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tv   CNN Tonight With Don Lemon  CNN  March 19, 2021 11:00pm-12:00am PDT

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i'm late heading into "cnn tonight." and you know what? i don't care. you know why? i'm going on vacation, and d lemon's not going to be able to find me. >> oh, i already know where you're going. i have your full itinerary. >> please. >> here's where you're going. chris will be at the such and such and such and such on this date. i already know. christina told me. >> i gave her a story to feed you. we're a team, dude. >> man, what a week, right? crazy. >> every week. every week, it's something new. as -- as my spanish friend always tells me. [ speaking foreign language ] always something. but yeah, i'm not doing the special on monday night about
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how we are dealing with hate within minority communities, because i'll be on vacation. it's spring break. i'll be doing it. try and get a little bit of the verve, and then i will be back. >> well, we're going to miss you but there is always lots of news to cover. we -- when you are gone and when you come back, the news will always be here. but i got to tell you. everyone needs a little break, once in a while. especially, after you consider how -- how hard we have been working over the last couple years. because i actually thought maybe there would be a bit of a break after the election. but then, you know, it was a fraud and whatever. and we had to continue to work then. then, there was an insurrection. we had to continue to work harder. and we are still in the middle of a pandemic and on and on. listen, the news never stops and we are on 24 hours a day. chris, i have been -- and don't let this go to your head. it's -- i'm not talking about your tv show. i am talking about your radio show. i have never been more interested in your radio show. >> than when you were on it?
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>> no, i'm not saying that and not just because i was on it this week. sometimes, i want to reach through -- because i listen to it on my phone. >> i got the little haterade that you sent me. i spoke to the audience about that. >> even beyond that. we need to talk about msome things. we need to have a conversation. >> i will eat you for lunch, every day. you pick a topic. i am happy to do it. >> no, but i do enjoy going on there because we are even more candid there, and i don't know why if it's because fof the cameras. i mean, look, we are pretty candid here but sometimes the cameras can be a hindrance. >> i also think it's a different-time universe. you can take your time. and you can talk about things and you get that instant feedback from callers. so, it's just a different dynamic. and it's really nice to have both. but, you know, you and i talk about this all the time, in person, and it matters just as much in public. we have always been shocked that
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this resonates with people because we were so discouraged from doing it, in the beginning. and because it is so natural for us to have the relationship we have. and on one level, it's a little sad that there's such a unicorn nature to it for so many people. like, i can't believe how you guys get along, even though it doesn't seem like you agree on everything. and that's a rarity, whether it's color, type, perspective, it's weird. >> i'm faking it. but wait till i follow you on the radio. i got a surprise for you. you are going to get -- you're going to get it. so i will be able to rebut everything you do. >> listen, i have always told you, i fear no competition. especially, one that you are involved in. >> i'm having fun. don't think that i am getting a sirius satellite radio show. thank you, sir. >> d lemon, i love you. and i got great feedback about the segment because the book is the right message. at the right time. if only, you had a copy to show. >> thank -- i don't have it with me, actually. >> what? >> i know, i was late. >> be well, i am always a call
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away. >> it is resonating and i am very happy and thank you so much. i love you, have a great week off, i will see you soon. this cnn tonight i am don lemon. come on, people, are you watching? with me, gather yourselves. it's the end of the week. but even though it's the end woof the week, there is still a lot to talk about because we are at a very precarious time right now. we are either going to move forward to a more-perfect union. or we are going to backslide into hatred and bigotry and racism. it's going to get worse because we just cannot sweep all of this, any of it, under the rug. we can't frpretend anymore, we can't pretend we don't see it. and i am talking about the hate and the division in america right now. we need to take care of it. it's got to -- we got to do it. no other choice. in the wake of that shooting spree, in and around the atlanta area, that killed eight people.
