theodore: well, the legislature wasn't a defendant. i mean, we -- we sued the only defendants that we could sue under ex parte young, which would not, of course, include the legislator -- legislatures. so -- so i don't think -- as i say, i don't think the federal court is picking. and, again, the state of north carolina can kick the attorney general out at any time, anytime it wants, if it really thinks he's not adequate to defend the state's interests in -- in the voter id law. and it hasn't done that here. and, as i say, i think there's a really strong federal interest in just telling the state you choose who represents you, but we want to know what your position is in federal court. justice barrett: but isn't their position that even if it wasn't the attorney general defending the board of elections, that it would still -- they would still be entitled to intervention? let's say that they hired private counsel. i understand their position to be the same, i think, that it doesn't depend on the fact that the attorney general is represe

so they had a one house legislature camera legislature. instead of a governor. they created an executive council the kind of president really and and people that the house representatives would appoint to advise that person that person would sort of execute the will of the legislature. this legislature super hyperpowers itself, right so the legislature, you know appointed judges appointed people to office or they had election of some of these figures of some judicial figures as well. so it's like if they're not elected by the people the business is being conducted by the legislature. the other interesting thing that this constitution did is that it created a lot of accountability? so this is the most people accountable accountable to the people government are created in this period elections were to be annual. so every year you'd have a chance to throw the bum out and elect somebody new. the idea between behind annual elections also was that more people would end up serving. this is also informed a desire for term limits, right they didn't want an entrenched eli

but the state legislature, even in election cases has a pretty strong interest. >> well, the state legislature, petitioners here have had said in this representation that they don't represent the legislature, they only represent the speaker change, which makes it really difficult to say they have a different perspective. and they don't care about election administration when they have said they want on behalf of the state as a whole. i take that point. i guess i think that there is the kind of formal-ness about it. they are have a different interest. because they have this interest pure in defending the law, and there than by any other consideration. i think your point. there is some -- with consistent representations that not represent the legislature but represent the whole state. which you might think that is the kind of interest that is even taking their own view, levant by these executive interest as well. they want to have it both ways. but why shouldn't we think that the more important of the two statements that they're making to us is that they have this pure interest in defending the

strict reading, just says legislature. it means just the legislature.what its legislature does and does not make the legislature predominant over other aspects of government, including the executive and judiciary. >> supreme court observers believe some justices hinted they would accept that theory in response to challenges of the 2020 election. at the same time, state legislatures across the country are passing laws to overhaul the election process. according to the left-leaning brennan center for justice, 19 states passed new restrictive voting laws last year alone. like florida, restricting ballot boxes and iowa proposing strict punishments for election workers who make errors. and over 250 more bills are being considered as of mid-january. >> we're getting legislation that is basically making non-partisan election offices, they're being politicized. and that is making it harder for us to do our jobs. >> many conservatives say the bills are not about voter suppression but rather just reflect policy differences between the parties. and in some cases m

fincham put which is independent state legislature theory which is saving that legislatures have complete control over elections and therefore could appoint electors or change laws or things like that. we wanted to use these concrete actions including these partisan election reviews and so-called audits to illustrate exactly what happened and just how deep some of these conspiracies and falsehoods about the 2020 election remain in these statehouses. >> nick, it's an incredible piece of reporting, and i just want to highlight and have you help me do this by leaving this out, the behaviors and the actions that you tracked graphically in this reporting. there is decertifycation and the alternate states of electors which you report out in a data-driven way by both the justice department and the january 6th committee and talk about how ram rampant the alternate slate of electors was. >> that's with the state legislator doctrine and that's this legal theory that state legislatures have this absolute control over elections and can, indeed, send alternate slates of electors. there were varying de

i needed the support of my legislature to do comprehensive background check bill because in the case of the virginia tech shooting, the disturbed 19-year-old who committed that crime was legally barred from owning a weapon, and i couldn't get the legislature even in the worst mass shooting in the history of the united states to take action, but we never gave up. we kept pushing, we kept pushing in virginia. the headquarter state of the national rifle association, we kept pushing and pushing and pushing, and in 2019, 12 years after the tragedy at virginia tech, my legislature passed the set of common sense gun safety rules, one handgun a month, ban on certain kinds of weapons that nobody needs. comprehensive background check, mental health support, a series of initiatives. my legislature did pass it in 2019 and my state is safer as a result. 12 years was a long time to wait. there were a lot of tragedies that happened between 2007 and 2019 and thank god for the virginia tech family members and other advocates who said we'll wait. we're not going away. we're patient. we're discouraged,

