ng jet c-span, c-span now, or online at c-span.org. >> c-span now app featuring your unfiltered view of what is happening in washington, live and on-demand. keep up with theoor proceedings and hearings from the u.s. congress, white house campaigns, and more from the world of p your fingertips. you can stay current with the s of washington journal or c-span's tv networks or c-span radio. c-span at the apple store and google play. scan the qr code to download it for free today or visit our website c-span.org/c-span now. your front row seat to anytime, anywhere. >> c-span is government, sponsored by these television companies and more, including charter communications. >>?: carter is proud to be

recognized as one of the best internet providers and we are just getting startedlding 100 thousand miles of new infrastructure to reach those service along with these other television providers giving you a front row seat to democracy. host: we are back with washington journal enjoyed by he is an author and syndicated talkshow host. thank you for being on the program. tomorrow you will be leading a panel discussion on climate j the effects of climate change on the black communities. c-span starting at 7:00 live tomorrow night. tell me what you mean by climate justice? guest: it is clear to me and most americans of conscience that this is the urgency of now. justice climate equity, and climate resilience. in tse conversations we have every day, and i have been listening to your program this morning, their ways in which structural and institutional

racism are deeply embedded in this climate conversation. in this country who are impacted climate melodies happened te of color and the poor -- these climate maladies, to be people of color and the poor. look at the conversations taking place or do you think of flint michigan and the water recently, jackson mississippi, and reports in california, grou zways for so many climate issues. but in this conversation about ate justice, equity, and resilience, the voices of those being impacted by this have been so with all due respect to my white brothers and sisters across the country, certainly here in l.a., has been steeped in a white community about the climate. i am most impacted have been silenced in this conation, and this is the silent killer for many of us. ultimately, whate attempting to

do, the name jamaal knight, we are to be but respectfully, include the voices of those persons who have been left out of this conve tomorrow night on c-span at 7:00 eple of color on nati talking about issues that impact us in communities of color and in poor communities and on an electioning can be more important. host: what drew your interest in this top question. as you know,have tried during my career to love and serve my people. leader and i do not routinel regard myself as that, but you should be engaged in loving people this notion of loving people and serving people. that is what it means to me to what is the depth of your love for they of your service to them? for me, you should think about vind i have tried to do that throughout my career. moderated and curated one of the most watched programs on your

network every year, the state of the black union symposium, every year in february, and people would watch all c-span on saturday during morning panels and afternoon panels, and there were african-american thought on makers, influencers during black histo mattered most to black america. it went to number one on the new york times bestseller list and detailed the issues important to black americans. there was a guy named barack obama who showed up, and he helpedth groundwork, enthusiasm and interest in giving us the nation's first have always been engaged in issues that matter to our peop said a moment ago, there are many issues on the and the 20th anniversary of the book comes out, believe it or not but in 20 years since the book, in some ways we have made progress, and in others,till a great deal of work to do. but i have a matters.

right now, this conversation justice, climate equity, and climate resilienceogether and my station in l.a. to talk about thessue and we are engaged in a $2 million around this issue of climate justice. the con night on c-span is one of the issues on our docket to cover in this campaign. ho: let's talk specifics. what does climate justice look like? what are the policies you are advocating for? guest: great question. tomorrow night, the reason why i am moderating and i'm not the expert is because i do not have the answers to all those questions. the panel we have assembled is on the stage tomorrow night torom the policy perspective. wh i do everyday is what you do so well, to ask the right questions. i am questions but i'm not the expert. i am learning as during this 12 month campaign that we are in the midst of. but i have people on the stage like someone known of environmental justice for 60

years, writing on this issue. it is a name you may not know, but in the environmental ity, people know the name robert bullard. he has been at this for six decades. old now, still doing and he is on our panel tomorrow night. dan when jeff bezos gave $100 million to to support thework the committee is doing, righteous work. van jones on that panel. dr. ali the panel, peggy shepard, cochair of the wh environmental advisory council, on the stage tomorrow night. bensierra club,aps the foremost organization working on these issues. we all know si pen to have right now and african-american and he is on the stage tomorrow night. it is and i will assess same question tomorrow night to the experts policy-wise, what are we talking about? it will be an amazing, empowering, and uplifting conversation.

