joining me now is commissioner al schmidt, a republican. thank you so much for being with us. been on planet earth for your whole life including these last several months, living through and watching what's happening in the country. when you hear the former president telling people he expects to be reinstated in office by august, what are you thinking? >> it's very disturbing and lacks any grasp of reality at all, and so much of this is being fed, it seems, by what's going on in arizona right now? >> as a former seen your auditor for the federal government and as an election administrator in one of the largest counties in the united states, i know how important aud its are. but what is going on in arizona is not an audit. it's funned bipartisan political benefactors. directed bipartisan political operatives to reach a partisan political conclusion, which is not an audit. you have to have people who are not biased, who are not invested in the yout come or trying to induffel in some sort of paranoid fantasy that the election was stolen as a result of widespread voter fraud. >> a

listen here, to al schmidt, a philadelphia commissioner who says, please, no. >> i hope every countyome of our legislators are trying to bring our way, i don't know why you would want to repeat what's going on in arizona, anyplace across the country. no one should have any faith in the outcome of whatever findings they have in arizona. >> with me now to discuss cnn's -- in phoenix, jeremy wallace, a political writer for the houston chronicle, and tee ma mitchell. kyung, starting with you, you heard al schmidt in philadelphia saying please don't do this but your reporting on this quote/unquote audit i'm going to call it. talking to pennsylvania state officials out there taking a look at this to see if they might want to copy it. this is doug -- a pennsylvania state senator to a pool reporter out there, i'm not about overturning anything, i'm just trying to find out what went right, what went wrong, and how do we have better elections in the future? let's pick a few counties and put people's minds at rest if there's nothing to hide, great. that's how they spin the idea that even though

know how to make this happen, but the leadership of people like liz cheney, brad raffensperger, al schmidt. these are people who did their job exceptionally well and continue to, and i think finding ways to support courageous leadership is really important, and that does not mean trying to turn republicans who are supporting the rule of law into democrats. that is absolutely not the case. we need to have a comfort level with the fact that we disagree on policy but we will support certain foundational elements of democracy because that's who we are as americans. >> thank you. do you want in on this or should i move on? all right. your thoughts, john? john: i will be quick. i have made this point before. in theory there are some things congress could do at the federal level. it is unlikely big things will be done and most action will be to the states. if i had to pick one thing out of my list before, i think we should be not afraid of being able to count the votes more quickly. we can do it accurately, do it well and getting ballots in by election day is part of that, but i do think getting

performing their jobs impeccably well, people like secretary of state raffensperger in georgia, al schmidt in philadelphia, these are all republicans. they are being attacked and threatened, we see more physical threats against election officials and their families than ever before. that is kind of the side of it. there are some solutions. so many of alluded to this. justin made this point well. the idea of increased access with something that was perceived to be only on the left. increased integrity was only on the right. for those of us who work with election officials, those are not only not in opposition, they are complementary in most cases. when you look at policy, you can come up with policies that increase integrity while also making sure that eligible voters are not excluded from the process or don't face barriers they shouldn't have to face. those are unifying themes among election officials from the most conservative to the most liberal. i do think one possible solution is to create a floor for election policy. i kind of think of it is taking some things off the table. there --

who are performing impeccably well, secretary of state raffensperger, nevada, city commissioner al schmidt. these are all republicans. they are being attacked, centered, threatened. we are seeing physical threats that is the place i am in. i think there are some potential solutions. so many palace have alluded to, for too long, the idea of increased access with something to be perceived on the left. integrity was perceived to be on the right. for those that go out in the field, does two things are not only not in opposition, they are complementary in most cases. when you actually look at policy. and you can come up with policies that increase real and perceived integrity while also making sure eligible voters are not excluded from the process or don't face barriers. those are unifying themes amongst election officials from the most conservative republicans to liberal democrat. i do think one possible solution is to create a floor, a federal floor for election policy. i think about it as taking some things off the table. they are so fundamental, and their integrity and access oriented. . th

al schmidt in philadelphia and his staff. these are all republicans. and they are being attacked. they are being send sewered. they are being threatened. we are seeing more threats, physical threats against election officials and their families than ever before. and so that's kind the place i am in. but i think there are some potential solutions. i think so many of the panelists alluded to this, justin made this point i think particularly well. for too long, the -- you know, the idea of increased access for eligible voters was something that was just perceived to be only on the left. and the idea of increased integrity for the election process was perceived to be entirely on the right. but those of us who go on in in the field and work with election officials those two are not only not this opposition, they are complimentary in most cases when you actually look at policy. you can come up with policies that increase both real and perceived integrity while making sure that eligible voters are not excluded from from the poe cess and don't face barriers they don't have to face. those

republican al schmidt, i talk to him several times. there is no evidence that the election is fraudulent. he's standing up. there are republicans in your state who are fighting trump's battle for him. what do you say to those lawmakers, they actually traveled across the country to try to get guidance on how to do something similar in pennsylvania. >> air quotes are absolutely necessarily. this is a total sham. it would not overturn anything and certainly would not reinstate donald trump as maggie haberman was reporting earlier. what they are doing is inflicting real damage to our democracy by continuing to pedal this big lie. they're really undermining our constitution. they're undermining our system. we saw what happened in those weeks after the election. where the lies being told over and over again and you can draw direct line not just the rhetoric that was occurring on t and ultimately led directly to the insurrection on january 6th. it is real damage to our democracy and threats of violence and as a result, folks continue to suck

who are performing impeccably well, secretary of state raffensperger, nevada, city commissioner al schmidt. these are all republicans. they are being attacked, centered, threatened. we are seeing physical threats that is the place i am in. i think there are some potential solutions. so many palace have alluded to, for too long, the idea of increased access with something to be perceived on the left. integrity was perceived to be on the right. for those that go out in the field, does two things are not only not in opposition, they are complementary in most cases. when you actually look at policy. and you can come up with policies that increase real and perceived integrity while also making sure eligible voters are not excluded from the process or don't face barriers. those are unifying themes amongst election officials from the most conservative republicans to liberal democrat. i do think one possible solution is to create a floor, a federal floor for election policy. i think about it as taking some things off the table. they are so fundamental, and their integrity and access oriented. . th

but many of these people who stood up to their party like philadelphia al schmidt and frank la rose and mark, georgia secretary of state and georgia's elections manager gabriel sterling and kansas secretary of state and there are others that may not be household names. frankly they don't want to be household names. helen butler are local election officials in georgia and both are losing their jobs and being replaced by protrump republicans. to the ire of fellow republicans for standing up to georgia's voting law and butler, a democrat who is a vocal supporter of expanding voting rights is getting booted. why? because of the election law in georgia that just happened. brian kemp signed a law that allows republicans to appoint members to local election boards. before the law passed it was a bipartisan decision. i'll speak to them in a moment but first, manu raju is "outfront" live on capitol hill and there is aurallmost no chan the bill goes anywhere and chuck schumer knows that but going ahead with it anyway. why? >> they want to show the democrats are on the same page and make the argum