ron johnson knows he's making a right place for himself. >> ron johnson is ignorant and racist. >> how about the ones that did not say anything in his party or all the senators. if i said anything close to it, you would not let me finish the sentence. >> no, i would come over the next studio. >> that's not us, nobody said anything. the silence, i will be silent now but for a different reason. >> i love you d-mon. >> let's keep talking like this. it is uncomfortable for some people but not for us. you are a gift in my life and i love love you. >> this is "cnn tonight" and i am don lemon. guess what y'all, there is some optimism, 100 million shots in arms, amen, that's great. 100 million checks in pockets. you keep on asking where the good news is, there it is. 100 million shots in arms and 100 checks in pockets. who does not want a check in the mail? i know i do. all in the next ten days. that's the promise from the president joe biden. >> over the next two days, two giant goals, first is 100 million shots in people's arms will be completed the next ten days and 100 million checks in pe

not only is ron johnson trying to play the victim. he's defending his ridiculous assertion that black lives matter is scarier than the violent mob of armed insurrectionists. the people who love this country and law enforcement. it happened to have a noose with them when they strolled into the capitol to hang mike pence. he's trying to concoct a left wing conspiracy equating black lives matter with the usual right wing boogie man like antifa and the radical left. he writes we should all be disgusted at the way others hide befind the banner of equality. he said it's about riots. they were united by the radical leftism. the column is incoherent, honestly. for example, ron johnson cites the unrest in kenosha as some of his alleged receipts but leaves out kyle riten house, the teenage militia member reportedly with the bugala boys. he was the violent one that is charged with double murder. far from being the aggressors, black lives matters protesters are often the victims of right wing violence including in louisville, kentucky. there's no

and now, you have ron johnson saying the same thing. you know, for me, i go back to car michael, anderson. and stokely once said that, if you want to lynch me, that's your problem. but if you had the power to lynch me, then that's my problem. racism in this country is a power construct. and people, like ron johnson, have the power and the ability to implement racist policies, even when they're ignorant to the fact that what they're doing is racist. this is not about somebody calling you nigger. i get called that enough in my twitter comments. i get called that in my messages, when i leave cnn every single day. it's not about that. it's about something more than that. it's about the systemic oppression. it's about the systemic racism. and people, like ron johnson, who play a role in it, and are so ignorant to the fact, to the role they play, that they sit there. and simply, turn their back and say, don't play the race card. we're not playing the race card, senator. we are trying to educate you on the fact that, either -- there -- there -

i adore bakari sellers but ron johnson knows exactly what he's doing. this is a party now and we know it because of all the efforts that they're doing to minimize or to undermine voting rights. this is a party now that is aligned itself with the strategic effort to essentially deny the vote and put into question the votes that had already occurred. those votes that they look at are not white votes as ron johnson made clear w. it's the african american votes and hispanic votes. you think about the connective tissue about what you're writing or these cases. the connected tissue is white supremacy and racism and just that's why every single one of these cases matters because the goal now is to stop recruitment and the more that these folks go to jail, that they are shamed and isolated and that we have a president who doesn't nurture racism but condemns it. >>> a look at the hundreds of proposed laws that would curtail voting rights that julia eluded to and campaign pressure to defeat republican measures. michael: this is the story of two brothers. david: m

we just talked about ron johnson. remember this? ron johnson. senator ron johnson, defending the rioters who dattacked the u.s. capitol. >> i knew those were people that love this country, that truly respect law enforcement, would never do anything to -- to break a law. and so, i wasn't concerned. now, had the tables been turned, joe, this could get me in trouble. had the tables been turned and president trump won the election, and those were tens of thousands of black lives matter and antifa protestors, i might've been a little concerned. >> this will get me in trouble. had it been black lives matter protestors, might get him in trouble. it's black lives matter. you're afraid of them. come on, brother. we ain't stupid. we heard you. you heard him. said he wasn't concerned about the trump supporters who actually rioted at the capitol and hurt police officers. one of whom died. but he would have been terrified, he would have been afraid, if they had been black lives matter or antifa. afraid, if they had been black lives matter or antifa. by the w

you have to say, what ron johnson said is wrong. in the control room -- did adam kinsinger use his name? yeah, thank you. but not on the senate side. here is my point. i have been making the point to all you guys. i don't know where your optimism is working with him when they showed opposite inclination. do you recognize hr-1 as the only way to stop this wave of legislation that will absolutely limit the voting rights of minorities across the country? >> absolutely. in the senate, we prefer to call it s-1 but it is essential that we use the constitution power. we have the able to lay out parameters, and it's our constitutional responsibility to defend the ballot box. the journey is knocking down the ballot, that was imposed by rights, gender, jim crow, and we made it with the voting rights act. and here we are with a massic campaign, a massive effort to attack black americans, college students, native americans to cast a ballot. it's absolutely wrong. it's absolutely just a corruption of our constitutional responsibility. >> the onl

