Republicans SHOCK THE COUNTRY with BOMBSHELL UPDATE

A massively daunting update for the. Democrats as the redistricting wars. launched by Trump continue to devolve. So, Alabama is now moving to eliminate. their existing 5-2 map and revert back. to their previously struck down 6-1 map. And that that packs voters from. Montgomery to Birmingham all into one. district. And of course this follows. Tennessee successfully eliminating all. Democratic districts. That cracks. Nashville and Memphis. Louisiana goes. from two Democratic seats down to one. South Carolina is now advancing a map.

that eliminates only Democratic seats. And of course all of that is in addition. to the five additional Republican seats. in Texas, four in Florida, two in Ohio, one in North Carolina, and one in. Missouri so far. And I presume this. trend will continue with Republicans. eventually eliminating almost all if not. all Democratic districts in states that. they control. So, here are a few hard truths. First of. all, they will not stop. The Republicans. to their credit engage in these. long-term projects. Whether it's Roe or.

the Voting Rights Act, they will fight. for something even if it takes them 50. or 60 years. And they did in this case. They were successful, which means that. Democrats will not be able to reason. with them. They will not be able to. compromise with them. They will gain. nothing by conferring goodwill to the. other side. And frankly, the only thing. worse than watching Republicans run. roughshod over our democracy is. Democrats thinking that some misguided. sense of compromise is going to change. anything.

My second point, going tit-for-tat. against the GOP buys us nothing. Look, you will not find a bigger advocate for. California's Prop 50 ballot measure than. me. I literally raised a million dollars. toward it. I'm proud of the fact that it. happened. But in retrospect, adding five. Democratic seats to neutralize five. Republican seats in Texas was not a. deterrent, clearly. To his credit, here's what Mark Elias said a year ago. Look, >> Republicans don't care about democracy. You know, Republicans support Donald. Trump because they're authoritarian. And.

they will abuse every norm. They will. violate every tradition. They will seek. to weaponize every law, every practice, everything that they can in order to. gain power for the sake of having power. And they are not going to be deterred. from doing that if they, you know, turn. a grotesque map into an obscene map in. Texas and our response is, "Okay, well, we found, you know, four or five seats. of our own.".

They they will take that as a win, right? Because they've done what they. want and then as you say, they will move. on to Missouri. They'll move on to. Florida. They'll move on to Ohio. Uh they will move on to, you know, they will move on to, you know, wherever. will be their next place and they will. not be deterred. What we need to do is. we need to recognize that if we want to. stop the slide of democracy, we as Democrats, we as people in the. pro-democracy movement need to tell them. that if they take five seats, we're. going to put 30 seats on the table,

right? Because they need to understand. that there will not just be parody if. things go against them, but actually if. they guess wrong and and this this winds. up escalating, they could wind up on the. severe losing side. So, when people say. to me, you know, "Don't bring a a knife. to a gunfight." I don't even want to. bring a gun to a gunfight. You know, I. want to bring something more than a gun. to the gunfight, right? I want to bring. missiles to the gunfight. I want to. bring hand grenades to the gunfight. because I want the underside to.

understand that not only are we going to. fight as hard as them, but we are going. to fight smarter than them. >> And he's right. You gain nothing by. going tit-for-tat. You have to go on. offense, which brings me to the third. and final point. We now know the. Republican strategy. It's not a secret. It's not going to sneak up on us. They. will gerrymander every Democratic. district out of existence. Just you. wait. They're doing it now. Their judges. will let them do it, even if expressly. prohibited by their own state.

constitutions. Florida proved as much. So, our only recourse now, recognizing. what they are doing in broad daylight, is to go on full offense. That means. that Democratic officials in New Jersey, New York, Illinois, Colorado, Washington, Oregon, and on and on need. to wake the up and start redrawing. these maps for full Democratic control. Why? Because going tit-for-tat deters no. one. You need to show Republicans some. deterrent effect for what they're doing. And also, consider this. If Democrats do.

go all out, guess what? They can. actually win the redistricting war. California has 52 seats. Republicans. currently hold seven. That's a big haul. New York has 26 seats. Republicans. currently hold seven. That's a big haul. So, these governors and state. legislators in blue states need to. realize that this is no longer about. fairness. It is about fighting back so. that Democrats are not scientifically. engineered out of the house forever. And I get that Democrats don't really.

have the stomach for this kind of stuff, for this kind of warfare. Find it. The. time for good government solutions is. long gone. Now, it's existential. I'm going to read an excerpt from my new. book, The Day After, which was written. expressly because Democrats do not wield. power while Republicans are content to. abuse it. However, Republicans managed. to skew democracy so much because they. pursue power over principle, whereas too. many Democrats pursue fairness and good. government. Republicans controlled the. drawing of 191 of the districts in 2024,

compared to only 75 controlled by. Democrats. The rest of the house. districts were drawn by commissions, courts, or divided state governments. In. the Democratic strongholds of California. and New York, there are independent. redistricting commissions. In Texas and. Florida, there's no such thing. In. Republican-controlled districts, there. is little legal recourse to correct the. maps. In their largely conservative. courts, the judges often refrain from. interfering with map schemes, unlike the. mostly liberal courts reviewing maps in. Democratic districts. I wrote this book expressly because I.

realized that this issue is creating a. massive asymmetry between the two. parties. One party wields power. recklessly and aggressively, the other. party just shies away from it. But at a. moment when democracy itself is. endangered, is on the line, that kind of. disparity is literally going to relegate. Democrats into obscurity forever. I should also note that if you'd like to. support my work, if you'd like to. support that message, please consider. pre-ordering my book The Day After. I'm. going to put the link right here on the. screen, in the post description of this.

