>> if you are for the election of justin jones to be the interim successor for the vacancy of tennessee houset 52, you will vote aye. if not, you will vote no. close the machines and take the vote. justin jones has been elected as the interim successor for the vacant seat of house 52 pursuant to the state law and the rules governing the metropolitan council. amy: following about, justin jones and more than supporters 1000 marched to the tennessee capitol chantingno justin, no peace" and more. amy: upon arriving at the steps of the texas state capitol in austin, justin jones was sworn in again, reinstated and addressed his supporters as they looked on. >> i will end by saying this, when they expelled us, they had no idea this was going to happen. they thought they would go about as they do, as they always do. there would be no resistance. they would do something unconstitutional and we would just have to wait to seek accountability. tom is ready for a change and that time has come to nashville. -- time is ready for a change and that time has come to nashville. speaker cameron sexton, can move

pearson and jones were the two youngest black lawmakers in the tennessee house.he nashville metropolitan council unanimously voted on monday to restore justin jones to office as well. pearson is being sworn back in this morning. both and will hold a seat until a special election is held. on wednesday, pearson and jones took part in a rally in memphis with gloria johnson, a white lawmaker who narrowly survived the expulsion vote last week. together the lawmakers have become known as the tennessee three. this is justin pearson addressing a massive crowd of supporters outside the lorraine motel in memphis where martin luther king, jr. was assassinated 55 years ago. >> show me what democracy looks like. show me what democracy looks like. >> this is what democracy looks like. >> show me what democracy looks like. >> this is a democracy -- a place that god calls for it to be. this is a democracy that will bring people from the back, that have been pushed to the periphery. transform our nation. lift up the victims of gun violence. this is a democracy that they are scare

the 2 other news and the republican controlled tennessee house of representatives has voted to expel 2 democrats for their role and a gun control protest at the state house representatives. justin jones and justin pierson have called it a dog die in the states history. the demonstration happened 4 days after nashville school shooting, in which 6 people, 3 of them children, were killed. my cannon has more on the story from washington d. c. well, we have had now the tennessee house objecting to democrats who had claimed lead protests in the house against the house rules. those 2 were african americans and there was a sufficient vote to get them expelled the expulsion requiring 2 thirds. however, with a 3rd democratic charge who happens to be white, the tooth foods majority was not achieved. so she was not objected from the house. but this is a situation where the, those who have been thrown out of the house insist that this is anti democratic, a dog's day for democracy. they say they insist as well that they were speaking in cohesion. and together with the relatives and friends of those

well, we have had now the tennessee house objecting to democrats who had claimed lead protests in the house against the house rules. those 2 were african americans and there was a sufficient vote to get them expelled the expulsion requiring 2 thirds. however, with a 3rd democratic charge who happens to be white at the 2 foods majority was not achieved . so she was not objected from the house. but this is a situation where the, those who have been thrown out of the house insist that this is anti democratic, a dog's day for democracy. they say they insist as well that they were speaking in cohesion and together with the relatives and friends of those who been killed in that shooting the week before. and they had just be in a statement issued by president biden. and all of this harshly critical of tennessee house republicans saying that today's expulsion of law makers who engaged in peaceful protests is shocking and democratic. and without precedent. he's also called on congress to revisit, to issuing strong good gun laws. put himself right behind those law makers in tennessee who have n

pearson remember the house of representatives tennessee like here by the 86th district article two section 12 of the constitution house may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its members for disorderly behavior and with concurrence of two thirds expel a member, but not a second time for the same offense. and shall have all the powers necessary for branch of the legislature of a free state. and whereas all members of the house of representatives must comply with the permanent rules of order of the tennessee house of representatives in general simply gloria johnson, they're getting hugs on the floor of the tennessee state house. young i want to go back to you. do you have a sense of what just happened there. it seems that they are celebrating on march 30th. so the crowd is celebrating and tell me why again you guys are celebrating. we believe that gloria made it by one vote. what we understand , as it takes two thirds we have a 99 member house. it takes 66 votes to expel. i'm a little confused about whether it's 66 of the whole house or two thirds of what's present. but right now

