television interview since copping to blackface as a pivot from another racial scandal, democratic virginia governor ralph northam says he is staying on to upgrade his state. >> yes, i have thought about resigning, but i've also thought about what virginia needs right now. and i really think that i'm in a position where i can take virginia to the next level, and it will be very positive. >> but northam also told cbs' gayle king that he doesn't think virginia lieutenant governor justin fairfax can stay in office if dual allegations of sexual assault are found to be true. >> if these accusations are determined to be true, i don't think he's going to have any other option but to resign. >> at this time, do you think he should resign? >> that's going do be a decision that he needs to make. >> gloating over it, of course,

president trump, on twitter today speaking for african-americans, as, "very angry at the double standard on full display in virginia." president must have done his own polling because the latest wo t "washington post" poll on whether northam should step down shows while there's an even split among virginians overall at 47%, most black voters in the commonwealth think he should stay on. 58%, just to 37% who say he should and must go. with a 4 % margin of error. meanwhile, fairfax says that his sexual encounters with the two women accusing him of rape were consensual, calling on the fbi to investigate as both accusers say they're willing to testify in state impeachment hearings. joining me now in washington,

juanita toliver, campaign director for the center for american progress. action fund. and here on set, republican strategist shermichael singleton and dean abadala, host of sirius xm radio's "the dean abadala" show. let me go to you first, juanita, when you hear northam say that he wants to upgrade his state and i think he said the state needs healing, therefore, they need a doctor, he's a doctor, which brings back to mind he was graduating medical school when he wore blackface. i mean, you need a doctor for healing, but you don't need the guy that did the injury to be the doctor. >> that's exactly right. there is no reason to overlook the racist behavior that ralph northam demonstrated while in medical school. on top of that, in that same interview, he identified the firsts arriving in if

virginia. that doesn't instill confidence in me, a black woman, who lives and votes in virginia, that he's capable of any type of healing when we have this open gaping wound from his own actions. >> shermichael, president trump all of a sudden is giving some kind of sympathy or empathy to blacks that we're outraged, citing that it's a double standard. i mean, i had to look at the story and the tweet two or three times. president trump is actually talking about a double standard that blacks are angry about. >> reverend -- >> does he have any mirrors at the white house? >> it reminds me of the idiom the pot calling the kettle black. he doesn't have room to speak on racial issues at all. look, what's gone on in virginia is very, very interesting. cited the poll that indicated 58% of african-americans actually believe that northam should stay. and when i think about that, and i think -- ei know dean will tak

about this in more detail, i wonder if the african-americans there are looking at i guess his record, if you will, in totality. i wonder if they're saying, well, he had this moment in time where he made a grievous mistake but appears he attempted to reconcile that by attempting to do everything right up to this point which is why you see that number so high. that's a really high number that i didn't expect to see, so i think there is a disconnect with what the rest of the country thinks northam should do, what residents, typically african-americans, should do, and think that's very telling. >> don't forget the virginia black caucus called for him to resign. >> right. >> many black elected officials. i spoke there thursday, you couldn't get in the place. this is one poll. >> sure. >> we don't know, dean, where this goes. the fact is that we are sitting here in 2019 talking about blackface. like it's just some cultural thing. where it is an absolute racist

kind of formation. and in the picture was a man in a ku klux klan uniform which is a terrorist outfit. we're not talking about just some joke here. >> you're absolutely right. i would say i'm waiting for donald trump tweet's stedefendi steve king's tweet, not slammed steve king or david duke on twitter, a man who defended white supremacist terrorists in charlottesville, virginia, as very fine people on both sides. i will say this to the poll number, in the "washington post," i'm on a radio show, you have a show, too. i was listening to african-american callers earlier in the week way before this poll. it was breaking 2-1 from african-americans even in virginia saying he should stay if nobody else comes forward to say this guy has been a racist because for two quick reasons, one is, if this is the only bad thing he's done, but he's been good since then, we're fine. second, a pragmatic reasons given to me, they said, now he owes our community. he's going to make up for it by