video, and also in the comments of this. video. I really appreciate it. So look, at this point, I hope that everybody. watching recognizes that the onus is now. on us to apply as much pressure as. humanly possible to our blue state. officials. And if they won't do it, like. Maryland State Senate President Bill. Ferguson, then we need to support other. people who will, like Bobby LePin, who. is running against him. If they won't do. it, like Colorado Governor Jared Polis, then we need to support the. gubernatorial candidates in Colorado who. will. And the same goes for every seat.

in every blue state there is. Now is do. or die. Our democracy quite literally. depends on it. You're watching the No. Lie podcast. Next up are my interviews. with LA mayoral candidate Nithya Raman, NAACP General Counsel Kristen Clarke, and Georgia Supreme Court candidates. Miracle Rankin and Jen Jordan. No Lie is. brought to you by Ridge. So if you still. have a giant crusty leather brick of a. wallet that's falling apart, it is 100%. time to upgrade. I probably had the same. wallet for about a decade. I actually. wasn't looking for a new wallet until I.

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I'm joined now by candidate for mayor of. Los Angeles, Nithya Raman. Thanks so. much for joining me. >> Thank you for having me. >> So this is the city that I live in. I've. been covering this race. I'm curious. first and foremost because I think a lot. of the national attention that this race. is getting is owed in large part to the. fact that Spencer Pratt has been a very. vocal kind of Trumpian voice in in this. race. But like Donald Trump in 2016, there are a lot of people that are. saying, you know, there are a lot of. things that are wrong with Los Angeles. and nobody seems to be speaking as.

bluntly about how to fix them as him. And so what is your response to to the. the attention that he's garnered online. with very much the same style that Trump. had 10 years ago? >> You know, I think that Spencer Pratt is. tapping into a lot of the frustrations. that people have in Los Angeles by the. way that things are going. And his. Trumpian qualities is exactly why I. think Angelenos should be taking this. race seriously. But should also be. grappling with the critiques. LA right.

now. feels worse than it did. 2 years ago or 3 years ago. >> Yeah. >> For a lot of Angelenos, it feels like we. are moving in the wrong direction rather. than in the right direction. And that. isn't just a consequence of the fact. that economically things are harder, it's also a consequence of the fact that. even some of our most basic services in. the city like street lights and potholes. are worse than what they were before. There's 30,000 street lights out across. the entire city. There's more potholes.

than they were, and our homelessness. crisis continues to exist on our. streets. And I think. this is the same issue that we're facing. nationally, which is if you feel like. the country is moving in the wrong. direction, and if you feel like. establishment Democratic politics is not. feeling that urgency to solve those. issues or to prevent them from happening. in the first place, people lose faith in. government. And I feel that frustration.

around me in Los Angeles every day. Um, and that's, you know, it's it it it drives me in my work, and. it drove me to run for this seat. Um, but I also think it's a very real thing. that we should take seriously, and we. need to grapple with, and we need to. offer it an honest response. A response. that's rooted in actually solving these. problems. Um, otherwise people will turn. to fascism, to mini Trump, which is who.

I think Spencer Pratt really represents. >> So, if if you're saying that these. problems need to be fixed, if you're. correctly diagnosing these problems, if. they're so obvious to you and me and. everybody else who recognizes the issues. with Los Angeles, clearly the mayor, the. current mayor, Karen Bass could see. these things, too. And so, what is the. response as to why these things aren't. getting done? >> You know, I think some of the problems. are the direct result of the way in. which our local political machine works, and the way in which campaign financing.

works here, and the way in which. political campaigns are funded. We are. in a budget deficit right now, a real. kind of fiscal challenge that was driven. by the fact that the police union is one. of the major players in our local. politics, and the mayor signed an. unsustainably large contract with LAPD. in 2023, in part to secure their support. for her future election, which she has, and that money is now being spent. against me and that unsustainably large.

contract has led to real budget deficits. which have led to service cuts across. the entire city which have made life in. the city harder and worse for ordinary. Angelenos. I don't think the choice right now needs. to be between our broken status quo that. is motivated by these kind of. um. really political decisions around some. of the most important issues facing Los. Angeles and between a MAGA Republican. These do not have to be our only.

options. I really feel like we can build. a better city here, but we have to. reorient ourselves towards serving the. public, towards serving Angelenos, not. just serving the political interests. that really maintain the status quo in. City Hall. >> So, there are three issues that I want. to focus on and that's housing, homelessness, and Hollywood. And I think. that Hollywood and housing are are. things that I want to discuss reforms. with you, but homelessness is something. that we're spending a ton of money. on right now that I think largely folks.

can agree is not getting better. or at least not visibly getting better. I'm sure that if you look at the. numbers, you know, there's some, you. know, small incremental percentage of. people who are getting into beds, but I. think in large part um. people in the city recognize that a lot. of money goes toward this and that there. isn't, you know, a solution. uh that that that is, you know, easy to. identify taking place. And so, you know, why hasn't this been able Why is this. issue so difficult to navigate in Los.

Angeles, especially given just the. influx of money that's put toward it? >> I A big part of the reason, so I want to. say that in my district we've had a. really big reduction in tents and. encampments and I represent District 4. and we've done a lot of the work in my. district to actually reduce visibly and. palpably the number of large. encampments, tents that were on the. streets, I've seen a 54% reduction over. a three-year period, um, and and more over the time that I've.

been office my. I've been in office. And so, I think you. can make a palpable impact on this. issue, but it requires real. coordination. In LA right now, we spend. we've increased our spending on. homelessness by 15 times over just a few. years. Um, and we've given a lot of. money to our homeless services authority. and to homeless service providers, but. in the city, despite my efforts to. create oversight and accountability, there's very few staff that are actually.

looking at how we're spending that money. and ensuring that every single dollar. that we're spending is actually getting. to results. >> Do you Do you know the the total number. of spending in the past fiscal year that. goes toward homelessness in LA? >> Um, so the uh it's about 700 million. from the budget. >> And do you know how many people were. were taken off the streets and put into. beds? >> I don't know that offhand, but there are. Yeah, there are. >> Roughly like a like roughly is there is. there any indication?

