priscilla thompson live in a austin outside the state house. >> reporter: the stalemate here in austin continues. house members voted along party lines to grant permission to the sergeant of arms to go after those democratic members of the house that have left and even arrest them. this comes as that is likely not going to happen because representatives are in washington, d.c. and law enforcement does not have a jurisdiction there texas law enforcement does not have jurisdiction there. the governor's agenda has been delayed but not denied and the bills will get a vote. listen to what one house republican told me >> we will continue to have special sessions until they come back i suspect our colleagues will come back and have to engage in this debate and vote on a bill. >> reporter: as for what comes next on the ground, earlier today the texas senate did pass their version of this more restrictive voting bill. they will continue to hold meetings and work on legislation but they cannot pass any bills without a quorum >> thank you this isn't the first time texas democrats have left their

. >> mike memoli is in philadelphia ahead of president biden's remarks and priscilla thompson in austin, texas. priscilla, let me start with you on the latest of the delegation, what's done to get texas democrats back into the state. what have you heard on the ground. how is this playing out in texas, what's next for the legislators who fled. >> reporter: kasie lawmakers are inside the house, the doors have been locked. they're not allowed out, and that comes after the vote earlier today which fell on party lines with 76 republican house members voting in favor, four democrats voting against, allowing sergeant-at-arms permission to send for the missing lawmakers. now the sergeant of arms has that power, he can appoint any other officer in the state to send for the lawmakers who are absent without an excuse and arrest them if necessary in order to bring them back here, but of course that jurisdiction only falls within the state. we know that democratic lawmakers in washington, d.c. have messaged that they do not plan to come back during the special session, and i had an opportunity to sp

priscilla thompson there in the state capitol. priscilla, keep us posted.while, this year's all-star baseball game, and we'll talk about the colorado secretary of state and the decision to move the game to her state because of georgia voting laws. for the second year in a row, pete alonzo is the home run hero. he beat out oriole's star, tray mancini, but mancini put on a inspiring display of his own. this time last year, he was getting chemotherapy and was diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer and now he's cancer free. i talked to him in march about his fight and the message he hopes to share with anybody who will listen. >> at the time i only thought it affected people age 50 and older for the most part, and i knew it was extremely rare for people my age to get it. it was the first year in my life that i was never part of a baseball team but i kept in touch of them almost every day, and one of my teammates would text me. with 20 grams of protein for muscle health. versus 16 grams in ensure high protein. boost® high protein also has key nutrients for immune s

nbc's priscilla thompson is in austin, this afternoon. to speed isn't what is there and the democrats that remain holed up in washington? >> reporter: yeah, kasie, we're entering day two of the house convening here without quorum. and yesterday, we saw them take that vote, giving the sergeant at arms permission to go after the democratic lawmakers. but because they are in washington, d.c., law enforcement in texas has no real jurisdiction there. and one thing, other thing that happened yesterday, the senate actually voted to pass their version of that voting -- of that voting bill. but it is still being held up, because without a quorum in the house, nothing is going to become law here. and i've been running around, talking to republican lawmakers asking them what they make of democrats sort of last-ditch effort to get some sort of federal legislation on this. take a listen to what one lawmaker told me. >> i think it's a disgrace to the state of texas. election law is meant for the states to conduct. and they want to turn over texas elect

nbc news reporter priscilla thompson joins us from the state capital in austin. restriction rs republicans proposing and do democrats have any more tricks up their sleeves? last time they walked out so there wasn't a quorum and they could delay the vote. >> reporter: these bills include many of the same things that democrats bulked at in the regular session, things like the ban on overnight and drive-through voting, the criminal penalties for election officials, meanwhile increased protections for partisan poll watchers. what we saw this weekend was sort of the first iteration of this fight with hundreds of people showing up, largely to express their opposition to this bill during public testimony, which ran into the early morning of sunday. and i want you to listen to some of what those folks had to say to lawmakers this weekend. >> how many eligible voters can you squeeze out of our democratic process and be okay with it? i believe that answer should be zero. >> lawmakers will be sending a message that you can be on the front lines of our economy, that you can

