it's scheduled to take tough questions from congress during the general heads to capitol hill for another round of grilling he is also free to go vote to hold him in contempt of congress in contempt attorney general eric holder now facing a house vote on the investigation into the fast and furious gun operation the nation's top law enforcement official is getting ready to face some tough questions eric holder on the hot seat once again biggest issues for attorney general eric holder the bungled fast and furious gun smuggling staying it was revealed that soames u.s. made arms weapons got into the hands of mexican drug cartels eric holder on the hot seat today eric holder is set to face some pretty tough questions. now i get it in the sense that it's a pretty big deal of people want to hold the attorney general in contempt get him to step down from his position i mean tire fast and furious debacle is an embarrassing one but since fox news basically spends every day that it's not fear mongering and talking about terrorism talking about this but i'm going to pass and

that's because quite honestly i think there's a much bigger scandal out there as a whole lot more about our federal government and our justice system than this story it is remember guantanamo bay right that prison in cuba where you've been detaining people for years that prison that this president promised to close down upon coming into office but which at this point thanks to a lack of political will congressional bullying and media fear mongering doesn't look like it's going to close anytime soon well there are still one hundred sixty eight hundred sixty nine detainees being held at the facility and what we've learned throughout the years since nine eleven although most americans probably aren't all that informed about it is that there were hundreds of people who were in fact innocent just scooped up for things as unfortunate as being at the wrong place at the wrong time but that's not to say that every detainee doesn't deserve to be there that they're not a bad guy but if we're going to hold ourselves up as a beacon of democracy and justice in this world we can't just keep holding people in a cell for ever and then not letting them see a courtroom because the government feels like it and because if they did let them

see a courtroom they would have to admit that they messed up big time if they were to let them go and let's quickly go back to two thousand and eight where the supreme court ruled that guantanamo detainees had the right to challenge their detention in court that was a big deal and i was the right decision because we can't just create a giant black hole that's a terrorism exception when it comes to our laws but you see since that the d.c. circuit courts and the conservative justices well they've reinterpreted the ruling and they've refused to order the release of a single detainee now we're going to get more into the role that they played and one of our interviews tonight but so this week the supreme court made a decision on whether or not it would hear the appeals of seven of these. pending cases and the highest court in the land the beacon of justice decided not to hear that they've decided not to take any responsibility responsibility for the fact that behavior has rights if they granted to these individuals our rights in name only there are many if they don't actually exist if not one single detainee can actually use them many of whom by the way have already been cleared for release by

the government. so if you listen a journalist who's been covering these cases for years or human rights organizations they will say that this ruling means that the remaining detainees have no hope of leaving get mo until their debt whatever happened to learning from our mistakes right writing our wrongs up holding justice we can't just pretend like these people don't exist and yet so many americans do so many of our politicians do our supreme court now does and unfortunately the mainstream media well they do the exact same thing if it's a scandal within the administration suddenly the cable networks care a lot about justice but when it comes to guantanamo bay they always choose to miss . now a topic that we often discuss on this show is voter fraud mainly how republicans trump up its prevalence to disenfranchise voters nowhere is this more of an issue right now than in florida governor rick scott is attempting to scrub voter rolls of one

hundred thousand noncitizens using some very sketchy methodology and some claim the move is designed to stop democrats from voting so yesterday the justice department threatened to sue the state if it isn't stopped the call and then florida responded by saying that they're going to sue the department of homeland security to access a citizenship database one that could help expedite this purge but you see even if scott succeeds in his expensive crusade i think it could have and of causing him some voters who probably won't be disenfranchised like conservatives because they're supposed to be against taxpayer weights and the scars of wasting money here because this entire idea that voter fraud is an issue well that is a fraud in itself republicans and some local board of elections have even said that they will not help rick scott out officials like and mcfall volusia county election supervisor today she told thing progress no i do not support the lawsuit it's about helping the governor and secretary of state improve their image and i'm not doing