vice president, come le harris has met with 2 african american legislators expelled from the tennessee house of representatives. it were voted out after leading a protest over gun control on to the floor of the house last week. another democrat, the white woman narrowly survived the vote to expel her allan fisher reports we have become known as the tennessee 33 democrats who loudly argued for gun control in the state. the faced expulsion from the overwhelmingly republican legislature for allegedly breaking rules and decorum too were kicked out. the 2 black lawmakers, vice president come la harris made hurriedly arranged trip to the state to show support from the biden white house for them under arguments. i didn't think oh you did. i told them he knew their microphones when they, i think, ah, the punishment, the 2 men see was driven by racism. it was a public in political lynching. it was an attempt to humiliate us. but in what they did was really showed for the world and humiliate themselves, that this is not a democracy that this is, you know, a body that is, is so petty and so weak. and s

how many people in that tennessee house do you think supported the insurrection? how many people in that tennessee house do you think were either there on january 6 there were tweeting on january 6 and thought this was a good idea. were they expelled for their actions on january 6 for their support of january 6? was anybody expelled from any legislative body for doing what they did on january ask? no, of course not, because they were white men doing that on january 6 and now, we have a situation where two black people and a woman are doing it, and so are protesting against violence and this is how they do that. that is not surprising, especially in tennessee. as my already alluded to, tennessee has a lot of dark history here when it comes to legalizing these kinds of actions against protests. this is the same state that seriously considered having a law making it legal for you to drive over protesters who were in your way. that is how tennessee roles. the most famous case on the supreme court about gerrymandering, the thing that started the process of stopping sta

ending of the market rasi to democratic state representatives expelled by republicans from the tennessee house accused of disorderly behavior after taking part in a gun violence protest on the house floor. why was the third lawmaker spared the president, calling the expulsion shocking and the other new reaction coming in? breaking overnight. israel firing rockets into lebanon, increasing the risk for conflict in the middle east. it comes after a major rocket barrage on israel, which the israelis blamed on hamas. both sides are saying overnight. new details in the tech executive found stabbed to death on a san francisco sidewalk. the new images showing what happened in the moments before he collapsed. and called on camera police officers racing into a burning home, saving a family, including a baby, dramatic video of the rescue and the big honor for the officers warning about trouble bubble, a spicy gum with the same ingredients as pepper spray what police are saying after several children were hospitalized and why did he still pays $5000 a day for every breath you take? it's friday, april 7th.

there you go forward to today, republicans hold a super majority in the house and tennessee and right now, you know, that's the reason why they're able to expel. at least one legislator is because republicans just have such a stranglehold on power in the state house in tennessee, a very different tennessee then it was just 16 years ago at this point , and what lessons can we learn, perhaps for other states, and we've been talking about gerrymandering specifically for the state of tennessee. but what should democrats be looking out for another states when they see this happen here? you know, i just, you know, see tennessee being such a different state than the nation as a whole, right? you know, this initially started, you know, as sort of a discussion about guns right and whether or not we need to control gun ownership, and tennessee is a state that has a far more guns than the nation as a whole, right. the majority of tennessee voters have guns in their household. that's very different from where we are nationally where it's less than 40. so the fact is when we look at tennessee and

republicans tonight voting to expel democratic lawmakers from the tennessee house of representatives.s is an incredibly rare move in the volunteer state. in fact, it's only happened to eight lawmakers since the civil war, and six of them were confederate racists from the 19th century who refused to give former slaves citizenship. one was for a bribery conviction, and another lawmaker was kicked out for allegations of sexual misconduct. well, today's reasoning, disorderly behavior for leading es from e house floor. state representative justin jones was the first to be expelled from his democratically elected position. he walked through a sea of supporters with his colleagues, gloria johnson and justin pearson, the tennessee three as they are known. cbs's mark strassmann is there in nashville, will start us off tonight. what a day. good evening, mark. >> reporter: good evening, norah. this debate was barbed and bitter for hours but had a surprise twist. republicans expelled two democratic lawmakers but spared one other involved in last week's disturbance. rancor ruled. and there wassage

