hopefully, senator warnock as well. we all know on thursday we're going to observe a dark, troubling milestone in this country's history. that is the one year anniversary january 6. that day, thousands of writers egged on by disgraced former president waged an insurrection by attacking the capital. it was not a random event. it did not materialize out of the blue. it was not a group of people being swept up to the moment. january 6 was an effort -- it was the result of an effort by donald trump and his supporters to delegitimize our elections and perpetuate the big lie. trump could not stand that he lost, he couldn't deal with that, so he came up with the big lie and he has had so many people join him in perpetrating ally -- the lie for their own malicious purposes. the election subversion efforts we are seeing all across the country today are a direct continuation january 6 and the big lie. they come out of the same thing. they are all directly related to the same antidemocratic poison as the big lie did people invaded

warnock: listen, there is no misunderstanding.ow what they're doing, and they know what they're doing. and it's ironic that the very people who are talking about bipartisanship are passing these voter suppression bills in state legislature after state legislature, some 19 states, where they are in control, and all of these laws have been passed on a partisan basis. and so they know what they're up to. and the people of georgia know what they're up to. i have stood in those lines. i'm not making this up. i'm not telling you what someone told me. i have been in those lines. i have seen people in neighborhoods stand eight and 10 hours trying to vote. i have gotten those phone calls. i have seen the ways in which our state has purged hundreds of thousands of voters on a saturday night. and now, in this very moment, they are threatening to swoop in and take over local boards of elections. this is anti-democratic. it's anti-american. and we have an obligation to stand up. judy: and, senator, what will you do, though? i mean, given your

and hopefully senator warnock as well. so look, we all know on thursday we are going to observedou a dog troubled a milestone in this country's history. that is the one-year anniversary of january the sixth. that day, thousands of writers egged on by a disgraced former president raised a violent insurrection t by attacking the u.s. capitol. in january 6 was not a random event. it did not materialize out of the blue. it was not just a groupot of people being swept up by the moment. january 6 wasn't effort it was the result of an effort by donald trump and his supporters to delegitimize our election and perpetuate the big library truck could not stand it that he lost it. he could not deal with it. we came up with a big lie. unfortunately he has had so many people across america join him and perpetrating that lie for their own usually bad malicious purposes. the selection of version or seen all across the country today j are direct continuation of january at six and the big lie. they come out of the same thing, they are all d

we're listening to reverend warnock. he's using his pulpit to put pressure on his colleagues in the senate. we're expecting to hear more from vice president harris later on today. but this really is kind of a sticking point. i want to mention as well, we also heard from the doctor of king. she used her time to push for voting rights says this is the time to get it passed and urging people to stick together until it's done. >> all right. senator warnock not just speaking at any church. senator -- of course, research warnock before he was in the upper chamber, speaking at his church there. and gary, let's come to you now. you were literally, it looks like you're on the move there. that march started across the frederick douglas memorial bridge in d.c. what are folks saying to you and what are they demanding? >> yeah. well, they're demanding, chanting saying what do we want? voting rights, and when do we want it? now. hundreds of people are marching for voting rights here. this is martin luther king junior boulevard in sout

sen. >> black voters were a part of senator warnock getting elected. what do you say to black voters that they turned out in earnest for democrats, and democrats can't get any bills finished, can't come to any agreements. sen. schumer: look who is stopping both of those bills. republicans. we don't have a single republican to allow us to go forward and debate. we don't have any republicans supporting this. i was at a lot of mlk commemorations yesterday. the african-american community is passionate about us continuing to fight. they know better than anyone know setbacks, but they don't stop fighting until they win. that is infusing our caucus. >> valid drop boxes are among some provisions in the bill. though started off as pandemic -related measures. sen. klobuchar: mail-in ballot has been the way of voting in the state of utah. are you talking or am i? mail-in ballot and has been the way of life in many states. one of the things we have learned from the pandemic, is it is incredibly helpful in a pandemic, but it's also made it easier for people to vote

