day legislative session. they're in day 36. she has vowed to use all of the time in the legislative session to stop what they're doing. she has vowed specifically to filibuster every single bill, literally standing on the floor and talking, dragging out debate to the maximum number of hours on every single agenda item. so that republicans will relent and rescind that anti-trans bill. she is forcing the question is this what republicans are going to use their government for? senator cavanaugh says they can use it for that. they can use it to try to get that one thing done. or the state can govern. she says she is going to use everything she can to slow that government to a crawl. she told her colleagues, quote, i will burn the session to the ground over this bill. joining us now is nebraska senator machaela cavanaugh a
1:44 am
democrat who represents the sixth district in nebraska, in omaha. really appreciate you joining us tonight. thank you. >> thank you for having me. >> let me first just ask you if i got any of that wrong. i talked about you a little bit at the beginning of the show and gave you that intro here. you know this much better than i do. i want to give you a chance to get me straight here if i got any of that the wrong way around. >> no, i think you have it right. that was pretty accurate. i am standing by that. i intend to talk a lot. >> well, tell me how this works in practical terms. i know that it is a 90 day session. i think we are in like day 36 and with the way the filibuster rules work you can effectively spend hours. you can use up hours of the legislative clock and calendar for anything without anything coming up to a vote. through this tactic, what do you think you could logistically accomplish in terms of stopping
1:45 am
legislation, stopping the legislature from governing? >> well, by my back of the envelope math we have approximately 518 maximum hours left of debate this session. and that means that we could pass potentially no more than 42 bills. and that is not very many for the entire legislative session. this is a long session and that means we have to pass a budget. so i am just going to practically make sure my colleagues have to make a choice about what it is they want to do, what our job is, and is our job to legislate hate or is our job to govern and work on tax cuts and the economy. so i'm forcing their hand. >> you're calling the question as to what they are doing and what they do want to spend their legislative hours and capabilities on, forcing them to choose this or everything else. let me ask what in strategy
1:46 am
entails from you. i know you spent thursday and friday talking for hours on the floor. i understand part of that time you were fighting a cold and sore throat. i mean presumably this is physically kind of a big ask for yourself being able to do this as a human. >> yes, well, it turns out i had strep throat. >> oh, of course. >> which i didn't know. that was a fun -- so i apparently can literally filibuster through a virus that attacks your vocal cords and that i'm proving i'm willing to do. i am willing to do whatever it takes. this is too important. i think it is important for us to focus on what it is we're responsible to do as state legislators, as legislators across the country, what is our job? our job is public policy. our job is not to legislate
1:47 am
hate. at the end of the day this is going to hurt children and i don't care how sick i get, how tired i am, i am not going to look back on this moment in time and say i didn't do everything i possibly could to fight for and protect children especially our most vulnerable children which are our trans youth. >> your clarity speaking to me right now and your clarity on the senate floor, floor of the legislature, and your clarity in explaining this point is pretty unimpeachable. you're not beating around the bush at all. >> no. >> i have been writing down all the quotes from you from the floor speeches. i want to annoy you. i want you to genuinely be frustrated to all get out with me. this is how the session is going to be for every bill. you cannot stop me. take your names off that piece of poop lb 574. you got a gasp when you said that. if you want to inflict pain on children i am going to inflict pain on this body. i will burn the session to the ground over this bill. you are being very blunt about this. i have to ask if it has had
1:48 am
either backlash you didn't expect in terms of people not wanting or expecting this from you or if it had a galvanizing effect from people who feel the same way you do about this? >> i think it has had more of a galvanizing effect than backlash. i think that we have become so complacent in what we anticipate and expect of our governors that we feel those in positions of power are not willing to stand up. i'm not alone. i have wonderful colleagues standing with me. and the fact that myself and my colleagues are standing up and pushing back so loudly and clearly against this, i do think is a galvanizing effect. i hope it continues to have a galvanizing effect. i hope it gives people hope. i really want to give people hope. i really want our trans youth and lgbtq community across the state and country to know there are people fighting for them. and that they should not give up hope because i am not giving up until i have nothing left to give.
