the state legislature . the beach state in the legislature has the power to figure out how their 25th the electors and today the one thing in common is that they all have popular elections. very different types, election code of massachusetts those difference in texas counted . that the common thread is you is a voter now going to vote under these laws. and they determined that is the path they will use to pick the electors . and just a note early on in our history, any but not all variety of things but states protect their electors directly. they would select them directly. we also have complicated district systems. there are a variety of ways in which these electors could be selected it. and from an individual's right to vote for president, there could be these arrangements. but we all realize today, we do go through these election codes in this the way legislatures today have these in place the way in which we the voters sort of elect these electors it then elect the president. tara: received ballot in fro

i have attended many as a state legislature _ -- swing state. swing state. i have attended many as a state legislature or not _ -- swing state. i have attended many as a state legislature or not i - as a state legislature or not -- swing state. i have attended many i as a state legislature or not i have l -- swing state. i have attended many - as a state legislature or not i - as a state legislature or not i have to say -- swing state. i have attended many as a state legislature or not _ as a state legislature or not i have to say with some confidence -- swing state. i have attended many as a state legislature or not i - as a state legislature or not i have to say with some confidence that was likely the first time a president of the united states of america called into a policy hearing and remember, here is the president saying he won pennsylvania, and pennsylvania had been certified thatjoe biden had won by more than 80,000 votes. less than a week after cutting into that meeting, he invited multiple republicans, member of the pennsylvania legi

so each state -- there are legislature has the power to figure out how it's going to pick electors, today, the one thing in common states have is they all have popular elections. there irdifferent types of popular elections, an election code, massachusetts election code is different than texas' election code but the common thread is that you as a voter are now going to vote under these laws that the legislature passed and they've determined that is the path that they're going to use to pick the elector toes. just to note, early on in our history, many states -- not all, we have a variety of things but states would pick their elector directly and the state legislators would not haye a popular eviction and we have district systems. click complicated so a variety of ways in which elector toes could be selected so from an individual's right to vote for president there could be arrangements, but for practical purposes we all raze e realize today we do vote through the election codes that were the -- that's the way the legislatures today have set in place the way in which we the voters ele

the insight is state legislatures have the ability to say how they are appointed. and then to write the lies that say we will give our votes are electoral votes not to the winner of our state but to the winner of the national. and not the popular vote this year but california instead of joe biden who won the state. in addition to that when this would take effect in the moving to the national popular vote and adding to those 270 electoral votes and that way and they should always vote for the popular vote winner and then the other aspect is a compact and then they agree to have a more formal contact and if that would work or by word is constitutional or not there are some secondary issues. so we are close to 200 electoral votes in their and then the single point is and then to have slightly red states adopted. and much more than other reforms. >> i should offer full disclosure but i testify against the popular vote for my position as well known but those that say it's constitutional not constitutional and those that are policy arguments and as that matter i'm not in

it is a fact that the state legislature did a request. we told them we were not going to address the request at that time, that we were going to honor the doj request first. we said that. that's a fact. there's nothing to investigate that, and -- and then we provided information to doj so there's no -- there is nothing to investigate. i am telling you i agree to the legislature's point. the they sent the letter and we said we would deal with the doj first. i said that. they were told that, and by the way, they could have objected. they are not talking about speen, as. they could have sent a subpoena and said we're not waiting for doj. we're not going to do that. they understood we were dealing with a pandemic and that we were giving doj precedence. and by the way i believe they were right in that. all the numbers we produced were exactly right. we didn't provide all the information that was requested that did create a void and misinformation filled that void and that misinformation gave people aggravation and confused people, confused peo