senator rafael warnock. >> thank you so much. this is a moral moment in tamerica.as at my church yesterday, ebenezer baptist church where we held our annual service in memory of doctor king and i can tell you georgia and across our country,s politicians yesterday what they do every year. they lined up and offered platitudes and praises to martin luther king jr. mlk weekend, everybody loves martin luther king jr. sometimes i have to sit and wonder who they are talking about it it's because as we have pushed forward this debate on voting rights, i've been hearing arguments against legislation and the arguments have been familiar as a student of the civil rights movement and i was asking myself why? and i realize doctor king and others were pushing forward civil rights and voting rights, people didn't necessarily stand up say we don't believe black people should vote. what do they do? they pushth forward states righs arguments. these are the arguments i've been hearing in this chamber in 2022. let us be very clear, the legislation we are proposing provides the baselin

we will also have remarks from senators rafael warnock and bernie sanders. >> is changing the senate rule a radical idea? oh, my god, first time in history we are about to do it. never been done before. well, not quite. amy: all that and more, coming welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. democrats have failed in their bid to change senate rules in order to pass major voting rights legislation. on wednesday evening, democrats joe manchin and kyrsten sinema joined all 50 republican senators in voting "no" on a change to the filibuster that would have allowed the voting rights measure to move forward with a simple majority. it was the fifth time this session republicans have successfully used the filibuster to block voting rights legislation. that capped hours of debate wednesday that saw some democrats compare gop-led voter suppression efforts to racial discrimination under jim crow. this is georgia democratic senator raphael warnock, one of just three african americans in the senate. >> history is watching us. our children are counting

were able to do things like same day register and now step by step by step starting with raphael warnock's state of georgia, they're pulling back those rules. one of my favorite examples is one that doesn't get any attention, that's montana, for 15 years, same day registration. 15 years the last election, 8,000 people took advantage of it to either change their address or to register anew. taken away. what does that do? maximize confusion for voters at that suddenly that right is taken away on election day and then makes it harder for them to vote. that's what this is about. so some of our colleagues on the other side of the aisle, i know some of you have been watching these speeches, and i'm pretty appalled by it. because if you look at history, actually, history shows and my friend senator merkley, who is the expert on this and will tell you this, is not nearly as clear as they are making it. and in fact, there have been 160 carveouts to the filibuster. there have been waivers. there have been changes of rules. they have changed the rules for things like making it easier to turn down arm

warnock: madam vice president. the vice president: the senator from georgia. mr. warnock: thank you, madam vice president. we have been summoned here by history. this is not just another day in the senate. this is a moral moment in america. i recall the words of that great american patriot and -- martin luther king jr., who all of us just observed, dr. king said history has thrust something upon me from which i cannot turn away. we have been summoned here. all of us. we cannot turn away. and this is no time for politics as usual. the times cry out for moral leadership, for integrity, for empathy and for care for one another, for deep investment in the covenant that we have with one another as an american people. e pluribus unum, what a grand doctrine, what a noble idea which our country has been driving to reach with fits and starts, with setbacks and comebacks since the day of its founding. this is one of those moments. we cannot turn away. we cannot hide from history, and i am truly honored to stand here with all of you, democrats, republicans, and independents

because as reverend warnock has put so well, some people don't want some people to vote. we are here because the people of this country know what's going on. i'm talking about a pattern in georgia who didn't have to stand in line to serve his country, but he had to -- i met in myself turkey had to stand in line hours and hours and hours in the hot sun just to cast a ballot. we are hereer of voters in wisconsin who stood in the rain in homemade mask and garbage bags in the beginning of the pandemic just to exercise the right to vote. because of a voter in wiltshire in texas who traveled three hours on four buses just to vote. a woman in montana would open heart surgery, uncertain about how to return her mail ballot. a former election official from a rural county without dash it was ousted by republicans in the georgia legislature after a decade of service. and a 92-year-old woman who was purged from the rolls after voting in every election for decades since 1968 here we are here because at the record number, of voters voted to make their voices heard, there are people sadl