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six of them, asian women. millions of asian-americans are terrified that they, or the people they love, will be the victims of the next explosion of violence. i can't tell you how many friends, acquaintances, people i have heard from saying that they're afraid to go out. won't take the subway in new york city. won't go grocery shopping. they are ordering everything in. it's a shame! this should not be happening. this is america. the greatest democracy on earth. freedom. liberty. right? isn't that what we're about? finally, now, we dof have a president, joe biden, who is condemning the hate in america. he is condemning this particular situation, without explicitly saying it, that it was a hate crime. here it is. >> whatever the motivation, we know this. too many asian-americans have been walking up and down the streets and worrying. waking up, each morning, the past year, feeling their safety
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and the safety of their loved ones are at stake. they have been attacked, blamed, scape-goated and harassed. they have been verbally assaulted, physically assaulted, killed. documented incidents against -- of hate against asian-americans have seen a skyrocketing spike over the last year. let alone, the ones that happened and never get reported. it's been a year of living in fear, for their lives, just to walk down the street. >> so, the vice president, kamala harris, the first-female, first-black, first south asian vice president, not naming names, but saying asian-americans, have been sc scape-goated ever since the start of the pandemic by people in power. >> for the last year, we've had people in positions of incredible power, scapegoating -- scapegoating
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asian-americans. people, with the biggest pulpits, spreading this kind of hate. ultimately, this is about who we are, as a nation. >> we know, exactly, who she's talking about. come on. you know. even though the former president is gone, we know where the hate comes from. we know it's still festering. and we know what happens when hate is allowed to fester. we've seen charlottesville. >> jews will not replace us! jews will not replace us! >> we have seen the capitol insurrection. we have seen it in the deaths of ahmaud arbery, breonna taylor, and george floyd. that drew millions of americans into the streets to protest, just last summer.
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ambassador linda thomas greenfield, at the u.n., today, calling for an end to white supremacy. >> this year, the senseless killing of george floyd, breonna taylor, and so many other black americans sparked a reckoning with racial justice. a movement, that spread across the world. black lives matter. and because black lives matter, we need to dismantle white supremacy, at every turn. >> we know what bubbling under the -- what's bubbling under the surface, in america. we know what's just waiting to come out, in the open. maybe not. sometimes, not even waiting, really. right? like, when congressman -- a congressman starts talking about lynching, and then going on and on about chinese communists in the middle of a hearing on discrimi discrimination on attacks on
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asian-americans. now, congressman chip roy says that, of course -- i mean, of course, he is, right? he's a victim. he's a victim. he is a victim of -- you know, right? wait for it. cancel culture. >> i think the criticism is the left spinning out cancel culture, as they always do. i was very clear, crystal clear, actually, and saying that i am pro-justice, and i am against policing speech. that's what yesterday was about. and people are trying to turn this into some sort of cancel-culture event. have a happy easter. and that's nothing unusual in this town. that's what's happening. >> look, congressman, you can say whatever you want. but if you say something that's bigoted or race iist, you got t
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suffer the consequences. that's not cancel. that's -- that's actually -- that's actually how the first amendment works. that you can say something, and people can find it offensive. and then, they can respond, because if you don't allow them to respond, what does that mean? that you are trying to cancel them. see how that works? hmm. but because just can't openly be a bigot, anymore, because people call you out on it. when before, you could just do it in your silo, and no one would say anything. and now, people are saying enough is enough. and so, you feel entitled to be able to act, in the way that you did before there were consequences. but now, people have no tolerance or very little tolerance for bigotry, especially after the last
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administration and the last president promoted it. see how that works? it's called logic. so, go on. continue to say bigoted stuff. and people will call you out. but that's not cancelling you. you are still a congressman, aren't you? you just don't want to be held accountable. so, let me be crystal clear, here. okay? this is not about cancel culture. oh, i'm being cancelled. oh, i'm being silenced. chip roy is a united states congressman. he's done nothing but talk for two days. so he's not being silenced. he's not being cancelled. he is the one who brought up lynching. >> we believe in justice. right? there is old sayings in texas about, you know, find the -- all the rope in texas and get a tall, oak tree. you know, we take justice very seriously. and -- and we ought to do that. >> okay. so, lynching is not justice. lynching is one of the most
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horrific crimes perpetrated against people of color, in this country's history. it is nothing to do with justice. he is the one, who brought up chinese communists, right smack in the middle of a hearing that was supposed to be about protecting asian-americans from hate crimes. he did it. protecting asian-americans from hate crimes and discrimination. >> i'm not going to be ashamed of saying i oppose the chi-comms. i oppose the chinese communist party. and when we say things like that and we're talking about that, we shouldn't be worried about having a committee of members of congress policing our rhetoric. >> so, those are his words. okay? and we know, words matter. facts, first, on this show.