any further voter purge until after november twenty. well and today rolling stone reported on alleged cases of voter fraud parsing through a two thousand and seven study from the brennan center of justice and taking a look at those studies let's just say if the frequency of the crime is underwhelming for example in one suppose it missouri double voting epidemic from two thousand to two thousand and two there were only four cases a rate of zero point zero zero zero three percent it was also alleged the five thousand four hundred twelve votes were cast by dead people in georgia in the year two thousand but these are all examples of false alarms at the end of the day not a single case of bonafide fraud there but what about using pets to cheat the system the nine people have been recorded registering dogs to protest the ease of registration risking lengthy prison senses sentences in the process but the thing is that there's only been one instance of a dog actually voting and that was in a local election in california hardly a cause for panic and then how about non-citizen voters like the people that

governor rick scott is up in arms about and washington in two thousand and five county officials looked into the eligibility of one thousand six hundred and sixty eight registered voters based on foreign sounding names but not a single one of them turned out to be a non citizen so i think it's appropriate that the brennan center claims one is more likely to be struck by lightning than to commit voter fraud most of the voting in justice it happened when governor governors are governments like the ones on rick scott go on these voter purge it's like when florida stripped twelve thousand legitimate voters of their right to vote in the two thousand elections that was more than twenty two times george bush's margin of victory so when i got a chance to catch up with congressman keith ellison at netroots last week in providence i started by asking him what he thinks of all these republican backed voter laws. they were joined by a special guest we have representative keith ellison congressman thanks so much for joining us and i have

a range of issues that i'd like to discuss with you but first so. start with what we're seeing across the country in terms of voter id laws passed in a number of states we've seen in florida recently where there are thousands of voters that could be taken off the rolls because they have a faulty system right there is making d.m.v. records the houston chronicle recently said that in the state of texas one point five million people might be kicked off voter registration and so i want your take on this because we already have a problem in this country of low voter turnout right why would they want to make it any more difficult why do lawmakers want it that will because it's about power the issue is power base if they can control the electorate by shrinking it and thereby making it more manageable weeding out people who are unlikely to support their position then and they you mean republicans yes they can get their policy agenda passed so it's really an issue of power if they can shrink the electorate get people out get students out seniors out who care about medicare so security get in

you know for people out who need a hand. you know and stuff like that they will do that and that is exactly what's going on right now so the bottom line is if this is a power equation then the people have to come together and say no we're going to insist on our right to vote as brazil the democratic side it's an absence it's about messaging to you right because out of the way is that you sell the need for voter i.d. laws as you say the voter fraud is rampant is voter fraud a problem in america no that is a false statement it's not true it's a lie but here's what is true these ideologues are very expensive even when they say they're free they actually because a lot of money to issue this in the state has to issue a right because of the free somebody is going to pay for it who pay well the state governments usually see in this down to the local governments that whose property tax increases all over the country so it's expensive and bad for our budget and

it's unnecessary so if you combine the fact that there is no fraud. and there with the fact that this is an expensive proposition that is something that everyone should reject do you think that it's something that we need to hear the white house and the president himself be more vocal about and we know the source of the pardon of justice center letter to florida but that fit to the president come out and say himself that this is disenfranchisement on a math level yes i think the president should say that i think it's important obviously the people who want to suppress the vote are going to accuse him of playing politics while they want to accuse him of what they themselves are doing but i don't think that should dissuade him from being very strong and clear on the need for every american to be able to cast a vote of their choice without regard to party right so i could minnesota they're trying to pass a voter i.d. one on that which is what's going to be on the ballot in the fall and we're still working day and night to help convince people that this thing is not necessary it's

expensive and it's going to lock people out and it would be great if the leaders not just the president but a whole range of leaders get up and say this is wrong i'd like to see some republican say too because the end of the day you know there is a there is a good government element you know we have same day voter registration in minnesota we've had jesse ventura an independent when we've had republicans when debility was a republican one would say be voting history which and now we have governor dayton democrat so it really doesn't it favors whoever's going to demobilize if you. will voting is a right but i'm talking about wisconsin to where they where there is a big loss for democrats a big loss for labor unions and a lot of people want to blame it on the money specifically the out of state money that was coming in for scott walker's campaign but what role do you think the money really plays in elections i mean how does that mean that people are too easily influenced if they're both are bought well people are influenced the whole premise of advertising is that you can influence people through messaging but i believe