staying in office and fighting for our community for issue after issue. i had not thought that through that level and this is before his now announcement that -- >> juanita, the problem that i have raised with that is that whatever he does now, the republicans who control the general assembly saying he's just trying to make up for his racist photo. and will be able to vote it down. i don't know how much can he do if he can't govern? >> exactly. >> you have many presidential candidates won't stand next to him. you have a lot of people who will not deal with him and have a general assembly that's going to say he's paying off his racist past. can he govern? >> i think that's yet to be seen especially after these two very failed public efforts to walk back everything he's done from looking around the room for space to moonwalk, to referring to slavery as indentured servitude, he doesn't have the capacity to do that. but i will say, there is a number of capable, talented

black women in the state legislature who can step up and take the reins and lead the commonwealth quite well. >> now, shermichael, clearly, there is also the concern among a lot of blacks in the state that if he resigns and if fairfax resigns, and if the attorney general resigns, the republicans control the state. it could factor in that poll as well that people are afraid, well, where does this go since it looks like the top three are in trouble for much different reasons? >> right. and i think that's actually a legitimate concern. i mean, i think right now, when you think about the last senate candidate and gubernatorial candidates that republicans have put up to run against democrats, a lot of them, not so much ed gillespie a little bit tried to play to that base, particularly the senate candidate was extremely far right. you've had him on your show a couple times. >> oh, yeah. >> i remember those debates. i do think african-americans are

going to look at that scenario and say, okay, this is the lesser of two evils here, if you would, do we want this extreme version of trumpism we had to deal with practically for generations in virginia now governing the state which means you will see policies that were disproportionately impact african-americans even far worse than what they've seen in quite some time, or do we try to stick it out with northam? we at least sort of know the guy. at least he's going to, as dean just said, try to make up for this effort. again, i think it's the lesser of two evils. i would probably side with him to say go with northam, to be honest, i have no confidence, reverend sharpton, with republicans in virginia to actually do the right thing when it comes to black people and i'm a republican. >> dean, the thing that bothers me is do we normalize blackface? if he moves on, does it become acceptable and where it almost becomes, all right, you do comedy. let me show you part of a skit on "saturday night live" just last night. >> i'm not mad. i just didn't think this would

be that complicated. >> but what if i wore blackface for a costume of a black woman? >> it's still bad. it's the same bad. is that what you did? >> oh, no, no, i was a fat al sharpton. >> why did you ever ask? >> for next time. >> there's not going to be a next time. >> aside from when i was accused of being fat. >> you look great. >> the fact is -- the fact is that are we running the risk of normalizing this and moving on like this doesn't mean anything? something that no other group in america would allow. >> i hope not, and, look, megyn kelly essentially got fired for defending blackface on the "today" show a year ago. so, look, i think in that sketch, it's a great sketch. i had worked at "snl" for years, years ago. they make great points. it's funny, challenging. it makes you think. i'm from the north. in the north, we never thought about wearing blackface. it was never on the radar of being demeaning --

>> not racism -- >> i'm saying in the south f you wear blackface, you're doing it to be demeaning and racist and disrespectful of black people. you know the history. i think the message is clear now, if you wear blackface, any time, it is racist. and you should suffer the consequences. >> but there is no consequences and i think the thing that bothers us, juanita, is we're talking about 1984. when michael jackson -- >> exactly right. >> -- was the biggest pop star in the world. when reverend jesse jackson had won the democratic primary in virginia. >> yep. >> we talked, bill cosby was the number one artist on tv. we're not talking about back in the day as they call it. >> no, we're talking about -- >> 1984, you are a medical school graduate, in your yearbook graduating. >> yep. >> you're going two a doctor over including black people, and you didn't know blackface was offensive? and -- >> exactly right. >> -- his defense was i don't know if i was in that picture, but i did do a blackface on michael jackson. >> as if that's any better. as though that is any better.

