MSNBC "The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell" - Transcript: Interview with Mondaire Jones

Interview

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VELSHI: Congressman Jones, you and I always have a million policy things to talk about. Yet some of our time every time you and I are together gets taken away by the Republican -- I`m sorry, I misspoke -- the Democratic senator from West Virginia, Joe Manchin.

What do you make of what Joe Manchin did at 4:00 in the morning, the fact that he seemed to be coming around to Mondaire Jones` way of voting rights?

REP. MONDAIRE JONES (D-NY): Well, I`m pleased to be joined by him in recent days, hopefully in an understanding we will never get ten Republican senators to sign on to any voting rights legislation of importance. For that reason, have to reform or abolish, which as you know is my preference, Ali, the filibuster, in order to save our ailing democracy.

He speaks as though he understands the threat. And I so appreciate that from him, and I hope that Senator Sinema also understands the existential threat posed by the voter suppression that we are seeing pushed by the Republican Party and states like Georgia and Florida, and yes, of course, Texas, and I`m so grateful for the leadership of the representative in doing whatever it takes, whatever it takes to protect the right to vote and to save our democracy.

VELSHI: Go ahead, sorry about that.

JONES: We need the president to weigh in on this when it comes to the filibuster. He has to prevail upon Manchin and Sinema to do the right thing, understanding that wear not going to get enough support from Republicans to pass voting rights legislation I think they feel threatened by as a party.

VELSHI: Let me ask you, Representative Neave. You and your delegation in various times, on Zooms, sometimes in person have met with various people, have met with a great deal of support in Washington.

Not everybody has told me, when I`ve talked to your colleagues, none of them have told me that they`ve gotten the big hug they were hoping for from the White House and from the president. Is that, as Representative Jones says, the thing that you need to put this over the finish line?

NEAVE: Listen, we know that President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are aligned. We know that they understand the sense of urgency and the importance of this issue for us. It is not just about Texas for us, it was about shining a spotlight on what is happening and how these stiff criminal penalties are going to implicate and erode our precious right to vote.

So I have no doubt, I have full faith that the president and vice president are supportive of what we are doing. She took the time to sit down with us, to visit with us. And we are inspired by her.

We are also led by faith, by millions of people who have reached out to their congressmen and women, who are reaching out to their senators, who are reaching out to us about the importance of this and how fundamental it is.

So, we`re going to continue to be led by faith. We`re led by -- we know that we have faith in Congress as well, that they`re going to act. We have seen that our meetings have moved the needle, and that is what was of utmost importance for us in creating that sense of urgency. Momentum has continued to build and build, and we are getting closer and closer to getting federal, national standards to protect our right to vote.

VELSHI: Congressman Jones, look, she`s right. Momentum has been building. This has been one hell of a summer. We have seen arrests, we`ve seen some of your colleagues getting arrested. We`ve seen everybody in Texas under threat of being arrested by the governor.

Where do you go from here? Joe Manchin has come around, and like you said, sounded like he meant when it he talked about in the Senate, what has to happen next? How do you see this unfolding? Do you feel confident that Manchin`s in the game and he will help do this?

JONES: Well, many of us are led by faith. As someone who grew up in the church, I know that the Bible says that faith without works is dead. And for that reason, we need more leadership from the White House on the question of the filibuster, which is the only thing along with Manchin and Sinema standing in the way of saving our democracy. And so, yes, I`m so grateful for the leadership shown by so many grassroots organizations that frankly are finding themselves in an odd situation of having to agitate against the same people who they helped elect to the White House and to Congress in some instances.

But we are building momentum. And when we pass infrastructure, I think it is going to be abundantly clear to people there is nothing else we can do without reforms to the filibuster.

VELSHI: Thank you both for the work you`re putting into this, Congressman Mondaire Jones and Texas State Representative Victoria Neave. Thank you both.

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