>> Stephen: WELCOME BACK, EVERYBODY!
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, MY GUEST TONIGHT IS A TWO-TERM
US SENATOR FROM THE GREAT STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS AND A FORMER
PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE.
PLEASE WELCOME BACK TO "THE LATE SHOW," SENATOR ELIZABETH WARREN.
( CHEERS AND APPLAUSE ) ( BAND PLAYING )
>> Stephen: THANK YOU SO MUCH.
IT'S NICE TO SEE YOU AGAIN.
IT'S ALWAYS A SHOT IN THE ARM TO HAVE YOU HERE.
>> YOU BET.
I'LL SHOOT YOUR ARM ANYTIME.
I'M READY.
>> Stephen: YOU AND YOUR HUSBAND BRUCE I JUST LEARNED GOT
COVID IN DECEMBER.
>> YES.
>> Stephen: HOW DID IT FEEL AND HOW ARE YOU DOING?
>> I WAS KIND OF FLUSH FOR ABOUT A DAY AND A HALF AND THAT'S IT.
I'M DONE.
>> Stephen: YOU BOOSTED AND EVERYTHING?
>> YEAH, BECAUSE THAT'S THE DEAL, THAT VACCINE PLUS THE
BOOSTER MEANS THAT, WHEN YOU GET SICK, YOU JUST GET A LITTLE BIT
SICK, FOR MOST PEOPLE.
SO EVERYBODY, GET VACCINATED, GET YOUR BOOSTER.
( CHEERS AND APPLAUSE ) >> Stephen: NOW, EVERYBODY
HERE -- EVERYBODY HERE IS VACCINATED.
THESE ARE "IT" GETTERS RIGHT HERE.
>> GOOD, GOOD.
>> Stephen: HOW LONG WERE YOU HOME?
HOW LONG WERE YOU ISOLATED?
>> OH, WELL YOU HAVE TO ISOLATE, BACK THEN, FOR TEN DAYS BEFORE
THEY CHANGED IT TO FIVE.
>> Stephen: BAILEY MUST HAVE BEEN HAPPY TO HAVE YOU GUYS
AROUND ALL THE TIME.
>> YOU KNOW, BAILEY WANTS US THERE 24-7 AT HIS BECK AND CALL,
AND THE PARTS HE DIDN'T LIKE WAS THAT WE COULDN'T TAKE HIM
EVERYWHERE WHERE HE LIKES TO GO, BUT WE COULD TAKE HIM OUTSIDE
FOR GOOD WALKS.
BAILEY IS -- YOU KNOW, HE'S A DOG WHO HAS CERTAIN
EXPECTATIONS.
>> Stephen: HAS HE STOLEN ANY BURRITOS, RECENTLY?
HE'S A BURRITO THIEF, HE LEARNED THIS FROM THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL.
>> HE IS, AND WE TRY TO KEEP OUR HOUSE A BURRITO-FREE ZONE
BECAUSE OF BAILEY.
>> Stephen: EXACTLY, YOU DON'T WANT TO TEMPT HIM.
>> EXACTLY.
>> Stephen: OKAY.
LET'S TALK ABOUT THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT THAT'S GOING TO COME
UP BEFORE THE SENATE TOMORROW?
>> YEAH.
>> Stephen: TOMORROW.
OKAY.
IN 1957, MARTIN LUTHER KING CALLED VOTER RESTRICTIONS "A
TRAGIC BETRAYAL OF THE HIGHEST MAN DATES OF OUR -- MANDATES OF
OUR DEMOCRATIC TRADITION" AND THEN TOMORROW YOU VOTE ON THE
FREEDOM TO VOTE, THE JOHN R.
LEWIS ACT.
HOW DID WE GET BACK HERE TO WHEN WE NEED IT?
>> WHEN DR. KING SPOKE, IT WAS TRULY THE CASE BECAUSE OF
RESTRICTIVE STATE LAWS THAT, PRINCIPALLY, AFRICAN-AMERICANS
WERE DENIED THE OPPORTUNITY TO VOTE.
SOME OTHER GROUPS WERE KEPT OUT, BUT THAT WAS THE PRINCIPAL AIM.
MID 1960 PASSED THE SOARGTS ACT, AND IT OPENED UP OPPORTUNITIES
FOR MORE AMERICAN CITIZENS TO VOTE, AND VOTING INCREASED OVER
TIME AND, FRANKLY, THAT'S WHERE WE WOULD HAVE LEFT EVERYTHING.
