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tv   Cuomo Prime Time  CNN  June 17, 2021 6:00pm-7:00pm PDT

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thank you very much. this weekend a comprehensive view of the insurrection day, assault on democracy the roots of trump's insurrection. that is sunday right here at 9:00 p.m. on cnn. we'll turn it over to chris cuomo for "primetime." >> surprise. we have a new national holiday starting now. happy juneteenth. merry juneteenth. a blessed juneteenth. all positive qualifiers should apply because today will go down in history as the birth of the first federal holiday created since mlk day in 1983. it is to commemorate the end of slavery post civil war in 1865. president biden signed the juneteenth national independence day act earlier at the white house and calls it one of the greatest honors he will have as president, surrounded by the first black vice president of america, lawmakers, and guests
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including our special guest tonight 94-year-old opal lee, the grandmother of juneteenth. she'll be first to tell you it was a lot of people not just me. but, boy oh, boy what a journey of pain and purpose she has had to very much help this country get to today. so today when it was signed, standing ovations. hugs from the president. all kinds of shout outs at the white house. prepare yourself to be inspired. a rare opportunity to be with a civil rights icon in the midst of their work. people are now getting their arms around what juneteenth means. what it will mean for them when it comes on the 19th and to be honest we're not all on the same page about tomorrow or where we need to be as a country. now, a little bit of faqs. juneteenth short for june 19th, 1865. why then?
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that is when lincoln signed the emancipation proclamation. no. it was 1863. this was more than two years later. why? slaves were kept in servitude. that is what the civil war was about. they rejected it even after the proclamation was signed. it was the day slaves in galveston, texas learned they were free. that was the official occasion. major general gordon granger of the union army read an executive order, a proclamation to them. juneteenth will be observed nationally tomorrow. why? june 19th falls on a saturday this year. so national holiday week day. this should not be controversial. think about it. none should be resistant to the idea of being happy and commemorating the end of slavery here. right? we can't be the land of the free until everybody was and is free. and, yet, there is tension about
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juneteenth. why? a big part of it is where the latest surge of momentum for juneteenth as a national holiday came from. it was in the wake of the murder of george floyd. it was in the wake of the blm protests. now, to the right fringe, okay, that has coopted the former gop, they've opposed those efforts. they don't believe that you need to change policing. they don't believe or even want to address or even recognize the reality of systemic racism. and so, now they will add a new shame to the list of disgraces owned by the angry few controlling the right flank. 14 house republicants voted against it. some called the day to recognize the end of slavery divisive. congressman massey gave this excuse. >> naming this day national
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independence day will create confusion and push americans to pick one of those two days as their independence day based on their racial identity. >> were slaves freed on july 4th, 1776? hint. key word, slaves. okay? nobody is going to have to choose between celebrating the day our country was freed from the uk and the day that slaves were freed. why wouldn't you want to celebrate them both? why would you believe this is divisive? who is pro? not recognizing the end of slavery? who doesn't want to do that? what is the good reason? look, for all that stupidity, there was also proof that all is not lost to toxic politics. the senate regained composure long enough to unanimously recognize juneteenth.