that is a real thing wisconsin senator ron johnson said not when he was 9, which would have been, you know, adorable, but this month, when he told "the new york times," "i could be wrong there but that's always been my assumption that, at some point in time, those early explorers saw green. i have no idea." sure, dude, that's how greenland got its name just like how germany got its name because that's where germs come from, or how canada got its name because everyone there loves ginger ale and like, ha ha, ron johnson is dumb but it's worse than that. he was using that disprovable fact to argue that climate change isn't real because greenland used to be green it wasn't just a wrong answer he was giving on "idiot jeopardy. and by the way, just a reminder to all you pro-gun con artists once again claiming it's the so-called radical left rushing to take away everyone's gun. the most recent president who actually said we should take people's guns away wasn't joe biden or barack obama, it was this guy >> allow due process so that no one's rights are trampled, but the ability to go to court

listen, ron johnson sounds like a senator from alabama in 1921. not a senator from wisconsin in 2021. but make no mistake. michael, so many former republicans, you know, they're in this fight, this is now democracy versus autocracy. it is basically white supremacists are on the rise. not just on january 6th. they're driving -- it is now becoming mainstream. you see fox news personalities increasingly talking about the fight for traditional america. so i think a lot of them are saying the quiet part out loud. so we need everybody who may disagree on a whole bunch of issues but believes that our democracy and voting rights should be sacrosanct and winners of election should govern, that racism is structural and is a continual battle in this country, we all need to stand together because the dividing lines could not be clearer. and i think some of these things that we thought would fade into the shadows of history are right on our doorstep again. and by the way, ron johnson, he says maybe he'll retire, maybe he'll run for re-election.

an outrageous statement by ron johnson. >> ron johnson is obviously an idiot. i'll say that myself. i think anyone who saw the video knows it was utterly document. there was a scene in one of those documentaries that show them rifling through ted cruz's papers, about to turn on him saying that, you know, he had sold them out. they were looking for mike pence, not that going after nancy pelosi would have been okay, but it's not just democrats that they were after, ron johnson, and i'm not sure that they could have recognized you as one of the quote/unquote good guys if they found you. but listen, i think that this is the best case study i've ever seen. ron johnson's comments were the best case study i've ever seen or the best evidence of systemic racism and subliminal racism. i honestly do not think that he was trolling us initially to try to get attention when he went on that radio show. i honestly do not think that ron johnson believes that he is a racist. in he has mind, these protesters are our people. you know, they're good, patriotic white americans in his mind. i honestly thin

ron johnson is not an outlier, by any means. he's just the one that said it out loud. >> when i saw those comments, i thought, this -- this will probably blow up. this is a pretty offensive -- i mean, first of all, it's factually preposterous. it's just not true but it's also an offensive thing to say. has it? has it blown up in your state? >> i mean, look, we know who has been president the last four years. so many things should have blown up but they didn't. and people with hateful views, people with bigoted views, people who are openly racist and make openly-racist statements have gotten away with doing this for too long. why would it stop? you know, what's the point of a few people, you know, get mad. people get all up in arms. people who are of sound mind and sound judgment cast dispersion on what's going on, rightfully so. but they have seen what happened in the nation's highest office, without consequence. and so many of them are just going to replicate that behavior because if the president can get away with it, they'll

johnsons of the world, and if they're not telling them that these vaccines are safe, if ron johnson's not coming out and, you know, putting a photo of him getting a shot in the arm, i don't know who these messengers are going to be to penetrate that pretty large group of people. >> well, it begs the question, what is the point of being a lawmaker? why are you there in office? if you are willing to throw public health to the wind, right, in service of staying in power, what is the point of being in service to the american people? or at least those are the sort of ideas behind being a lawmaker, right, charlie? i would -- marjorie taylor greene, because jonathan mentioned her, there's an article in "the new york times" that talks about sort of the naked aspirations of a lot of new republicans in congress. mrs. greene may be something of an outlier, the "times" writes, but her reaction to her exile illustrates a new reality that has taken hold in congress, most vividly in the new pranks of republicans. a growing number of lawmakers have demonstrated less interest in the nitty-gritty passa

ron johnson is a racist. he just broadcast that volunteerly, even conceding, gee, maybe i shouldn't say this, maybe i'll get in trouble for saying it, well, don't say it. but it doesn't change the fact that by their actions people like ron johnson or josh hawley for ted cruz or any of the number of people in the republican party who continue to look the other way and try to rewrite history about what happened on january 6th to try to make apologies to try to call these people freedom loving, united states loving patriots, look at the videotape. look at the pictures. look at the caskets. that tells the story of january 6th and i'm so sick and tired of these white senators and white republicans trying to whitewash all of these events. it's disgrateful and disgusting. >> do you, elise, expect republicans to condemn ron johnson's remarks or do you think it's part of the picture to paint the january 6th attacks as not as bad as they were and getting people to move on? >> i think republicans definitely don't want t