wade decision, each year legislatures across the country have passed harmful abortion restrictions in an effort to impede a woman's fundamental right to make the best informed healthcare decisions for herself and her family. this goes against what i believe to be one of the fundamental responsibilities of the court, which is to expand rights, not restrict it. implementing the bill b of righs we have seen the federal courts over a period of time protect americans against the abuse of power, including the abuse of power in excess of government. should this opinion go into effect, this would be the first time in memory that the court would act to take away the constitutional rights of americans. it would also be a the first tie our country's history whenis won now would have fewer rights than their mothers. theso reasoning is this draft decision could also be used to undermine other dearly held civil rights in the future. justice alito's leaked draft opinion laid out a roadmap to overturn other landmark decisions and expanded rights, including the obergefell v. hodges which a firm marria

they started with the legislature. — country. they started with the legislature, they _ country.lature, they moved onto the back of england they'll probably go to the church yet next may be the monarchy. it's always someone else's fault and it's always others who have some power that the cannot access that are to blame. i don't know whether what andrew bailey the bank governor has done in placing inflation at 7% is right or wrong but again, it will contribute to fiscal drag which will bring money in. i get confused by all these persistent attacks on authorities that the public have to trust in order to function on a day—to—day basis. in the end, we don't trust our government, we don't trust our judiciary, we drove trucks are bankable who do we trust? where does that leave the — bankable who do we trust? where does that leave the voter, _ bankable who do we trust? where does that leave the voter, the _ bankable who do we trust? where does that leave the voter, the people - bankable who do we trust? where does that leave the voter, the people at - that leave the voter, the people a

so he got an all republican committee from the legislature to hold a sort of fake hearing. he couldn't do it at the state capitol itself, so they all got together and win a hotel at gettysburg, and invited rudy giuliani giuliani clown car of supposed witnesses to voter fraud to give the presentation about how the election in pennsylvania was rigged. and that would convince the state legislature to overturn the results, shortly, and there is a special guest too. >> we have one additional witness. please. >> all right, i will introduce you to the president, you are connected. >> i saw a couple of great networks, that i really networks that i really appreciate, being asked to speak. i'm in the oval office right now, and it's very interesting to see what's going on, this was an election that we won easily, we want to buy a lot. between the voter suppression, and all the horrible things that happened to poll watchers. every single professional in the business would've said, there is no way that we got 11 million votes more than we had four years before in 2016. they were in many

for 200 years legislatures determine when life began, but in 1973 the court determined that states cannot protect its youngest citizens of their state and created a new standard called viability, a standard that had no statement in the constitution and no statement in federal law. they literally created the viability standard on the spot. the draft opinion from february of this year states that that should not have been done in 1973, and that the people in each state and the legislatures should determine when life begins. and they should have that decision based in law. apparently, this body, including the democratic majority, agrees at least with the basic finding of the court's draft decision because the court says, these issues should be settled in legislative branches, not in the court. so today, a week after that draft opinion is out, senator schumer has called up a bill to actually vote on roe vs wade. and not just vote on roe vs wade. vote on a simple decision, when does life begin. the real question that comes up is, when is that child a child. because in the most simple of questi

i'm familiar with the state legislature. i keep up with what they do and they had an opportunity to pass a bill that would legalize medical marijuana. i agree with the caller that it is popular in kentucky, medical stick around -- attica marijuana. recreational marijuana, the poll numbers are not the same. when you look at the governments's model to treat pain in america in the past has been right in an prescription for an opioid and medicare and medicaid will reimburse that year that has not worked out very well, especially in the state of kentucky. you have people that have pain, i think we need to look at alternative forms of pain relief as opposed to what the current business model is in kentucky, that is to write someone a prescription for a pain pill. the marijuana issue is something that will be brought back up in the legislature but that is more in the state legislatures domain than congress. host: tina, republican line. caller: if you could explain or inform the public about what is going to be occurring at the upco