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even senator ron -- january 6th was no big deal -- johnson caved. took him a year but he caved. maybe his resistance should not come as a surprise after he told us he would have been concerned if it were black lives matter protesters who attacked the capitol on january 6th but he wasn't worried about peaceful, white tourists. really, it would be odd if you think about it if no trumpers had resisted. after all, can you really want to celebrate removing the chains of slavery if you favor passing election laws that shackle the same population's right to vote? biden gets it. and he sees today as proof, yes, of how far we've come but also how far we need to go to truly be who we can be. >> it's not, simply not enough just to commemorate juneteenth. the promise of equality is not going to be fulfilled until we become real, it becomes real in
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our schools, on our main streets, in our neighborhoods, in our justice system. so that we can fulfill the promise of america for all people. all of our people. it's not going to be fulfilled so long as the sacred right to vote remains under attack. [ applause ] >> so what does today mean for our future? insight from a better mind. the director of the boston university center for anti-racist research. coeditor of a very interesting book "400 souls." we'll talk about that tonight. welcome back to "primetime" professor. >> thank you for having me. >> you must be sticking on some level because over in the house of hate they're crushing you tonight. they're coming after you. you can't be trusted. you're too angry. you want to foment division. you want some kind of vengeance. what do you make of resistance to the idea of owning our past, commemorating the end of slavery
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and juneteenth, teaching our kids more about slavery, not just what it meant back in the day but what it has continued to mean or what's now being called critical race theory. i just call it history. what do you make of the resistance and what do you make of the significance of juneteenth being a national holiday? >> well, first, i do think it's an historic day. african americans have been celebrating and their allies have been celebrating juneteenth for generations. many people have been pushing and activated to try to make it a national holiday. and so i know many of those people are cheering and excited tonight. this bill wasn't necessarily at the top of my list of bills that the senate in particular should sort of support but it certainly, you know, is a bill that was on my list. and, unfortunately, people were
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enslaved -- my ancestors were enslaved for roughly 250 years in this country and just like some people want to move on from what happened on january 6th, and act like it didn't happen, so, too, are the same people wanting to just move on as if slavery didn't happen. as if its legacy is still not with us. >> in terms of what it means about where we are hand what needs to happen, how much of the suggestion is about people who say, well, you can't call it independence day. it'll confuse people. the idea of juneteenth is divisive. where is that coming from and what do we do with it? >> i'm shocked that some folks, some republicans in particular don't know that my ancestors as you said at the top of the show did not declare independence on july 4th, 1776. that my ancestors if anything
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declared independence on june 19th, 1865. and that's not a divisive idea. that's an historical fact. we just have to teach history. we have to understand that different groups of people can have different histories and simultaneously a single american history. it doesn't have to be either/or. it can be both. >> i'm worried, professor, about the abuse of the phrase critical race theory. i think it is being weaponized as a buzz word that means something about beating white people over the head with shame, about how bad they are. that is the way it is being used on the right. and the reason i feel this way is delaware tonight the governor just passed a bill saying, hey. in our schools part of core curriculum is going to be the history of slavery, what happened, how it manifested itself, in really the ligs luigs
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of african -- disillusion of african-american culture and what it meant through the years. i just call that history and it is a little scary it hasn't been taught in depth in our schools. how do we communicate this, that this is not about making people feel bad. this is about just telling the true story of how we got to where we are today. >> and if we tell that true story, and it's all of its complexity, we are not only going to tell the story of white people who are enslaving people. we're going to tell the story of people like where i'm in now in boston of william lloyd garrison and wendall philips and charles sumner. we'll tell the story of white americans who fought against slavery, who were abolitionists. we'll tell the story of john brown. the idea that the teaching of slavery in abolition will somehow make a white child feel
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that they're personally being attacked, no. they'll be told two ways. they'll be told two paths. i am sure many children will look at the path of those white abolitionists and say, that's the path that i want to live in my life. >> how does the book "400 souls" details the history of african americans 1619 to 2019 and part of an effort of yours to recruit writers to tell stories, get the stories written. get the history written so then it can be published and disseminated. what is your hope for the book? >> well, yes. so 400 souls i edited with of course keisha blain and we as 2019 approached, this symbolic 400th birthday of african americans we wanted to bring together a community to write a history of a community. so just like the united states is an extremely diverse community, even black america is extremely diverse.