as reverend warnock, now senator warnock says so well, right now what's going on in this country, some out and stop it. ( applause ) >> stephen: we have to take a quick break. but don't go anywhere. when we come back, i will ask the senator about what it's like to work with those people who helped incite that riot that day. stick around. ♪ ♪ ♪ ( applause ) s super c for me. vicks super c is a daily supplement with vitamin c and b vi tlp energize and replenish. dayquil severe is a max strength daytime, coughing, power through your day, medicine. new from vicks. (avo) command products organize any space with ease... ...and without damage. command. do. no harm. i turned my astrology gift into a business which i'm sensing will require getting some help on my taxes. i'd love to help. we can reduce your tax bill with quarterly payments. i knew you were going to say that. whoa. you do your thing. we've got your taxes. intuit turbotax live. does your vitamin c last twenty-four hours? only nature's bounty does. immune twenty-four hour plus has longer lasting vitamin c. plus, herbal and other im

of the united states senate, thanks to the senate victories in georgia by jon ossoff and raphael warnockse senate victories in georgia, instead of confirming a record number of judges in the first year of his presidency, joe biden might have zero confirmed federal judges as of tonight. everything president biden and the democrats have accomplished in congress he's thanks entirely to the voters of georgia delivering to democrats to the united states senate. today, the white house announced on tuesday january 11th, president biden and vice president harris will travel to georgia to speak to the american people about the urgent need to pass legislation to protect the constitutional right to vote and the integrity of elections from corrupt attempts to strip law-abiding citizens of their fundamental freedoms and allow partisan state officials to undermine vote counting processes. joining us now is lauren groh-wargo, manager of stacey abrams current campaign for governor of georgia. thank you very much for joining us tonight. the president is going to georgia next week to talk about these legi

[applause] that house -- that is how you won the historic election of raphael warnock and jon ossoff.plause] you did it the right way, the democratic way. what has been the reaction of republicans in georgia? they choose their own way. the undemocratic way. to them, too many people voting in a democracy is a problem. so they are putting up obstacles. for example, voting by mail is a safe and convenient way to get more people to vote. so they are making it harder for you to vote by mail. the same way that in 2020, president trump voted from florida. dropping your ballots off to secured drop boxes is safe, convenient, and it gets more people to vote. so, they are limiting the number of drop boxes and the hours you can use them. taking away the options has a predictable effect. longer lines at the polls. lines that can last for hours. you have seen it with your own eyes. people get tired, they get hungry. the bible teaches us to feed the hungry and give water to the thirsty but a new georgia law actually makes it illegal. think of this, 2020, and now 2022, it it makes it illegal to bring

that wouldn't have happened if georgia voters didn't elect warnock and ossoff to the u.s.gets to give out that money. brian kemp would have no money to give out without those democratic successes. and across the country democratic and republican governors have some tools for this huge massive wave. brian kemp and others aren't doing what they need to do and could do much more, but i want folks as we get into the next week and coming months to really think about the hope we have here in georgia and around the country that we can see victories even with these insurmountable challenges -- seemingly insurmountable challenges. >> raphael warnock has become the conscience of the senate on voting rights and voting rights legislation. we now know senator schumer has now been public about it. he was public about it with rachel maddow tonight. he as of tonight only has 48 votes in the senate for the possible rules change that would be necessary on the 60-vote threshold in order to get voting rights through. joe manchin and kyrsten sinema have not come around yet. what could be said

senator raphael warnock is up for re-election. this is one of his defining issues. huan to look at this is turning the page to an election year, trying to associate with democrats on the matters that matter most, and sending a message to democratic voters across the country that this is a defining fight. we know what one of the trend lines is in a midterm year. the president's own party tends to be deflated. to speak more about it in the months to come is really an election year issue for this white house, even if it wasn't a year one issue for the white house. >> tia, how important is it that president biden in this speech is expected to soften his stance, reiterate he's open to changing the rules for the senate when it comes to this issue of voting rights? >> i think it's important, and he's been softening little by little along the way of his presidency. i think it's good in the speech that he at least is foreshadowing he's going to be forceful about it. not just saying i'm open to it or yeah, that could work, but saying this is what should be done. the senate ne