the red states here, redistricting is controlled in the state legislature, and they are republican. blue states, democrats controlling state legislatures. purple come a split. why are there so many independent commissions in the west? why does it seem like there is regional grouping of had guest: redistricting culture varies by region. the west has been in the vanguard of reform. it seems like it has been one state that passes a reform that seems to work well in neighboring states adopt similar measures. some has to do with ballot initiative laws. western states have typically had initiatives on the ballot passed by voters. not all commissions are alike. it is important to point out that it can still get quite contentious. in arizona, the five-member redistricting commission ended up passing -- that allowed democrats to get the seats. everything is in the eye of the beholder. the republicans cried foul and said the chairperson of the commission had cited with the two democratic commissioners to pass a gerrymander that favored democrats. the legislature impeached the chair of the comm

back up a little bit more and say the constitution gives the body or institution that's the state legislatures, so each state has the power to figure out how it's going to pick them and today the one thing they have in common is popular elections. there are different types. they have in election code, one is different than texas, but the common thread is that you as a voter are now going to vote under these laws and they've determined that is the path they are going to use just to note early on in our history many states, if not all states would pick them directly and wouldn't have a popular election. they would be elected directly and have complicated districts. we have a little bit now and more complicated in the past. there are a variety of ways they could be selected so again from the individual right to vote for president there could be these arrangements or for practical purposes i think we all realize that we do vote through these codes that were the way the legislature is today and the way in which we start electing. >> so you go to the poll on election day and it may or may not have t

the house votes by state delegation and this is the electoral college is connected to the other decisions the founders made about the legislature in this case they made an interesting compromise that said the house is going to vote again. you need 26 states, not just the majority of those voting. you could have some delegations that are split for example. you might have a state that has two representatives from each party that doesn't have to vote essentially say you could get 26 votes. interestingly, republicans were right around that barrier last time so if donald trump had gone into that election, if they stuck with him they would have elected donald trump that way so that is the contingent election. the senate looks like the majority vote. you would have ended up with -- thankfully i think one of the things that i think is important is sometimes people get confused with the difference between an election congress just can't resolve and an election where nobody has a majority. the 1876 is one congress couldn't resolve it until the very end. but that didn't mean that there was no majority. that didn't mean they went to the ho

state legislatures have enormous power to set these rules. by democrats? >> they can be challenged in court. there's a long history of voter suppression being pushed through in the south in particular, and on the counterveiling force, also, democrats trying to push forward the for the people act, hr-1 in the house and senate to try to enshrine a lot of voting rights that have been eroded over the years, including automatic voter registration. these two state level versus federal level efforts are on a collision course. it speaks to the larger thing we need to deal with as a country which is to strengthen our democracy, strengthen the guardrails. we've seen the evidence of why it's needed in recent years. >> we know, john avlon, you'll be keeping them honest all along with your reality checks it's important people know it's happening and happening right now. >> absolutely. thanks, guys. >>> next hour, an officer killed in the u.s. capitol attack will be honored inside that very building there, the very building he took an oath to protect, died

ercot answers to the state legislature. they answer to the governor. nts the ercot board and they are regulated by the state. they don't make their own rules. the state makes those rules. and so the state leaders need to be held accountable for that. and it also obviously has to be said that people like senator ted cruz, instead of going to cancun on vacation with his family, ought to be here asking the very question that you just asked, lawrence, what are we're going to do to make sure that people who have already been harmed so tremendously by the dire weather conditions here aren't going to be harmed even further by getting price gouging bills at the end of all of this. >> wendy davis, thank you very much for joining us tonight. i'm glad you have at least electricity tonight. thank you very much. >> thank you, lawrence. >> and coming up, the manhattan district attorney has made a surprising move and just added a new prosecutor to the investigation of donald trump, and that prosecutor has extensive experience investigating organized crime. former fede

important ongoing political story of our time, the republican party's nationwide attempt in state legislaturesretary of state and she will get tonight's last word. the breaking news

important ongoing political story of our time, the republican party's nationwide attempt in state legislaturesizona's secretary of state and she will get tonight's last word. the breaking news in congress tonight is the voting on the biden covid relief bill. the other breaking news of the