priscilla thompson is covering all of this from the perch fair there in austin texas. and priscilla, the democrats are keeping a busy schedule, but what about the republican counterparts where you are. walk us through where you are. >> yeah, geoff. we are well into day two without a quorum here. the house has convened, but they are currently at ease, and the republican lawmakers are telling me they that are having meeting and working on the legislation, but of course, they can't get any action done on that, and any bills passed without that quorum. what we are seeing here is a narrative emerging or a message emerging around what the democrats are walked out on, and with the republicans saying that this session was not just about this election bill or some of the other more contentious issues of governor abbott's issue of trans sports or something like that, but the retired teachers getting the 13th check, and improves to foster care and property taxes and things like that. and so later today, the gop is going to be meeting with the retired teachers, but now, there is no

and with that, we will bring in our guests, priscilla thompson in texas, and the digital reporter the aforementioned jane tim, and playbook political reporter eugene daniel. and priscilla on the ground, as i understand it, you have the lawmakers in the airport in austin ready to board planes ready to come here to washington. >> yeah, and that is exactly right. we began hearing the murmurings of this picking up yesterday and i was in the car with a lawmaker headed to the airport to board her flight to washington, d.c., and what she told me after seeing what happened after the public hearings over the weekend when hundreds of people showed up to voice their concerns about these voting bills and the republicans passed those bills out of committee on a party line vote without amendments it was clear that they were not concerned with working with democrats to reach a common ground here, and the democrats felt they had no other choice but to move forward with this option. and so now, many of folk, and some of them are on the way to washington, d.c., and others are going to be heading there

priscilla thompson spoke with the board's chairwoman to find out why different perspectives on racismi actually attended my first pta meeting in this very room. >> in the last 19 rooms, brenda has gone from concerned parent to school board chairwoman in louden county, virginia. but she says what began as a dream job has turned into a nightmare. >> don't teach our kids guilt for their failings. >> over the past several weeks, sheraton says she's received nearly a dozen letters at her home, hundreds of emails daily. and voice mails like these. >> you are a disgusting piece of [ bleep ], mr. sheraton. you know your home address is on the internet, don't you? that could be a little scary. >> stupid fat [ bleep ] [ bleep ] lover. >> anger, born out of controversy around transgender rights and critical race theory. the decades-old academic study of racism and inequality. >> does the louden county school district teach critical race theory? >> it diz not. >> are you all considering teaching critical race theory? >> we are not. it would be inappropriate because it's theory based in master lev

let's go to nbc's priscilla thompson joining us from the state capital in austin. priscilla, welcome to you. voters are having a chance to address their lawmakers today about the election bill. what are they telling you? what are they saying? >> reporter: yeah, alex. well, they're certainly hoping for the chance. when we got here this morning there were hundreds of people lined up outside of the doors that you see behind me to get into that house committee meeting and make their voices heard. but as it stands at this hour, the house has still not taken up that voting bill yet. it is last on their agenda and so public testimony on that has not yet begun. meanwhile, on the senate side the voting bill was the first thing that they've taken up, but to this point only the lawmakers have had that discussion. public testimony has still not opened up. so these folks who have come out to share their perspective have now been waiting hours for an opportunity to do that. one of the things that i've been struck by is the conversations that i've had with voters of color. i met a

the group led by reverend william barber and congressman beto o'rourke, and so we go to priscilla thompsonou hearing out there? >> yes, geoff, it is over 100 degrees out here, and the marchers are going to be back at it tomorrow and saturday and you ask what the voters a the and activists are saying, and i wanted to bring in one of the folks, marcel mcclinton came from houston to be part of this, and it is day two, and two miles in, and what are some of the sacrifices that you have been in here? >> well, to start, i am missing summer classes, and about $2,000 worth, and missing some work, but it is okay, and all worth it to be here in the moment, because it is historic, and we will make it to the finish line, and if i am crawling for crying or whatever it may be, this is nothing to what my ancestors had to do for me to peacefully walk through the streets. >> and we are hearing from washington, d.c., potentially new legislation, and what is your message to the lawmakers and the president of what you want to be? >> we want to pass all provisions of the voting rights act and protect people li