and the legislature passed house bill 1927, talking about the texas legislature, that now permits permitless carry. no training. no license. no permit required. lowered the age by which people can purchase assault weapons to 18, and now 19 of our babies are gone. and families will be hurting for the rest of their lives. i applaud what beto o'rourke did. the time to be nuanced is over, okay? and you can't not allow policymakers, legislatures, governors to pass bills that promote the use of guns and then when people are killed say we are praying and we are offer our condolences as if they are not responsible. so, no, the time is now for people, for voters, for people like beto o'rourke, myself and others, republicans alike, to stand up and say this is crazy. enough is enough. i applaud him. others ought to do the same. >> mayor sylvester turner, the city of houston, the great city of houston, thank you. i appreciate you joining us. thank you. >> thanks, don. >> let me say this. i have two people i will get to in a moment, linda beagle shulman and neil. linda lost -- she is a mother of a parkla

what we may be facing, it could be seeing legislature efforts to further restrict rights to freedom. >> thank you. yes, 100%. we are seeing this. this past session. the one i mentioned, part of it was being used in the mail, too. we will most likely see more of those. >> thank you so much for the question. we have not seen that. we are in special session right now to discuss our governor's authority to discuss those. we feel descendant is going to try to slide one of those. this last bill everyone has been talking about does not directly impact that. >> representative, i note tomorrow -- ban abortions in your state and empowers neighbors to sue neighbors. despite all of your hard work, describe for us what that means for women. >> it is on his desk. he has not signed it yet. you are exactly right. it mentions to anyone, from your church, your neighborhood, you consume each other. that for me says, we know he said, she said stuff happens all the time. there is gossip all the time. if your think about young girls in school or college or people who have had an emergency, this could be s

i served in our state legislature for more than 10 years. before we got into these very mean-spirited primaries, where there were litmus tests for a particular party, we had many pro-choice republicans. including pro-choice republican women. and i did a lot of work with pro-choice republican women on women's reproductive health care. and that was a great way for us to find common ground. and you are seeing in the u.s. senate that senator murkowski and senator collins, both republicans, proof women, -- both women, are pro-choice. sandra day o'connor, the first woman appointed to the supreme court, also a republican, pro-choice. i think what happens is, in republican primaries, we end up getting the extremes. we also do that sometimes in democratic primaries. that is what is keeping us from finding the common ground. people cannot have their held beliefs and survived a primary -- survive a primary challenge, frequently. your question is fantastic and i wish we could find that common ground. i am looking to the leadership of senator collins and

isn't that the proper venue for this in the state legislatures?ll, i certainly think that we're going to see a lot more activity in the state legislatures around this. we're already at a place, martha, where 26 states once this ruling comes down, 26 states are poised to ban abortion outright. >> martha: that's their prerogative based on the -- >> and senator schumer made clear today there are hundred million woman that are about to lose access to make a healthcare decision for themselves. in a country that has the highest maternal mortality rate. in a country that doesn't have universal child care. in a country that has inaccessible healthcare, the government wants to force women to have babies. this is -- >> martha: a lot of people can tell you the number of babies that have been eliminated in the last 50 years. i'm allie knows what that number is. that is the other side of this story to be fair. >> of course. when you get down to it again, what abortion is, it's not healthcare. when is healthcare ever been described as something that is a proced

my solution is i know i 2022 election cycle our legislature is not going to change for the better. my solution we have to have national help. we have to have national support i would love to see a resource guide of human services passed on to the regional directors so women know what states to go to them what nonprofits will help them and where they can get transportation and who will support them. oklahoma is not changing anytime soon and it's going to take work, i want to save lives today i want to make sure women are not self inducing abortion without medical help. that means we have to bring other resources into our state and not just rely on the people elected to serve and protect all that are doing that. thank you so much. thank you so much all of us helping women across the country. i appreciate all of you. i want to start with senator patty murray who has been with us a long time reproductive choice issues. senator murray why don't you go ahead with your first questions. >> thank you so much debbie for putting this together. thank you all for coming and talking to us about