>> of people go indoor to shelter and to. housing across the entire system every. day every every year. Uh, but many of. them return to the streets because they. don't have adequate quick care in the. shelters, they're not connected to. mental health services, and people cycle. in and out of shelters all the time. But, the reality is part of the reason. we don't see a lot of progress on our. streets is that we still lack the number. of shelter beds that we need for our. total homeless population. We only have. a third of the shelter that we need for. our total homeless population. And we.

don't manage our shelters very well. And. so, when people get into them, this is. what I was saying, we invest a huge. amount of money in homelessness, but the city of Los Angeles right now. does not have an office, an entity, an a department that is. tasked with ensuring that every single. dollar is working as hard as it could to. get people indoors and to keep people. indoors and to make sure that they're. moving on to their next step as quickly. as possible. This to me is a huge. failure of accountability. I've pushed.

to create the very first. Bureau of Homelessness Oversight in the. city. We finally got that passed through. the city budget process last year, but. because of a lack of urgency from City. Hall, including from this mayor, we. don't have a single staff member. for this Homelessness Oversight body at. all, which means we have no information, no one responsible for actually making. sure that the system works. I can do. whatever I can at the district level, but at the citywide level, we have to. have the urgency to create a truly.

accountable system, and that requires. the mayor's efforts. She is the person. who has the convening authority and the. power to be able to move that forward. That's part of why I'm running, and I. want to go back to what I said earlier, which is. if we don't build trust and faith in the. system, if we don't ensure that people's. tax dollars are going towards real. results, if. this city, which has voted three times. in the past few years to tax itself to. provide a response to the crisis on our.

streets. with housing and with shelter and with. services, if we don't demonstrate. results, people will lose their faith in. government. >> Yeah. >> And that that scares me. As a. progressive, as someone who really. believes in the power of government to. do good, we need to deliver on that. >> What does success look like? Let's say. you're elected mayor, and obviously the. issue of homelessness is, you know, the. the subsequent election will be a. referendum on that issue. Let Let's be. honest. It's It's Los Angeles. It's It's.

always a referendum on homelessness. What does success look like for you in 4. years? >> So, for I released a plan just a few. days ago talking about my approach to. how I would address this issue, and what. I'm promising is a reduction in tents. and encampments across the city by 50%. by the Olympics, which is in 2 years. And by the end of my first term, that we. will have addressed all tents and. encampments across the city. >> Okay. >> And I have a plan, excuse. [clears throat] me, I have a plan to get. there that uses our existing investments.

and our existing dollars, but uses them. much more effectively, and ensures that. people are transitioning into lower cost. voucher programs and mental health beds, that can effectively get many more. people off the streets without asking. for more money from the public. >> Another issue I want to switch over to. is the entertainment industry. I have. interviewed every gubernatorial. candidate I've interviewed, even when. I've spoken to Newsom, I've been a bug. up his ass every time about expanding.

the TV and film tax credit. >> Yep. >> I've lived here for 15 years. I moved here because of the. entertainment industry. I have seen a. city bustling with with activity when it. comes to to. TV and film production down to what it. is right now, which is, you know, even. in my own circle of friends, I've had. people move to Atlanta, people move to. New Jersey, to New Orleans, even to. Canada, because that's where the work. is. And so, as we look toward, you know, trying to regain what we can.

from this industry, what is your plan to. bring jobs back to not, you know, to to. the city that that we live in? >> You know, I think we have to make a much. better case for this tax credit. And as. mayor, I want to be the loudest, most. fervent advocate for a tax credit that. is designed to be competitive with the. other jurisdictions that are taking jobs. away. And frankly, we should have been. advocating for this years ago, because. the loss in jobs has been happening for. many years now. We need a tax credit. that has no cap, that is guaranteed.

years into the future. It has to be. guaranteed, because studios want to. invest locally, and in order to invest. locally and to make those investments, you have to be able to know that you can. apply for this next year or the year. after. So, it has to be with no cap. It. has to be guaranteed years into the. future, and I think we have to figure. out better ways of structuring it so. that above the line costs are addressed. so that we can also incentivize things. like post-production to also happen. here. I mean, this is the kind of tax.

credit that we desperately need. And at. you know, at the as a representative, as. a mayor of the city of Los Angeles, I. would be the loudest advocate for that. both in Sacramento and now in DC where. discussions around a tax credit are also. happening. >> Um I'm very glad to hear you say uh a. tax credit with no cap because that's. something that I've been advocating for. for years, and I think that the $750. million is a good first step, but it's. only a first step and clearly not enough. um to bring, you know, to to bring.

business back into Los Angeles as we are. now at the lowest point that we've been. for those who have careers in the. entertainment industry in this city, but. another. >> Oh, and I think for businesses who are. trying to figure out for studios that. are trying to figure out where to shoot, >> Yeah. >> right now it's a lottery system. >> Correct. And And that's why we saw. Netflix invest so much money into New. Jersey. You know, and and and uh that. would have been great for me 20 years. ago and I grew up in New Jersey, but not. not so much anymore. But another good. part of this is not just the tax credit,

it's also the difficulty to shoot in. this city. And. I I have. the luxury, even though I work in. politics, of having all of my friends. work in the entertainment industry. This. way I don't have to talk about politics. after work, but like um it is difficult. to shoot in this city, and the permits. are a nightmare to shoot in this city, and the costs are a nightmare to shoot. in this city, and we have regulated. ourselves into obscurity at this point. And so, on a more local level, do you. have a plan to make it easier to. actually shoot in this city so that. money, time, resources doesn't go toward.