quote, republicans in state legislatures nationwide are mounting extraordinary efforts to change thehance their own political clout. at the top of those efforts is a slew of bills raising new barriers to casting votes, particularly the mail ballots that democrats flocked to in the 2020 election. other measures go well beyond that, including tweaking electoral college and judicial election rules for the benefit of republicans. the brennan center for justice has been tracking these bills. by their count, there are 253 bills in 43 states seeking to tighten voting rules, to make voting more difficult. the good news, there ares also 704 bills with provisions to expand voting access. take a look at some of the republican proposals that aim to target democratic voters in the swing states that joe biden won in 2020. in arizona, republicans have discussed a bill in which they are going to shorten -- allow the legislature to overturn presidential election results. they're going to reducerly voter rolls, shorten the early voting period, strip officials of the ability to move deadlines to ease v

don't forget, an enormous amount of power still resides with state legislatures and governors. as the "washington post" reminds us that's where the republicans now enjoy unmatched power. and don't forget, that president obama, remember, he was a hell of a lot more charismatic and far better politician than joe biden would ever be but early in his first term, conservatives and independents rose up and they regained control of their government one branch at a time. first, remember the house in 2010. and then the senate in 2014. and finally, the white house. in 2016. all that it took to create the tea party to get it going, was a spark, and in this case that spark happened 12 years ago today when a cnbc correspondent on the air to take a stand against obama's radical agenda. >> this is america. how many of you people want to pay for your neighbor's mortgage that has an extra bathroom and can't pay their bills? raise their hand. >> president obama, are you listening? >> laura: president biden, are you listening? and that's the angle. >> joining me now, mollybist hemingway, ari flei

we're hearing that from a stats -- state legislature and bill de blasio is calling for the state legislaturevernor cuomo of his emergency order power that would overrule local authorities. there's still a lot of developing parts in this story. we'll continue to keep you posted on that. >> congressman, thank you for joining us. let's get to governor cuomo. you heard that report there's a second accusation of sexual harassment. what should he do about that? consider resignation, wait for investigation? there's a lot of people going after him pretty hard right now. >> i think the governor has got to stop trying to control the process and let the law and the professionals do their independent investigation. there's no reason that the attorney general can't do an independent investigation. it doesn't need be that the governor is dictating how it should be done or what should be done. he should -- it's hard for the governor because he always wants the take action to try to address things. the attorney general should do their independent investigation and he and his office should cooperate. the rep

. >> governor newsom and marriage of the state legislature have been at odds at school reopening's. what is the latest direction at the state level? >> i think it's exciting actually. yesterday the governor laid out a plan that he wants to put in place to vaccinate all teachers across the state who want to be vaccinated. he's talking about 75,000 vaccinations a week ongoing. this will be done through mobile units. teachers would receive a code they would use to make their appointments to make sure they are getting what they are supposed to be getting. i think you can look at this as a practical move. while the governor did side for the center of disease control which says you can reopen schools without getting vaccinated safely you can do this. teachers unions have really old. a lot of the public sides with them. they will have a hard time forcing teachers back into the classrooms if they don't feel safe to go. >> how the state decisions impact local district managers? >> there's a couple different ways estates department of public health has really been responsible for setting the g

guest: the tax with the cable company is run by the state legislature of pennsylvania. the taxes in your cable bill is what the state government does. i don't want to speak to comcast erie it i have seen my comcast bill go up too. i decided i will not pay comcast. i picked -- i cut that off. whether it was just internet service or going to netflix or hulu, whatever the case might be. i want to be consistent on my point. when you do it artificially across the board, there is no company whether they are comcast or whether you are talking about a mom and pop shop, nobody will be able to escape it. talk to some of the small businesses in philadelphia. the owners of those small businesses. what is going to happen when you increase the minimum wage? there will be less people that wage? there will be less people who work in that store. that is what will happen because there's not enough money to go around to pay the higher wage to people who work in that business. either people's jobs will be cut or the price of the cheesesteak will increase. that is what will happen. host: new