>>> ron johnson just committed the full ron johnson. he told us exactly what he needs. >> sometimes we hear racist dog whistles. sometimes it's a bullhorn. other times we see a cellphone that's just perfection. that's what ron johnson did the other day. tying trutherism into a tight little bow. >> i know there are those who love this country who truly respect law enforcement, would never do anything to break a law, and so i wasn't concerned. >> okay. i'm pretty sure trying to overturn the capitol is the opposite of loving our country. and when is it loving our law enforcement when you beat an officer with a pole or slamming doors on them. even if he might have missed more recent details like the alleged rider who sported a hitler mass to work at a navy base. what could be driving this more willful blindness? >> this could have spelled trouble if the tables had been turned. if they were black lives matter and antifa protesters, i might have been a little concerned. >> there you have it. there's a lot to unpack. this might get me in troub

ron johnson's main goal was to obviously delay. y you know, what chuck schumer said was to delay the inevitable. but this is a tactic we'll see writ large from republicans for a lot of bills that senate democrats try to pass this year. you'll see them trying to throw up a lot of deletetory tactics, to read the bill, to throw up a lot of votes in the vote-a-rama later today. and another big objective for senate republicans, they know this bill is popular with the american public and they're trying to bring those numbers down. they believe that because the american public only really knows about these popular provisions about the $1,400 checks to individuals, and they believe that a full airing of this bill and the extraneous provisions that's in it, will actually make them less popular with the american public. so you'll see a lot of that talk later today, but again, this bill is on the track to pass in the next 24 hours or so. >> here's why it's important not to delay, for people who are struggling. here's what's expiring next week

ron johnson knows this. he wants to change the rhetoric but can't change the fact that 140 police officers were injured. one police officer was killed on january 6th. it was insurrectionists lead by the rhetoric of donald trump that resulted in those injuries and storming democracy on january 6th. >> uh-huh. >> i would like ron johnson to pick up the phone and speak to former vice president pence to see if they may see eye to eye. the vice president's life was on the line, so were the lives of every single one of his colleagues. they came with the intent to harm and maim. they came with the intent to demonstrate they didn't like their results of the fair election. they wanted to overthrow the government. this was very much on the lap of white nationalists. they proclaimed themselves to be white nationalists and for ron johnson to try to change the facts, not to have a conversation like i would encourage him to do with vice president pence is basically peddling lies and trying to on few skate the truth. inste

it's also consistent with ron johnson's political strategy. assuming he runs for re-election in wisconsin, he's trying to say i'm the number one target for democrats because what that identification gives you is a whole lot of fundraising, a whole lot of conservative energy to his side. so that's the mission that he's on. democrats are on the mission of holding the party together, getting through this process and putting this on president biden's desk in the next couple of weeks. and all signs suggest that's going to happen. in fact, it's notable that we're wondering less about whether a democrat is going to defect because there's no sign of that but more as to whether one republican, lisa murkowski, peels off and votes for this deal. >> senator murkowski has said, i'm going to see what's in it. we already know there are some things in it that are clearly not covid related. but i'm looking at some of the things that will provide a level of relief for a state like alaska. is this lucy on the football again? are we holding our breath for lisa mu

listen, ron johnson sounds like a senator from alabama in 1921. not a senator from wisconsin in 2021. but make no mistake. michael, so many former republicans, you know, they're in this fight, this is now democracy versus autocracy. it is basically white supremacists are on the rise. not just on january 6th. they're driving -- it is now becoming mainstream. you see fox news personalities increasingly talking about the fight for traditional america. so i think a lot of them are saying the quiet part out loud. so we need everybody who may disagree on a whole bunch of issues but believes that our democracy and voting rights should be sacrosanct and winners of election should govern, that racism is structural and is a continual battle in this country, we all need to stand together because the dividing lines could not be clearer. and i think some of these things that we thought would fade into the shadows of history are right on our doorstep again. and by the way, ron johnson, he says maybe he'll retire, maybe he'll run for re-election. what ron johnso