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we wanted to, we brought together 90 writers to write that 400-year story. it was an incredible sort of project to really work with so many incredible writers. >> it is going to be a summer parent/kid project for me and my son. so i thank you for giving us something to work on together to help understand what we want to be about and what we don't want to be about. always a pleasure. >> thank you, chris. >> be well. vladimir putin. the opposite, right? we're trying to come together to understand our history. then you got a guy trying dto destroy us every way he can. it is going to be interesting to see what happens post summit because there is no trump to play to his advantage anymore. the russian meddler is propping up president biden, though, post summit. it is a clever play. have you heard what he said? and what is really behind it? i'll talk to you about it and bring in a key player in the senate foreign relations
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committee for a look at inside what needs to happen next and then check some boxes about problems he is trying to deal with, next. ♪welcome back to that same old place♪ ♪that you laughed about♪ ♪well, the names have all changed♪ ♪since you hung around♪ welcome back, america. it sure is good to see you.
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your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment. upper respiratory tract infection and headache may occur. tell your doctor about your medicines, and if you're pregnant or planning to be. ♪ ♪ otezla. show more of you. a little pro tip for you. one of the easy metrics to measure big summits, big political events, is what the immediate spin is and how it is repeated in the immediate aftermath by the different sides. and if you look at that lens about geneva, take a look at how putin came out of the box afterwards. where he is very clever this guy. he is shooting down right wing talking points, or is he? listen. >> translator: this image of president biden, which is
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pictured by russian and u.s. media, does not correspond to reality. this image of him can feel discouraging but there is no need to be discouraged because president biden is a professional. and he should be very precise while working with him to not miss anything. he doesn't miss a thing. i repeat once again, he is focused. he understands what he wants to achieve and reaches it very skillfully. you can easily feel it. >> sound familiar? you know, some people say that the guy is out of it. i guess you could say he's out of it. i mean, look. he's out of it. that's called the trump three step. now you're hearing the same thing from putin. you know, you're not as ugly as they say you are. it is very clever. very clever. he takes a shot at the media. i don't believe what the media is saying in the u.s. about the president. and it's creating a false narrative about america's president. that he is widely held to be
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someone who is in mental disrepair. that's what we're dealing with here. and now you have to think about what does it mean going forward and we see a great opportunity to deal with a big problem we have in our own system of governance. because now that you want to figure out how to deal with russia it's a great time to deal with what the president is able to do on his own. so we have a big voice from the senate foreign relations committee with us tonight, senator chris murphy of connecticut. good to have you. clever play by putin there, huh? hey, murphy, you're not as dumb as they say you are. i think you're pretty cogent. a nice little back-handed compliment. what is his point? >> well, i think you have to understand the full story here which is that in the russian state-backed media for the weeks leading up to the meeting, putin and his allies were just mauling
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joe biden in part because they're nervous about a skilled diplomat who is capable of out maneuvering vladimir putin and so they have been beating him up domestically. he was maybe speaking to an international audience but also a domestic audience. the fact is, joe biden got everything he wanted out of this trip to europe. he planned this very carefully, did the meetings with the europeans first, got them all to come back to the table on china, talked to them about a common strategy toward russia, and then he sat down with putin. didn't build up expectations, didn't make anybody believe there would be some big diplomatic agreement. what he wanted to do was look putin in the eye and tell him what the deal was with the united states in a post trump environment, tell him the red lines that he couldn't cross. that makes it a lot easier for putin to go back to europeans who are now more willing to engage with the americans and set a common policy on ukraine, on cyber warfare, on election