host is an article here from last year, little more than a year ago, with this headline, advocates are saying that s are the answer for sea level threat in west oakland, california.where do you stand on the issue might be advocating for when it comes to climate justice? guest: night, the issue at repa will come up tomorrow night in our conversation. there is a challenge with the dialogue around reparations because it has many definitions for many different people. i discussed it all the time on my nationally syndicated programbut we also have this conversation about reparations. california, and the nation is watchingsay what happens in california politics cast a long shadow or a long sunbeam across the nation. i hope we will get thiss issue right and it will cast aeam and not a shadow across the country. after couple years, the made recommendations a month ago, and now it is working its way through legislation about butthe country

is watching us. mo to will put this reparations question to this panel and ask specifically, what is the link between this conversation at the moment about reparations and climate we will get an answer to that question tomorrow night, as well. host: tavis smiley isauthor. he will be joining us until the end of the progr call in, make a comment ask a question. republicans, (202) 748-8001. dependents, (202) 748-8002. can also text us at (202)748-8803. --748-8003. you can also post to facebook we talked about water quality air quality, toxins in the soil -- is there actual d that that would show actual impact to those communities? not only is there data, it is vei think tomorrow night the

country will be realize the impact that these climate maladies are havi country specifically on african americans and people of color. i said long ago that when white america gets ala folk and colored folk get pthat is still the case. so tomorrow night we're going to make thease for why this issue should be taken more seriously across the certainly as it relates to african-american people. also talking about how we can potentially mitigate the impacts of environmental health disparities and it is not just the sunnyside, i do not think all the damage done is irreparable, so that is why we are having the conversation. if i thought there was could do, i would not be wasting c-span's and the naon'i think we can mitigate these impacts if we move quickly. but the incontrovertible about theec wic it communities of color. i could go down south, and they're were all kinds of examples, for decades now.

it is not a new issue, for decades now, people of color have been getting cancer because of their hazards. in three black kids has asthma. it is not happenstance, there is a reason for that, it is their proximity to these toxic dumps. in california, certainly los angeles, we see the impacts on communities of color, people of color. and poor people. in l.a., let's belear freeways do not run through beverly hills or through beverly wealthy areas on the city of los angeles, but freeways run through areas of color, right through people. always in our cars kinds of emissions into the ether. could you think isit is the poor and people of color that are impacted by all the emissions wein just a fewthis 12 month campaign is engaging in community events, not just this symposium we're

doing spirited conversations -- nobody in this country is having as many climate conversations with experts as we are having this year. you go to our website, kblae pages of conversations of these po the climate umbrella. nobody is doing it like we are with various climate geniuses. there are conversations and also community events. we know when the h rise this summer -- this week, we're starting to climb here in southern calif and these communities have already expeal heat this year already. it is in california and beyond. so we' away cooling instruments. the data shows that black people have health disparities, that we die of heat stroke, all kinds of u>es we will lay out tomorrow night. the data is clearthese issues, and that is part of the conversation tomorrow night. host: i want to ask you about the 2024 presidential election. sure

you have seen the polls showing that president voters, especially black men. why do you think that is happening? guest: no question that the president'sbere strong and black america. i saw the president last week at the white house for the juneteenth celebration. no quest soft and he has experienced some erosion. yet, i will tell you that i do not believe the posters have iti do not believe it is a size 25% of black men voting for donald trump. i do notll be the reality on election day. too often, democrats take black voters for granted, and that is part of what you are seeing in these numbers. wrong may they be, there's something there. taken for flat out ignored by the republican party. i am seeis time around, black voters are in play. black voters matter. joe biden says it all the time,

he would not be president if it were not for black voters, particularlyht south carolina who came to his rescue four years ago. the he understands the importance of black voters. donald trump, although his agenda is antithetical to the est of like people, he is courting black voters. he spoke at a black church over the weekend. he is appealin well. so it is a good thing that black voters are being taken and it cannot get meaningful voting rights legislationenate could not get meaningful voting rights past, but i am happy to see that black voters are not being taken for granted. to black voters, i quote jesse jackson, we lose too many -- elections by our absence at the polls. we lose too many elections by the sibyl mar polls -- by the simpl margin of our absence at the polls. if you are leading the american

empire, i have a critique if you. i want to hold you to be accountable for the things you said when you ran. and it is in the best interest of all americans certainly black fojoe biden should be held accountable. st: you trump in detroit saturday. i want to play a portion of th [video clip] fmr. pres. trump: millions of illegal aliens pouring in and taking their jobs. the black community is being hurt more by the illegal aliens, 16 milli jobs, you're down 6% 7% from where you were ago with me. and it is going much slower because millions and millions of people are coming into your communities. every state is a bor state you have heard that, but they are coming into your community your jobs, affecting the african-americans. after that, the hispanic spirit more than any other group. and they are alsouse unions are starting to lose. their grip we are being inundated. you said you are not a fan