1:49 am
>> when your voice is small in number, it really helps for it to be clarion, which you are demonstrating. nebraska state senator machaela cavanaugh, thank you. >> thank you. >> stay in touch with us. i know it is going to be a long row to hoe. thank you. >> thank you so much. i appreciate you highlighting this really important issue. >> yeah. we'll be right back. stay with us. y♪ ♪ ♪are you ready for me♪ ♪are you ready♪ ♪are you ready♪ if you have diabetes, then getting on the dexcom g6
1:50 am
is the single most important thing you can do. it eliminates painful fingersticks, helps lower a1c, and it's covered by medicare. before dexcom g6, i was frustrated. all of that finger-pricking and all of that pain, my a1c was still stuck. my diabetes was out of control. i was tired. (female announcer) dexcom g6 sends your glucose numbers to your phone or receiver without painful fingersticks. the arrow shows the direction your glucose is heading: up, down, or steady, so you can make better decisions about food and activity in the moment. after using dexcom g6, my a1c has never been lower. i lead line dancing three times a week, i exercise, and i'm just living a great life now. it's so easy to use. dexcom g6 has given me confidence and control that everything i need is right there on my phone. (female announcer) dexcom g6 is the #1 recommended cgm system by doctors and patients. call now to get started. (bright music)
1:51 am
1:52 am
1:53 am
move over george santos. in what is turning out to be a remarkable freshman class of new republican legislators in washington, we've also got this gentleman, tennessee republican congressman andy ogles who has described himself multiple times as an economist. what is an economist really? who can say? they call it the dismal science for a reason. you might guess at a minimum that if you're going to call yourself an economist that implies you have some training in economics. alas, no. news channel 5 wtvf in nashville
1:54 am
looked into that and discovered in fact congressman andy ogles has no degree in economic. wtvf found mr. ogles has taken a grand total of one community college course in economics which he barely passed and that was the extent of his collegiate work on the subject. congressman ogles also said he graduated from vanderbilt graduate business school which would be very impressive. in reality he reportedly took executive education classes, a short term nondegree program where you get a certificate. thanks for showing up. not actually a graduate degree which requires years of commitment. congressman andy ogles also claimed he was a former member of law enforcement who worked in international sex crimes specifically child trafficking. that experience in law enforcement maybe was him serving for two years as a volunteer reserve deputy in one county sheriff's office. a volunteer position from which according to wtvf he was
1:55 am
released because he didn't meet the minimum standards even for that. for good measure that sheriff's office said congressman ogles had no involvement in international sex crimes. congressman santos -- i mean ogles also claimed to have a degree in international relations. turns out that, too, is a lie. he is sort of now admitting that that's horse hockey. a little over a week ago his office was saying twa is a simple case of condensing a resume for the sake of brevity on the campaign trail and its partisan hacks were trying to turn this into a headline for clicks. that was last week. this week we have a new explanation for his claim he earned a degree in international relations. the congressman today released a statement saying i previously stated by degree was in international relations. when i pulled up my transcript to verify i realized i was mistaken. my degree, turns out, is in liberal studies. i apologize for my misstatement.
1:56 am
who among us hasn't completely forgotten what we majored in in college and had to check it on the transcript? i do wonder if there is something about the words majored in liberal studies that could explain why this republican in congress left that out of his biography and made something else instead. what kind of studies did you say? what do you have an actual degree in? watch this space. ♪♪ i'm not touching you, i'm not touching you! ♪♪ turns out, some wishes do come true. and it turns out the general is a quality insurance company that's been saving people money for nearly 60 years. mom! for a great low rate, and nearly 60 years of quality coverage make the right call and go with the general. we planned well for retirement, but i wish we had more cash. you think those two
1:57 am
have any idea? that they can sell their life insurance policy for cash? so they're basically sitting on a goldmine? i don't think they have a clue. that's crazy! well, not everyone knows coventry's helped thousands of people sell their policies for cash. even term policies. i can't believe they're just sitting up there! sitting on all this cash. if you own a life insurance policy of $100,000 or more, you can sell all or part of it to coventry. even a term policy. for cash, or a combination of cash and coverage, with no future premiums. someone needs to tell them, that they're sitting on a goldmine, and you have no idea! hey, guys! you're sitting on a goldmine! come on, guys! do you hear that? i don't hear anything anymore. find out if you're sitting on a goldmine. call coventry direct today at the number on your screen, or visit coventrydirect.com.
1:58 am
1:59 am
2:00 am
that's going to do it for us tonight. thank you for being with us. "way too early" with jonathan lemire is up next. a major conservative conference is going to be messing some real star power. we'll go through the big names in the gop who are skipping cpac. plus president joe biden's plan to cancel student loan debt for some