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interference. i think joe biden got everything he wanted out of this. i think the attention that putin is spending and his state-backed media are spending on joe biden is probably telling the story about how serious the kremlin takes the white house now. >> look, on one level this has to be man-to-man, right? putin and biden. i get covering it that way. this is at least on the american side also about what our president is able to do on their own. it was very interesting to me that we finally saw the 2002 aumf which was only about iraq, the 2001 aumf which was go get terrorists is still in effect. i have problems with both of them. now we saw the 2002 somebodying voted down and we need a new one. is it time for you guys in congress, house and senate, to finally take back your power that for generations now you
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have given to a president when no law or constitution rewards them with it? >> this is what happens when you have a senator become president. joe biden believes in executive power but he also understands the responsibility of the legislative branch. we have the responsibility to declare war. right now we have left on the books all of these old, essentially expired war authorizations and occasionally they are perverted by the executive branch to get the united states into new wars overseas which sort of weren't debated by congress or authorized by the american people. yes we need to take the iraq war authorization off the books, go back and rewrite the claeda authorization which has been used to start wars with all sorts of nonstate actors around the world and get congress back in the business of actually sort of setting foreign policy. i'm really glad joe biden is willing to be at the table. if the american people are
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actually through their congressional representatives debating war and peace they'll be much more willing to follow a commander-in-chief into a conflict we really need in order to protect our national security >> i just think it is fundamental because i'm surprised to see the white house come forward actively on this. if i were in their position i'd take any power you were willing to give them. the problem for me is the people put you guys in office to own this. and i believe it's been an article of convenience for congress after congress to let the president do it. no he'll come talk to us later. it is a shirking of duty. this will be interesting. now, juneteenth big deal that biden signed this. he said it may be the biggest part of his presidency. at the same time, that we passed juneteenth, there is the most pernicious effort you and i have seen in our lifetime to go after voting rights of the same population. what do you think of the manchin compromise? does it have a shot? >> i think what is instructive
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here is how eager republicans were to shoot down joe manchin's proposal. i haven't looked at it in detail yet. but i support the for the people act. if joe is proposing a subset of those proposals to come before the senate i assume i'll be supportive of those. what you're seeing are republicans are not going to come to the table on any voting reforms. they are not going to work with us on anything that makes it easier for people to vote. why? because they have decided they can't win elections if everybody has the right to vote. republicans have decided the only way they can stay in power is if they make it harder for people in particular poorer people and people of color to vote. i think we're coming to the conclusion i hope as a body that there is no path to 60 votes on any reforms to our very broken democratic system. that is a conversation we have to have internally in the senate. man, these republicans didn't even read the proposals joe manchin put out there or give it
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three hours to consider because they'll be against anything it seems to make it easier for people to go exercise their right to vote. >> senator murphy, appreciate you especially tonight. thank you. >> thanks a lot. another big headline. obama care saved again by the supreme court. 7-2. it means all the democrats who were thinking my god 6-3 what is it going to mean? not everything is as dire as you think. the law is not always as cheap as politics. but is it really safe? what should millions of americans, 30 plus million americans, who rely on the affordable care act know in light of this ruling? we have an obama care architect. what this means and what has to happen next, next. this is power. so's this. you recognize it. but for the corporate special interests and billionaires buying our elections, dark money is power.
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billions spent manipulating elections. gerrymandering partisan congressional districts. and restricting our freedom to vote. exactly why we need the for the people act--h.r. 1. to finally ban dark money. ensure fair congressional districts. and protect our freedom to vote. because the real power is you. and it's time for the people to win. hearing is important to living life to the fullest. that's why inside every miracle-ear store, you'll find better laughs at family barbecues. you'll find a better life is in store at miracle-ear, when you experience the exclusive miracle-ear advantage. including innovative technology, like the new miracle-earmini. so powerful, yet it's nearly invisible. we're so confident we can improve your life, we're offering a 30-day risk-free trial. call 1-800-miracle today and experience the miracle-ear advantage.