um dealing with bureaucracy that doesn't. exist in other places where they clearly. want this business and those same. bureaucratic loop. barriers don't exist. >> 100% and this city has an approach to. film permitting and and filming in LA. that we need to completely change. The. city has taken shooting. for granted. It's taken the industry for. granted for a very long time. >> Yeah. >> And now we need to do much more to. ensure that we are actually. incentivizing and making it as easy as.

possible for productions to shoot here. And I would do everything possible to. ensure that we're removing the barriers. in city hall to those issues. On day one. I would appoint a film liaison who had. film industry experience who knew what. productions needed. I would staff out a. full film office in the mayor's office. so that we were making sure that all. issues were addressed so that we could. be doing inter-jurisdictional. coordinating. So many places in LA like. the beaches have both county and city.

responsibility. It should not be on. productions to liaise between two. different jurisdictions. It should be on. the city to make sure that this is. happening across the city. We have. things like neighborhood filming. conditions where where productions have. to pay additional fees even to. homeowners associations and to local. neighborhood associations. These kinds. of things are remnants of an industry. that doesn't look the same anymore. And. we need to get rid of all of those kinds. of barriers and costs. There are also.

additional costs for things like police. officers and fire marshals. Not every. production needs the level of. bureaucracy and staffing that we. required of them. And I would want to. make sure that we were removing all of. those and for smaller productions. potentially eliminating it entirely. >> Great. And just for for folks who are. watching and listening right now like I. also want to be clear that that when we. talk about the entertainment industry. this isn't like to help Brad Pitt and. Angelina Jolie and George Clooney. Like.

these are there are hundreds of. thousands of jobs that are that are. every everything from catering to PAs. and production to post-production. and special effects houses and hotels. that rely on people coming into town to. shoot this stuff and transportation. I. mean it's all the jobs that that. hundreds of thousands if not millions of. jobs that make up this industry beyond. just what you see in front of the. screen. It's no different than what the. auto industry was to Michigan or or any. other major industry is to to the region.

that they come from. So, you know, I know that like people. will kind of you know, turn their nose. up at the entertainment industry because. it's it doesn't feel as as important, but this city exports culture to not. just the rest of the country, but the. world and I think that I think that you. know, that that has never been more. important when especially at a moment. when reality often times feels so grim. to have to have that world to escape. into and to support the arts in such a. big way. And finally, I want to talk about. housing because. I'm intimately familiar with with this.

and I know that it is. as close to impossible to build in Los. Angeles as as it could be. Even as as I have built my own house, I know that that you can't put a shovel. in the ground for more than a year. I mean this is you know, everything I'm. saying is is no surprise to you. I'm. sure you've heard it every which way. So, what is the what what is your stance. on reforming. all that makes Los Angeles so difficult.

to build in? >> I mean we. we absolutely need to transform this. city into a city that says yes to new. housing rather than a city that is. really designed around delaying and. denying new housing. We have an. extraordinarily. intensive housing shortage here. We have. the fewest homes per capita. per adult of any city in America, and we. have the highest rent burden population. of any major city in America. Those. numbers are directly related to each.

other, and it didn't happen by accident. This city said no to housing for a very. long time. Residents stood up and had an. active anti-housing movement, and City. Hall responded by making. construction as slow as possible, particularly for apartments that are. exactly what we need so much more of. Our average time for approving an. apartment here is over a year and a. half, much longer than in other states. like Texas and Colorado, and I want to.

change all of that. I want to create a. bureaucracy that's designed to say yes. in a in a reasonable amount of time. So, I want to put in place a shot clock, a. deadline by which the city has to say. yes or no to a permit application. 60. days for zoning compliant projects, 120. days for projects that require some. zoning changes. I want to make sure that. we are having a single inspector look at. a project from day one to finish, so. that bureaucracy is not giving you two. different responses.

to what you need to do in order to. actually be allowed to build. I want to. make sure the Department of Water and. Power, which can add millions of dollars. in costs and add months of delay to a. project, is forced to come to the table. from the beginning and. tell you exactly what it's going to take. and when they're going to turn the. lights on. All of these things, these. bureaucratic changes, can actually. transform the process of construction. here and can make it much more possible. for the city to build at the scale that. it needs to in order to address our. housing shortage.

>> And I mean, to that point, too, there is. there is national significance here, especially as we approach the 2030. census, where California is expected to. shed electoral votes, and the states. that are going to pick them up are not. historically blue states. I mean, Texas. is expected to pick up. pick up electoral votes. And so how does. the national environment inform, if if. at all, how you think about your. responsibility or your duty to make sure. that that we support our population here.

in California? >> Oh, I think it's incredibly important, especially as we're watching the. redistricting battles play out across. the rest of the country. We cannot. afford to let. this state and this city become less. populous. We have we can't afford to. give up house seats at this moment. I. mean, I think it is absolutely essential. for us in terms of our broader. democratic project here in the country. And to me, this work on making sure that. this city is welcoming, that we can. actually invite more people to live in.

it instead of driving working families. out of it. We lost 54,000 people over. this. over the past few years, and that's a. huge population loss here. And it's. going to impact us into the future. One. of the things that has always been. something that I've been so proud of as. a representative of Los Angeles is that. this city is a place of inclusion and. welcoming for the LGBTQ+. community, for people of color, people. who are fleeing oppressive environments.

at home come to Los Angeles seeking. refuge. And if this place becomes. unaffordable, it is no longer that for. so many people. So, for me, it is really. part of what I love about Los Angeles, part of what we need to keep alive about. Los Angeles. Our housing crisis is. intimately connected to our ability for. the city to be a place of welcoming and. inclusion and opportunity. And I think. it's a really important electoral. strategy at a time when every vote in.