we got the support of the legislature to approve this program going forward. this is not one. we are doing minimum of 300,000 new accounts every single year after establishing the baseline of 3.5 million accounts. we mean business. this is a big idea and we think it will have a big impact in this state and nation. (applause). we are proud of it. i am excited and honored to be back here at home. mayor, it is so true. the future happens here first. you are in so many ways the city and county america's coming attraction not just state of california. i love that about this city. you are the future of this as they say. we are planning a much brighter future for tens of thousands in san francisco and millions in california and hope and expectation of a program that expands to hundreds of millions more. congratulations on k-c day in san francisco. >> by the time the last show came, i was like whoa, whoa, whoa. i came in kicking and screaming and left out dancing. [♪♪♪] >> hello, friends. i'm the deputy superintendent of instruction at san francisco unified school district, but you ca

just last year, the legislature passed permanent ar, the legislatur passed permanent -less carry, over the objections of law enforcement. it means that basically, anybody can carry pretty much any gun in texas. and that kind of thing has only continued as folks have tried to pander to the extreme. so, i think that he is absolutely right. and we need to fight for common sense policies, to return to texas and to the nation. >> harris county judge lina hidalgo. thank you for joining us on this very painful night for texas. thank you. we just had an update -- there have been conflicting death toll numbers throughout the night. we can now report that it is now 19 children and two teachers who were killed at robb elementary school today. that is the latest information we have coming from the department of public safety in texas right now. and after this break, we will be joined by david hogg, who survived a shooting like this in his high school. he knows where the survivors, the second graders, the third graders, the fourth graders, who were not killed today, we live with for the rest of the

i live in missouri and we have the trigger law and a lot of state legislatures did not know how they would and they thought it would go back to the states which is kind of true. if the five justices wanted to go back to the state legislatures, they should have said that but they didn't. they said it would be returned to the people and their elected representatives so i hope the people get to vote on this. i think viable fetuses have a right to life. i know they don't say that in roe v. wade specific viable fetuses have a right to life in these five justices, when they said roe v. wade should be dismissed, they did away

elected office, going to legislature, it shouldn't just be the sole domain of the rich and powerful.s for people who know what it means to work for a living and people who know what it means to struggle when they can't get work. and in my case, after i transitioned, it became very, very hard to find a full—time job, and so i was piecemealing it. you know, i had a job for 30 hours a week for $15 an hour as the news editor of one newspaper, and on weekends, i was driving that �*92 dodge as a delivery driver, earning $5 an hour, plus tip, when i was dropping off afghan kebabs in arlington. i mean, the odds against you making it in politics were enormous, notjust because of the economic circumstances you were in at the time, but also your background, your childhood. i mean, it was very troubled. you had tragedy... i think by the age of three, yourfather had taken his own life. mm—hm. it's almost impossible to imagine how, from there, you develop the ambition to go into electoral politics. well, you know, as i wrote about in my book, burn the page, i talk about not only how my dad killed

so but state legislatures up until 1953 likely would have been. in terms of fascinating question in terms of sort of pulling an addison and scrapping the constitution and starting over again. so so jefferson, i take a little bit of liberty with jefferson. it's fairly clear that jefferson thought that coming together just to amend the constitution was good enough, right, but that's not so much fun. right? so ultimately i i kind of take what jefferson said and imagine real constitutional conventions where they could in fact start over again. i do make the argument though that until 2022 there wouldn't have been hugely radical design changes because things were working relatively. okay in terms of bicameral legislatures and presidents and so on. yes, i make arguments that president, you know, you might have one term presidents that are six or eight years, but ultimately structurally separation of powers and federalism probably wouldn't have been wouldn't have been tinkered with in the in the radical sense, but you have in in 1903 i make an argument t