when ron johnson acknowledged by a radio host, this might get me in trouble. it wasn't followed by a joke, a racist joke. it was followed by his actual beliefs and he shared what he believed about an issue of race and let's accept that as his belief and let's cast a verdict when he's on the ballot the next time. >> and he is, of course, until just this january, the chair -- the chairman of the homeland security committee. donna, i haven't heard any republican speaking out against it. >> you haven't. here's what we've seen, andrea, over the last four or five years is that the racism that i know has always existed among some members of congress is actually on full display. it's not hidden anymore, and i think that's what you saw in ron johnson's remarks and the reality is that we heard from ken delaney. 140 police officers, law enforcement were not loved by those insurrectionists. they were injured and killed by them and so for ron johnson to make these claims and not only are they racist, but they completely defy what happened on january 6th, and you know, repu

senator ron johnson with a racist interpretation of the insurrection at the u.s. capitol. we are played it three times this morning with as much vial as i can handle. i will paraphrase it, though, he said, roughly, he was not scared of the ones chanting mike pence and a guy wearing a camp auschwitz sweatshirt, a largely white crowd he says because the protesters love america. but black lives matter people, he says, would have worried him. joining me now is jamar tisby, the author of the book how to fight racism, courageous christianity and the journey for racial justice. thank you for being with us. what ron johnson sounds like a single entrendre. to me looks like one thing. how do you see it? >> it is racist, for sure, but there are multiple layers. so on the surface, of course, if anti-democratic white extremists don't see you as a threat, then what do they see you as? eater as an ally or irrelevant. and when it comes to injustice, i wouldn't want to be either one of those. then johnson went on to say if it had been black lives matter protesters, ostensibly a crowd more

he said i got elected with ron johnson. i liked ron johnson. i don't know who the hell this ron johnson is. he calls it ugly and racist and says that ron johnson needs to be defeated. now, we're not exactly sure if he is running for re-election, or not. that election will come next-calendar year. he is already receiving pressure over other things, not just his comments on -- about the january-6th insurrection. but also, for his votes against things like covid relief. and so, we have seen that pressure, on the ground, from some groups in wisconsin. but i think it's also really important to point out here, yasmin. this isn't the first time that he has made eyebrow-raising comments about january 6th. previously, back in february, he made sympathetic comments. saying that it didn't seem like an armed insurrection, to him. of course, again, the video tells a very different story. and so, these kinds of sympathetic comments that we're hearing from the wisconsin senator. not exactly new. but definitely, stunning. >> again, it seems as if he didn't see

ron johnson wasn't the leader of the crazy pack in congress. i wonder whether all of this extremism has given license to people who used to actually maybe think these things, but not go on tv and say them. i'm a little surprised. i would have thought that on my inaugural edition of this episode -- this segment i would be talking about lauren boebert and marjorie taylor greene and we certainly can, but ron johnson used to be a mainstream republican. >> there are two things to say about that. one is that the modern gop has abdicated its responsibility to govern. it doesn't give pretense of governing anymore, and it has said very explicitly that its role is for the protection and maintenance of white power. you have gop lawmakers coming out voting for the stimulus while not voting for it in congress. they're willing to let the democrats govern while using all of the political energy around trump and around him raising money and around folks angered about him losing the election to set up white power struck urs. the second thing to say is one of th

. >> can we please talk, if you will, about senator ron johnson now saying that the left has twisted what he said about the january 6th investigation, that he wasn't concerned by the pro-trump mob, but would have been, you know, concerned if it was black lives matter or antifa. how did you hear that? >> i heard it the way he meant it. you know, the moment he said or prefaced his last statement, i know i'm going to get in trouble for this, then went on to say it. said to me he knew exactly what he was saying, he knew why he was saying it, he knew exactly how the reactions would be. he just didn't care. the guy is racist. this is not the first time he has indicated such. i would hope that the people of wisconsin would take note of this and do what they can to help make this country a better place. now, i know the history of wisconsin. when it comes to politics. they have been on both sides of the extremes, extreme right and extreme left. i would hope that they will moderate themselves in the next election and get rid of this right extremist. >> senator clyburn, republicans are waging a

is basically being used as a shield by ron johnson for his own misconduct. i mean what he said, as you've pointed out, don, it's blatantly racist. he's saying he was okay with this trump mob invading the capitol because they supposedly respected law enforcement? these people who were attacking police officers, who killed a police officer, who injured 140 police officers, and yet ron johnson is saying that he would have only been really scared if black lives matter had invaded the capitol, by which of course we know he means african-americans, right? this is just such blatant bigotry on his part, but he's trying to defend himself by saying in "the wall street journal," i will not be canceled. the left is trying to cancel me. nobody is trying to cancel him. people are just trying to hold him accountable. this is such a self-refuting argument on his part. he's appearing in "the wall street journal," one of the largest newspapers in the country, and he's claiming that he is being canceled or censored or shut down. it's absurd. >> max, let's talk about the curren