the house matters. >> Well, I appreciate you taking the time. today. Thanks for addressing all those. issues. With that said, for folks who. are looking to help out with your. campaign, where can they go? >> Nithya for the city.com is our website. uh where you can donate, sign up, learn. more, and I'm on socials at Nithya for. the City everywhere you go to consume. social media. >> Awesome. Well, I want to remind people. who are watching right now, if you live. in Los Angeles, if you have friends or. family in LA, the election is happening. right now. We are in early voting. The. election, uh the last day is June 2nd,

so please make sure to make your voice. heard, to get your ballots in. And uh. Nithya, thank you so much for taking the. time. >> Thank you so much for having me. I. sincerely appreciate it. >> I'm joined now by General Counsel for. NAACP, Kristen Clarke. Thanks so much. for taking the time. >> Thank you for having me. >> So, we have some news here in light of. the fact that not only has the Supreme. Court struck down Section 2 of the. Voting Rights Act, but now Tennessee is. the first state to redraw their maps to. eliminate the only Black opportunity. district in that state. Um the NAACP has.

sued. So, can you first off give give. some information as to what the legal. basis for this lawsuit is, given the. fact that it it seems, at least from. from, you know, the the general public's. vantage that with Section 2 of the. Voting Rights Act struck down, there is. no more justification or or requirement, I should say, uh for states to even have. Black opportunity districts? >> Yeah. Well, first, today was a dark day. in American democracy. Uh the the Senate.

and House floor debates that led to. eventual dismantling of the only. majority Black Congressional District in. Tennessee was just disastrous. And, you. know, this comes just a few days after. the Supreme Court's ruling that really. put the death nail in the Voting Rights. Act. At the NAACP, we are committed to using every tool. available to fight back and to stand up. for voters and to make sure that every.

American, every citizen in Tennessee has. an equal voice in the electoral process. And so, what we did today is we filed. suit in state court. The government the. governor called a special session an. extraordinary session in order to pull. the legislature back to redraw the maps. Under state law, that proclamation has. to be very specific and clear. And the. proclamation called lawmakers back to.

redraw the boundary lines of maps. But, they did a lot more. There is a well, a. law that's been on the books. that stretches back five decades that. actually makes mid-decade redistricting. illegal, unlawful. And so, they had to. take action with respect to that law. They also did something else unusual. They waived the residency requirement. for 1 year for people who are going to.

be running under. the districts carved out in this new. map. It's our position that the. proclamation should have included these. very two significant and important. actions. And because the governor didn't. include those two additional actions, this session was unlawful. That um uh. they the map should be discarded uh and. that they should start back from square. one. And starting back from square one,

I I think should be leaving the status. quo in place. There's no reason that. Tennessee needs to do this. >> Yeah. Well, other than to eliminate as. quickly as possible any any. representation for the state's only. black opportunity district. Um given the. fact that this is so uh that that this. is so urgent right now, you know, we. have midterms coming up so quickly, are. you seeking um a preliminary injunction? How fast do you expect this process to. move? >> We think it will move very fast. And so,

um stay tuned. It's why we um, did not. delay and we moved very swiftly to file. our lawsuit, um, just hours after, uh, the maps were passed, uh, through the. legislature, but we're really tracking. very closely what's happening across the. South, you know, Tennessee, uh, clearly. wanted to be at the, you know, start of. the the the tidal wave here, but, uh, it. is a dark moment in America democracy.

where we see state officials taking bold. and unprecedented action to. disenfranchise. black American citizens. >> And and it's not just in Tennessee. I. mean, we're looking at this process. playing itself out in Alabama, in. Louisiana, where the Calay decision. first originated from, in South. Carolina, where the only representative, uh, black representative in that state. is is Jim Clyburn. You know, I I had. spoken about this issue on air on.

NewsNation with Katie Pavlich, and she. has echoed this this right-wing talking. point that the Supreme Court decision. effectively desegregated the South. because now you don't have districts. that were that were drawn expressly for, uh, for black Americans or brown. Americans. And so, what would your. response to that talking point from the. right be? >> Well, it's interesting that we're not. talking about, you know, a different. part of the country. We're talking about. the South for a reason because sadly, this is the part of the country that has.

a very long and egregious and undeniable. history of discrimination when it comes. to. giving black American citizens access to. the franchise. So, it it is not. surprising that this is the part of the. country that is proving to be ground. zero as we see this mass. disenfranchisement mass. disenfranchisement campaign unfold on. the heels of the Supreme Court's ruling.

The Voting Rights Act is. uh it was one of our nation's. truly most important federal civil. rights law. And it just helped to to. push, to really nudge our country in the. right direction. And that nudge, that. movement really proved to be most. important in the South, which is the. part of the country sadly that had been. most resistant and and hostile when it. came to opening up the doors of. democracy to everyone.

>> You know, this I'm I'm I'm sure that. that the. the feeling coming out of this moment is. that this is kind of a a retrenchment of. Jim Crow. Is that Is that what it feels. like from your vantage? And I guess as a. follow-up to that, what do you say to. folks who see things moving so sharply. in the wrong direction so that they can, you know, have some sense of hope as we. move forward and not just completely. give up in despair?

>> You know, um Senator uh Oliver in the um. Tennessee legislature stood up on a. table and held up a big banner that said. Jim Jim Crow 2.0. >> Yeah. >> Um you know, I. I think that is precisely where we are, but it's not the frame that I like to. think about this moment in. I think. about this being an opportunity for. Americans to come together um. and and and say that this is not the. direction we need to be moving as a.

country. And some of the, you know, crowds that we saw at the capital today. in Tennessee were multiracial and. intergenerational. And I I you know, I truly believe deep. down that this is an opportunity for us. to dig deep and just say that this is. not the America that we want in 2026. And it's why we're committed to being. really bold and aggressive, using the. courts as a way to to fight back and. move us back in a different direction.