still to come on the newshour: georgia senator raphael warnock discusses the difficult path forward foring rights. the latest on diplomatic talks between the u.s. and russia over ukraine. a filmmaking couple discusses their cinematic examination of immigration issues. and much more. >> woodruff: the most serious federal charges yet in the january 6th insurrection were unsealed today. the leader of the "oathkeepers," a right-wing paramilitary group, and 10 of his members were charged with "seditious conspiracy"; attempting to overthrow the united states government. amna nawaz picks up the story there >> nawaz: stewart rhodes is a yale law graduate. he's also head of a nationwide network of anti-government militants, known as the "oathkeepers." he and many of his comrades were on the grounds of the u.s. capitol last january 6th. the justice department alleges in a complaint released today that the "oathkeepers" conspired to violently overthrow the u.s. government. joining me now to discuss the significance of these charges, and the strength of extremist movements like the "oathkeepers" is

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in the words of reverend senator warnock, some people don't want people to vote. there are people enacting major overhauls to make people enactir overhauls to make it harder for people to vote. 19 states are making it harder for our democracy. january 6 was not an isolated event sadly. it was a major example of the threats to our democracy today and a scary example. what was once bear spray and bayonets have now been replaced by a path to allow for only one drop off in the city of milwaukee. that would have taken effect if not for the veto of governor evers or in georgia where in the last month of an election during the runoff, no voting allowed on weekends. no voting allowed -- no registration allowed when less time in the last election, 70,000 people work urged her during the runoff. that is what we are dealing with right now. there is a direct line between what happened there and the go we have to make sure people have the right to vote. we have to go now. >> our goal is to hire 280 police officers new police officers this year, the year following that. my hope

we appreciate senator warnock. after senator brawn will be senator warren. senator braun: thank you, senator. i don't know how anything could be more important currently than increasing financial literacy. i look at the federal government, it would be nice to see a place dispensing that valuable information maybe practicing a little bit in terms of what it tries to preach at the individual level. i don't know that we've been in a more precarious shot that i've observed since i got an economics degree and was c.f.o. and c.e.o. of a company i ran for 37 years. to see a place that doesn't budget anymore, pretty well do a resolution, we do nothing on time, still trying to sort out spending that should have been done almost four or five months ago. and i think that creates a credibility issue. it doesn't diminish the importance of the topics. but i think it really begs the question, where should this be focused in terms of where would it actually be coming from a place that might have the kind of consistency of practicing the principles that i think we're trying

when these enterprises are set up to deprive what reverend warnock calls some people -- some people of their right to vote and when the laws are done so that that is accomplished against, particularly against african american voters with what one voter called surgical precision. it is not happening at random, it is happening because anonymous amounts of -- of anonymous money is coming in. heritage action, which is the current state of the heart, you set up a phony 501-c-3 and 501-c-34, and the heritage foundation and 501-3-3 and heritage action is 501c-4, and they were talking to the secret donors and they said, we work quietly with the legislators, we made sure activists were calling the state legislators, getting support, showing up at their hearings, giving testimony. in some cases we actually drafted the bills for them or we have a sentinel on our behalf give them the model legislation so it has that grassroots from the bottom-up type of vibe. she said and we did this with little fanfare. honestly nobody noticed. my team looked at each other and were like, it can't be that easy. we

schumer: we are waiting for senator warnock. i hope he is not in the chair. does anyone mind if i take off my mask to speak?