that are superior numbers can. overcome their dollars so we've got to mobilize people i think there it is important for progressive to sit back and do a post-mortem a wisconsin so that we can figure out what's learnable here i think the bunny is without a doubt the problem that's why the next week we're the progressive caucus working with progressive groups all over the country to push something called resolution a week where we're asking miscible governments to pass resolutions asking congress to overturn this night but the money is a problem but also the idea is a problem of wisconsin you know you have gathered there is thousands of students that are. thousands of low income people just locked out of the system and then you know this is n.b.c. news to because of course seniors are the strongest opponents of you know medicare medicaid social security republicans want to dismantle them and so of already hurt seniors quite a bit many of them born at home don't have

a lot of these records to go get these i.d.'s and if you look at the horrendous cases of. disenfranchisement many of them are scenes that i haven't a very much with what the older population with young people what do you think i've seen we've had a lot of bad economic news lately it is not just the u.s. it's europe as well as the rest of the world but you know you recently said when you were on the hill that you're not here to say the republicans are sabotaging the economy but a lot of people think that's the case but do you think that's the case yes. i think in that yeah i mean i think you know a one word answers an answer right that's ok as a kid is the kind of answer i want to get how we can you know we know we can move on to the next thing that the white house is also and we're in a bit of a scandal i guess you could say over leaks and whether they've been leaking stories to the press that you can think of but information about the kill list about stuxnet and so now we have investigations that are being launched into this but this is my problem and you know something that i cover on the show all the time is

from a civil libertarian person. my real big problem with the back of the present have a place that he finds off on they've decided that due process is no longer something that has to be afforded to every american so why isn't congress investigating that rather then who spoke to the press well that's a great question many of us are very concerned about these issues look just a whole drone program i mean what is the quantum of proof needed to put somebody on a kill list what number of collateral how much collateral damage is tolerable is there a review i think i miss more vocal about this that congress has the power of congress approves the funding for this and congress should make a stink these are people's rights this is our constitution look you're right about it but here's let me just be perfectly direct you know you have a situation where you know people don't want to question the fight against terrorism people don't want their own patriotism challenge and so would you have us in also you don't have americans coming back in body bags although you do have you

well you don't have with soldiers you know what you have is and this is what this is the problem with the whole drone thing you could strike without being struck right now you're out of this doctrine of mutually assured destruction when during the whole soviet era we we wouldn't launch a nuclear attack on them because they might left it on us when we talk about drones we can hit them without anybody here right now for long we're not going to be the only ones with drones for a long time we think it's going to come back to bite us here it's going to make a book come back to bite us is bite mess now when you see drones basically take out a wedding party this this inflames people and obviously it does we be inflamed right and it just makes it a nice for america so i mean the fact is we've got to get a handle of this thing we don't even understand it very well quite frankly and it's time it's high time and i agree with you one hundred say that congress does need to

focus and sit you make a big deal out of this go back to the night. i think you should lead the charge then right if the courts won't do it because the administration uses the state secrets privilege and says that it's national security secret then one of the power to the people have to stop and abusive executive branch would see only you've got three or four problems not up here what problem is the issue. i agree that there are certain things that a government. which has a responsibility to protect the people should probably not have in the public building i think we over classifying information but i do believe that there is some information that should be classified. that's one problem the other problem is you know extra judicial execution that is that he's think that should be classified no i think it's one thing you know we haven't even discussed it here's what here's what you may be surprised to know somebody in my position a more junior member. i'm not in on any conversations about this issue we'll

discuss this kind of stuff now you soon will want to discuss it probably i will get myself ready before i start off that off about what i'm going to do day at what i hope i go i don't know very passionate about it but something that you have been outspoken about is syria and you said that you know we shouldn't be sitting on our hands that we're ready to do something but how do you really see that playing out you spoke about the idea of a safe cell right that has diplomacy completely failed at this point at the diplomacy this is not work and every day this in the atrocity the assad regime is now killing you when observers so i mean i think we're in a tragic situation and our lack of action is sort of this is is first demoralizing syrians. and it is involving the assad regime so i think we need to do more than we're doing i'm not saying that specifically because i mean like you know you mission creep is a problem right we didn't supposedly go into libya to get rid of moammar gadhafi