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studies show that hate against asian-americans rose, as a result of the pandemic. and then, the president calling it the china virus. words matter. so, i want you -- i just want you to listen, again, okay, to this. it's from our former president, george w. bush. we talked, last night, about he -- how it's so rare for him to speak out. that he is speaking out now. but here is what he says about the capitol insurrection. >> i was sick to my stomach. to see our nation's capitol being stormed by hostile forces. and it really disturbed me, to the point where i did put out a statement. and i'm still disturbed, when i think about it. it -- it -- it -- it -- it undermines rule of law, and, you know, the ability to express yourself in peaceful ways in the public square. this was an expression that was not peaceful.
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>> that's really stunning. the former commander in chief calling the insurrectionists, hostile forces. those hostile forces defended, by far too many in the gop, right now. the new republican party. trump and qanon base. i have a legitimate question. okay? what? what is wrong with the right? how? why? why would they spend their week, while america was reeling from a brutal crime in atlanta and asian-americans, terrified. how do they do it? why would they spend their week talking about being cancelled because some of them were saying and doing bigoted things, right? how and why would they spend
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their week doing this? 14 republicans refusing to condemn a military coup in myanmar. think about that. they're the pro-coup conference. myanmar's military tried to justify seizing power by alleging widespread-voter fraud during their november election. voter fraud, huh? can you believe there are people in our government, people in this country, who refuse to condemn a coup? well, maybe you can. >> something with biden is just he is like a puppet president. the military is in charge. it's going to be like myanmar. what's happening in myanmar, the military's doing their own investigation. and at the right time, they're going to be restoring the republic, with trump as president. >> the government took over, and they are redoing the election. >> would you like to see it happen? >> absolutely. >> i would like to see it, yes. >> really? >> you know why? because the election was stolen from us.
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>> why do they believe that? why do they believe that? wait, hang on a minute. why did they believe that? because their elected officials, president, number one, told them that, over and over and over and over again. and now, they are saying, well, people don't have confidence in our election. of course, they don't, because you told them not to. and now, you are trying to do all that -- implement all of these voter-disenfranchisement laws, suppression laws, all across the country, because you want to have integrity in the election. when this was the most secure election, in american history. you, lawmakers, are responsible for misleading those people.
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so, they said it. there it was that they were saying, the big lie that they were repeating. the big lie, that has infected the republican party. that's why 14 members of what once was the party of lincoln can't even manage to condemn a military coup! because the party and its base are still under the spell of a disgraced, twice-impeached, one-term president. this is about truth. or maybe, i should say, this is about a lie. because, if people were acting on the truth, then, there would be no need for an insurrection. while america is reckoning with the hate that he left us with. that is what's going on. it's about a lie. hate that's there right now. it's all in plain sight.
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hate that poisons us and can erupt any -- into violence, anywhere, at any time. what will president biden do to stop it? that's the question. >> hate and violence often hide in plain sight. and it's often met with silence. that's been seen throughout our history. but that has to change. because our silence is complicity. the world around you may seem like an immovable, implacable place. it is not. it can be bright. quiet. and safe. it's a change that will be felt from this street. to this street. to no street. and everywhere in between. all it takes is the slightest push in just the right place and that will be the tipping point that changes everything. ♪ ♪
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president harris meeting in atlanta today with asian-american leaders three days after the shooting spree that killed eight people. six of them, asian women. the president condemning the increasing attacks on asian-americans since the pandemic began last week saying the country cannot be silent, as hate crimes against asian-americans skyrocket. i want to bring in, now, georgia state senator, who was part of the group that met with the president and the vice president. so, i am so happy to have you here, and i am so interested to hear what you talked about. so, talk to me about your conversation. good evening, by the way. i am getting ahead of myself. talk to me about your conversation with president biden and vice president harris. what did you say to them? and are you satisfied with their response to you, senator?