i want to bring in priscilla thompson covering the developments in austin.is at the white house for us. latasha brown is the cofounder of black voters matter. and matthew dowd, political strategist and founder of the group, country over party. he also wrote the new book, "revolutions on the river." good to see all of you. priscilla, get us up to speed on what's happening in texas today. democrats stopped those efforts in may with a now famous walkout but what are their options now? >> yeah. well, chris, they're certainly going to try to stop it again, but in a state where the gop controls both chambers of the state legislature, democrats know that they are in for a fight here. we now have the two bills that have been proposed in both the house and the senate, those new voting bills, and we see that they include many of the same measures that democrats pushed back against in the regular session, so things like a ban on overnight and drive-thru voting, also creating new criminal penalties for election officials. meanwhile, bolstering protections for partisan p

i want to go now to nbc's garrett haake in atlanta and priscilla thompson in austin for us.is rare field hearing that senate democrats held there down in georgia. >> reporter: senate democrats wanted to find a way and a place to spotlight these restrictive voting measures. georgia has really been ground zero for those bills. texas is getting a lot of the attention right now, but the georgia bill was the first statewide bill that we saw that really raised significant alarms among voting rights advocates. it's also, by the way, in a state that's going to have two of perhaps the marquee races this year, including the governor's race, where we expect to see stacey abrams on the ballot once again. significant races of significant national import here and a chance to draw the nation's eye to this issue in a way that a normal hearing in a normal hearing room on a normal monday in washington simply wouldn't. and i should point out that there were no republicans participating today, four democratic senators from this panel came, no republicans. although you heard praise from democrat

priscilla thompson is live in austin and nbc news political reporter -- correspondent, either, ali vitali in a rainy state capital there. a lot is at stake when it comes to voting rights in texas. talk to us about today's hearing. >> reporter: yeah, good morning, lindsey. a very rainy day here, but voting rights advocates are hoping that that does not derail what they have planned for these public hearings. there are going to be two hearings held on election bills, one in the house and one in the senate. this is really the first time that we're going to see -- see any action on the floor on these bills. the past couple of days in the special session have been procedural, bills being filed, being referred to committee, but today we're actually going to get to hear from the public about these bills. now, folks who oppose the bill can show up, folks who agree with the bills can also show up. we won't have a sense of who is really going to be here until these hearings get under way, but what we do know is that dozens of voting rights advocacy groups have put out an all call to their followers

elections meanwhile, texas democrats are still blocking two restrictive voting bills nbc's priscilla thompson joins us from austin with an update. >> reporter: frances, the texas house is moving into the third day without enough people to have a kor rum because most of the democratic members remain in washington, d.c. and they're still saying they are going to stay there until this special session is over. and so, what that means is that while republican lawmakers here say they are having meetings and working on legislation, they can't actually pass any of that until they regain that kwoer rum. are there areas they're willing to compromise on this voting bill in order to entice some of their democratic colleagues to come back? but the republican house speaker has said that republicans have already compromised here and they are willing to wait this out, even if it requires another special session. they will go until 2023 if they have to. frances? >> wow bold statement there priscilla, thank you. >>> a blistering new report by justice department investigators says the fbi mishandled sexual abus

priscilla thompson is with us, and -- great to see both of you. restrictive as the one where democrats staged the walkout in may, but what is in it? >> reporter: we're seeing some of the same provisions, but not all here. this new bill would ban drive-thru voting and overnight voting. it would still make it a felony to send the unsolicited vote by mail application. it would also an add i.d. requirement, but also note al change. sunday voting is now back on the table. republicans essentially said that removing that was a bit of a typo, so that has now been brought back in. this new bill would at an extra hour of early voting from what was presented during the regular session. i had an opportunity to speak with the democratic caucus chair, representative turner, about this new bill. he said the whole premise is built on a lie that there was widespread fraud, but i did ask him, this big is less restrictive. does that mean for any democrats? take a listen to what he had to say. >> this bill changed many times and at the 11th hour they sprung an entire