BUT THEN AN EXTREMIST UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT A FEW YEARS
AGO GUTTED THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT, BUT THAT ALL BY ITSELF JUST
OPENED THE DOOR TO RESTRICTING VOTING.
DONALD TRUMP, WHEN HE LOST THE ELECTION, HE TOOK MILLIONS OF
PEOPLE DOWN THE DARK HOLE OF THE BIG LIE, AND NOW WE'VE GOT
REPUBLICAN STATE LEGISLATURES ALL AROUND THIS COUNTRY WHO ARE
TRYING TO OUTDO EACH OTHER TO KEEP PEOPLE OF COLOR FROM
VOTING, TO KEEP AFRICAN-AMERICANS FROM VOTING,
LATINOS AND PEOPLE WHO LIVE ON TRIBAL LANDS AND KEDGE STUDENTS
FROM VOTING.
ANYONE THEY CAN IDENTIFY WHO IS LIKELY TO VOTE DEMOCRATIC,
THEY'RE DOING EVERYTHING THEY CAN TO PUT RESTRICTIONS IN PLACE
SO THEY WON'T BE ABLE TO VOTE.
>> Stephen: BEFORE THE GUTTING OF THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT BY THE
ROBERTS COURT, THAT WOULD HAVE HAD TO GO BEFORE THE JUSTICE
DEPARTMENT FOR THE NINE STATEMENTS THAT HISTORICALLY
PASSED MOST OF THESE NOW THEY CAN JUST DO IT WITHOUT REVIEW.
>> NOW THEY CAN JUST DO IT WITHOUT REVIEW, THAT'S EXACTLY
RIGHT.
AND, BOY, HAVE THEY GOTTEN IT ON.
THEY ARE OUT THERE DOING EVERYTHING THEY CAN TO KEEP
PEOPLE FROM VOTING, TO KEEP THOSE VOTES FROM BEING COUNTED
ANDO TO GERRYMANDER WITH SUCH SURGICAL PRECISION THAT AN EVER
SHRINKING MINORITY OF REPUBLICANS WILL ACTUALLY
CONTROL NOT ONLY THE STATE LEGISLATURE BUT ALL SEATS IN
CONGRESS AND ULTIMATELY DISTORT ELECTION OF PRESIDENT OF THE
UNITED STATES.
>> Stephen: NOW THIS PAST YEAR, THERE WERE 19 STATES THAT
PASSED 34 LAWS, BUT IT WAS ALREADY A PROBLEM BEFORE THIS
LATEST CRISIS IN THE PAST YEAR WHERE, AS YOU SAID, BEING LED
DOWN A DARK ROAD BASED ON THIS BIG LIE.
A LITTLE OVER A YEAR AGO WHEN I HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO INTERVIEW
THEN PRESIDENT-ELECT BIDEN, ONE OF THE THINGS I ASKED HIM WAS,
IN YOUR LEGISLATIVE AGENDA, VOTING RIGHTS HAS TO BE FIRST,
RIGHT, BECAUSE EVERYTHING ELSE YOU WANT TO DO IS FOR NAUGHT
UNLESS YOU GET THE VOTING RIGHTS FIRST BECAUSE IT WILL JUST BE
REVERSED BY THE NEXT PERSON WHO COMES IN BECAUSE THERE WON'T BE
ACTUAL REPRESENTATION OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE IF THE VOTING
RIGHTS RESTRICTIONS GO THROUGH.
WHY IS IT WHERE IT IS?
>> BECAUSE WE DON'T HAVE ENOUGH VOTES.
LOOK, I WISH IT WERE OTHERWISE.
HERE'S THE GOOD NEWS, WE FINALLY HAVE 50 -- COUNT THEM ALL 50 --
DEMOCRATS IN THE SAME PLACE ON WHAT THE VOTING RIGHTS
PROTECTION SHOULD LOOK LIKE.
UNDERSTAND THIS, THAT PART BY ITSELF WAS NOT EASY AND PART OF
THE REASON IT'S NOT EASY IS EVERY TIME WE WOULD THINK NOW WE
HAVE THE THINGS YOU HAVE TO OUTLAW, THE REPUBLICANS IN SOME
STATE WOULD FIGURE OUT SOMETHING ELSE YOU COULD DO.