yet they were made without any input from congress and without any input from the host state's legislature. the an particular yities -- antiquities act allowed this to happen. my amendment would propose that we allow people's representatives in congress and in the state legislature to have input. i will also be filing an amendment to ensure full funding for a program known as pilt. now, pilt is an acronym. it stands for payment in lieu of taxes. it's something very important to public land states like mine. you see, the federal government doesn't pay property tax on land that it owns. in a state like mine where the federal government owns most of the land, two-thirds of it, in fact, it could be very difficult for many of our communities to survive, because without that property tax revenue, they find it difficult to fund everything from schools to search and rescue operations, police and fire services and so forth. the federal government makes up for some of this through this payment program that is supposed to in some ways replicate the property taxes that the taxing authority would other

he ran forthe state legislature in georgia. a path other— state legislature in georgia.re in georgia. a path other civil rights activists followed like our late great beloved colleague john lewis who is in our hearts— colleague john lewis who is in our hearts today. when he got elected, they wanted to try to keep him from being _ they wanted to try to keep him from being sworn into the georgia legislator so the student —— they said the — legislator so the student —— they said the student committee has taken a stand _ said the student committee has taken a stand against the vietnam war and we witi— a stand against the vietnam war and we will not _ a stand against the vietnam war and we will not admit you because you took a _ we will not admit you because you took a position against the vietnam war. took a position against the vietnam war therr— took a position against the vietnam war. then the supreme court said you cannot— war. then the supreme court said you cannot prevent someone from swearing an oath— cannot prevent someone from swearing an oath to _ cannot prevent so

push in our own state in my home state i sued governor newsom when he tried to expand the voter rolls in the mail-in ballot by executive fiat, the reality the legislature and pass the law but at least they did a constitutionally something that did not happen in arizona and pennsylvania and other states where they ignored the mandate that legislatures make these decisions and county clerks need to clean up their roles and county by county we need to push for it as we did in l.a. if they haven't sued los angeles mike garcia would not be a congress meant today. judge jeanine: congressman, thank you so much for being witm us, next how is biden's agenda far more dangerous than obama's ever was. peter navarro answers that after the break. ♪♪ priceline. every trip is a big deal. >> good evening and live from "america's news headquarters" i am jacqui ibanez in new york, winter weather in this forecast for the nation after monster storm dropped heavy snow on the pacific northwest leaving hundreds of thousands without power more snow and ice is set to slam into the south before moving into the mid atlantic tomorrow. president biden is calling for stricter gun la

the republicans in the georgia state legislature have a majority. they would need a supermajority to pass this because they're trying to change their state's constitution here, to protect former president trump. they're very, very unlikely to get that supermajority to amend their state constitution, but it is telling that they're willing to go to these lengths to try, and to try to do it right now before that grand jury convenes in fulton county next month. former president trump is now facing criminal investigation in new york state over financial issues. he's facing a civil investigation brought in new york state by the state attorney general that relates to potential bank fraud, potential tax fraud, and potential insurance fraud. that case could easily become a criminal investigation as well. former president is now also facing criminal investigation in georgia, and today, we learned that georgia republicans in the state legislature are willing to turn the place upside down to shelter him from that criminal investigation. really seems like they're

lincoln wins a seat on the state legislature as as whip.hat he does really reflects the investment to improve people's lives. >> this was why he was a wig early on. he saw the utility of things like road and railroad and improving the economy of small towns in the west. in the state legislature, lincoln faces what is quickly becoming the biggest issue of the day. slavery. the missouri compromise of 1820 dictated that maine would be admitted as a free state and missouri a slave state. controversial ruling set off a bit of a national debate over the extent which slavery should be limited and expanded and protected or abolished. >> the state of legislature was taken down by the abolition movement. it was passed by anover majority, 7-6. one of those sixth were lincoln. people thought radicals and the abolitionist and they don't know how to get things done. >> you can be anti-slavery. lincoln was no abolitionist. lincoln was a modern antislavery advocate. what it means he was a person that said slavery was wrong but didn't believe it was importa