it's a crisis spreading in state legislatures across this country. you're reporting for the new york times reads at least 357 sitting republican legislatures in closely contested battleground states have used the power of their office to discredit or try to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. the tally accounts for 44% of the republican legislators in the nine states where the presidential race was most narrowly decided. in an interview with the times, trump acknowledged he is looking for candidates who want state legislatures to have a say in naming presidential electors. a position that could look politicians short-circuit the democratic process and override a popular vote. this comes as candidates like pennsylvania's gop nominee for governor, doug mastriano has fait this election cycle bending over backwards to gain trump's indoor summit. mastriano let his states stop the steal movement pushing to reverse biden's win and state, even though biden won pennsylvania by about 80,000 votes. mastriano's democratic appointment, josh sh

the legislature to approve a loan. he was asking for his citizen security plan. so this is, this is something that hadn't happened in a long time in some learn history, right? he's, he's storms the, the legislature. he sits in the chair of the president of the national assembly and he starts the session with national assembly. i think this was a turning point then, like this was also a, the moment when the international community recognized that there was a problem going on with a mockery. some of a few months after getting into power. the book kelly administration started terminating a, an international coord agreement they had for its national anti corruption commission, is horrible or capturing the, the access to information institute, which is the institution that guarantees citizens to access to public information. protecting officials, high level officials, ministers included, that they're all have been pointed by investigations of the american government as been involved in high level corruption cases. there's a

these are the conversations going on in legislatures in your area. but just to be clear, you have no intention of seeking to ban iuds or plan b? >> that is not what we are focused on at this time. we're focused on looking at, seeing what the court allows for, the bill that is before the court is a 15-week ban. we believe that the overturning of roe is the correct decision by the court. and so in mississippi, we don't have laws on the books that would lead to arresting individuals or anything along those lines. >> you mean not arresting girls or women, but you would arrest doctors? >> well, certainly -- i don't think that you're going to see doctors performing abortion if we have a state statute that says they're not allowed. >> one other topics legal experts discuss is the reasoning justice alito uses in this draft opinion, as you point out, it's not an official opinion, just a draft opinion, but the legal reason he uses is that he says, as you say, abortion is not a right specifically enumerated in the constitution. legal experts point out that that

they are already banning abortion in state legislatures across our country. they are already planning for a federal ban right here in the senate. they already pushed through the far right justices to overturn roe and end the right to abortion. the horrifying reality is we can live in a country without roe. a country where women are forced to remain pregnant no matter their personal circumstances and yes, also talking about situations like rape or insist. a country where extreme politicians will control patient's most private decisions and let us be clear, abortion ban will not and abortion. they would just make them unsafe and they were hurt the women with the least resources and the tightest agents. i am furious, furious that republicans could be this cruel. that the supreme court could be this heartless. legislatures across the country, extreme republicans are ready for their trigger bands to go into effect. they are exciting -- excited even. i am not going to sit quietly and neither should any of you. i know for so many women across the country this is dee

that he would ensure that the state legislature to take action.would do everything possible to prevent this. well guess what, the electoral opposite direction. he lied to my community, he lied to texans. and he essentially coward to the and are a for their money, for their endorsement. she's absolutely no courage of those convictions. he there lights are community, or house no courage. either way sample. minister be held accountable. and this is within the power of the voter. the voters of texas, the voters of the united states of america, they need to decide when enough is enough. and those little babies, those little baisey is the restart today, deserves to voters attention. sympathy, an action. >> congresswoman veronica escobar, who represents el paso, texas, there on the border and the western portion of the state, congresswoman, thank you very much, appreciate it. >> thank you. >> i mentioned earlier the reaction of steve kerr, whose father was also gun violence. and the statement in texas today for the playoff game against the dallas maveric

, but individual bodies and taking control even star tate legislatures as a whole.e tea party was a total failure when he came to trying to repeal the affordable care attack. but in the act of those legislative leave those changes -- has shaped a host of policies including perhaps most importantly, abortion laws governed in large part by states. we are seeing now is the impact, the legacy of the tea party that has been materializing in a new way. so many of those conservative and far-right state lawmakers who were elected because of concerns about the deficit and health care spending were very quickly and easily co-opted onto the trump train. had no problem getting on board with trump's broader political and philosophical project. now that cobourg of people's working to change the way elections get administered in this country, just change the way votes get counted. its own port in the people understand it's not just washington that shapes the way there were lives work, but it's also state legislatures, which should mean much more democratic's should be responsible