senator ron johnson is going to make this very difficult for democrats. the white house is feeling the pressure and senate democrats. they need to pass this before march 14th when millions of americans are going to lose their unemployment benefits. >> daniel, this is all happening in the middle of a national emergency of course. we showed pictures of people lining up at food banks. some of the help is going to expire. something that made this all the more outrageous. >> reporter: this has real world consequences on americans. another 745,000 americans filed for unemployment benefits. senate chairman said the benefits of $400 a week will run out by august 29th. this is where we're expecting the senate not to be in session. it's going to happen during the summer. we have to keep an eye on how this is going to play out especially with whatever happens with the pandemic. it's unclear how this will affect americans if this runs out. >> up bright and early. >>> college age dependents would be eligible this time around. they weren't in the first two. everyone wo

. >>> next, gop senator ron johnson denying he is racist for comments he made in connection with the capitol riot. what voters back in wisconsin think of his words, when we continue. eps that give me confi. this is my granddaughter...she's cute like her grandpa. voya doesn't just help me get to retirement... ...they're with me all the way through it. come on, grandpa! later. got grandpa things to do. aw, grandpas are the best! well planned. well invested. well protected. voya. be confident to and through retirement. out here, you're a landowner, a gardener, a landscaper and a hunter. that's why you need versatile, durable kubota equipment. michael: more than 100 years ago. simi: two branches of our family split apart. david: but now, ancestry helped connect us to our ancestors and each other. michael: find their stories. gigi: at ancestry. >>> reminder. the fbi is asking for the public's help in identifying suspects accused of quote, the most violent attacks on federal officers during the january 6th capitol insurrection. investigators released these videos showing suspects hitting o

he says ron johnson said ron johnson didn't say what ron johnson said. ron johnson quoted from an article of a first-hand witness then added his own thoughts these are the people who probably planned this. he did say that just to be clear. he did say what he says he didn't say. outfront now, former assistant secretary of homeland security and bill kristol editor at large of "the bulwark." fbi director wray was very clear today, right, in the same thing everybody else has been clear on but he is the director of the fbi. they are investigating this soup to nuts and happened to be named by trump to his post and he is saying there is no evidence of fake trump supporters in this crowd. no evidence of antifa. and yet, you know, you hear senator johnson and that whole other list of people that i just played. they don't care. do they? about the truth? >> no. they don't care. donald trump doesn't care. you know what could help? if the senate minority leader and the house minority leader, mcconnell and mccarthy, put out a joint statement saying for example or the

republican senator ron johnson didn't know that nothing was going to happen at the capitol today. he didn't know that the senate wasn't going to be attacked again. or did he? even though the capitol was under a threat today, ron johnson decided to use a power that every senator has and none use, to order senate clerks to read every page of the 628-page biden covid relief bill. with a credible threat against the capitol today, ron johnson decided to force senate clerks to remain on the senate floors for hours on end reading 628 pages, which is what they are doing right now. there they are. they are on page 390 right now. ron johnson's stunt and his cruelty to those senate clerks who you see on the screen will not delay by even a day the delivery of $1,400 biden covid relief checks along with $3,000 child tax credits. senate democrats unified today when they cast their first vote on the bill, which was a simple motion to begin to debate the covid relief bill. all 50 senators were joined by vice president kamala harris in a 51-50 vote to simply proceed to consideration of the bill. 5

and that's what senator ron johnson is doing. that's what several republican senators have done, especially in voting to acquit former president trump, essentially saying, we don't know if the president was involved, we don't know how involved he was. no one can know whether or not these rioters were inspired by his speech. there's too much uncertainty. let's move on and not hold anyone accountable. and i think that will continue to be the case, even though we have heard in clear language from the fbi director that some of these claims were completely false and these were trump supporters. they did storm the capitol after the president spoke. they were carrying his flag and everyone was able to see it, but these republican senators have shown that they are willing to be willfully blind to the facts and to the evidence, just because they want to protect the former president and they don't want to show that his supporters were the ones who stormed the capitol on january 6th. >> thank you, both, very much. great to talk to you. >>>

and their view is that they are not going to let ron johnson fly under the radar. if he does run for re-election, they are already taking steps to try and amplify some of the comments, most controversial comments he's made to make sure voters in the state of wisconsin have a better idea of what their senator has been up to in washington. anderson. >> sara murray, thanks very much. >>> up next, what happened to what was, once upon a time, the high-flying symbol of the president's gold-plated life. we'll tell you, ahead. a lot of people think dealing with copd is a walk in the park. if i have something to help me breathe better, everything will be fun and nice. but i still have bad days flare-ups (coughs), which can permanently damage my lungs. my lungs need protection against flare-ups. so it's time to get real. because in the real world our lungs deserves the real protection of breztri. breztri gives you better breathing symptom improvement, and flare-up protection. it's the first and only copd medicine proven to reduce flare-ups by 52% breztri won't replace a resc