no, i didn't do blackface that time. this other time i certainly did. >> in the same year. >> confessing to a racist act no matter what should be disqualifying for anyone leading a state. and so what i think -- what needs to happen now is democrats, americans, and virginians, have to have a gut-check moment about their values and zero tolerance for racist acts. >> and i think that's the point, shermichael, is that, you know, you accused of robbing a bank i said last night, say, no, i didn't rob chase manhattan bank, i robbed wells fargo. >> right. you're a bank robber. >> he was defense, no, i did not wear blackface and my fellow students, classmates, said it wasn't me in the picture, which i question why they had to tell you why -- >> why, yeah. >> are you saying it was possible you had -- >> i questioned that, too. >> i did do this, this is his defense? >> i think you raise a very good point when you were talking about african-americans sort of drawing a line, not accepting these things. when you think about being black

and you're much older than i am, reverend sharpton, the very color of -- >> you didn't have to say that. >> wiser, wiser, wiser. the very stigma of our color has continuously been used against us. >> right. >> when i think about my grandparents and even my -- i have one great-grandmother who almost has been living for a century now. is still alive. i think about the stories and what they've gone through. i think about my generation. now particularly led by african-american women, we're on to something where i think black people are beginning to say, we are no longer going to tolerate these types of egregious acts against us. the majority cannot continue to say these are the expectations we have for you people of color to govern yourselves as it relates to us, but you guys don't have the same standards for yourselves and black people are saying, we're not going to tolerate that anymore. >> what is the standard? i'm going to deal with that later in the show. what's the standard? why are we voting for people if we're not going to hold them -- >> accountable. >> -- to a standard.

what is the standard? that's what we're going to deal with. my panel will join me again in a few minutes. coming up, a former teacher of the year and newly elected congresswoman that's already making history on capitol hill talks to me about another possible government shutdown. be right back. everyone's got to listen to mom.

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say the democrats prevail and hardcore democrats prevail, a congresswoman put out a tweet yesterday about zero dollars for dhs. say the hardcore left week of the democrat party prevails in this negotiation and put a bill on the president's desk with, say, zero money for the wall or dlvr $800 million, an absurdly low number, how do you -- is it off the table? the answer is no. >> that's acting white house chief of staff mick mull vaughnvaughn mulvaneyf of staff mick mu, clet the possibility of a government shutdo shutdo shutdown. my next guest has been in congress for a little over a month. if the president makes good on his threat, she'll already be facing her second government shutdown on this friday. joining me now, freshman democratic congresswoman from connecticut, jahana hayes. >> thank you so much. >> congresswoman, congratulations on your victory. let me ask you before i get into

the shutdown, you were national teacher of the year. >> yes. >> 2016. and '15, i believe. >> '16. well, the year overlaps. >> the year overlaps. okay. what would you tell students when you're looking at virginia and blackface, how do, i mean, are we raising a generation of students that will feel this kind of racial kind of humiliation if normal and acceptable? >> it's absolutely not normal or acceptable. i mean, first of all, my heart goes out to the residents in virginia who time and time again have this shameful past brought up, have to relive it on a daily basis. i mean, we're seeing it on national stage. this is something they deal with all the time. as a history teacher, you know, i've had to teach about slavery and i don't teach revisionist history, so you teach about things in the time period of which they were in. but i think the more important thing is, we have to have some real conversations about race. not deal with these on a

case-by-says, person-by-person issue. this is about one person. th there's a culture where it's okay to submit that kind of a photo for a yearbook, where it's accepted by the university, the faculty, it in says something so much larger. we have to address it in that way. it's okay, we can't change the past, we need to own it, live up to it, address it moving forward and fix it. >> now, i brought up about the shutdown. you saw white house chief of staff mulvaney say it's not off the table. how, as a freshman, freshwoman congresswoman, how do -- how does the shutdown affect the people in your district? you happen to represent a district that is the wealthiest and the poorest in your district in the whole state of connecticut. >> right. we have about 2,000 federal employees that we hear a lot about, but we have so many, you

know, women shelters that rely on government funding. we have farmers, lots of farmers in my district who were relying on government subsidies, but i think there are so many other people, the hidden figures we're not even talking about. i spoke to someone who said she has a home daycare and has five children that are government employees, their parents are government employees. she'll never get that income back. while we're talking about all the people who were furloughed, there are some people who will never get that money back, but i think even bigger than that, this idea of shutting down the government over policy disputes is just wrong. you know, coming off of the longest shutdown in history, to even put that on the table as an option, to not recognize that for 36 days, this country hurt, that people suffered, that our credibility around the world was damaged. so say if we can't agree, then i'm willing to put that back on the table, is irresponsible. >> now, he's saying, he being president trump, i want my money