a ground game that leffler saw the value of when she lost her seat to warnock.here are about 150,000 fewer registered conservatives than liberals here in georgia. but one of her biggest challenges, guys, is winning back nearly thousands, hundreds of thousands of disenchanted trump voters after the former president alleged election fraud here and with biden's visit aimed at georgia's new election laws her strongest tool to wooh those voters back. she knows the stakes could not be higher. >> if we don't do this work today, if we don't organize on the ground the path to the majority will not run through georgia. so what's at stake is not just elections but the freedom of every single american who wants their voice heard, who wants their opportunity in this country. >> get this, political analysts out here think that loeffler could use biden's visit to her advantage but she needs more help from the former president. >> i need help from president trump to tell voters that elections in georgia are trustworthy and that georgia republicans should vote in the next electi

how is warnock doing at raising money? how is val demings doing?th on television and online? >> well, i can tell you, jason, i love the picture of the map. it shows that there's a lot of strength that democrats still have to win a number of these senate seats. four of those states, specifically, we have black candidates who are not only polling well, who are campaigning well, but they are raising money. raphael warnock, the last time he reported his numbers, he was way ahead when it came to his fundraising numbers from before. you look at wisconsin. you have val demings. you have beasley in north carolina. they're all extremely qualified and ready candidates, and they're raising the money. that's a testament to they're talking about the issue. i agree, you know, it is difficult when you have the biden administration struggling in so many parts of the country and how they're being able to relate and talk about their accomplishments. while these are nationalized races, these candidates are hitting the ground and going door-to-door already. they're on

as reverend warnock has said repeatedly, some people don't want some people to vote. this is a moment when time stands still, and this is the argument we're making to these two senators. >> i was also struck, senator klobuchar, with the argument that the president made about the way the partisan shift on this issue has changed over time. the way he went out of his way, speaking in atlanta, speaking in blue dot atlanta, in blue state georgia, in front of a supportive audience. but talking about how republicans until quite recently, all but unanimously supported voting rights, and the voting rights act. people like george w. bush and strom thurmond. he talked about thurmond, the anti-civil rights icon, who in the end supported the voting rights act. this is something that even republicans found necessary to do by massive margins in the past. that is both an indictment of republicans but also of democrats who won't do what needs to be done in order to get it passed. i wonder about what your reflections were on him talking so much about how the partisanship on this issue

even if they were going find ten republican votes as senator warnock notes here you are asking thesee been championing the voting rights bill for the past year to swallow almost nothing. we will deal with a slice of subversion. i am not sure at this juncture that the voting rights commune is willing to turn around off the defeat last night and say okay we will take this sliver of reform. it now it could be a very important sliver of reform. as we saw in the 2020 elections it could potentially be weaponized. but the feelings are still incrediby raw right now and the fear is raw, too. it is hard for me to see a path through politically through the senate. >> the republicans want this because everything that has been done and said in the spirit of the big lie is as bad as democrats say it is. why take this on if you are not aware of the danger? >> i wouldn't go so far as to say that i think there is a sliver of the republican party who says what trump tried to do in blocking the certification of the elections, basically sending new electorates to washington, d.c. that he believed should

that's how you won the historic election for senator warnock and ossoff.right way, the democratic way. what has been the reaction of republicans in georgia? choose the wrong way. the undemocratic way. to them tomorrow people voting in a democracy is a problem. so they're putting up obstacles. for example, voting by mail is a safe and convenient what i to get more people to vote. so they're making it harder for you to vote by mail. the same way i might add that the 2020 election, president trump voted from behind the desk in the white house in florida. dropping your ballots off to secured drop boxes. it's safe. it's convenient. you get more people to vote. so eliminating the number of drop boxes and the hours you can use them, taking away the options has a predictable effect. longer lines at the polls. lines that can last for hours. you've seen them with your own eyes. people get tired. they get hungry. when the bible teaches to us feed the hungry and give water to the thirsty, the new georgia law makes it illegal. think of this. 2020 and now 22 going into