and look what happened. well material i think the libya policy worked out good. libya is a mess right now you have people being tortured he was a muslim. libya was the most libya left was a complete police state people were being executed jailed without any recourse at least now you know a great future for libya is not guaranteed but if they are in the libyans are in a far better position to build a better future than they were under khadafi there's no question about that not been the libyan you know i talked to libyans i mean with libyan americans every day and there is among the libyans. there there is there's no question that talk about the need to go and but so so again you know i so looking at it that way i mean i think assad needs to go to jail but but i think it b.c. he said going with the hands of syria. syria and lisa to cure that problem but

where he is slaughtering people i think the world has an obligation to protect vulnerable populations just like in srebrenica or just like in rwanda or just like it in darfur i think the world has an obligation now for the rest of us are nervous and i'm glad they are because of mission like i said but fear of mission should not allow us to stand by while innocent people up in the slaughter and they are well i think people are nervous too that the u.s. is going to get itself in tango and yet another military conflict which is also the last thing at this country needs that clearly it's something that. it is progressing i believe that i would think the scituate and everyone has their eyes on syria thank you so much for joining us i got to wrap it up but i got thank you congressman ok. i we have to take break but up next now the supreme court has decided not to hear the cases of seven give no inmates either haziness right that.

comfort is the. money. if you travel this way. language is common ok you. emotions are intense. experience.

all right so let's continue our conversation tonight about the supreme court's decision not to hear seven guantanamo cases is made of the d.c. circuit court will get their way and if that's the case do these detainees have no hope of going anywhere and why did president obama put on this legal issue here to discuss that with me is colonel morris davis former chief prosecutor for the military commissions at guantanamo thanks so much for joining us tonight leisure so i know what do you think here i think that actually today is the day where four years ago the supreme court ruled on this initially and said that these detainees are allowed to question their detainment in court and so four years later now they've decided not to hear these appeals what is i mean does that mean that he is corpus is is dead for these detainees are all practical purposes it is if you think

back four years ago right now people were enthusiastic. had meaning the detainees were going to get an opportunity to get their day in court and here we are four years later and the supreme court has refused to hear the cases and it is largely irrelevant are they shirking responsibility why would they not want to hear these cases although it takes four votes to hear a case and apparently they could muster four votes to hear any of these seven cases that were before them you know they can retrospect apparently detainees should have formed a political action committee or a corporation maybe the supreme court would have been interested but they're not interested in detainees right now. could one you know tell me more about the d.c. circuit court and the role that they've played here because everyone says that they are not only incredibly conservative but they've also reinterpreted the original supreme court ruling and because of that not a single detainee has actually been set free right the d.c. circuit which i was involved in the military commissions act was written back in

two thousand and six they were picked because they are conservative and predictable rather than using the military appellate courts where they've largely done is made irrelevant you know you have the lower courts the district court then the majority of the detainees cases ordered that the detainees be released and then every one of those cases was killed at the d.c. circuit and now the supreme court refused to review it so this is all been a effort for the detainees and so in that sense i mean let's talk about some of these cases as well out of the seven that were brought up because i think that unfortunately for a lot of americans if you think of guantanamo bay they immediately. immediately think of mohammad or just say well they're terrorists they deserve to be locked up there have been a lot of people have been set free from guantanamo bay as i said earlier in the show that just happen to have been scooped up because they were at the wrong place at the wrong time and so you know what was the case that really stood out to you here i think the one that a lot of folks really had hoped for was a case called the tooth was a d.c. circuit opinion or the lower court judge the district court judge ordered him

release granted haber's there was one statement on intelligence. statement that summarizes information that suggests that mr lew was on the afghan pakistan border potentially seeking training from al qaida but the judge found at the district court level that statement what incredible and then amazingly the d.c. circuit said that there was a presumption of regularity that this intelligence report where you can't really test the validity or who gave the information at a presumption of regularity that the judge erred by not relying on that statement therefore they overturn the decision of mr wood to the still the one tom you know if you look at that same standard used in a place this kind of questionable we had three americans that were hiking in iran and in the midst of a war i mean by that standard they should still be in prison so you know we're going to complain when it's done to us we should sit back and relax when we do this to other people and so that's why candor stand the obama administration's position on this. and you had some choice words for for the president at