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rely on the experts at 1800petmeds for the same medications as the vet, but for less with fast free shipping. visit petmeds.com today. is the affordable care act the aca, obama care, however you want to refer to it, is it now safe? the supreme court today, 7-2, turned away the latest legal challenge. but it did so even with a procedural vote in a way that may change the calculus going forward. it wasn't on the merits. it was that the people complaining didn't have a right to complain. that is what the justices said. now, the republican-led states and trump hadn't been hurt by what they were complaining about. that's technical. but it's the third case to reach the high court challenging
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obama's signature legislative achievement. here's what i don't get. legally, okay. that's not what is going to determine the outcome of this law but it doesn't mean it's safe legislatively. what am i missing? let's ask an architect of the aca, his book is called "which country has the world's best health care?" doctor, good to see you. >> nice to be with you, chris. >> so okay. i'll even give you that in reading the decision of the majority it seemed to be like, okay. enough with this. that these challenges are not compelling. now two justices, conservatives disagreed with that notion, but 7-2 is a heavy decision. all they have to do is get in power and get the right numbers and they can still hack this thing up and maybe even repeal and replace. so why so confident that it's safe? >> because i don't think they're
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going to get enough and i don't think they're going to get into power. that is the first thing. the second thing is that in every state where expansion of medicaid, a core part of the affordable care act has been on the ballot, we're talking about red states, states like nebraska, idaho, utah, missouri, the public has voted to expand medicaid. even hard core republican states. they want medicaid expansion. people -- we've transformed. we believe that health care is a right. that it's no longer an entitlement. and that the government should do what it can for people who can't afford it to help them get coverage. >> you and i have discussed many times that the aca was not perfect when it came out. it was always done in anticipation of needing to be worked on as it got instituted and the republicans never gave you a chance to do it and still won't. so what do you think the chance
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is that you get this law to work the way it needs to to serve the most constituents across this country? >> well, there are two or three things that really need to be done. the first is there are millions, about 17 million people who are today eligible for coverage whether medicaid or subsidies in the exchanges that aren't getting coverage. they need to get coverage. we need to make it easier for them to get coverage. that will bring the total number of people helped by the affordable care act up from roughly 21 million today to 38 million. that would get us very close to universal coverage in this country. the second thing is we have to build on the affordable care act to make health care more affordable. one of the things that's obvious is that even for people with insurance the high deductibles, high copays, high drug costs, hospital costs which have gone up, surprise medical billing, health care is becoming unaffordable even for people with insurance. that has to change.
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we need to put in some more comprehensive reforms to incentivize hospitals and doctors to keep health care costs down not just to keep ratcheting them up. i think that is going to be the next big battlefield. the third area is the area of equity that's been made so clear by the covid pandemic. we still have this disparate care for people who are minorities, people in rural areas, people who are poor compared to well off whites. that has to end. now, providing health insurance is one mechanism to get it to work but more needs to be done to hold people accountable for making sure that they're delivering the same high quality care to people regardless of their income, regardless of their race, and regardless whether they live in rural areas, inner cities, or rich suburbs. >> you got to find a way to knit the practical to the political because you're right. in red states, red and blue gives way to green. when you pull this as a political issue you still have 3
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of 4 republicans that want destroyed even though it may benefit them. that is for bigger minds than even yours and certainly mine but i appreciate you laying it plain for people what needs to happen here and why. be well. >> thank you, chris. take care. january 6th was no big deal right because everybody wasn't carrying a machine gun. i want you to watch video from the terror attack that's new. all right? i want to show you what they were trying to do to cops in a way you've never seen before. then i want you to think about what the trumpers are telling you about how nonchalant you should be about january 6th. watch this yourself and then make your own determination.
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cnn obtained new police body cam video from the january 6th domestic terror attack, and you need to see it. yes, it's going to be disturbing, but remember the right is trying to rewrite that day. not a big day. they were patriots. if it had been the black lives matters guys it could have been horrible. they weren't even armed. not a coup. just a protest. not as bad as everything last summer. not a big deal. certainly not an insurrection. the fbi got it wrong. really shouldn't be an act of terror. take a look for yourself. i want you to look at thomas webster, former marine, retired nypd officer, now in a red coat
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among a sea of pro trump rioters yelling profanities and coming at police. watch. >> you looking like -- attack americans? -- that. >> come on. take your -- off. >> hey!