and captain ron johnson who retired from the missouri state highway patrol. thank you so much. good to see both of you gentlemen. thank you so much. ron, it's been a long time. it's good to have you on. >> thank you. >> i'll start with doug first. doug, incredibly compelling day of testimony from multiple minor, including the teen who took the viral video, an offduty emt who wanted to help. what do you think the jury took away from day two? >> i think they took away a lot, as a matter of fact. i really believe that the testimony today was some of the most powerful you will hear, especially the 17-year-old who took the video. i'm telling you, don, her line about having, you know, at night apologizing to george floyd and to say, i should have done more, but then looking the defendant in the eye and saying, but really he should have done more. that's the prosecutor's closing argument right there. although the people across the country couldn't see it, i

ron johnson is making a symbolic point, you can eat tomorrow or maybe next week, whatever. but on the real low, this is not just petty t is disgusting. and on top of that. i would respect him maybe a little bit more if he read the bill himself. but instead this bitch is making some poor clerk read it. like you don't get to act like are you some heroic resistor if someone else is doing the work. >> now i want to see how ron johnson defends his family. hey, you think you can hit on my wife? well you got another thing coming. kick his ass, wife, kick his ass. and by the way, i love how he says i don't want to sound like a leftist. that has become the new no homofor help cans, yo, bro, no leftist, but i think we should all get an equal share of guac on our chips. all right, let's move to our main story. president joseph rep ri hencable biden. and yeah, that is his new middle name. rep hi hencable because biden has been in office just six weeks and already he has had more scandals than any president before him. as we will find out in another episode of joe biden, the worst presi

wisconsin republican ron johnson requested the reading. >> all i'm trying to do is make this a more deliberative process. obviously shine the light on this abusive and obscene amount of money. >> we democrats want america to hear what's in the plan. >> reporter: the bill advanced through the debate stage thursday without the support of a single gop senator. vice president kamala harris cast the deciding vote. >> and the motion to proceed is agreed to. >> reporter: forcing the bill to be read aloud could delay the final vote until this weekend. meanwhile, many businesses are waking up to fewer and fewer pandemic-related restrictions. and that's thanks in part to ramped up vaccine distribution. the cdc says over 54 million americans have received at least one dose of a covid vaccine. >> covid has not suddenly disappeared even though we issued this executive order doesn't mean it's gone. we no longer need government running your lives. >> reporter: more states are following texas' lead in easing pandemic restrictions as case totals drop. 16 will have no mask requirement by next week. public health

ron johnson is just trying to hold on. >> well, ron johnson has to make a decision. he would be on the ballot next year for re-election. he has not decided yet. when he was elected he would serve two terms. now he says he's inclined to leave but nasdaq not certain. as he debates that among the potential candidates there's a gentleman i'm talking to right now a lot of democrats say they'd like you in that senate race. what says you? >> at this point we're working hard on the budget. joe biden signed the american rescue plan and we're trying to sign a budget into law that provides opportunity for the people of the state of wisconsin. that's where our focus is going to be. we just put out a comprehensive, bold climate action plan, the most aggressive and ambitious agenda and we've got a lot on our plate right now. we have to make sure people can get back on their feet again. we have to make sewer our small business community can thrive once more on the other side of this pandemic. i appreciate all the encouragement. i appreciate anybody who's thought of me in this race.

when he had received, the same information presumably that ron johnson trying to spread around using the position in the senate as the chairman at that time of the homeland security committee. so it's extraordinary that russia's strategy was to spread disinformation using american media organizations like fox and oan but even more alarmingly senior members of the u.s. senate and house in an effort to laurnder the disinformation in a way that the media might find credible. luckily the media i think most of it and the rest of us knew what was up and called foul but it's an extraordinary statement now the republican party lost its way that they would somehow talk themselves into becoming and this is a term of art useful idiots for the kremlin, vladimir putin. and rudy giuliani. all of these people were more than willing to do the bidding of a russian dictator to try to win an american election. it is breath taking. >> just listening to you describe it, it's clear why russia did what they did. what is not clear to me is why are republicans so brazenly pushing russia's national security a

and republican senator ron johnson of wisconsin is making good on his promise to slow down that relief, getting to americans by whatever ridiculous means necessary. >> i don't want to sound like a leftist, but i'm going to resist. the first way i'm going to resist is i'm going to go down and object to the waiving of the reading of the bill. i will make them read their 600, 700-page bill. >> good for you, senator. that's right. in the midst of a pandemic that's killed 520,000 americans -- thousands every day, every day, we're just numb to it now, but every day it continues. and it's put millions out of work. ron johnson wants to delay help getting out to the american people by forcing the senate clerk to read aloud all 728 pages of the bill. they have been at it for nearly five hours already. near expected to go into the wee hours of the morning. remember the last time we had a democratic president in office, remember ha? mitch mcconnell said the single most important thing we want to achieve is for president obama to be a one-term president. it is the overriding impulse of the republic