repu republicans in the tennessee house of representatives have introduced resolutions to expel threeocrats for, quote, disorderly behavior. those three democrats approached the house podium in between bills last thursday. they chanted with protesters in the house chamber gallery calling for action on gun violence after six people were killed in a nashville school shooting just days earlier because the lawmakers were not recognized to speak at the time republicans say they broke chamber rules. the tennessee house speaker went as far as comparing their actions to the january 6th insurrection nbc news spoke to two of the democratic representatives facing expulsion >> what we're seeing now is an assault on our democracy to silence the voices of not just us but of our constituents and to silence the voices of a movement this has only been done three times in tennessee house history, and they're doing this as a way to distract from the issue, which is the mass shooting that happened here. >> i am a teacher. i taught for 27 years. i taught at central high school in knoxville, tennessee, in

house. the choice of those individual in those districts rejected by the overwhelmingly white majority of the republican caucus in the tennessee stat house. and sent out of the house fo the crime of having chanted in the well of that body. now, they did not expel, as he noted, a third democrat, glori johnson, who also was chanting with those to justin's she's a retired teacher who wa represented knoxville sinc 2019 here's what she said after tha vote that spared her expulsion >> why do you feel like ther is a difference in the outcome between you and your colleague >> i will answer your question it might have to do with the color of our skin. >> i'm joined now by tennessee state senator, london lamar, she serves in the upper hous in that state. she previously served in a tennessee house and now chairs the democratic caucus in the senate -- also joins me, of course, civi rights attorney for presiden director counsel of the naac legal defense fund senator london, let me start with you what is going through your mind, as you are watching this unfol in the state capitol in whic you serve? >> i'm right now sitting in my office just

more protests are expected on monday in nashville after the tennessee house of representatives voted last week to expel two of three members who publicly supported gun control protests. republicans insist the members were voted out for breaking house rules on decorum. they literally control the crowd they control. the protesters have process. we have procedures what they did, uh, was not right and it deserves expulsion. speaking out today ousted democrats justin jones and justin pearson, say it. was a partisan power grab meant to silence calls from tennessee and calling for action on gun control in the wake of a horrific shooting at the nashville christian school. the reality is an institution filled with people who are more concerned about supporting the nra and supporting the second amendment than it is protecting the first amendment rights of children and teenagers to be able to come to the capital and advocate for gun violence prevention laws. they also point out that their colleague gloria johnson, who is white, and also so participated in the protest was not voted out, avoiding

yes, vice president carmella harris has met the 2 democrats who were expelled from the tennessee house of representatives. they were voted out after leading approaches to mounting strict a gun controls on to the house floor last week. the removal came off to the country's latest school shooting in nashville. unofficial has this we have become known as the tennessee 33 democrats who loudly argued for gun control in the state . the feast expulsion from the overwhelmingly republican legislature for allegedly breaking rules and decorum too were kicked out. the 2 black lawmaker, vice president come law harris, me the horridly arrange trip to the state, to show support from the biden white house for them under arguments. i didn't think oh you did. i told them he knew their microphones and they, i think, oh, the punishment. the 2 men see was driven by racism. it was a public in political lynching. it was an attempt to humiliate us. but in what they did was really showed for the world and humiliate themselves, that this is not a democracy that this is, you know, a body that is, is so petty and

