Trump Wants to Change How We Vote. Will He Succeed?

From The New York Times, I'm Rachel Abrams, and this is The Daily. This week, the senate is debating the Save America Act. We're gonna save America. The Save America. How can they fight us? The Save America Act. A bill that could overhaul who gets to vote and the president Trump has called his number one priority. They have to get it done because if we don't get this done, I'm for if it takes you six months, I'm for not approving anything. I'm for not approving anything. I don't think we should approve anything until this is approved. Today, I speak with my colleagues, Michael Gold, about the bill and why some Republicans are standing against the president to block it, and Nick Corassini about the administration's other plans to try and reshape the electoral process whether or not the bill fails. It's Friday, March 20. Michael Gold, welcome back to The Daily. Thanks for having me. I appreciate that you're talking to us in the Capitol with a picture of the Capitol behind you. Are you in a sound booth or something? I'm in a sound booth, with a picture of the Capitol so that I never forget where I am, which in this building is not insignificant. It's spread pretty big around here. So it's 02:30 on Thursday afternoon. And the reason you are at the Capitol is that you've spent all day so far covering the deliberations over the Save America Act, which we expect to be voted on in the senate at some point in the coming days. Can you just start by describing what the Save America Act actually is and what it would do? So the Save America Act is this big elections bill that president Trump has been pushing for. And it has a few basic provisions, all of which follow what the president is looking for on voter identification and voter registration. So the bill would require people show proof of American citizenship when they register to vote. Mhmm. It would require that you show a photo ID at the polls when you go to vote. It would require states turn over their voter rolls to the Department of Homeland Security, and that's so that the Homeland Security Department can look for noncitizens who might be registered. It would broadly ban mail in voting, with a few narrow exceptions. And then the president tacked on two provisions that have nothing to do with voting or voter rights. One of those would restrict medical care for transgender children, and the other one would essentially ban transgender women and girls from taking part in women and girls' sports. And the president has said that this bill is his top priority. He wants a bill that includes all of these things, and he has told Congress that he will not sign any other pieces of legislation unless they pass that bill. And he's made it clear that he's gonna withhold his endorsement from …