>> In thinking about this from a. longer-term perspective, I think the. ultimate goal is to bring about another. Voting Rights Act to replace the one. that the Supreme Court just struck down. Of course, a million things have to go. right. Democrats have to win the House, Democrats have to win the Senate, Democrats have to win the White House. Uh the filibuster has to be eliminated. so that we can actually pass some. legislation without having to meet that. 60-vote threshold in the Senate. And. then of course, there has to be enough. support for some iteration of a Voting. Rights Act. But at the end of that line,

there's still a Supreme Court, a 6-3. conservative Supreme Court waiting in. the wings to do exactly what it just did. this past week by striking that. legislation down. And so, we could play. Whac-A-Mole and continue trying to hope. that everything goes right, pass. legislation only for the Supreme Court, um you know, this rogue branch of. government to have the final say. That. doesn't feel like it's like it's um you. know, a a tenable situation. And so, taking kind of like a 30,000-ft view of.

this, what do you think is the solution. here so that we're not just kind of. treading treading treading water? >> Supreme Court reform has to be a part of. the conversation about how we get. democracy back on track. We have to. figure out a way to restore balance to a. court that is so clearly I'm not going. to say putting its thumb on the scale, putting its fist on the scale of one. political party right now. >> Yeah. >> We have to talk about term limits. We. have to talk about jurisdiction.

stripping measures that maybe keep. certain cases out of the hands of the. Supreme Court. Um we have to talk about. ethics reform. So, as we talk about. state Voting Rights Act and bold. election reforms that can help it ensure. that we all have voice in our democracy. Court reform has to be a part of the. discussion and dialogue for sure. >> Yeah. >> And and I'm glad you said all those. things. And I I'm also glad that this. conversation is happening right now so. that if and when and I truly believe. this is a matter of when Democrats do.

take power again, we don't waste. precious time negotiating this stuff, but instead we're having these. conversations right now so that we can. hit the ground running when we actually. do have some power to wield. Um to that. end, I want to end with this. What would. be some calls to action? What can can. folks do um so that again, we're not. just kind of marinating in in um in. despair, but rather taking some. affirmative steps uh you know, in the. right direction. >> Yeah, it's a sobering moment, right?

Dust your shoulders off. I think we have. to vote like we have never voted before. Um we need to make sure we're turning. out in every local election, primary. election, special election, voting up. and down the ballot, making sure all of. those around us are ready to vote and. have a plan to vote. We need to be. dreaming big and thinking about reform, not just at the federal level, but at. the state level. We've seen states like. New Jersey and Maryland adopt state.

voting rights act and I think that that. is a very hopeful path forward. And um. we need to be dreaming about the. democracy that we all deserve um at the. end of this. It It is I I think um very. clear that we didn't have the right. guardrails in place for the American. democracy we find ourselves in now. And. so, do we need to amend our. constitution? You know, what are the new. civil rights laws that we need for a. world where. you know, we're contending with AI and.

you know, overconcentration of wealth. and um mass disenfranchisement. Um. now is the moment I think to really. dream big and be creative and and think. about a new democracy. that we all deserve. >> Perfect place to leave off. Kristen. Clark, thank you so much for the work. you're doing. Um you and your. organization and I appreciate you taking. the time today. >> Thanks for having me. >> I'm joined now by candidates for the. Georgia State Supreme Court, Miracle. Rackin and Jen Jordan. Thank you so much.

both for coming on. >> Yeah, thank you for having us. >> So, Georgia has been in the news quite a. bit lately. First, because in Fulton. County. uh ballots received from the 2020. election, that effort was led by Tulsi. Gabbard, but more recently, um there is. there seems to be uh a focus from the. administration on even poll workers in. Georgia whose names are being shared. with the administration. So, as we look. at Georgia in this upcoming election, where that state is often the testing.

ground for voter suppression efforts. that are going to be exported to the. rest of the country, what do you say to. folks who don't have faith that there. are going to be free and fair elections. because of all of the interference that. seems to already be happening? >> So, I'll jump in first. I think the. biggest thing for people to understand. in the context of this race is that all. election challenges go ultimately to the. Georgia Supreme Court. And so, whenever. you're talking about interference with. an election or any attempts to.

to monkey around with the results or. whatever, all of that ultimately goes up. to the Georgia Supreme Court, and that's. why it's so incredibly important for. anyone who is concerned about this to. make sure that they feel confident that. the people that they're voting for and. that they're putting on the court are. really going to. you know, make sure that their rights. are protected ultimately. >> Yeah. I would agree that. the right to vote, having access to.

poll places that are not being. encumbered, It's important and is a very. sacred right to not have it interfered. with and as Jen previously said, we have. a unique opportunity here in Georgia to. decide what does our court look like, who are those justices that will. ultimately serve for the next 6 years. and help determine some of these key. moments in Georgia's history. So, it has. been an honor to run for the Supreme. Court and to give the voters of our.

state another opportunity and a. different choice for what the court can. look like and making sure that we stand. up and uphold the Georgia Constitution. and the rights of all Georgians. >> So, Miracle, the the partisan makeup of. the court right now is I believe that. there are nine seats on the state. Supreme Court and eight of them are are. conservatives, is that correct? >> That is correct. >> So, this is, you know, this would be the. beginning of a process to rebalance out. a court that is overwhelmingly.

Republican, not dissimilar to what we. saw in Wisconsin, for example, where. there isn't there was an overwhelmingly. conservative court and it is these. election cycles where liberals are able. to chip away at the conservative. majority to the point where it actually. flips, but it has to start somewhere and. it could start here. And so, you know, we we had just spoken about um this idea. of of election uh protection, voter. protection, but what other issues come. before the Georgia Supreme Court? Why. does this matter for folks in Georgia?