powers came and it's something that we are deliberating very carefully in both chambers of the state legislaturehe action in my opinion is necessary to restore full public confidence in state government. gerry: great thanks to senator john liu. thank you very much indeed. democratic states struggled to reopen the schools while florida has been open for months we will take it up with the florida education or next. it. >> all be thankful for the sure strong in fact driven leadership from governor (naj) at fisher investments, we do things differently and other money managers don't understand why. (money manager) because our way works great for us! (naj) but not for your clients. that's why we're a fiduciary, obligated to put clients first. (money manager) so, what do you provide? cookie cutter portfolios? (naj) nope, we tailor portfolios to our client's needs. (money manager) but you do sell investments that earn you high commissions, right? (naj) we don't have those. (money manager) so what's in it for you? (naj) our fees are structured so we do better when you do better. at fisher investments we'

powers came and it's something that we are deliberating very carefully in both chambers of the state legislaturehe action in my opinion is necessary to restore full public confidence in state government. gerry: great thanks to senator john liu. thank you very much indeed. democratic states struggled to reopen the schools while florida has been open for months we will take it up with the florida education or next. it. >> all be thankful for the sure strong in fact driven leadership strong in fact driven leadership from governor strong in fact driven leadership from governor ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ here's aj! when are you going back into the office? i don't know dad... ♪ well we have a safety net. we'll be ok right? ♪ so you're a small business, we or a big one.t? you were thriving, but then... oh. ah. okay. plan, pivot. how do you bounce back? you don't, you bounce forward, with serious and reliable internet. powered by the largest gig speed network in america. but is it secure? sure it's secure. and even if the power goes down, your connection doesn't. so how do i do this? you don't do this. we do this, tog

the new york state legislature also sent a letter asking for information on nursing homes. e state legislator's request while we were finishing the doj request. we told both houses, the assembly and the senate, that we had doj requests for information and we were prioritizing that. the we did give the doj request precedence, and we told both houses that. the august request we replied to fully. separately doh got a doj letter signed by jeffrey clark, the attorney in october are which we learned about from the "new york post." we didn't even get the letter. "the post" called and told us about a letter, and that request of information on an investigation on private nursing homes, and we have been voluntarily producing information for that on a rolling basis, as recently as january 8th as offered by doj, the rolling basis production. the second, we paused the state legislature's request. we paused the state legislature's request. the we voluntarily complied with the doj request for information, two very different things. the new york state doh has always fully and publicly repor

important ongoing political story of our time, the republican party's nationwide attempt in state legislatures to restrict voting in this country. we will be joined by arizona's secretary of state and she will get tonight's last word. the breaking news in congress tonight is the voting on the biden covid relief bill. the other breaking news of the night is that the fbi has singled out a suspect in the killing of capitol police officer brian sicknick in the attack on the capitol on january 6th. the fbi has found someone on video of the attack who appears to be responsible for the death of officer sicknick. we will have more details on this big break in the fbi's investigation of the killing of officer sicknick after we begin with coverage of the breaking news in the house of representatives of tonight. the house rules committee is voting right now on the $1.9 trillion biden covid relief bill that includes an increase in the minimum wage to $15 an hour. house speaker nancy pelosi was disappointed in last night's ruling by the senate parliamentarian, elizabeth macdonough that an increase in the m

powers came and it's something that we are deliberating very carefully in both chambers of the state legislaturend the action in my opinion is necessary to restore full public confidence in state government. gerry: great thanks to senator john liu. thank you very much indeed. democratic states struggled to reopen the schools while florida has been open for months we will take it up with the florida education or next. it. >> all be thankful for the sure strong in fact driven leadership strong in fact driven leadership from governor strong in fact driven leadership from governor ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ hi, i'm dorothy hamill. if you're turning 65 soon, like me, you might be thinking about medicare. i know i want coverage that connects all the different parts of my health care to keep me aging actively. aetna medicare advantage plans offer $0 monthly plan premiums and prescription drug coverage. with benefits like dental, vision and hearing. and telehealth. that's the aetna medicare advantage. call today to learn more or to be connected to a local agent in your community and we'll send you a $10 visa reward ca