the 2 democrats were expelled from the tennessee house of representatives. they were voted out after leading a protest demanding strip to gun controls onto the house floor last week. their removal came in the middle of a public uproar after the latest school shooting nashville unofficial. has this we have become known as the tennessee 33 democrats who loudly argued for gun control in the state. the feast expulsion from the overwhelmingly republican legislature for allegedly breaking rules and decorum too were kicked out. the 2 black lawmakers, vice president come la harris, made a hurriedly arranged trip to the state to show support from the biden white house for them and their arguments. as democracy says, you think, oh, you do not all the people you turn up their microphones when they are thinking ah, the punishment, the 2 men see was driven by racism. it was a public in political lynching. it was an attempt to humiliate as but in what they did was really showed for the world and humiliate themselves that this is not at ok . see that this is, you know, a bo

spending the time focus on that as wel >> let's turn to the extraordinary moves by the tennessee houseepublicans. they voted to expel to members. for breaking the quorum and floor rules. representatives from joined gun safety demonstrators on the tennessee house floor days after the nashville elementary school shooting. johnson survived the expulsion efforts by one vote. this is the latest example of republicans taking extraordinary steps to exert control over democrats in elected positions. what is the potential for all of this to bacire? >> i cover the state legislature for years before coming back to washington. you are seeing washington trickle down into the states. polarization and anger and partisanship and a performative sense of outrage. it didn't really used to exist in the state house. thrisk for republicans here is when they are in charge, they can kick somebody out. any legislative body needs to keep the quorum. now that means you can be kicked out. people were shouting at the president. that is a break of the koran. do they get expelled from congress? this could be a slipp

does this take place often in the tennessee state house? no, this has never happened for a rules violation and i think that's the part that is surprised. so many people who have been long term members of politics in tennessee. look, there's a supermajority here for the republicans, and so they can make this happen. and in fact, a lot of people who are democrats in the state believed today that all three members will be expelled. they think this is going to set a terrible precedent, because if you can't have a sort of rules violation, and it leads to someone being expelled, they think people will not want to talk and the passion behind gun rights is something that we obviously know. across the country. people feel strongly about one of the things that we learned last hour is that when each member is expelled, they will be escorted from the floor at that moment, jake so this could happen anytime in the near future. ryan young outside the statehouse in tennessee. thank you so much. let's bring in holly mccall, the editor in chief of the tenness

. >>> president biden hosts tennessee house representatives justin jones, justin pearson, and gloria hite house today. the trio faced expulsion votes from the tennessee house earlier this month after taking part in gun violence protests on the house floor. >>> and for the third week in a row, the super mario bros. movie is tops at the box office. it has grossed more than $870 million worldwide so far. >>> for more, download the cbs news app on your cell phone or connected tv. i'm matt pieper, cbs news, new york. >>> daring evacuation. u.s. special operations forces air lift dozens of u.s. embassy staff out of sudan's capital as rival generals battle for control of the country. other foreign diplomats rushing to join the exodus. thousands of americans still with no way out. >>> also, second showdown. new polling on a possible biden/trump rematch in 2024. >>> plus, deadly shootings. firing first and asking questions later takes a toll on a nation already anxious about gun violence. >>> bed bath & beyond adds another "b," bankruptcy. why it's now bye-bye. >>> travel trouble. why flying i

tennessee state legislature. and what i appreciate also is the outreach from the white house and vice president harris visiting nashvilleeting with the tennessee three, talking to them, and the local community about the importance of this moment because as she said, while she was in nashville, this is about the fact that it's wrong to turn off the mics of individuals who are fighting for change, fighting for gun laws, to protect their communities. that's completely anti-democratic, and the vice president rightly called it out. they also got a chance to skype with president biden and i think it's fitting for the white house to do that, because they recognize that these three legislators, two of whom are very young, 27 and 28 years old, are on the front lines of this issue, and they're going to continue to be on the front lines. even today there was a mass shooting in this country so the fight absolutely must continue and recognize the power of the voices inthe state legislatures so i do think that democrats have been explicitly clear in recent years at least about investments in these races at the local and state levels,