of you think of what he says about illegal immigrants taking the jobs of black people? guest: as is always the case with mr. trump it is an oversimplistic reaction and read of reality, number one. number case, you have to check hisdata, the data is wrong. regards right twice a day so in this regard mr. trump is right, there is increasingly, in places like new york and chicago a competition for jobs. but it is not the fault of african-americans, nor is it the fault of these undocumented it is the fault of greedy business owners. ck these immigrants against these african-american fellow citizens -- to pit these immigrants against these african-american fellow citizens. they want to pit these groups ch other. as long as these businesses can hire cheap labor, they will do

so mr. trump is right, these immigrants are being hired more quickly than african-americans. that is a problem. dibs. trump is right about that, the competition is decreasing. but let's lay the blame where it belongs. it is not at the feet of democrats alone. democrats and republicans have not been engaged as they should have been for decades now engaging in meaningful immigration reform. and wh reform, this is what you get. you get republic game, this morally and that game of putting folk on buses and sending them to places, parts unknown, they don't know where they are what they're supposed to do when they get there, just dropped off. lobar politics. and i do not like to see that disrespect for humanity and th people. on the other hand, democrats have neeght to be. you see joe biden to something not even democrats do not agree with, closing the border. you are banning them rather than

holding others accou+a you cannot let folk just run across al that. but if congress would do its job and psningful immigration reform we undocumented workers being pitted against african-americans and costing them their jobs. in that regard, mr. trump makes a legitimate point, but his frame is wrong. host: we have several callers that want you. first is on the republican line in new jersey, joseph. good morning can i make a few points? the first point i want to say before someone called up, african-american president trump the wizard and being maga ndand part of the kkk. i find it insulting that you do not push back on that. i am a practicing roman

catholic, and the last i heard the if it was said about an resident, it would be canceled right away. i do not know if you have ever heard of staten island, have you? guest: been there many times. caller: staten island had the biggest dump in the world man-made and you could see it and i lived there, highest tax rate in the country. we were getting carbon from mainly black communities, and i did not hear anyone call that racist. people died from cancer of that. oing to start looking at americans without color? i look at you ando not see black or white. i like the politics, but why can you be more like martin luther king? why can't you judge me by my character and my heart? i was born in 1968, and any

african-american on the same year i was hasreedom i have had. since 1968. 1970's, things started to get better. people like al sharpton, so 1980's. it will be another civiljust look at non-color if i white man is wrong, a black man is wrong, that's it, nothing to do with color. guest:t there. if you saw me look away, it is er one, with regard to staten island and experiencing environmental hazards therepeople contracting cancer there he is right, no argument there. my argument is that black people and poor people the disproportionate victims of these climate catastrophes. so underline that word disproportionate. not suggesting you did not see whaw, and i'm with you. that is why democrats and republicans in office have to take on issues of climate justice, climate

it is not just happening to people of. i assure you this i do not know what part of staten island you grew up in, but i assure youthat the wealthy and staten island were not subjected to that. that is a fact. i am certain. that is what i mean when i say people of color and the poor. i did not say the poor are all black, but this. two, in regard to the attacks you and others feel your subjected to, i do not believe in that and do not engage in that. every life has worth and dignity value. you will hear it in my politics. lacek the dish i am ol so the extent you have experienced that, that person did not make their case and tryinof view was correct. third, regarding martin luther king jr., i know something about this. i have written a book about dr. king a new york times best-selling book. i have written about dr. king

and he is to myassessment, the greatest american this country has ever produced. king, the greatest american we have ever produced. ó$so i try to be like dr. king ever signaled a. he talked about judging people by the character of their content and not the color ofr skin, but we have twisted thatbester diced it to make it mean something it did not mean -- and it to mean something it did not mean. dr. king's agenda was about the humanity and the and being respected of his people, the american them -- the african-american people. he loved all people. but it started with his own people. he said clearly, injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. we take dr. king's wordsthey did not he was clearly about making sure that african-americans had human rights and civil rights. people sayhey missed the point.