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>> just a protest? just tourists? not a big deal? what happens? what are they saying then? webster's charged with federal crimes including assaulting police and unlawfully entering capitol grounds with a dangerous weapon and civil disorder. it was only a flag pole. let me beat you in the head with it. see how you feel then. here is what republican lawmakers keep spinning. listen to what they say. >> and to call it an insurrection in my opinion is a boldfaced lie. you know, if you didn't know the tv footage was a video from january 6th you would actually think it was a flormal tourist visit. >> outright propaganda and lies being used to unleash the national security state against law abiding u.s. citizens especially trump voters. as a result the doj is harassing peaceful patriots across the country. >> it was trump supporters who lost their lives that day not
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trump supporters who were taking the lives of others. >> those people were running and hiding. the ones who are now mitigating the significance of the day. they were running and hiding. and clinging to the same u.s. capitol police officers who now they don't want to decorate with awards for how they saved their asses that day and they don't want to investigate the true depth of the situation. 140 officers support the blue lives matter. 140 of them were injured. including this man crushed in the doorway screaming in agony. no medal for you. no medal for you. you may be the bad guy. more video is going to come. this isn't over. more ugliness. more violence. more rage. and they will continue to lie. on hate tv, with the three named fop. they'll just keep doing it. the fbi did it. the capitol attack was really about the left.
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it was antifa. they're all lies and you know it. now, let's go from the ugly to the beautiful. what a treat for you tonight. i want to introduce you to somebody who is literally living history. she is triumphant. she is a major reason why juneteenth is now a national holiday. opal lee is truly a gem. she was there today at the signing. she was celebrated. she has some story to tell. next. at panera, dinner is hot...
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♪that you laughed about♪ ♪well, the names have all changed♪ ♪since you hung around♪ welcome back, america. it sure is good to see you. we are blessed to mark today in the presence of opal lee. ms. opal you're incredible. a daughter of texas. grandmother of the movement to make juneteenth a federal holiday. i ask once again we all stand and give her a warm welcome to the white house. [ applause ] >> this was the work of many, but juneteenth as a national holiday may never have happened without miss opal lee. president biden knows it. that's why he is so warmly received the 94-year-old activist today. the grandmother of this movement. for years, opal lee crusaded to
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make juneteenth a federal holiday. she went all over the country at various celebrations. then in 2016 at the age of 89, she began a 1400-mile trek from her home in ft. worth, texas to d.c. to bring attention to the cause, stopping at all the different places that celebrate juneteenth on a state by state basis along the way. since she walked a symbolic 2.5 miles every year on juneteenth to commemorate the 2 1/2 years it took for enslaved african americans in galveston, texas to learn of their freedom, it started to spread. lee is a descendent of american slaves, a victim of a hate crime when she was just 12. a mob of 500 white supremacists set fire to her home. her mission finally realized all these years later. watch her reaction when she fir learned congress passed the bill. >> the bill is passed. >> whoo-hoo!
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>> opal lee, thank you so much for being with us on "primetime" especially today. was this day and juneteenth becoming a reality as a national holiday, is it how you imagined? >> i guess i thought it would be like this, but to have it actually happen was, can i use the phrase the children use? it was off the chain. >> off the chain. how so? >> oh, to find out, you know, i knew that the senate had passed the bill, but i thought the house was going to take a lot longer. and to find out that both of them had, and i'm on my way to washington, d.c. and going to be in the white house?