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>> thank you, don, for having me. and thank you for asking me about our conversation. first of all, i want to frame the fact that it was incredibly meaningful to us to have, both, president biden and vice president harris come to atlanta and spend, really, a significant amount of time on their very short visit with asian-american leaders from the community, speaking about these issues. and i say it's very significant because, often, what people in our community have felt, not just in the past few months. not just in the past year. but really, over many years and many decades. is that problems in our community tend to be overlooked, minimized. and that, our voices are not heard, and that people in our communities are not seen. so, having the president come and, specifically, speak to us made a huge amount of impact, in our communities. >> talk to me. you said voices in your community overlooked, minimized, not heard and not seen. tell me. why is that? why do you think that is? >> well, i have a lot of theories of to why this is. but, you know, obviously, race
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theory in america is very complicated. but there is this model-minority myth, that is very pervasive in american society, that has to do with asian-americans. and i'm sure we have all heard this miyth, before. we all live inside this myth that asian-americans are monolithic, and that we are nearly-uniformly successful in society. that we're all doctors and lawyers and that we're high income, and, you know, what kind of problems could you guys have? and oftentimes, people will point to this myth. not point to actual asian-americans but to this myth as a way to really drive a wedge between asian communities and other communities, that we live and work alongside. the latinx communities, black communities, these kinds of things. as way to almost weaponize this myth and to further the excuse to, you know, really practice racism against these societies saying, look, this group is so successful. all you have to do is work hard to succeed in america. so clearly, there's not racism. it's just a lack of will or a lack of hard work. this is, clearly, not true.
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but that's how this myth is used and that's why people don't listen, when asian-americans talk about their problems. >> and -- and you are talking about a divide-and-conquer strategy there, right? so, cnn is learning, senator, that biden acknowledged that former-president trump -- acknowledged the former president's role in the rise in hate against asian-americans. talk to me about that. >> yes. president biden was very frank, i think, more so than we have heard on the campaign trail, about the fact that the previous administration. really, not just failed to condemn racism against asian-americans. but actually, fomented behaviors and racism and violence against our -- our people, by using the very coarse and just-blatantly racist language we have heard in the past. not to amplify it but we have to look at what we are talking about. calling the coronavirus the china virus. calling it kung flu.
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you know, and even his -- his staff, following his lead. saying, even when president trump, himself, came down with the coronavirus. pointing to china, and saying it's their fault that our president is sick. i mean, it's a really ridiculous framing of this problem. >> so, you mentioned, just a little bit earlier but i want to talk deeper about it. because the day before the shooting spree, you spoke to your fellow-state senators about the rise in anti-asian violence. and you had this message. here it is. >> the motto of the united states is e pluribus unum. it means, out of many, one. asian-americans are part of our country's plurality. we are some of the many, and we are part of that one. and all i'm asking right now is the first east asian state senator in georgia is simply to fully consider us as part of your communities. recognize that we need help. we need protection. and we need people in power to stand up, with us, against hate.