the republican controlled tennessee house of representatives has voted to expel 2 democrats for their role and a gun control protest at the state house representatives. justin jones and justin pierson of called it a dog dame estate's history. the demonstration happened 4 days after a nashville school shooting, in which 6 people, including 3 children, were killed. johns pearson, and another democrat led protesters on to the host floor to demand stricter gun laws. mike, harness live for us. mike, what can you tell us about what happened in tennessee? well, we'd have had now the dirt, tennessee. how sir? ejecting to democrat seward claim to lead protests in the house against the house rules. those 2 were african americans and there was a sufficient vote to get them expelled, the expulsion requiring 2 thirds. however, with the 3rd democratic charged who happens to be white at the 2 thirds majority was not achieved. so she was not ejected from the house, but this is a situation where the, those who have been thrown out of the house insist that this is anti democratic a dark day for democra

the tennessee legislatur housed in a building built b slaves has hundreds of years o shame in its history the tennessee legislature neve expelled a single member of th ku klux klan from that legislature. the tennessee legislature neve did anything about the hundred of lynchings of black people that occurred in the state o tennessee. they never did a thing about that when you have a history like tennessee's, your state has an obligation to try harder the state of tennessee as state officially committed treason against the united states of america. the state of tennessee waged war against united states of america. there is a lot to be ashamed o in the history of the state of tennessee. the state of tennessee was never going to end slavery the state of tennessee was never going to allow black people to vote it took the united states of america to force the state o tennessee to do those things a gunpoint in a state where gun violenc changed the course of american history, tennessee owes this country proof that it is tryin harder tennessee, a state where the reverent dr. martin luther kin juni

tennessee state house speaker cameron sexton. he likened your behavior during the protest last week to the january 6th insurrection. i just want to play that for our viewers, and then ask you about it. two of the members, representative jones and representative johnson had been very vocal about january. 6th and washington d c about, um what that was and what they did today was. equivalent at least equivalent, maybe worse, depending on how you look at it of doing an interaction in the capital. was what you did worse than than or equivalent to the insurrection in the capital. i mean, it is a completely ridiculous statement from representative speaker sexton that that is trying to incite a reaction what we're doing with the opposite. we were calling for the end of violence were standing with our constituents demanding that we take action on gun violence in our community because first national international and won't be the last until this body act with our people. legislators grievances of these young people here, chance going on ri

from tennessee who said it's very unlikely that's going to happen, given the make up of the tennessee state housewhat do you think can happen going forward? >> we have to keep trying, we need to do a lot more. we're lowering the age of carry in the state of tennessee to the age of 18. that's ridiculous. we have to do more to protect our children gun laws in the state of tennessee are virtually becoming nonexistent. so we have to do more. hopefully that gets passed in the state house, and we'll have to wait and see. >> let me ask you about the absent members of the shelby county commission who didn't show up today to vote on justicin pearson why weren't they there >> i respect my colleagues we do a lot of good work together they did give me notice they would not be at the special call meeting. that is their right to do so, and so some of them, i believe, had plans to be other places that happens we had other commissioners who were out of town i respect them wish they would have been here today, if they couldn't be, that's understandable. i'm glad we were able to get it passed anyway. >> we appreci

well, we had now the tennessee house ejecting to democrats who had claimed lead protest in the house against the house rules. those 2 were african americans and there was a sufficient vote to get them expelled the expulsion requiring 2 thirds. however, with a 3rd democratic charge who happens to be white at the 2 foods majority was not achieved . so she was not objected from the house. but this is a situation where the, those who have been thrown out of the house insist that this is anti democratic, a dog's day for democracy. they say they insist as well that they were speaking in the cohesion and together with the relatives and friends of those who've been killed in that shooting the week before. and they had just be in a statement issued by president biden. and all of this harshly critical of tennessee house republicans saying that today's expulsion of law makers who engaged in peaceful protest is shocking and democratic and without president. he's also called on congress to revisit, to issuing strong good gun laws. put himself right behind those law makers in tennessee who have no

