joining us now, mark elias. democratic voting rights attorney. founder of democracy docket. mr. elias, it is nice to see you. thank you for making time. >> great to see you again. >> let me just ask you first if i've screwed any of this up in the telling or if it is the lay of the land with the challenge that you filed and with the new law. >> as usual, you're exactly right. the republicans have gone out in search, finding a problem that doesn't exist. they've passed a suppression law that no matter what else, they call it a suppression law. >> have you received any response from the state since filing this lawsuit? what should we anticipate in terms of republican facing back and forth now that you've joined this fight with them? >> yeah. we haven't heard anything back from the state yet. at some point, i assume they will respond to the lawsuit. and then we'll go from there. the fact is, that iowa had good clean elections this november as they have in the past, and without any reason other than to make voting harder, iowa made voting harder. and that's the bottom line. in doing t

and particularly from pressure from congressional democrats to turn the justice department into mark elias and the aclu and do it with each of them having guns, it will be up to him to keep the justice department from turning into the social justice environment. i take him at his word that this is not what he wants and that his occasional evasions were in good faith. i plan to vote for him. i hope that my trust is not misplaced. i yield thank you senator grassley. at this point i like to announce any member that would like to submit a written statement in relation to this nominationmay do so and those who wish to make oral statements in the committee i will stay as long as necessary for that purpose . the chairman notes the presence of a quorum and i believe this point we can call the role on both merrick garland and the two procedural issues related to committee rules and the subcommittees and then leave it open for questions. or pardon me, statements by members so on the nomination of merrick garland to the united states attorney general theclerk will call the role . [roll call vote] >>

election lawyer mark elias led -- founder of democracy dockett. he joins me now.his response? >> well, i agree with her that her claims were nonsense, but that doesn't mean they're not actionable as defamation. the fact is she lied repeatedly about the outcome of the election, and in this lawsuit specifically about the role that the various voting machine manufacturers may have played or didn't play. you know, her effort by her lawyers, while gallian, will not save her. >>> there was always a strange thing that was happening. they would say one thing in public. when they had to file things in court and make arguments in court, where they could be disbarred, there were very, very different kinds of songs they were singing. >> yeah, they tended to be very brave in the parking lot, not so brave in the courtroom. you know, the big bravado outside the lawn care company was followed by a meek performance sitting before the federal judge. once things i find most amusing about the document that you're just referencing is that her lawyers say, well, you know, some of these

election lawyer mark elias led the efforts to stop trump efforts.do you make of this response? >> i agree with her that her claims were nonsense. but that doesn't mean they're not actionable as defamation. i mean the fact is she lied repeatedly about the outcome of the election. and in this lawsuit specifically about the role that the various voting machine manufacturers played or didn't play. and her effort by her lawyers while gal i want i don't think is going to sink. >> well, there was always this strange thing happening amongst all these lawsuit which they would say one thing in public and then when they'd have to file things in court and make arguments in court where they could be disbarred there were very, very different kind of songs they were singing. >> yeah, they tended to be very brave in the parking lot and not so brave in the courtroom. the big bravado outside the company was then followed by a very meek performance sitting before the federal judge. one of the things i found most amusing about the -- the document that you're just refer

joining us now is mark elias, democratic elections attorney. he cofounder of democracy docket. mr. elias, thank you for joining us on what is a really remarkable day in your -- in your world of expertise but also in the news. >> thanks for having me. it's actually a sad day, because today, democracy was assaulted. you know, we saw democracy assaulted with the big lie. we saw democracy physically assaulted on january 6th. and today, we saw democracy assaulted with a pen. the pen of brian kemp, as he signed a law to try to accomplish what donald trump, in the big lie, was unable to accomplish. and that's a sad day for us. but it is also a day that we need to renew ourself and steel ourselves for the fight ahead that will take place in court. >> tell me about the fight that you expect in court. obviously, we are familiar with voting battles, including a lot of them fought by you over whether or not republicans can restrict access to the ballot box. whether they can cut early voting, cut access to absentee voting, require people to do things and sho

