Protecting the country’s voting rights

>>> before the president took to the stage last night, legendary civil rights activist , congressman john lewis , gave an impassioned plea to protect voting rights in this year's battle over laws in 16 states. democrats say they are an attempt to suppress minority voting. had a chance to talk to him as well. let's watch the speech first.

>> brothers and sisters , do you want to go back? or do you want to keep america moving forward?

>> the congressman then joined me at the podium, just to the side of the podium right after his speech.

>> you are the one person who has so much authenticity in congress because you lived through selma. you almost died in selma. and you see a parallel with these voter suppression laws.

>> it is unreal to see what the republicans are trying to do all across america. it's not just in the south, but even in pennsylvania, in ohio, in indiana, in so many other places, they're trying to take us back to another period, and too many people have suffered, bled and died for the right to vote. i tried to suggest tonight to vote is precious, almost sacred. they want to take us back to another period and we don't want to go back.

>> you are such an important symbol, a living symbol of what happened. do you think the people have forgotten the struggles for the vote?

>> i think we have to remind people over and over again, especially young people . young voters, what it was like for people, for minorities, people stood in those lines, some people were beaten, some people were murdered. i will never forget the three young men in mississippi, they died by trying to encourage other people to become registered, and it would be an affront for what they died for and for all the other people who struggled for us to keep people today from voting.

>> do you think there's any connection with the fact we have our first african- american president that these efforts have now been undertaken? they say, those who support them, say they are aimed at stopping voter fraud , yet the attorney general says that there is no evidence of widespread voter fraud .

>> well, it is a systematic deliberate effort on the part of some forces in our country to win this election, to steal this election before it even takes place. i'm convinced of that. there's no such thing as widespread voter fraud in any part of