as reverend warnock has point reasonable doubt out so many times, he stood for -- as reverend warnock has pointed out so many times, he stood for action and fairness and freedom. last week i met with martin luther king iii and his wife who came to washington to pass this legislation. he told us that his daughter was born in 2008, the year that president obama was elected. they told me how the shelby decision was issued years later followed by georgia's voter law enacted just last year. how sad is it that if we do not act, their daughter, the granddaughter of martin luther king jr., will face more obstacles to voting than the promise they were born with? this cannot be the democracy that our children inherit. dr. king once said, and i will paraphrase, the disappointment is finite. i don't know how today is going to end, but if it ends without this bill passing, we will be much less of a country moving forward. but i will keep this in mind what he said. disappointment is finite, but hope is infinite. the people of this country will not tolerate silencing, as the minority leader has said

i am surprised that reverend warnock hasn't been able to make, hey, you know why you have the majoritym here. you know what my constituents care the most about? it is this. now, he's up already, so he's in a complicated position. have you been surprised he hasn't -- that that hasn't been more of a rallying cry? >> you know, i think he's pushing it as far as he can. in order to put this into perspective you have to go back to 2020 and look at the effort to get him into office, to get jon ossoff into office. you had all these groups knocking on doors, trying to bring people by bus and van to vote. and now those same people i'm talking to are using words like disgusted, utterly befuddled, disillusioned with the entire process that that hadn't been able to come to pass. so i think when you lock at this and look at the fact it hasn't come, these activists are saying, look, come to georgia, understand -- >> who do they blame for this? i'll tell you i talked to an activist and doing a lot of -- who's madder at biden than the republicans. >> oh, yeah. >> and even says i won't consider the repu

one of the best came from the democrats resident preacher senator raphael warnock, he's the pastor of i want to leave you with some of his words from last night. take us to church, please. >> some of the same voices ironically who have extolled dr. king's life this week have had at the same time been working vig lousily against the legislation we're debating today to protect the right to vote and many of them have been channelling old state's rights arguments. let the message go out. you cannot remember martin luther king jr. and disremember his legacy at the same time. you can argue whatever side you want. but you do not get to argue both sides. i will not sit quietly while some make dr. king a victim of identity theft. you do not get to offer praises and plaudits in memory of dr. king and then marshall the same kind of states rights arguments that were used against dr. king and against the civil rights movement. please know that as the pastor of dr. king's church, this -- this argument evokes, i say, really respectfully, it evokes some of the darkest moments in our country's longest

that's how you won the historic election, senator raphael warnock and senator jon ossoff. you did it -- you did it the right way. the democratic way. and what's been the reaction of republicans in georgia? choose the wrong way. the undemocratic way. to them, too many people voting in a democracy is a problem. so they're putting up obstacles. for example, voting by mail is a safe and convenient way to get more people to vote. so they're making it harder for you to vote by mail. the same way, i might add, the 2020 election, president trump voted from behind the desk in the white house in florida. dropping your ballots off to secured drop boxes. it's safe. it's convenient. and you get more people to vote. so they are limiting the number of drop boxes and the hours you can use them. taking away the options has a predictable effect. longer lines at the polls. lines that can last for hours. you've seen it with your own eyes. people get tired. they get hungry. the bible teaches us to feed the hungry and give water to the thirsty. the new georgia law actually makes it illegal -- t

clearly in november there could be even vaster changes if raphael warnock wins re-election, and if stacey abrams wins the gubernatorial race in georgia and shapes her own agenda in a deep south state. >> greg bluestein from the atlanta journal constitution, and ajc.com, thanks again. >>> the man accused of being the getaway driver after his 14-year-old son is accused of shooting and killing three people didn't know his son had the gun, or so says the man's attorney police say able acosta fired more than 20 rounds during the s shooting at a dallas area gas station convenience store the day after christmas. they say he's been on the run ever since the father is richard acosta he surrendered to police the day after the shooting this is surveillance video from that night police say richard brought his son to the scene and drove away. he's charged with capital murder now his attorney says richard didn't know about the shooting and didn't encourage his son in any way. the attorney says his client drove away because he heard the gunshots but didn't have any idea who was firing. he says when the