a time to not closing guantanamo bay the last time you were here on the show but here before long before he was the president while he was still a candidate when this first supreme court ruling was made in two thousand and eight he supported that decision and yet here his justice department is actually urging the supreme court to say no to these appeals so what happened there it's amazing that i mean like as i said back then president obama's balls fall off apparently they're not at the supreme court because they didn't show any either in the decision they made yesterday but if you look president obama's got what a forty eight percent approval rating the supreme court's got a forty four percent approval rating congress has a fifteen percent approval rating so majority of americans don't approve of any of the three branches of government yet they're the ones that are supposed to be our government of the people by the people and for the people and the people trust those three branches so it's not a an optimistic place to be in june of two thousand and twelve if you believe in liberty and civil rights you know it's not i have somewhere as later on in the show for mr david brooks but at the basically which is blaming us today and said that we have no right to really be so disenchanted with our institutions here but you know

. we just want to talk about this idea of justice the idea of. i mean does everything just is it a myth is it a mockery of the system of justice is the supreme court makes one decision and yet none of these people actually get to see their day in court none of them are actually released we have a lot of other people to that have been cleared for release by by military commissions and reports i've looked at this why are they calling home with us what i'm really disappointed with president obama who campaigned for in two thousand and eight because he should be using the bully pulpit to educate the american public i mean you mentioned a majority of the detainees at guantanamo eighty seven of the one hundred sixty nine men that are there are men that have been cleared for release or transfer that we our government your d u d j f b c everybody has looked at and said they didn't commit a crime we're not going to charge and they're not a threat to us and we don't want to keep them yet they're in prison and some of been there for more than a decade solely because of their citizenship i would hope that if an american

citizen was incarcerated for a decade because he was an american citizen or government would be upset about that that's exactly what we're condoning it one time well because you know since you bring that up too there was one other thing that was being discussed yesterday in a separate case in terms of an american citizen which is jose padilla and said can you give us the update in terms of what happened there. has there are two separate cases there's the criminal case against him which is still in the appellate pipeline this case involved his following a lawsuit against donald rumsfeld and others for his abuse while he was in u.s. custody he was seeking one dollar in damages it was really just the principle that an american citizen could be broun an indefinite detention abused and tortured and he wanted to vindicate that principle there are a number of submitted for him to the court briefs a number of retired senior military officers who said look we're not saying who's a pretty is innocent but he's an american citizen ought to have his day in court and he's alleging that government officials abused him in the supreme court refused

to hear. so i guess torture doesn't. right or even what it's done to american citizens on american soil any more than there's thanks so much for joining us tonight a pleasure. still to come tonight we have show and tell and then and that regulation and so out of control that some people out there are calling for an internet bill of rights. soon which brightened the few new songs from phones to the french and it's. nice for instance on t.v. don't come.

it's ten thirty pm in moscow these are the headlines on archie al-qaeda is number two voices his backing for syrian rebels over their fight against the government in a new video released a week after washington claimed he'd been killed. there's growing condemnation of polish hooligans after they attacked russian football fabs during hero twenty twelve in warsaw it led to bloody clashes and the arrests of around one hundred fifteen local. and well giuliano songe awaits britain's supreme court's decision on whether it will reopen his extradition case the u.k. mauls a new bill that could prevent potential whistleblowers from speaking out. next stop it's the second part of the end on the show.

in this day and age do we need a bill of rights for the internet lots of senators ron wyden and daryl ice that are proposing as they warned about the rise of a civil cyber industrial complex while they were at the personal democracy forum in new york and the thing is they want your input c.i. says set up the website keep the web open dot com to crowd source ideas from internet users and the draft as it is contain some of the following principles like freedom digital citizens have a right to a free uncensored internet openness digital citizens have a right to an open unobstructed internet and a quality all digital citizen sit.