powers came and it's something that we are deliberating very carefully in both chambers of the state legislaturen in my opinion is necessary to restore full public confidence in state government. gerry: great thanks to senator john liu. thank you very much indeed. democratic states struggled to reopen the schools while florida has been open for months we will take it up with the florida education or next. it. >> all be thankful for the sure strong in fact driven leadership from governor liberty mutual customizes- wait... am i in one of those liberty mutual commercials where they stand in front of the statue of liberty and talk about how liberty mutual customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need? uhhh... yes. huh... what happens in this one? seagulls. oh, i like it. how are you doing? (seagulls sounds) only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ (man) i'm a verizon engineer, part of the team that built 5g right, the only one from america's most reliable network. we designed our 5g to make the things you do every day better. with 5g nationwide, millions

powers came and it's something that we are deliberating very carefully in both chambers of the state legislatureyork and the action in my opinion is necessary to restore full public confidence in state government. gerry: great thanks to senator john liu. thank you very much indeed. democratic states struggled to reopen the schools while florida has been open for months we will take it up with the florida education or next. it. >> all be thankful for the sure strong in fact driven leadership from governor desantis. ♪ how great is it that we get to tell everybody how liberty mutual customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need? i mean it... uh-oh, sorry... oh... what? i'm an emu! no, buddy! only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty. ♪ it's not “pretty good or nothing.” it's not “acceptable or nothing.” and it's definitely not “close enough or nothing.” mercedes-benz suvs were engineered with only one mission in mind. to be the best. in the category, in the industry... in the world. lease the gla 250 suv for just $399 a month at your local mercedes-benz deal

and with a compressed timetable, keep in mind a lot of state legislatures who are tasked with this process are not in session at the time the census data is likely to be released. it's possible that the clock could run out in a number of states, and courts could take over the process, which is an awkward position for courts, but it's done from time to time. >> you mentioned the courts when it comes to redistricting there's always this concern about gerrymandering. what have the courts decided about gerrymandering? is it legal? >> so, the supreme court in 2019 issued a landmark ruling that gerrymandering was not justiciable, which means that the supreme court said that partisan claims of gerrymandering could not be brought in federal courts. and there is still of course the voting rights act. this is the first redistricting cycle since the shelby v. holder decision in 2013 that invalidated some sections of the voting rights act. what that means is that the federal preclearance process, in other words, back in the last several decades, states that were covered by section 4 of the vra had to

either on town councils, or in the state legislatures. they, gain a political role, and a political voice. a number of the african americans, who served in this time period, that is how they come up to the ranks, very quickly. and move up into positions where they can then be elected to congress. who is the first african american in the house? >> the first one to speak on the floor in the house of representatives, while the house is in session. it's actually a man who is elected who is john lewis maynard. he's from louisiana. he was elected in 1868. his election was contested, and that's a story that runs throughout the 19th century for so many of these african american members who were elected to congress. their election, was challenged. and a number of them had that experience. and maynard, was in february of 1869, he was allowed to speak on the house floor to defend himself in his contested election case. the house chose not to but -- him to see him or his opponents. but he won the election, and the house had exercised its right not to

either on town councils or in the state legislatures. and they gain a political role and a political voice, and a number of the african-americans who serve in this time period, that's how they kind of come up through the ranks quickly and move up into positions where they can then be elected to congress. >> so who's the first african-american in the house? >> well, the first african-american to speak on the floor in the house of representatives while the house is in session is actually a man who was elected but never seated. john willis menard from louisiana was elected in 1868, and his election was contested. that's a story that kind of runs throughout the 19th century for so many of these african-american members who were elected to congress. their election was challenged. and a number of them had that experience. menard was in february of 1869 allowed to speak on the house floor to defend himself in his contested election case. the house chose not to seat him or his opponent, and he never was seated, but he won the election, the house