justin jones of the 57th representative district expelled from the house of representatives of the 113th assembly in the state of tennessee >> reporter: the three democrats in question state representatives justin jones, gloria johnson, and justin pearson were accused of disorderly behavior following their participation in a demonstration on the house floor last week. they joined advocates calling for stricter gun safety measures following the mass shooting at the nashville private school that left six people dead on march 27th their chants with the bullhorn from the podium in the house well led to today's showdown >> we called for you all to ban assault weapons, and you respond with an assault on democracy >> reporter: while tennessee's constitution allow for any member of the state legislature to be expelled with a two thirds vote it's only happened three times before demonstrators today filled the halls of the state capitol, but arguments from democrats did little to sway the republican super majority >> this does not seem like america to dispel voices of opposition and dissent is a signal of authoritarianism and it is

before today there have only been three other times since the civil war when tennessee house members have expelled their elected colleagues. in washington, alice barr, nbc news. >>> in texas some parents there are taking the matter of school safety into their own hands. a mother in fort worth founded the nonprofit texans against school violence. she says she start this had program to still a security gap at elementary schools. middle and high schools have school resource officers but elementary schools do not. so the organization pays to sayings off-duty police officers at schools. this week the organizers and police officers went to the state capitol to support a bill that would require an armed security guard at every school in texas. >> our job is to keep these teachers, these kids, and this community safe. that's why we're here. >> right now texas lawmakers have many bills in the works to increase funding for school security. >>> still to come, are you planning on doing any projects around the house? now that the weather is getting nicer, the new service provided by pg&e. please

house could get shot up. we don't know the motive, but i think you can have a lot of assumptions given what's happening in tennessee break through. when the old steve bannon line that we're going to try to flood the zone with you know what. if you're flooding the zone with crap all the time, then that gives you cover to not have to deal with any of these particular things, right that prevents any republicans from having to break on any specific thing and that is why it's up to journalists and democrats and people like us, especially to have to hold them on each of these accounts they're trying to hide from reporters right now when it comes to speaking about the two black men who were kicked out of the tennessee legislature. they don't want to have to answer to the fact that a journalist's house got shot up they don't want to deal with these mass shootings their feet need to be held to the fire and it's not as much progress as anybody wants, but you can see it in the numbers there is a reason why the republicans are on a pretty long losing streak right now. over the past three or four cycles, and part of itis their

you western across it lawmaker justin jones has been reinstated to the tennessee house of representatives. jones was expelled last month after leaving a gum control protest on the house. flo, following a mast shooting at a private school in nashville. 5 people not been shot dead in the us state of kentucky. police say a 23 will been firing side a bank where he was an employee. several others were injured, including a police officer. gunman was also killed. the philippines on the u. s. have just launched their largest joint military drills, proven 17600 troops on participating in the exercises of the next 2 weeks. china's government has warned the philippines against granting the us access to more military facilities. thanks again, officials say the leak of classified us defense documents is a very serious risk to national security. documents have appeared on several websites in recent weeks. they cover a wide range of topics of interest to american policymakers, including details about ukrainian air strikes and the country's air defense vulnerabilities. even expose is a size of some ukrai

coming up, one of the 2 lawmakers thrown out of tennessee house of representatives last week for joining gun control protest to got to sit back. >> one of college could be reinstated. plus, berkeley police announced an arrest in connection to for assault and a whole foods store in downtown san francisco is temporarily closing just a year after opening the troubling reason why that's happening. >> a whole foods store in downtown san francisco is temporarily closing citing safety concerns just one year after it opened our kron four's rob nesbitt. talk to supervisor matt dorsey who lives in that part of the city. rob joins us now live from the newsroom with more on the supervisor has to say rob vicki and catherine, he's disappointed with the closure but not surprised. he says this is not a whole foods issue but rather a citywide issue with retail theft and open air drug markets. >> walk through mid market in san francisco and you'll see the issues out in the open supervisor. matt dorsey experiences it daily. >> it is really >> off. put it to be walking to work this morning. we're going to s