it's not used very much, but it's an example of the lengths to which people like ron johnson will go simply to throw this big hissy fit. we will prevail. it's just a matter of eating up the clock. but it is an example of republicans, you know, kicking around in the sandbox. >> i should note i think that senator johnson is in the chamber at least, listening to the bill being read aloud. in the broader sense of obstruction here, mike lee is talking about they're going to go through this vote-a-rama. it seems delaying the inevitable. this does seem this caucus is united. there's an understanding you need every member of the caucus with the tie-breaking vote of vice president harris, and that you're going to get this done in the next few days. is that right? >> that's right. you just saw the vice president ask the tie-breaking vote on what's called a motion to proceed to the bill. so now we're on the bill. then we'll go to vote-a-rama. yes, chris, we are going to pass this relief. as the president has already said, he would prefer to have republican partners in this effort, but the imper

this morning ron johnson says the racist part out loud. listen how he explains why he was not worried about the capitol insurrectionists and what would have concerned him. >> i know those who love this country, that truly respect law enforcement would never do anything to break the law, and so i wasn't concerned. had the tables been turned -- and joe, this could get me in trouble -- had the tables been turned and president trump won the election and those were thousands of black lives matter and ante na who were protesting, i might have been concerned. >> so a guy was holding a "hang mike pence" sign up and ron johnson puts them in that column. it could be called a single entendre. what other way is there to read it other than white protesters promising death and upheaval, not bad, but largely black protesters really bad. johnson, you might remember, is that guy who read a statement into the congressional record who called the invaders jovial. does that mean they wanted to hang mike pence with a smile? like what's the friendly version of a

only one, and that senator is ron johnson. the senators who have been there, at most it's been a handful at a time. they weren't even paying close attention when they did stop by. this reading is not going to do anything but delay. and just hear it from the majority leader himself. >> we all know this will merely delay the inevitable. it will accomplish little more than a few sore throats for the senate clerks who work very hard day in, day out to help the senate function. >> senator johnson isn't going to change any minds. and he knows that. he is a troubling face for opposition to the bill as well. because johnson has become a face of trump's election lies. he staked his career on this. he has become known because of his support for trump's election lie. here he is recently repeating trump supporters weren't behind the insurrection. >> some obviously didn't fit in and he describes four different types of people. plain clothes militants. agents provocateurs. fake trump protesters, and then disciplined uniform attackers. these

ron johnson, the senator from wisconsin, he's up for re-election here in 2022. you mentioned those radio -- that radio show that he appeared on about a week ago. i think what was most striking from that radio appearance actually was when he brought up and suggested what if the tables had been turned and that it was president trump who had won his re-election and there was 10,000 what he referred to as blm or antifa protesters. he said then he would have been more concerned. a very racially assertive statement made by the senator of wisconsin here. i think that's why the remarks yesterday at an event with conservatives at a political event in wisconsin i think are worth noting. i think we have some of those words there brought up in which he said, quote, one of the reasons i'm being attacked is because i very honestly said i didn't feel threatened on january 6th. i didn't. there was much more violence on the house side. there was no violence on the senate side in terms of the chamber. when we talk about denialism, we all watched that video in which capitol police

like, what is ron johnson smoking there in wisconsin? what is he on? i don't understand the mind-set. >> well, we've still got a lot coming up. >>> the calls right now are growing for governor cuomo's resignation here. we're also learning about intimidation tactics reportedly used against his accusers. we're going to speak to the "wall street journal" reporter who broke that story, next. >>> and coming up in our next hour, one year later and still no justice for breonna taylor? her mother will join us to talk about the federal investigation and how her daughter has helped shape our national reckoning on race. our live interview with tameka palmer on the anniversary of her daughter's death, coming up at 7:30 a.m. 30 a.m so you want to make the best burger ever? then make it! that means cooking day and night until you get... (ding)... you got paid! that means... best burger ever. intuit quickbooks helps small businesses be more successful with payments, payroll, banking and live bookkeeping. starting today, nobody has to settle for less than the very bes

what ron johnson is doing tonight is deplorable at best. you have a party here -- while we're actually having a robust policy debate on covid relief. >> let me talk to amanda. we're going to try to fix your audio. it sounds like the radio is not quite on the station when we're listening to you. amanda, talk to me about this. you mentioned the whole dr. seuss did -- bakari did, this fake outrage around the term "neanderthal." we're in the middle of a pandemic. this is what they're focusing on? it's clear they're trying to have another basket of deplorables, right? >> yeah, it's silly, which, you know, makes me think the democrats should be able to roll them all the much easier, okay? like i understand the progressives want to have this big fight over the minimum wage and this has been on the shelf for quite a long time. but the fact is it just didn't belong in a covid relief bill. joe biden campaigned on being the guy who would come in and start fixing things fast. and i think there is a concern if he doesn't start doing it. he's doing a gre