the state's legislature proving adult use marijuana in a historic vote over the weekend, marking the embrace full legalization. retail sales are not expected to start until 2024. >>> protesters on both coasts are fighting back against a surge of brutal attacks on asian-americans which have been on the rise since the pandemic began. nbc correspondent steve patterson has more on the latest push for reform. >> reporter: activists and concerned community members from coast to coast saying enough is enough. >> it's really been terrifying for our community. >> reporter: the fight ended a stark increase in the amount of reported hate crimes, discrimination aimed at asian-americans. in the last few weeks the surge has been underlined by a series of violent attacks. in new york, police releasing surveillance video of a woman being thrown to the ground, beaten, kicked and dragged on tuesday. across town, just two days later police say a 37-year-old man was stabbed in the back unprovoked. the suspect now arrested and charged with attempted murder, allegedly telling police he didn't like the way

at 25 years old, lincoln wins a seat on the illinois state legislature as a whig. >> joining the whig when he does really reflects an investment in the capacity of government to improve people's lives. the whig platform is all about improved transportation and public education. >> this is why he was a whig early on. he saw the utility of things like roads and railroads improving the economy of the small towns in the west. >> in the illinois state legislature, lincoln faces what is quickly becoming the biggest issue of the day, slavery. the missouri compromise of 1820 dictated that maine would be admitted as a free state and missouri as a slave state. after that, slavery would be prohibited in all other states north of the 36-30 parallel. the controversial ruling set off a bitter national debate over the extent to which slavery should be limited, expanded, protected, or abolished. >> in 1837, the state of illinois legislature was asked to condemn the abolitionist movement. it passes by an overwhelming majority, 77-6. one of those six was lincoln. that was fairly courageous. most of his

we're advocating at the state legislature and the governor. a proposed bill that the state legislature put forth to provide to vaccinations which we strongly support. we'll start bringing back to school as soon as possible. down the road we'll sort out those that don't wish to be vaccinated. it's all three parts of the puzzle that the cdc told us. >> are you confident that all your schools will be reopened for the start of the 2021, 2022 school year. are you optimistic about that? >> i'm more optimistic about that. i think if we can get on with is vaccination program we have outlined. 25,000 people vaccinated, we'll reopen schools for a quarter million students. help more than half a million of family members get on the path to recovery. we continue to vaccinate more school staff and open our secondary schools before this se -- semester is out. we hope it's to reopen schools this semester. show families we can do it safely. have more participation for those who elect to participate in summer school. by the time fall rolls around, have robust p

a bill has been introduced to allow the state legislature to override a popular vote. it shows how much mischief can still arise at the state level. jeffrey: thank you for that, jack rakove. it is interesting to learn about madison's conceptions of presidential elections and the idea he is grappling with a solution and the fear people won't know the best candidates. so even if you want to popular vote, maybe congress would be better because the president would be in the thrall of congress and you would have the determinants of the electoral college as an uncertain compromise in order to grapple with getting the best candidate. one round of concluding thoughts for this panel. kim, having heard bill and jack, does any other country have similarly unusual, historically specific efforts to avoid popular passions directly and choosing presidents because of concerns they won't choose the best resident? -- best president? and whether -- and what other aspects of our system seem out of the ordinary in an international sense? kim: one of the ways to get a chief executive is to h

when he was in the state legislature, he prepared some legislation that would have required state agencies report for how well they were prepared for an extreme weather condition right now that we're having. every republican voted against it. each and every turn of the way, whether it's change in the name of the railroad commission to reflect what it does, which has nothing to do with the railroad commission. anything that brings transparency, anything that educates the public about what's happening with energy here, they just turn their eye and turn their head because they think they won't be challenged and state is so republican they will never be held accountable. that's the attitude they had when i was in the state legislature and the attitude the congressional delegation has now. it's the attitude that greg abbott has. as long as they keep getting elected statewide in texas, incidents like this will continue to occur and as it's been stated, we were literally seconds away from this entire grid crashing and us not having power for who knows how long. unless we start holding republicans