>> So, the Georgia Supreme Court matters. because the court ultimately decides. what. it looks like for us in Georgia in. Georgian for a a living perspective, right? So, be it our right to dealing. with access to the vote, health care, criminal matters, there are so many. issues that are fundamental our what the. Constitution looks like and how is it. applied across the board to all. Georgians, that ultimately goes up to.

the Supreme Court. So, when we talk. about a court that has the power to. ultimately decide what do the laws in. our state actually how do they get. applied and how they do they actually. come out in context in our everyday. lives, that is the Supreme Court. And. so, it's really important that when. we're dealing with these major issues of. our rights um that are very. fundamentally guaranteed to us, that we. have a court that is willing to apply. our Constitution fairly. What we've seen. at the federal level is that a lot of.

those rights are being taken away, those. federal protections that we once had, they're not there anymore. And so, now. it's coming back to the states for the. states to decide what does Georgia look. like, not just for this year, but from 5. years, 10 years from now. And so, that's. very important, it's a very pivotal. moment because it also leaves the. opportunity for states to have different. rules in play, different laws that. govern. And it shouldn't be that way, but when we don't have the federal. protections giving us the baseline, then. now we leave it up to the states to make.

those important decisions. And so, ultimately in Georgia, a lot of that. will land at the Supreme Court. >> Jen, do you have anything to add? >> Yeah, I mean, I think. Miracle is exactly right. I What we see. is this devolution, right? Where it's. like things that we've relied on for so. long in terms of the federal courts to. really. protect the individual rights of people. in this country and in this state, you know, we've been we've been told, you know, there's nothing here for you. to see anymore, right? Whether we're.

talking about when Dobbs came out and. after 50 years, now women. don't have fundamental right to autonomy. and to privacy, right? And then just. last week with the Cale decision in. terms of the Voting Rights Act where it. was completely gutted. Now, forever. because Georgia is a former slave state, right? It was governed by the VRA, so. any challenge went to the federal. courts. So, in terms of our state. courts, we've really never had to.

grapple with any of those issues or had. any challenges arising under the state. constitution like a First Amendment or. political association challenge. Now, because we can't go to the federal. courts anymore, that's going to open up. a whole other lane in terms of state. courts and ultimately to the state. Supreme Court level. >> So, um Jen, I want to I want to discuss. the difference then between the existing. members of the Georgia Supreme Court and. and both of you in terms of some of. these issues in particular. You know, as.

there is more onus on state courts given. the fact that for example, the Voting. Rights Act will no longer apply and. these issues won't be uh litigated in in. federal court but rather in state court, can you talk about some of the biggest. differences between the existing members. of the Georgia Supreme Court, your. opponents, and both of you? >> Yeah, I think the biggest thing is that. our state Supreme Court really now is. controlled um by folks who are members. and leaders of the Federalist Society in.

this state. And um for those folks. listening who may not know what the. Federalist Society is, I can I can tell. you that members of the US Supreme Court. that are members of the Federalist. Society in a line are Alito, um Thomas, um. Amy Coney Barrett, you know, if all of. the ultra-conservatives are all. Federalist Society folks. And so, our court right now kind of follows, you.

know, what the US Supreme Court is doing. and and that's kind of whatever they do, it kind of gets dictated down. Um the. problem with that now is, you know, what. are they going to do now that we have. rights that need to be adjudicated under. the state constitution. And I'll have to. tell you that historically, Georgia. state constitution has been um. interpreted much more expansively um, in. a more progressive way. Um, I like to quote a former a former. chief justice of the Georgia Supreme.

Court who basically said his judicial. philosophy was that the federal. constitution is kind of the floor for. people's rights and the Georgia. constitution always gives people in this. state more, more protections, more. rights. Right now the folks on the. court, they don't believe in that. They. don't subscribe to that. And we've seen. that in terms of a lot of um, the. decisions that have come down um, and. probably what is more significant is. what we know what's heading toward us in. the future.

>> Miracle, when when you've spoken with. Georgia voters, I'm curious what the. principal issue that has been brought up. to you has been. Um, and especially like in an environment. like this where where you know, we have. seen uh, a Republican party kind of. campaign on one thing and then when it. came time for them to govern, deliver on. something entirely different. So has. that been a theme in your conversations. with voters? >> It has been. Um, people are really. concerned what what our state looks.

like, what our nation looks like. Um, and one of the things that I've. constantly heard is what you just said. We were sold one thing and now we have a. totally different existence, right? But. beyond that when it comes to the courts. themselves, one thing that I've. consistently heard Georgia voters say is. that they don't feel like it's a place. where they can get a fair shot. >> Yeah. >> And because they don't feel like it's a. place where they can get a fair shot, I. think more people are tuning in to. judicial elections than they probably. have before. Um, because now they.

realize I actually get to pick who's. going to sit on our state's highest. court or any other court in our state, right? So that has been a underlying. theme that I've heard, but I was hearing. that before I even made the decision to. run as representing individuals across. the state who've been really injured. Um, >> [clears throat]. >> clients, when they come to me because. they've lost a limb or they lost a loved. one, they always ask me, "Will I get a. fair shake? Will they take me seriously? And will I be treated the same?" And we. hear about equal justice under the law,

but it has to be a lived-out principle. It can't be something that we're just. espousing, but not actually applying. And so that's why it's so important that. we have justices on the court who will. actually stand up and make sure that the. rule of law is being applied for. everyone and that our Constitution is. being read in its most broad sense to. ensure that all the protections that. were guaranteed are set forth. So those. are the things that I've been hearing. from the trail as I've been going around. campaigning. >> To that end, um and I feel like I buried. the lead here, but but can both of you.