joining me now from austin is nbc news correspondent priscilla thompson. o are in the capitol, and what is their response to what the democratic members have done? >> well, the speaker of the house just released those republican house members a little while ago or at least the majority of them were released, and they have been at ease all day and that's because they haven't really been able to get anything done today. now what i will tell you is that republicans are changing the messaging around this a little bit so within the next hour they are actually going to be holding a press conference, and they are not going to be talking about the election bill. they are going to be talking about retired teachers receiving a 13th check, and that's because that was one of the lesser known agenda items that was on governor abbott's aiming did a for this special session so what we're seeing here on the ground is a refocusing of the conversation around some of the more product call issues like the thrown check for retired teachers, foster care reform so republicans are

priscilla thompson is on the ground in austin, and also, former senator wendy davis. > reporter: well, steph, hundreds of people turned out for the public testimony in the house and senate over the weekend. the majority of the folks speaking in opposition to the bills. the testimony went into the early hours of sunday morning and one of the names that came up during some of the debate is the man you mentioned, hervis rogers, last in line at texas southern university on super tuesday to cast his ballot. on last wednesday, the day before the special session began, he was arrested for voter fraud. he was on parole at the time he voted and therefore he was ineligible. he didn't know he was ineligible. he thought it was okay to cast a ballot. why this is important, in another way, bail was set at $100,000. there was a go fund me working to raise that money. so as public hearings were taking place saturday, he was ultimately released on bail, but he knew faces two felony charges for voting illegally, looking at 25 years to life on each of those counts. steph, ultimately that

priscilla thompson is in georgetown, texas. e in atlanta, and joining me, the ceo of the new georgia project. priscilla, democrats have a busy week ahead. what are they hoping to accomplish, what are you hearing from constituents, how are they responding? >> reporter: chris, texas democrats in d.c. are kicking off a week long summit, leading with labor leaders, legs tours from other states virtually to talk about sort of what's next in their fight against more restrictive voting laws as they look ahead. meanwhile, we are here in georgetown, texas, a half hour outside austin. an area represented by one republican representative. one of the democrats in washington, d.c. we wanted to talk to their constituents about what they make of this. take a listen to some conversations we had with folks this morning. >> i would like to see people come together on this, just make it easy to vote. make it secure. that's fine, let's not make it harder. >> it is kind of silly and sad, hope everybody can get along sooner than later. i think not in

>> priscilla thompson, thank you. >>> a glimmer of hope.ragedy after two weeks that produced a miracle. they'll investigate what went wrong and other buildings nearby are flagged for damage. >>> no running water amid a biblical heat wave. a california town struggling with that reality this morning. g with that reality this morning d and one we explore. one that's been paved and one that's forever wild. but freedom means you don't have to choose just one adventure. you get both. introducing the wildly civilized all-new 3-row jeep grand cherokee l we made usaa insurance for members like martin. an air force veteran made of doing what's right, not what's easy. so when a hailstorm hit, usaa reached out before he could even inspect the damage. that's how you do it right. usaa insurance is made just the way martin's family needs it with hassle-free claims, he got paid before his neighbor even got started. because doing right by our members, that's what's right. usaa. what you're made of, we're made for. ♪ usaa ♪ here you go, let me help you. we'r

. >> let's go to nbc's priscilla thompson at the texas state capitol in austin. practically do the democrats avoid any risk of arrest as long as they stay out of texas? >> reporter: as long as they are not here, they do not return while this legislature is still in session, they would not be arrested potentially. to give you a little bit of context on what happened today, the house did convene. they did not have that quorum, at which point the request was made to go ahead and take the procedural vote that would give the sergeant at arms permission to send for those members absent without an excuse. 76 republicans voted in favor, 4 democrats voted against that. so now the sergeant of arms does have that power. he can also call on any other officers in the state to do that. of course, that jurisdiction ends at the state line. so when this last happened in 2003, lawmakers fled to new mexico and oklahoma. texas officials did reach out to those attorneys general and say do we have permission to come in and get those lawmakers and those attorneys general did not give t