LIKE IF PEOPLE WERE WAITING TWO HOURS IN THE HOT SUN IN GEORGIA
LET'S MAKE THAT ILLEGAL TO GIVE THEM A DRINK OF WATER.
SO WE HAD TO FINALLY KEEP CHANGING THE FEDERAL LAWS AND
GOT THE BILL IN PLACE.
WHEN THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT PASSED ORIGINALLY, IT WAS
FILIBUSTERED AND HARD FOUGHT.
WHEN IT WAS RE-UPPED IN THE 1990s, 98 PEOPLE IN THE UNITED
STATES SENATE VOTED IN FAVOR OF IT.
NOW WE HAVE NOT ONE SINGLE REPUBLICAN, NOT ONE WHO WILL
VOTE TO PROTECT THE VOTE IN AMERICA.
SO WE'VE GOT 50 DEMOCRATS WHO SAY THEN WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO
PICK THIS UP AND DO IT BY OURSELVES.
THAT'S THE SKINNIEST MAJORITY YOU CAN V BUT WE CAN DO THAT.
VICE PRESIDENT HARRIS CAN BREAK THE TIE, WE CAN MAKE THAT
HAPPEN, BUT WE HAVE STUMBLED ON THE FILIBUSTER, THIS RULE THAT
HAS ITS ROOTS IN RACISM AS A WAY TO TRY TO BLOCK -- IT HAS
HISTORICALLY BEEN USED TO TRY TO BLOCK CIVIL RIGHTS LEGISLATION.
RIGHT NOW, WE HAVE 50 REPUBLICANS ALL STANDING FIRM
WITH THAT FILIBUSTER BECAUSE IT GIVES MITCH McCONNELL A VETO,
BUT WE'VE ALSO GOT TWO DEMOCRATS WHO ARE WITH THEM, AND THAT
MEANS WE CAN'T CHANGE THE RULES.
>> Stephen: BUT CERTAINLY THE EXISTENCE OF THE FILIBUSTER IS
NO SURPRISE.
>> NO.
>> Stephen: AND THE, YOU KNOW, STANDING SHOULDER TO SHOULDER BY
THE REPUBLICANS IS NOT NECESSARILY A SURPRISE.
IF YOU KNOW THAT THE VOTE WON'T PASS TOMORROW, WHAT IS THE
PURPOSE, WHAT IS THE BENEFIT OF ACTUALLY HOLDING THE VOTE?
>> SO I WANT TO BACK UP JUST A LITTLE BIT.
THE FACT THAT 50 REPUBLICANS WILL STAND SHOULDER TO SHOULDER,
LOOK YOU RIGHT IN THE EYE AND SAY, YOU KNOW, IT'S JUST FINE
WITH ME TO KEEP PEOPLE FROM GOING TO THE POLLS IF THEY MIGHT
VOTE DEMOCRATIC, IT'S JUST FINE WITH ME TO SAY THAT IF A
REPUBLICAN LEGISLATURE DOESN'T LIKE THE FACT THAT PEOPLE IN
THEIR STATE VOTED MAJORITY DEMOCRATIC THAT, NONETHELESS,
THEY PLAN TO KEEP CONTROL THEMSELVES AND NOT COUNT THOSE
VOTES.
IT'S JUST FINE WITH THEM TO GERRYMANDER SO THAT A SMALLER
AND MORE EXTREMIST MAJORITY CAN CONTINUE TO CONTROL -- MINORITY
CAN CONTINUE TO CONTROL OVER THE MAJORITY IN THIS COUNTRY.
IT IS NOT SOMETHING THAT WE SHOULD JUST SAY, HEY, THAT'S
OKAY.
ONE OF THE TWO MAJOR POLITICAL PARTIES IN AMERICA HAS NOW SAID
THAT IT IS THEIR POLICY TO WIN BY KEEPING AMERICAN CITIZENS
FROM VOTING, AND WE OUGHT TO PUT THEM ON THE RECORD, MAKE THEM
VOTE ON THAT, MAKE A RECORD OF THAT AND HOLD THEM ACCOUNTABLE
IN THE NEXT ELECTION.
ENOUGH.
( CHEERS AND APPLAUSE ) >> Stephen: WE HAVE TO TAKE A
QUICK BREAK, BUT STICK AROUND.
WHEN WE COME BACK, THE SENATOR AND I WILL TALK ABOUT THE FUTURE
OR FAILURE OF THE FILIBUSTER.