senate rules committee in a press conference with senate majority leader, chuck schumer, senator warnocky, today. senator schumer announced that he will try to change the rules of the senate to allow the senate to then have a vote on preserving voting rights in this country. >> if republicans continued to hijack the rules of the chamber to prevent actions on something as critical as protecting our democracy than the senate will debate and consider changes to the rules honored before january 17th, martin luther king day. >> later, that same group of senate democrats, including leader schumer and senator amy klobuchar, met with joe manchin. also among others to discuss voting rights and potential reforms to senate rules that all democrats can support. joining us now is democratic senator, amy klobuchar. she is the chair of the senate rules committee. and she was in the room, today, with joe manchin among others discussing the subject. senator, just word for word, what did joe manchin have to say? >> now lawrence. >> i had to try -- >> i cannot report to you would have been in that room but

king's daughter, the reverend bernice king, senator raphael warnock, who is the pastor. the senior pastor of ebenezer. he came back here to his own pulpit very literally using his pulpit to try and push his colleagues to pass voting rights, and we've also just heard from vice president kamala harris among a number of other people, speaker after speaker are using this time to send a message to washington. here's what the vice president had to say, take a look. >> today our freedom to vote is under assault. in georgia and across our nation anti-voter laws are being passed that could make it more difficult for as many as 55 million americans to vote. the proponents of these laws are not only putting in place obstacles to the ballot box, they are also working to interfere with our elections, to get the outcomes they want, and to discredit those they do not. that is not how democracies work. >> reporter: i've had the chance to speak to a number of of organizers here in georgia, some of the people who played a key role, an instrumental role in flipping the state blue for joe b

. >> reporter: ebenezer's pastor and georgia's senator raphael warnock literally using his pulpit to apply pressure to his senate colleagues. >> we will be free some day we will get voting rights [ applause ] >> reporter: but in washington, the two bills are all but dead with every republican opposed, calling the legislation a partisan attempt to have the federal government take over elections. >> this is not about a fair election. this is about gaming the system and putting your thumb on the scale for democrats to try to keep control of the congress >> reporter: and two moderate democrats opposing a change to historic senate rules that would allow democrats to pass the bills on their own today president biden said passing the legislation is the only way to truly honor king's legacy. >> it is not just enough to praise him we must commit to his unfinished work, to deliver jobs and justice to protect the sacred right to vote. >> reporter: but now the president is under fire for once again failing to convince his own party to pass a key part of his agenda, and some allies are fed up. in

as reverend warnock has pointed out so many times, he stood for action and fairness and freedom. last week i met with martin luther king 3 and his wife and daughter came to washington to help us pass this legislation. they told me that their daughter was born in 2008, the year president obama was elected. they told me how the supreme court decision was issued five years later followed by the anti-voting law enacted just last year. how sad is it that if we do that, the granddaughter of martin luther king jr. and her classmates will face more obstacles to voting then they can cast a ballot then the promise that they were born with. this cannot be the democracy that our children inherit. doctor king once said, and i will paraphrase disappointment is finite. i don't know how today is going to end, but if it ends without this bill passing we will be much less of a country moving forward, but i will keep this in mind what he said, disappointment is finite, but hope is infinite. the people of this country will not tolerate silencing as the majority leader said silencing their voices tru

and that's why i'm so proud that i got to be part of making sure that jon ossoff and raphael warnockll manage to be an author not just a reader, not just a lover of television, but an accomplished author, across many different genres -- political thrillers, suspense, romance and now you've written a children's book. how is that different than the other experiences? >> children are hard, man. it is hard to write for kids [ chuckles ] you've got to write a book that they will sit still for. you've got to write a book that their parents won't despise you for having to read over and over again if they like it. and you have to take this complicated story in your head and not make it simple, but distill it down so that it fits into a much shorter space than a 100,000-word thriller. and all in -- and make sure that the art is amazing, which luckily i had nothing to do with, because kitt thomas is a fantastic artist >> seth: i know you're very close with nieces and nephews. did you use them as a sounding board for this book? and what was the sort of feedback they gave you >> i did and they w