michael member lee in philadelphia, priscilla thompson, la tasha ground, from black voters matter, and assistant dean at the university of texas. walk us through this. texas state democrats are now in d.c. what happens. does this change anything or delay the process? >> right. this is the texas democrats' first full day back on the ground in washington, d.c. we know at the top of the next hour they're kicking things off with a press conference where they're going to again call for federal legislation and action on voting. as for what happens here in texas, the texas house is going to convene the next few hours. we expect the speaker of the house will set wheels in motion, begin the process for giving law enforcement permission to track down texas lawmakers who have fled, but texas law enforcement will have no jurisdiction in washington, d.c. unless officials choose to give them permission to go in and get the lawmakers. texas governor greg abbott is thinking through what his next steps are going to be to get his agenda passed. listen to what he said last night. >> i can and will contin

garrett haake is in atlanta, priscilla thompson in georgiatown, texas.ing and what you heard from the woman leading this committee, senator amy klobuchar. >> reporter: hallie, good morning. this hearing has just gotten under way and just the fact that we're here at all speaks to what democrats believe is the scale and scope of the problem. remember, there's already been one vote on the for the people act which democrats laid out as their solution to these state laws that are popping up in republican-controlled states. that law failed, or that vote failed and now you've got democrats trying to come up with non-traditional ways to keep the spotlight on this issue and to try to build support for trying again, as you heard senator klobuchar say before the break, she's not giving up on the issue of the for the people act. that's not coming from republicans, mitch mcconnell out with a statement about the hearing. he's on this committee, by the way, not attending. he called it a silly stunt, accuses democrats of trying to create hysteria around the voting right

. >> priscilla thompson in texas, thank you. >>> with that meeting with texas senators and joe manchint hour, we'll bring that to you. >>> a damning inspector general report finding the fbi knew in 2015 that multiple gymnasts had made sexual abuse allegations against larry nassar but it took them a year to open an investigation, as he continued to abuse young athletes. a string of failures in the fbi in the earliest stages of the larry nassar case, including not handling the allegations with the utmost seriousness and urgency they deserved. justice correspondent, who also covers the fbi, pete williams, is joining us. pete, walk us through more of what's in this report. a lot of the blame, it seems, is pinned on this now retired fbi agent, who was actually looking for a job with the u.s. olympic committee? >> reporter: that's one of the most surprising things about this report. while all this was going on in the indianapolis office wasn't doing anything, he was trying to get that job, which he ultimately didn't get, and then later denied when asked about it whether he had applied for th

nbc's priscilla thompson is in austin.kasie. so the house version of this bill dropped overnight, and i believe the senate version has just been filed as well, but what we know is in the house version is some of the same things that we saw in that bill that democrats walked out on in may. so it is a ban on overnight voting, a ban on drive through voting. voting, also still make it a state felony to send out unsolicited vote by mail ballots, so those are a lot of things that was concern. in just a few moments, the advocates and democratic leaders are going to come out and hold a press conference i i'm here with carissa lopez with the texas freedom network, one of the advocates in this world. i want to put this question to you. you're watching everything unfold. what do you make of it? what's most concerning to you? >> thank you have having us and for being here. we're correspond about a whole host of issues. the top of that agenda is voter suppression, and we're still digesting the bill. the hearings are supposed to be on s

joining me now with more from austin, texas, nbc news correspondent priscilla thompson.the supreme court upheld arizona's restrictive new voting laws. how important was that ruling for today's special session? and what are we seeing play out on the ground right now? >> yeah. there is no question that lawmakers here particularly democrats are watching very closely what has happened in other states and how that is playing out throughout the country. and that is why as the special session got underway today, part of the messaging from democrats was around how best to strategize on how to block these restrictive voting measures. but the other piece of this is talking about the need for the federal government to act. that this is not something that states can do alone. and i spoke with the democratic caucus chair, the house, about this and i want you to take a listen to what he said was his message to lawmakers in washington, d.c. >> my message to them would be we need your help and we need it now. we need hr-1. we need the john lewis voting rights act to be able to block sup