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>> and then, the next day, right, that happened. you are talking about -- you were talking about the model minority and, also, this divide divide-and-conquer strategy. but you went a little bit deeper into what you were saying there. and then, the very next day. >> yeah. one doesn't want to be right about these types of things. but i want to note one thing, is that a lot of people are looking at the talk i gave the day before these shootings and say, wow, how do you feel about this prescient talk you gave before? this is not prescience. i was pointing to things that have, already, happened in the past months, in the past year over the pandemic. but really, over the past decades and centuries in the united states. none of this that is happening is new. we just haven't been paying attention to it hard enough. >> yeah. can i ask you a question? i know it deserves a much-longer answer. but if you can, succinctly, tell
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me. i always believe that the first thing to do is to listen. right? in these situations. so, what would you like -- and then, action is required. one must do the work. what would you like people to hear, in this moment, senator? >> what i would like people to do, in this moment. with this crime and with other crimes that are similar. is to really start focusing less on the perpetrator of the violence. stop amplifying these voices of hate. stop being so fascinated with his history and why did he do it? you know, all these sort of, like, lurid fascinations with -- with a murderer. and really, consider the stories of the victims that he killed, right? because, when we concentrate on the shooter, and ignore the voices of those that he killed, we are perpetuating that phenomenon of his victims, who are asian women, being invisible. and that has been a lot of the problem, all along, with our
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asian community. >> thank you very much, state senator, i appreciate your time. we will have you back. be well. >> thank you so much, don. have a good night. >> you, too. republican lawmakers making all kinds of head-scratching comments from rejecting science to trying to rewrite history over the 2020 election. what's wrong with the right? i want you to listen to a top-republican adviser, next. gl) i think you better double them tots. no, this me was last year. i didn't get my madness last year, so we're doing double the madness this year.
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we are back, now. mark mckinnon is here. he is the former adviser to george w. bush and john mccain and executive producer of "the circus." so, mark, rand paul is calling dr. fauci a government worry wart. saying he never backed trump's efforts to overturn the election. and chip roy is complaining the left is trying to cancel him after he brought up lynching at
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the hearing on asian-american hate. what is going on with the gop? it just seems to get worse. >> don, i feel like i am witnessing the death of the modern-republican party. i mean, it is a shell of itself. it's a corpse. awaiting last rites. i mean, they may win the next off-term congressional elections in 2022 but i don't think we are going to see republicans win a presidency in maybe my lifetime. the problem is donald trump picked the scab of a sort of recessive racism and made it a dominant gene in the republican party. the thing that strikes me about chip roy's comments this week, and ron johnson's, as well, don, which you have talked a lot about. is is that it's gone from being sort of, you know, an embarrassing reflex of sort of, you know, just behavior over the years. to -- and something that's intentional. i mean, ron johnson. these people are not making these -- they're not -- these are not accidental, sort of,
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like, you know, things that are slipping out. they're -- they're thoughtful and they're intentional. and so, it's clear, to me, that -- that these republicans and republicans that are dominating, certainly, you know, the power structure of the republican party now. and the trump wing of the party. are intentionally racist. this has just become a racist party and it's -- it's not even really debatable. >> what -- what does that mean? i mean, intentional. intentionally racist? >> what -- what it means is that -- that the sort of things that -- that ron johnson is saying, that chip roy are saying. it's -- it's -- this is something that they thought about and said out loud. you know, it's normally something that you would never say out loud, much less to the media. >> you are saying this is a deli deliberate strategy? >> i think it's deliberate and here's why. i think donald trump hit that weird point in history where there were enough americans who responded to his message about being afraid of the future. the complexion of america was changing and by complexion, i
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mean, literally, the complexion of america was changing. and he scared the hell out of white people to say, you know, your way of life is changing and that's just the way it's going to be and we should adapt to it. i mean, that's what joe biden said and that's what barack obama said. but trump said, we're going to go back and he got enough white voters to elect him president. and -- and what's happening, now, is that -- that the rest of the republican party thinks that they can pull that trick, again. but they're in -- they're in a -- they're in a demographic cul-de-sac, now. you can't keep finding enough voters by simply doubling down on racism but they think they can. >> i have been saying, all along, demographics are changing. by 2040, 2045, we will be a minority-majority country. they are going to have to do some changing or they are going to become extinct. right now, they're in their glory, right? they think this is great. >> pull off the trick trump did, again, and they are not going to be able to. to your point, back in 2012,
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there was the you know, republican autopsy. it was pretty clear then. bush talked about it and romney did. talked about we got to expand the tent or we're going to go extinct. and trump and the trump wing of the party is doing just the reverse. >> thank you, sir. i always appreciate the look, the hat, the wardrobe and the fire. fireside chat. thank you, mark. i appreciate it. have a good weekend. so, aman bundy is known for high-profile standoffs with law enforcement. now, he is drawing attention over his social-media platform that can cull up anti-government protests if you ask for one. okay? cnn tonight investigation just ahead. plus, a trump-wax figure gets taken off display after taking a beating.