senator warnock is one of those who is central to the voting rights conversation and who made the pointing the end of last year when they made that carveout on the debt ceiling, hey, if you are going to do it on the debt ceiling why can't you do it on something as fundamental and important as voting rights? certainly that's a conversation here and part of the reason why we see grassroots groups so upset about the way the senate has handled this and other agenda item issues, it seems like they're willing to do carveouts on things that are economic related but not necessarily on something as critical as democracy and voting, which they have repeatedly said is an underpinning of the democratic agenda right now, but as you go into a voting year, i don't have the numbers of how congress spent its time but i would imagine it looks pretty similar to the way that president biden spent his time. the focus has been covid and build back better only in the last month of the year did we truly see a true pivot just to voting rights here on the hill. >> and, ali, there's some word chuck schumer wants

there is one seat up warnock is up for reelection.eat him in georgia in 2022? >> i think we have a great shot at that. herschel walker has shown himself to be a disciplined and effective candidate and warnock presented himself at somebody who would listen to both sides. instead he has become a partisan democrat just doing largely whatever chuck schumer wants him to do. i think voters in the mid-term elections frustrated with the direction of the country and lack of results on issues they care about are going to come back and beat raphael warnock as he tries to seek a second term. >> dana: happy new year. thanks so much. >> bill: we'll see how this goes, dana. we mentioned this last hour. five years ago a bunch of senators got together and signed a letter saying don't change the filibuster. incidentally there are 32 democrats who signed that letter. 27 of them are still in the senate chamber today five years later. >> dana: i remember that. there was a thing a few years ago but also in 2005 one of the reasons that the democrats were ta

but reverend warnock, king gave one of his best speeches that day, where he asked people how long are we going to have to wait? not long. because the truth, i'm thinking about the lies we're hearing now, the big lies, the lies of in-person voting, where the truth crushed to the earth will rise again. don't lie and say there's not a disparate voting reality for blacks and whites in this country right now. the facts speak differently. don't lie and say that these laws are not being done in a way to make it harder for students to vote. don't lie and say that we are a nation that should be doing more to ease access as opposed to putting up more barriers, because to go on more barriers is anti-democratic. those lies will not live forever. i do believe still that the arc of the -- the arc of the moral universe is long and bends toward justice. i still believe the best of our democracy will come out if people do not give up and are not discouraged. i ask my colleagues right now to continue on the floor today, to tip to tell the -- to continue to tell the truth of what's happening in your sta

so when it's in reverend warnock's community or senator padilla's community, or cory booker's community, or my community, somehow that drop box invites fraud just simply because it's in our community? another lie straight from the mouth of a defeated president -- that many states are reducing early voting days. when you add up all these restrictions, what do you get? longer lines at the polls, people giving up, folks who have to get home to their kids, workers who can't afford to take a day off. to the partisan architects of these laws, their size of resignation, that's music to their ears. they want to make voting so inconvenient for working people and communities of color that they don't even bother. the georgia state legislature gave itself the power to remove election officials that were elected by the people if they don't like what they see. simply put, these laws gave state legislators new tools to disregard -- disregard -- the will of the voters. so i've come to the conclusion that since republicans cannot win elections with the power of their ideas, they're doing everything they

warnock: thank you very much. a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: the junior senator from florida. mr. scott: madam president, last month i was proud to see the senate come together in a bipartisan efforts and pass a congressional review act measured to overturn president biden's unconstitutional federal vaccine mandate on private businesses. in that bipartisan vote, a majority of u.s. senators sent a clear message that these job-killing mandates are wrong. they have no place in our country's fight against covid-19. then, just days after christmas, president biden said something very interesting. while he was talking with gofertion about the covid-19 pandemic, he admitted, i quote, look, there is no federal solution. this gets solved at a state level, unquote. this is president biden's message -- states should be leading the effort. now, that doesn't mean there isn't a role for the federal government, but we have seen from the biden administration no progress, just worsening cases and the horrible job-killing consequences of h