let's go right to msnbc's priscilla thompson at the state capital in austin. what can you tell us about these proceedings so far today? who is talking, who seems to have a majority of voice there, if you can tell that thus far? >> reporter: yeah, hey, alex. certainly a very busy day here at the state capital. gaveling in now. first up is going to be the controversial voting bill. they haven't gotten to the voting bill yet, but i will tell you when we got here this morning, hundreds of people were lined up to get inside that committee room in order to give their testimony and were prepared to give their testimony. there are several overflow rooms where folks are able to sit and listen and wait until they hear their names called. and it is going to be quite a long day. i will tell you most of the folks that i've spoken to here are here to express their opposition to these bills. but in terms of the mood on the ground here, it's been fairly joyful. we have seen some democratic lawmakers who have bust up their constituents. we've seen voting rights groups who brou

and priscilla thompson when we checked in with you yesterday, there were activists that expressed remorse being done in washington, and that lawmakers did not understand the urgency. what is the dynamic today? >> yeah. yeah, geoff. those folks just wrapped up and headed into the church to grab food and snow cones, but some folks are telling me that they are more energized and excited 27 miles in than they did when the march began and one of the folks is telling me that is jill here from dallas, texas, and she came here to do this. jill, tell me why you said that and how you are feeling right now. >> i do. i am excited, and i am grateful that i made it all of the way. i can't believe it. and i have to be honest, i am relieved that there were moments that the camaraderie of everybody in the march is literally what got us up the hills and down the road. >> reporter: yeah, and now lawmakers in washington, d.c. are talking about a revised voting bill that they hope to make progress on before congress recesses. do you think that it will happen, and have the provisions that you all are asking fo

joining us now from austin, nbc news correspondent priscilla thompson. pri sela, what's happening there? >> reporter: yeah, alicia, public testimony on this bill on the senate side began around two hours ago and at that point, the committee notified the audience that there were around 250 people scheduled to speak. and so, we're looking at this going for at looex the next six hours if all of those people do, in fact, speak. i want to give you a little bit of context about what is being discussed today. it is these two voting bills, one in the house, one in the senate, and both of them bills would do things like ban overnight and drive-through voting. it would also empower partisan polling watchers while creating criminal penalties for election officials, for example, it would become a state felony for officials to send unsolicited vote by mail applications. and so, so far, we've seen around eight people speak in support of this bill and the rest of the folks speaking have been in opposition. and i'm actually here with the young man who was the first to s

priscilla thompson is in austin, texas. we have president and ceo of the group vote latino still with us. texas house lawmakers do not have enough for a quorum. that is the whole point of the democrats being in dc. what are they doing in austin? >> reporter: right, steph. lawmakers showed up here yesterday, at least the house members, quickly realized they did not have the quorum and moved ahead with that vote, which fell along party lines, giving the sergeant at arms permission to go after those missing legislators. now, of course the sergeant of arms or anyone that he appoints has no jurisdiction outside of texas, so it is very unlikely that anything is going to come of this, given that democrats have said they do plan to remain in washington, d.c. until the special session has ended. but there are still some things going on. republicans say that they are holding meetings, they are working on legislation in the house. as for the senate here in texas, they actually did move forward with passing their version of this voting

want to bring in nbc's priscilla thompson at the texas state capital and nbc's jane forest to walk us through stuff. priscilla, i want to start with you. kind of give us the a-b-cs this hour and what you have seen take place so far. >> reporter: yasmin, hundreds were lined up outside of the doors you see behind me when they opened this morning because they wanted to give that public testimony, but we are now hours into those hearings and public testimony on these bills has not yet opened. so those people are still waiting. i did have an opportunity to speak with some of those people who want to make their voices heard today. i spoke with 71-year-old edward johns of colleen, texas, and also former congressman bet owe o'rourke who has signed up to give testimony today. i want to play a little bit of those conversations for you. take a listen. >> whatever you see on paper today is likely going to become much worse as it goes into conference committee and other provisions are added to it. so we need to stop this effort to change or tamper with our elections now before it goes any further.

let's go right to msnbc's priscilla thompson at the state