>> well, what it says about ron johnson is that -- that's just out and out racism and white supremacy in most explicit terms saying every bit of the quiet part out loud. and there are republican elected officials here in washington, in the house and in the senate, who would agree with him. there are many who would not. but who would insist on this policy of massive resistance, total resistance to anything the democrats and president biden attempt to do as a political strategy, as way of trying to regain ground in 2022. and it would be great for the country if republicans were not taking this attitude. but the bigger question always is how are people in the country reacting to this. this is an extremely popular piece of legislation, we will see how people react to the way it's rolled out and impacts it begins to have on their lives when the checks arrive, when small businesses get money to keep their doors open and keep their employees paid. when child poverty in this country is estimated to be cut in half by this legislation, when people start seeing that, question is even if they hav

ron johnson is out there forcing clerks to work around the clock for a stunt. do voters see what's going on here? >> if they're paying attention, which is more than probably most members of the senate are doing. clerks are reading this right now, but what this stunt lies the fact that we just had 750,000 people apply for first-time unemployment benefits. people are still suffering, and this is just more than a distract and delay tactic. is ron johnson continuing his attempt to claim the crown of king of the trolls. it doesn't make a lot of sense given that biden won his state if he wants to run for re-election again. this is what he's decided to do. and even republican senators are looking at themselves and saying we don't see the end game here. this is just designed to irritate and annoy. >> listen, president biden called it neanderthal thinking to lift covid restrictions in texas and mississippi. and everyone from the texas governor to marsha blackburn spun up the outrage machine. t they were never outraged by the things former president trump said. doesn't t

you know, ron johnson has been in denial for a long time. he was chair of the homeland security committee, used that perch to chase -- he talked about the doctors who pushed hydroxychloroquine. it's too bad. they really, really need him. the farmers who commit suicide regularly needed him to vote for this rescue bill instead of him, you know, being dilatory and forci forcing things. >> i think you're referring to kyle rittenhouse who's been accused of those kenosha deaths. >> i don't remember his name. >> i don't believe he's been charged with white supremacy. he was connected to some pro-law enforcement groups. but ron johnson, his statement about the senate is provably false, right? we've seen pictures, and we know there was broken glass. >> i want to follow up on the maya angelou quote. when people tell you who they are, believe them. in a word, what has ron johnson shown us about who he is? >> he has shown us that he's a lot more comfortable with trumpsters, and we've had four years of trump, five years if you count, you know, the time f

. >>> remember ron johnson? the republican senator from wisconsin who said the maga mob who attacked the capitol were just fake trump supporters pulling a prank on us. but now he's speaking from his heart. in a radio interview last week, johnson told us what he really thinks of the violent insurrectionists of january 6th. defining them as model citizens. the real threat, according to johnson, is black lives matter. >> on january 6th, i never felt threatened. i knew those were people that loved this country, that truly respect law enforcement. would never do anything to break a law. so i wasn't concerned. now, had the tables been turned, this could get me in trouble. but had president trump won the election, and those were tens of thousands of black lives matter and antifa protesters, i would have been a little more concerned. >> in other words, he's more worried about black people seeking racial justice than the mob that tried to overturn our government. that's what racists used utter only in private or under ho

marshall cohen, ron johnson is telling on himself. thank you so much. >>> so i don't know if you're aware of this, but it was exactly a year ago today that breonna taylor was shot to death. >> i'll never get to a point where i'm over what happened to her. >> still ahead, we talked to breonna's mother and her continuing fight for justice. ♪ if your money is working toward the same goals, why keep it in different places? sofi is a one-stop shop for your finances- designed to work better together. spend with sofi and get cash back rewards that automatically go toward your goals. like investing in stocks, etfs, and crypto. that's better together. or pay down your sofi debt sooner. that's better together. and that's how sofi is helping millions get their money right. ♪ ♪ what's the #1 retinol brand ♪ used most by dermatologists? tah-dah, it's neutrogena® with derm-proven retinol, rapid wrinkle repair® smooths the look of fine lines in 1-week, deep wrinkles in 4. so you can kiss wrinkles, and other wrinkle creams goodbye. rapid wr