and so i think that mark elias is going to put up a good fight as will so many others.he lawyers committee, the naacp legal defense fund, so many groups that have a nonpartisan interest in defending the right to vote. but we cannot hope that the courts will save us. we know that this has been a 20-year effort by the republican party to succeed through removal instead of succeeding through redemption and revocation and in changing the way they engage the people. rather than becoming a party that actually speaks to the needs of the people, they have been intentional, thoughtful and strategic about how they can strip us of the right to vote and defend that stripping of the right to vote through the court system. i think mark and others will do an amazing job in the courts, but we've got to use ever lever at our disposal, and that's the courts, that's congress and that's the white house. >> stacey, in the fight in georgia specifically there have been a few little flutters of embarrassment maybe, flutters of perhaps conscience. the lieutenant governor, the republican lieuten

coronavirus as an opportunity to push some of the electoral reform they've been wanting to push like mark elias and pushing universal mail in ballots and also allowed mark zuckerberg to come in with this coronavirus safety elections project and drop 350000000 into the center for tech and civic life and we know that 99.5 percent of that money was being used in blue counties in blue cities to boost the vote in these blue counties so absolutely coronavirus was a massive impact on the 2020 lections ok so dave here everything that ned sang you hear him put the number as it were to ed you act think back last spring pre-credit virus the economy was actually doing pretty well gas was at least a dollar cheaper in most areas of the united states things are looking pretty good for trump realize. and despite all of his twitter feed and the drama that you know goes into it so do you feel like from a democrat perspective do you think the mis handling of the crown of ours is one of the main reasons why we have joe biden as president today absolutely scatty any begetting. speech or a tirade i actually a greek

rights being protected, union organizing protection in legislation, top of the list heard from mark eliastance of for the people act, all the pro-democracy priorities are passing the house. yes, ultimately going to go to the senate and going to come up against a senate filibuster by mitch mcconnell, but i believe based on what we're seeing now, same kind of pressure applied to american rescue plan can be applied to congress to break through the filibuster and get this wildly popular legislation done. reason i believe why i believe s because all of the democrats in the house and the senate are experiencing this great legislative buy. they just passed this incredible piece of legislation and the world is coming at them and saying, oh, my gosh, this is incredible. i didn't know congress could do work like this, but they did. so we need to fuel that. if you have got a member of congress who voted for this piece of legislation, your job, job number one is calling them and letting them know, hey, you did a good thing. you don't get that many calls like that. be unique as a constituent and call

behalf of three different voting rights organizations by the democrats go to election attorney mark eliasthat georgia governor brian kemp signed it into law. the other one filed late sunday night. the georgia naacp, as well as a handful of other organizations. this pair of federal lawsuits basically argue that the georgia law is unconstitutional and violates the voting rights act. talking about some of the components of this legislation, like requiring i.d. for absentee voting. putting different kinds of restrictions on drop boxes, getting rid of mobile voting which is used only in fulton county. and making it so someone cannot go and give food or water to a person who is waiting in line to vote. they argue that it will disproportionately affect black voters. that's sort of been the argument all along when they were trying to protest the bill before it became law. and that is what this pressure that was being put on many of these georgia-based corporations, like coca-cola, like home depot. like u.p.s. so this letter from the children of civil rights leaders, dr. martin luther king jr.'s c

there's already been a lawsuit filed by sort of the democrats go-to election attorney mark elias on behalf of three different organizations over that new georgia law. >> dianne gallagher, thank you very much for that. >>> this new law in georgia could result in boycotts, including major league baseball, potentially moving next year's all-star game out of georgia. "the boston globe" reports the executive director of the mlb players association says the union is open to discussing a pullout with the league. georgia's lucrative film industry could also take a hit. director james man gold said he will stop filming in the georgia. and pressuring companies like coca-cola, home depot and delta to take action. here's what the new director of the civil rights group the georgia project told me today. >> in the past year and a half the companies you named have given $7 million not to just all republicans but to the specific sponsors of these anti-voting bills. we want them to stop funding republican voter suppression, or voter suppression period, and we also want them to speak up on behalf of the ten

mark elias, thanks for making time with us tonight. >>> still ahead, when people desperate for that covidbill should expect some help next. next start your day with secret. secret stops sweat 3x more than ordinary antiperspirants. the new provitamin b5 formula is gentle on skin. with secret, outlast anything! no sweat. secret. (announcer) do you want to reduce stress? shed pounds? do you want to flatten your stomach? do all that and more in just 10 minutes a day with aerotrainer, the total body fitness solution that uses its revolutionary ergonomic design to help you to maintain comfortable, correct form. that means better results in less time. you can do an uncomfortable, old-fashioned crunch or an aerotrainer super crunch. turn regular planks into turbo planks without getting down on the floor. and there are over 20 exercises to choose from. incredible for improving flexibility and perfect for enhancing yoga and pilates. and safe for all fitness levels. get gym results at home in just 10 minutes a day. no expensive machines, no expensive memberships. get off the floor with aerotrainer.