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i don't know how to describe it. i'm humbled by it. i truly am. but you just have to take my word for it. i'm so grateful. so very, very grateful. >> well, the country should be grateful for your efforts, because you are helping us come together around what we have to remember, what we have to celebrate ourselves, and what we have to promise to do better. what do you want people to know about the struggles you've had over the years in dealing with juneteenth and wanting it recognized? what do you want them to know? >> well, i want them to know that it's not just one little old lady in tennis shoes that's wanting juneteenth to be a national holiday. there is a group called the national juneteenth observance foundation. it was started by a doctor, ronald meyers. dr. meyers was a medical doctor,
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a baptist minister, and jazz musician all rolled into one. and he is responsible for more than 45 of the celebrations in the united states being held. god rest his soul. he and so, i'm going to -- i have followed in his footsteps. i'm so glad we got it. and so many people have worked at it. not just me. people, all over, have done their part to make juneteenth a national holiday. >> what'd it mean to you, ms. lee, when you heard that there was opposition in the house and why there was opposition, and what they were pushing back on? what do you say to that? >> well, to begin with, the senate had tried, unanimously,
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to have that vote in the fall. and the one-lone senator, named ron johnson, had dissented. now, he had wanted to make j juneteenth a national holiday, instead of columbus day. when it was time for him to vote for the bill we had, he didn't do it. my heart sank. but i was at the press club, in the spring, and senator markey and senator john cornyn offered bills because that one had died, that we were working with before. and sheila jackson lee, house of representative, offered a bill in the house, the same day. and oh, that gave me so much hope. to know that we, still, had things going. and to find out that it's a
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national holiday, i just want everybody to know that this is a godsend. >> what is should it mean to people, juneteenth? what do you want them to do on that day? and what do you want it to be catalyst for? >> i want them to know juneteenth is a bridge to freedom. we have juneteenth. i think we should celebrate, from the 19th of june to the fourth of july. you know, we weren't free on the fourth of july, 1776. and i want them to know it's not a black thing. it's not a texas thing. none of us are free, until we are, all, free. and we're not free, yet. there are too many disparities. i'm talking about healthcare. i can get waited on for something, and you can't because
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you don't have insurance. the schools need to have the truth. and let young people know what actually happened. and let's begin the healing. joblessness. joblessness. >> yes, ma'am. >> and homelessness, joblessness, healthcare, um, all of these things need to be addressed. and they don't just affect black people. they affect all people. >> uh-huh. >> and if we work, together, to dispel them, what a great country this would be. >> you mentioned yourself, earlier, as an old lady with tennis shoes. now, the tennis shoes was a reference to the annual walk you do. you started doing it in 2016. two and a half miles. what inspired the first walk? >> oh, i just got to thinking, when i was about 89. that there must be something i could do to make people aware of juneteenth and its significance. and so, i gathered some people
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at my church, my pastor was there. the church. a commissioner, a school-board member, and other people, and they gave me a sendoff. i walked two and a half miles to that church. the next morning, i started where i left off. i walked through arlington, grand prairie, dallas, before my team says not going to be like that. someone had promised us an rv so i'd be able to rest. but they decided what i was doing was too political. can you believe that? >> jeez. >> and so, my team said i would only go where they had juneteenths and where i was invited. i was invited all over these united states. i mean, shreveport, texicana,
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little rock, atlanta, st. louis, denver, colorado. colorado springs. i mean, all over. so, if i left september, 2016, i actually got to washington on january, 2017. now, we had asked president obama to walk with us, from the frederick douglass house to the capitol. but i've kept on walking. i've kept on talking. and i'm -- now, juneteenth is a national holiday. >> well, congratulations, to all of us. and as you said, it's a beautiful reminder of how far we've come. and an important symbol for how far we, still, have to go. i wish you well, on your walk, opa lee. and it is a true pleasure to meet you, especially on this day, ma'am. >> thank you, sir.
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>> off the chain. we're not just the hate. we are opal lee, too. we'll be right back. a unicorn in training. a corner to build a legacy. a vision for tomorrow. a fresh start. a blank canvas. a second act. a renewed company culture. a temple for ideas. and a place to make your mark. this is where dreams become brick and mortar. find yours, on loopnet.
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it is a good day. we made progress, today. embrace that. thank you for watching. it's good to share it with you. the big show. d"don lemon tonight," big star,d lemon, right now. how are we going to celebrate juneteenth? >> when there is progress, we should celebrate. we'll figure it out this weekend. but i am just going to celebrate by honoring the people who came before me. i try to celebrate it, every day. by honoring the people, who came before me, who fought for me to be able to sit in this seat, every night. to be able to speak with authority. to be able to give my point of view, not opinion -- there's a difference. opinion is not based in fact. a point of view is based in fact and in truth. and it is in

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