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anger at coronavirus restrictions by state and local
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governments, like mask wearing, has prompted one man that you have probably already heard of, to channel his energy into a new movement. by harnessing social media. ammon bundy is no stranger to confrontation with government authority. his group is called people's rights and it allows members to use the platform to drum up a protest. but experts warn, there is a potential for violence. evan mcmorris-santoro has our "cnn tonight" investigation. >> reporter: this was the scene, on monday, when ammon bundy and his followers were involved in a confrontation, on government property. bundy stood outside a boise, idaho, courthouse. refusing to wear a mask, required to enter. inside, a judge to start bundy's trial on charges of trespassing stemming from another confrontation last year, when bundy refused to leave the idaho statehouse. the judge on monday, ultimately, cited bundy for failure to
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appear and had him arrested. a week before the altercation, bundy was on a tour in utah to recruit supporters. steeling itself for dark days ahead, store food, buy generators, and keep your guns handy, they said here. something bad could be coming, soon. >> well, i think that our rights are being challenged. in -- in this great and wonderful land. >> ladies and gentlemen, ammon bundy. >> reporter: bundy's at the center of a new movement. >> it's a bonus to be able to meet mr. ammon. and to hear his information, his take. >> what do you like about him? >> he is a rancher. >> uh-huh. >> and he's honest, and he keeps his word. >> reporter: bundy comes from a family, whose name has become synonymous with armed confrontations with the
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government. in recent years, members-his family have occupied lands in nevada which led to high-profile standoffs with law enforcement. both of those landed the bundys in federal court. in oregon, ammon and a brother were acquitted on firearms charges, and conspiracy to impede federal workers. in nevada, they and their father were accused of using armed force against law enforcement. and a battle over cattle on federal land. the case ended in a mistrial. since the start of the pandemic, ammon bundy has been working to organize people who are angry over restrictions. last year, bundy created a private social media platform, for people who think pandemic rules and guidelines are part of a government plot. the idea is that members can drum up a protest, with the click of a mouse. bundy calls the group people's rights. >> this network was built to communicate with people, to educate them. or at least to gather to be educated. and also, to activate. say, look, the governor doesn't have the authority to do these things. we never give them that authority. and so, don't comply.
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and let's -- let's get together. let's have church. let's -- let's meet. let's -- let's exercise our rights, in a way that we have a right to exercise 'em. >> reporter: confrontations, sometimes-physical ones, have been a part of people's rights protests, all year. bundy says his supporters are just exercising their constitutional rights but he doesn't take violence off the table. >> but that has to be the very last thing. and there's plenty of ways to respond, before that. >> reporter: experts say, in the wake of january 6th, people's rights is a growing threat. >> the organization seems to be saying, we will participate in democratic practice, only as long as democratic practice works out in our favor. when it doesn't work out, in our favor, the organization seems to be suggesting, we will then use arms or the threat of arms to -- to get their way. >> reporter: facebook removed a number of people's rights pages last year after classifying the group as a militarized-social
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movement. bundy rails against, what he calls, big-tech censorship. >> reporter: bundy and his supporters have been particularly active in the western states. in idaho last year, in addition to storming the statehouse. bundy and his supporters have confronted public-health officials. meetings have been shut down. protesting outside homes is a people's rights tactic. >> schedules in your area that you are going to have ten people there, you know, 24/7. they hate it when you do this. >> reporter: this woman left her local board of health after an incident where demonstrators harassed her family. >> my 12-year-old son is home by himself right now. and there are protestors banging outside the door. okay? i'm going to go home. >> reporter: in nevada, a man who said he was a member of the group, was arrested in february after he allegedly called for the deaths of two members of law enforcement on facebook. in st. george, utah, last december, a group including an