others allude to litigation, and i wouldn't be surprise if somebody like mark elias file tonight? >> errin haines, thank you for joining us. >>> thank you so much for joining us today for "deadline: white house." "the beat with ari melber" starts right now. \s right now s \s >>> we have the great james carville and michael steele here to break it all down. good to see both of you. biden's strongest comments getting a lot of attention picks up on what msnbc was covering in the last hour,ed big issue of voting rights, republicans actively trying to restrict votes. >> what i'm worried about is how un-american this whole initiative is. it's sick. it's sick. deciding in some states that you cannot bring water to people standing in line waiting to vote? the republican voters i know find this despicable. republican voters. it is the most pernicious things. this makes jim crow look like jim eagle. >> we begin with two titans from two modern political parties. adviser to bill clinton james carville and michael steele, who ran the rnc, is an analyst for us here. good evening to both of you.

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like stacey abrams and others allude to litigation, and i wouldn't be surprise if somebody like mark eliasoining us today for "deadline: white house." "the beat with ari melber" starts right now. \s right now s \s >>> we have the great james carville and michael steele here to break it all down. good to see both of you. biden's strongest comments getting a lot of attention picks up on what msnbc was covering in the last hour,ed big issue of voting rights, republicans actively trying to restrict votes. >> what i'm worried about is how

they did not -- they did mass mailout ballots and i think that if the media would ever check on mark eliasnd all the efforts that he did to subvert the last election that people would at least get some comfort in what went on in the 2020 election. host: ok. let me go to john who's in pennsylvania. democratic caller. caller: yes. yeah, i just seen recently had the vaccinations to keep white people from going down to philly and get vaccination, you had to show an electric bill or you had to show your driver's license. seeing that the for instance had no problem finding an electric bill or a driver's license to get their vaccinations. so i don't understand why we have to change election laws. i'm here in pennsylvania months before the election, ok? to rig it, just like the one gentleman said. do you think that we believe that joe biden outperformed hillary clinton and barack obama? i mean, seriously ask yourself that. host: we're going to take a break. when we comewhen we come back, n enterprise institute's kevin kosar will discuss postmaster general louis dejoy's 10 strategic and business pl

so, you already saw people like mark elias, on behalf of black activists like the new jersey product,rs matter and others filing a lawsuit. they said that that was coming, if republicans insisted on going forward with this legislation. because as far as they're concerned, they will continue to fight this, even as they fought it during the legislative session, trying to put pressure on a lot of the companies that call georgia home, to push back against this as a bad look for the state. you know, since that apparently, you know, was unsuccessful with georgia republicans. phase ii is already in motion, before the ink was even dry on governor kent's signature last night, you had legislation already being filed on these laws. >> mike barnicle? >> yeah, you know. yeah, what? i'm here. >> yeah, sorry, i called out to you and i was told you weren't here. i didn't know if you had gone out to get a dunkin doughnut. >> i think he might have freaked out alex here. >> i'm here. i'm here. mike, do you have a question for gene robinson? >> gene, i'm wondering, it's going to sound silly, but i'm thin

lawyer mark ally yas with rachel maddow last night on the efforts by republicans influenced by the big lie to control the vote in states through sweeping legislation and the lawsuits where eliashelping to file. one in iowa, a latino civil rights group says a new law creates an undue burden on minority, elderly and disabled voters. the other filed last night in georgia by several voting rights groups that argue the measures of a brand new law there quote operate to impose unconstitutional burdens on the right to vote and deny black voters in georgia an equal opportunity to participate in the process and elect candidates of their choice. joining our conversation is dale ho and heather mcgee is back with us. dale, in terms of this georgia law i think a lot of folks don't realize there's more pernicious elements of this law that were stripped out before passage, including limiting i recally voting to one sunday at most. we'll talk about in a second. rolling back no-excuse absentee voting. to me the fact that the gop and the legislators who drafted this bill understood that they were operating on perilous territory if you will legally speaking. >> i think that's absolutely right.