give uh. an idea of what your background is and. what your. and why you've decided to run this race. What's most important to you? What was. the impetus to jump in here? >> Yeah. >> Well, I grew up in South Georgia, you. know, raised by a single mother who had. a beauty shop, and it's one of those. things where I didn't have lawyers in my. family, but the most important thing was always. about, you know, how you helped your. neighbor and your community and really. trying to lift everybody up. And it was.

only because of pro-education policies. in this state at the time that I was. even able to go to college and then. ultimately law school. And for the last. 25 years, you know, my entire career has. been dedicated to representing. individuals a lot like Miracle who are. facing some of the most significant. issues they've ever had to deal with, whether it's, you know, the single mother who's facing eviction. on Christmas Eve or, you know, trying to. run predatory lenders out of the state.

or or folks. who can't get their health insurance um. to actually cover their breast cancer. treatments. I mean, but but what it. comes down to is always about an. individual who has to get a lawyer. involved just to get what they're due. And that's not right, right? And and so. something has to fundamentally change. and and that's also in terms of the way. the courts are working. Right now, people aren't getting a fair shot. People aren't being treated fairly, you.

know, if you're powerful and you've got. money, man, you got a lot better shot, you know, in front of of the courts as. they are in Georgia right now. And so I. know that's why I'm running and I know. that's a lot of the reason why Miracle. is running, too. >> Yes, so I am originally from Louisiana. So the Callais decision really hits a. little differently for me because my. family lives in Louisiana right now, the. vast majority of them. And so they're. having to grapple with what does it mean. when elections are getting canceled? And. what does it mean when we may not have.

the representatives of our choosing in. front of us like for us to select from? So. growing up in the South, I've seen. firsthand how sometimes our laws. disproportionately affect individuals. And that's one of the reasons that led. me to law school and ultimately spending. the last two decades or so of my career. fighting for individuals and standing up. against powerful corporate interests. that try to harm the. Some people call it the little person, which has been an interesting term to. me, but harming individuals, right? Because I think we all matter and when.

we are harmed, somebody needs to be. there to stand up for you. So that's. something that I prided myself in doing. throughout my career, taking tough cases. and getting great results for my. clients. My decision to run for the. Supreme Court really came when I looked. in my baby's eyes. I have two young kids. that are under the age of 10 and I. frequently tell them you can be whatever. you want to be, you can do whatever you. want to do, but if you see something, you need to say something. And if you. can do something, then you need to do. something about it. And I'm in a.

position to be able to do the something, right? I don't agree with many of the. decisions that have been coming down. from the courts in our state. And I. understand that there going to be a lot. of decisions that. Georgians have to have made by our. Supreme Court. And we need to have. individuals on that court that we know. will be fair, that will not lean towards. corporate interest or special interest, but that will lean towards making sure. we ensure that the rights of every. Georgian are protected under our law and. our constitution. Because we're leaving.

a Georgia for somebody else, right? I. have kids following up behind me, and I. need to make sure that I leave this. state better than what I found it. And. so, that's one of the main reasons that. I'm running because my babies deserve. better. Georgians deserve better, and we. need a court that will protect all of. us. >> Jen, for folks who are looking to help. your and Miracle's campaigns, where can. they go? >> They can go to jenforgeorgia.com, justiceforgeorgia.com, and Miracle um. >> Is it Miracle what's the website?

>> miracleforgeorgia.com. So, for both of us, the four Georgia's. Well, for me, four f o r g e o r g i. a.com. So, miracleforgeorgia.com. >> Okay, good. >> Is that the same for you, Jen? >> I use the num Yeah, yeah. >> I'm going to. >> I use the number, actually. So, just the. four and then Georgia spelled out. But. look, follow us on social media, share, you know, that's part of this is. educating folks cuz like look, no one. has done this successfully since 1922.

Since 1922, an incumbent justice on the. Supreme Court has not been beaten. So, it's one of these things. Folks. don't even know you can vote for. somebody on the Supreme Court cuz they. think about kind of at the federal. level. And so, part of this process has. been about educating people to say, "Look, it is about transparency. It is. about accountability, and you have the. ability to actually choose the people. who are going to make some of the. biggest decisions in the coming years. that absolutely not only impact your.

life, your children's lives, but even. your grandchildren down the line. >> And might I add, Brian, that it's. happening right now. This is in. November. We have one race, one race. only. It's here in May. We're voting. currently in Georgia. If you're. listening and you're a Georgia voter, you have until May 15th to early vote. The election day is the May 19th. We. don't show back up on your ballots in. November. This is our only race and our. only time this term to change what the. Georgia Supreme Court can look like and.

for you to have that option to do so as. the electorate. >> Well, I appreciate I appreciate you both. being here. For everybody who's watching. and listening right now, we all have a. job to do, which is to make sure that. everybody knows that this race is. happening. If you can contribute, then. please contribute, but otherwise there's. no excuse for. um for everyone who is watching and. listening right now not to let people. know, whether it's through social media, whether it's through word of mouth, that. this race is happening in Georgia right. now. And as I mentioned at the top, um. the process for flipping a deeply.

entrenched conservative Supreme Court uh. begins with two seats in this case um in. terms of flipping that flipping the the. political um makeup of the court. altogether. So, um both of you, thank. you so much for taking the time to be. here and again, I'm going to put the. links to both of your websites right. here on the screen and also in the post. description for those who are listening. on the podcast, I'm going to put it in. the show notes. And uh best luck in the. campaign trail. >> Thank you so much. Thanks for having us. >> To listen to the audio version of this.

episode, click the link right here on. this screen and please make sure to. subscribe. And of course, to see more. video content, that subscribe button's. on the screen as well. >> [music].