the republican controlled tennessee house of representatives has voted to expelled 2 democrats for their role and a gun control protest at the state house representatives, justin jones and justin pearson of called it a dark day. a demonstration happened after school shooting in nashville, in which 6 people, 3 of them children were killed. david blogger is a national security consultant, and a former staffer for joe biden, when the president was a senator. he's called the expulsions a national embarrassment. unfortunately, i think it will happen in other states, and this, it's a, it is a dark day as representative jones and pearson have mentioned, it's a, a calamity. it's, it's a us, a national embarrassment that this is happen. one of the main tenets of the united states government, not only federal or state, but all the entire government is the 1st amendment. and we have the right to peacefully assemble to peacefully us free speech ah, and a free press. so what's next? what is the tennessee the government going to do next to go after reporters who don't write a favorable stories about t

this is what it sounded wa outside the chamber of the tennessee house of representatives. [crowd chanting] [crowd chanting] [crowd chanting] >> you banned books, you banne drag, kids are still in body bags that was the scene at th tennessee capitol earlie today. republicans in the state legislature voted to expel two democratic representatives fro the tennessee house that voted to kick to democrats out o office it was an unprecedented and it was drastic move and it all started last week that's when hundreds of school students came to the tennessee capital to call for new gu safety measures after a shoote opened fire at an elementary school in nashville. killing 39 year old students and three adults during that protests, a handfu of democratic law minister before the house chamber they had megaphones and they weren't shy about standing i solidarity with the protesters outside which was apparently a violation of the rules of th chamber. republicans pounced. they didn't have anything to say about the substance of the issue here gun safety but boy, they had a lot to say about t

and a show of support for the two eslami garage today, president biden invited the tennessee lawmakers to the white houseris made a surpris visit to nashville to show support for them to ex members of the tennessee legislature. and a third member who misse being ousted by a vote >> they understood the importance, these three. of standing, to say that peopl will not be silenced to say about our democracy here's the cross - here is the pleas. who here is the demands of its people you say the children should be able to live and be safe, an go to school, and not be i fear [crowd chanting] support is flooding in fro across the country, senato chris murphy, noted supporte of gun safety advocates he say he's raised over $400,000 to help reelect the two men in th special election to fill the vacated seat under tennessee, law the count government and the districts represented by those expelle lawmakers will now get to point -- tennessee house. already, the majority of members on the nashville metro council have vowed to use thei power to try to re-appoint the ousted member justin jones, wh represents that counter

tennessee house. they voted to kick two democrats out of office. it was an unprecedented, and it was a drastic move, and it all started last week. that is when hundreds of school students came to the tennessee capitol to call for new gun safety measures after a shooting opened fire at an elementary school in nashville killing three 9-year-old students and three adults during that protest, a handful of democratic lawmakers stood before the house chamber they had megaphones and they were not shy about standing in solidarity with the protesters outside, which was apparently a violation of the rules of the chamber, and republicans pounced. they didn't have to anything to say about the substance of the issue here, gun safety but, boy, did they have a lot to say about the megaphones and protests the republican speaker of the house accused the three democrats of inciting violence and said their protest was, quote, at least equivalent maybe worse than the insurrection at the u.s. capitol on january 6th. here

happen with expelled representative justin pearson joining me are two democratic members of the tennessee state housetive john ray clemens, the democratic caucus chair, and sam mackenzie, chairman of the tennessee black caucus i want to play you, for you, representative clemens you were kind of giving me life during your moment to present at that expulsion hearing let's just play that >> we're talking about nothing less than 75 people overruling the wishes of 78,000 people. and you're going to cut off debate give me a break. is this a circus you are talking about kicking somebody out of this body. grow up. if you can't sit through a conversation or a debate on something no less than expelling a colleague, grow up get out of here. you don't belong here. >> they obviously didn't listen to you, representative i want to ask you because your represent an area of nashville, and you talked about, i believe your district is not far from former representative jones' district i want to ask you about what we were talking about in the previous block how much of this fight is about cowing nashville and forcing th