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area-people's rights leader, challenged mask mandates. chuck good is the chairman of the local democratic party. >> i'm just uncomfortable feeling about the mask or doing vaccines is a very selfish kind of thing. they're not keeping up people's rights. they're putting themselves above the rights of other americans. >> troy anderson is an army veteran and activist in st. george. he says, the pandemic and anger over presidential politics is fueling something, out here, that should not be ignored. >> people, like ammon bundy, they're opportunists. you know? whether he is trying to gratify his ego, he's definitely playing on people's fear. and, of course, that's a dangerous thing. >> reporter: so, would it surprise you, then, if the next one of these insurrections is, you know, building in the hills
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of southern utah? >> it wouldn't surprise me because, unfortunately, this happens. there is those charismatic people that come along. and at some point, as -- as a -- as a nation, people have to become more informed, and look at things, for themselves. and -- and stop looking to one or two or a few people, to -- to have all the answers. >> reporter: bundy showed us a tracker on the people's rights app that registered more than 51,000 members. southern poverty law center, which tracks extremist groups, lists people's rights membership at around 20,000. but both bundy and his critics agree. people's rights is growing. anti-government rhetoric, plus misinformation on social media, plus online organizing, can lead to violence. experts fear, bundy is providing the tools that could harness the anger, again, like we saw on january 6th.
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and say everyone needs to pay attention. >> you should take them very seriously. they are playing with fire. you don't use military weapons, and deceive people the way they are. this may not have a happy ending if -- if we don't wake up. >> evan mcmorris-santoro joins me, now. evan, incredible report. thank you, so much, for bringing attention to this. my question, though, is -- and i have many but i'm just -- just get one in here -- let me just get this one in here -- the end of the pandemic. is that going to put a dent in any of bundy's efforts? >> well, don, that really is the most important question. because it's -- there's no question, that bundy has used the pandemic to recruit people for this group. when you go to utah like i did, everyone at his meetings was talking about restrictions and masks and things like that. but as we see the pandemic coming to an end, i asked bundy, look. this stuff is receding. does that mean that people's
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rights retraeats? and he says no, not at all. he doesn't envision a world -- but the reality is the pandemic is a recruiting tactic for a guy who's been at this for a very long >> i kept watching the whole time. i kept saying, why? why do they think their rights are being restricted? i never could really get it. it seemed like a faux controversy and a group that's built on lies. it's fascinating. thank you, evan. i appreciate it. political passions are getting pretty heated these days, but do you have to take it out on the statues? why the wax donald trump needed security. that's next.
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so take this. a wax figure of president trump at a san antonio museum moved to a storage room because patrons keep beating the thing up. yep, a manager from ripley entertainment confirming to the "san antonio express news" that visitors punched and scratched the figure, inflicting so much damage that management had it pulled from public view. the wax figure seen here on display with vladimir putin and kim jong-un, was at one point relocated to the lobby so that staff could keep a better eye on him. but that didn't stop the attacks. so now he's in the back room with george washington and others. trump won't likely be put back on the floor until a figure of president biden is put on display. and wax biden might have to
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watch his back too because museum officials are saying, we've always had trouble with the presidential section because no matter what president it was, bush, obama, or trump, they've all had people beat them. ears were torn off obama six times, and then bush's nose was punched in. people, what are we doing here? i know politics can be frustrating. i totally get it, right? but please leave the wax presidents out of it. violence is never okay, not even on wax figures. boy, those things are so creepy looking. anyway, no ifs, ands, or buts. no violence. so if you see a president you like or dislike in any form, take your selfie. move along. he is kind of weird to look at, though, isn't he? so president joe biden condemning hate in america after the spa shootings in the atlanta area that left eight people dead, six of them asian women. the president says silence is
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