>> i do not think governor is proposing has support in the legislature. stephanie: but there is plenty in the package that does have support, including $2.7 billion allowing low income tenants who were denied aid to get help. others include a 12-month pause in the diesel tax rate and hundreds of millions to provide priebus and train rides across the state -- free bus and train rides across the state. from subsidies to wage increases, newsom also proposed california's minimum wage will jump to $15.50 at the first of the year. another proposal announced aims to help waive childcare costs for families. this would make state subsidized preschool and child care affordable. the governor says if passed, it would impact 40,000 low income families across the state, saving them close to $600 a month. dan: thank you. returning to masking -- a warning from bay area health officials. and delays in cancellations -- delays and cancellations at sfo. and we will have a live preview of game six. >> i will have a live look at what is going on if you are at the watch party,

the pro-life movement is very supportive of women. >> reporter: this week louisiana's state legislature advanced a bill to make it more difficult to challenge the state's trigger law. state senator fields was one of three lawmakers to vote against it >> is this an insurmountable hill you're trying to climb here >> maybe so. but, i mean, but at the end of the day, you know, you got to fight for what you feel is right. i just don't feel that a majority male legislature should be telling women what to do with their bodies. >> reporter: and some states are working on the other side as well to strengthen laws that would protect abortion rights should roe be overturned lester >> blaine, thank you. >>> let's turn to our other top story, covid's horrific toll. our team here at nbc news has been compiling data daily from states across the country. late today we learned that more than 1 million americans have now died from the disease. a milestone we didn't want to think about but knew was coming in a pandemic that's far from over here's gabe gutierrez. >> reporter: it was once unthinkable. tonig

to pressure him into calling a special legislative special, where state republicans in the state legislature throw out biden's victory, and instead, appoint a slate approach from election, which you might remember was also the basis of trump lawyer john eastman's coup plot. during this time, kept made an effort to publicly defend himself, mostly honestly, but just throwing the republican secretary of state, raffensperger, out of the bus. get this, here's a statement. he releases it back then, reading in part, quote, georgia law prohibits the governor from interfering in elections. the secretary of state, who is an elected constitutional officer, has oversight over the elections that cannot be overridden by executive order. of course, we already know that trump was targeting raffensperger as well. on december 5th, the same day that he called camp, mark meadows tried to get through to the georgia secretary of state, again. meadows texting him, quote, mister secretary, can you call the white house switchboard for a call, your voice mail is full. the white house put raffensperger, who was clearl

the measure will have to pass the legislature by june. 30th. if passed, californians would vote on it in november. and the south bay making selling even having to go scallion in san jose is now illegal. city leaders voted unanimously to approve an ordinance banning goes guns last night. quote, force taylor is actually has that story. >> yes, it's part of a yes on tuesday. san jose city leaders unanimously approved an ordinance banning unserialized firearms known as ghost guns in their parts. heard from many. >> police officers that. constantly recovering ghost guns as they coming in contact with suspects and criminals. the ordinance prohibits the manufacturing transferring assembly distribution and sale of ghost guns frames and receivers >> but the measure takes it a step further by also prohibiting possession of unserialized ghost guns and their parts. some parts of the ordinance are some way redundant with state law. >> other parts are filling a gap before federal law takes effect. the 3rd related to the possession of unfinished frames and re

just last week a louisiana legislature would classify abortion as homicide. half of our states have already passed laws to restrict and ban abortion access. there are more than -- set to take effect if the supreme court strikes down roe v. wade. the republican leader mr. mcconnell stated, and i quote, if the leaked opinion became the final opinion, legislative bodies not only at the state level but at the federal level certainly could legitimate in that area. end quote. thanks to five unelected active justices on the supreme court, women are facing the prospect of a federal nationwide ban on abortion services. we go back to those days where abortions were performed illegally in back alleys. we can't let that happen in this country. while many states, including my state of maryland, have acted to extend abortion care, we cannot rely on a patchwork of state laws to protect a basic constitutional right. the right to choose is fundamental and a decision a woman should make in consultation with a doctor and other health care providers free from interference with f