nowhere in king's work or his writings would you ever find king use the phrase colorblind. he did not, did not, do not believe in colorblindness. he believed are and respecting their humanity and their committee, never mind their color,ace, relwe have to get his words right if we have a conversation about that. host: terry is democrat in ia caller: good morning, thanks for taking my call. mr. smiley, i have several things i just want to put on. the first one is these power islands that the power companies put u also thought to be the cause of cancer, cancer-causing in certain neighborhoods where they are installed. ne is cornell west running for president, bobby ke jr. running for

president. and do you think joe biden has dementia? you holding barack obama accountable. i think you got in trouble -- i do think people were so fired up about him becoming president but did not want to hear anything that they thought was negative about it. i think that we saw that your popularity wan so i would like to talk a little bit about that also. i know it is a lot. thanks. go ahead. guest: i did not get the first terry. guest: you, for your phone call. you are right about the power plants. i do not go along about that, that is why we are on c-span tomorrow night for three talk about these issues with an august panel, and will talk about the impact these power plants are having on people ofeven the people of staten island. we will talk about that tomorrow night and the impact these power plants are having. there is a serious pushback on that. these corporations are getting

reedier by the day. if trump is elected, t to enter every bit of environmental progress we have made. we want to pushatack lk about that. cornell west, i should mentionht. he is white house but will be there as a noted scholar, the last speaker tomo n program at 7:00 eastern, talking about the intersection of climate justice and juneteenth. he is not lost on me or c-span. we are on c-span tomorrow night the day before juneteenth. junete sure we take this holiday seriously, that we engage in the work that matter not just about barbecues and parties in good music and food. no,no, nothing wrong with that. it is a day of celebration. i am all for that, but we also need meaningful conversation about critical moments. dr. west panel and he will talk

specifically as a scholar about of climate justice and juneteenth the following day. so youwe shall see what he had bobby kennedy andwill do. the numbers very state i state -- by state. what troubles me is when they called them a squirrel. you can be a joe biden supporter and not use that term, i hate that term. here is the pointbeat democrats. nobody calls democrats spoilers when they beat republicans. so whyan who runs for president a spoiler? you do not own the votes. they do you have a right to run. because i i run a people vote for me because they like my platform over yours, that does not make me a spoiler. i don't like it. with regard of joe biden and dementia, i am not a physi not diagnosed joe biden. what i do know is that joe biden has done an admirable job of

leading our country. ible and do every day for things he has not done, wrong to comment on whether i think he has a physician and i have never seen joe biden in my doctor's office to diagnose him i listen to his policies and i'm wa and i will make my decision based on that. host: jeff in new york, indepe thanks for taking my call, i wanted to mention point that is often misunderstood and that is the impact of climate change and the incident of pandemics and disproportionately on people of color. to 1981, not just covid back to 1981, not just covid. i would like the nexus between the number of pandemics since 1981 to 2022, unprecedented compared to the dece that and that is because of

climateor change. but disparities with racial groups is also evident, and the death rate in the infectionrate, for example, going backhiv, which is still an ongoing emic 40% of cases are black americans, and they only make up 12% of the population. compared to whites who are basically 61% of the population and only 28% of the incidents. so you have this tremendous disparity. and a pandemic that went back 40 years, as well as m t covid-19, not counting host: let's get a response. let me comment on the part of his comments at the front of his statement. is spot on here, there are

levels of mistrust distrust in science and public health and medicineime high right now in communities of color, ineral and in black america, in particular, he is onto something. we will talk to this tomorrow night at 7:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. we have experts on this penalty can help us unpack this. what is this mistrust and distrust in science? clear, there are many of my friends on the right -- science, a lot of people who did take the shot in the pandemic. i have got members of my own family, these are like folk, who have not still -- these are black who did not take the shot, some even had covid and they survived it, thankfully and medicine. the cdc based out of atlanta understand that and changed leaders. it is not just folk. there are americans around the

country, like jeff and others, who feel the same way. something has to be done what does that distrust in science and public health with the intersection of data with that reality and climat has on communities of color and the poor? my point is this, if these communities who are being impacted by these climate maladies do not trust the science in the first place, not just republican senators and others who think and i do not, there is a real issue there. i do not walk away from the tough that many black people do not trust the science or medicine and what we do about that in the months and years to come. it w topic tomorrow night. host: on the republican line, tom in ohio, good morning. caller: -- seem to be pretty close]g minded, we went back to the ice ages and come out of we have gotten

things going worse for our health on all people, not just one-of-a-kind or anything. we have gotten it wo people. everything like that been worse for years and getting worse all the time. with the climate change, originally that has been forever, and it will be forever. we are going to go ice age someday the way i understand it. are stopping that stuff. guest: thank you for your phone call. on that point, i am not an optimist. i am eternally hopeful. i believe there are things we do right now before the damage is irreparable to turn the tide against what is happening right about now. man-made. much of what we are enduring right now is because of us. we will unpack z%in