for the wall. and you're part of the new freshmen that came in and a lot of you act like they were all of one persuasion. some are moderates. . some are progressives. some -- it varies. what is your position on giving him money for this wall? >> first of all, we do not speak in one voice, which is why congress has 435 members. every single one of our votes counts exactly the same. no one speaks for me but me. the challenge with this, the wall, let's just call it what it is, is that every expert says that this is not the way to address border security. so this president, this administration, is doubling down on a campaign promise, you know, i stopped campaigning on november 6th and became the representative for the people of connecticut's 5th district. it is not our responsibility as a country to fulfill his campaign promise. he should -- his responsibility and his obligation should be to secure the border. to make sure that people are safe and protected.

but to do that in the way that is accepted by every expert in the field. through technology, through hiring more federal judges. through making sure that in the places where a barrier or wall is warranted, that we have it but not just as this arbitrary statement of i promise my base that i would deliver and that's what i'm going to do by any means necessary. >> now, the priorities that you would like to see the congress deal with in this session, this session is what, congresswoman hayes? >> well, i wish i could say, you know, i am singularly focused. i came in with a very clear set of priorities and i walked into a government shutdown. so very quickly, i realized that while we can have a focus, you have to deal with the situation that you're in. >> right. >> you have to -- so i'm traveling in two lanes while gun reform and education and social justice are things that are very personal and important to me and

the things that propelled me to even run for congress, i came in during a government shutdown. i thought my first vote would be hr-1, you know, to the voting rights act. and we -- my first vote was to open the government. between campaigning and then being in congress, i realized that health care is something that every community is nervous about. something that people are hurting about. we have to make some significant moves in that area. the president already said he's for protecting people with pre-existing conditions. for lowering the cost of prescription drugs. i think that we really need to in this session make it a priority to ensure that those things happen before we turn over the 116th congress. >> i think that's the danger, the distractions, because health care as well as voting rights, i mean, these are extremely important. >> yes. >> and as you said and your state has had mass shootings, gun reform, we're dealing with the first anniversary of parkland this week. >> yes. >> there's been no real federal

movement on gun reform. >> we had the first hearing in eight years this week. you know, we haven't even been talking about it. and these are all distractions. i did not come and people say let's do this in this session and plan for the next session. i'm only guaranteed one term. let's do this right now. we've been talking about this, kicking this can down the road. families are hurting. president gave a state of the union and there were parents and families of people who were survivors of mass shootings. never once even acknowledged these people. i sat in that galley as the president was delivering his speech and for 17 msht minutes, he talked about immigration in the most negative way i ever heard. i looked up in the galley. if you could see the faces on the dreamers and daca recipients who were sobbing, i went and found one of the people i locked eyes with and she said to me, i'm used to this, i've been called a wap, all of these things all of my life. never did i imagine on the floor

of congress from the mouth of the president of the united states would i witness this. >> we're going to have to leave it there. thank you, congresswoman hayes. >> thank you. thank you so much for having me. up next, florida congressman says mass shootings in america are committed by illegal immigrants. is that so? i'll explain. ♪ at outback, your steak & lobster wish is our command. steak & lobster is back by popular demand, starting at only $15.99. hurry in to outback! and if you want outback at home, order now! (clapping) every day, visionaries are creating the future. ( ♪ ) so, every day, we put our latest technology

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now, for this week's gotcha, a week, president trump's state of the union address, where he once again tried and failed to convince the american people that we need a wall along the southern border, and with just four days to go until congress has to pass a budget deal or face another government shutdown, the trump team and his base is already gearing up their message of lies and fears and hoards streaming over the board tore get support for funding the wall. on wednesday, congressman matt gates tried to hijack a house judiciary hearing on gun safety by drawing a comparison to

crimes linked to undocumented residents in the u.s. it was like getting shot with stupid. >> i hope we do not forget the pain and anguish and sense of loss felt by those all over the country who have been the victims of violence at the hands of illegal aliens. hr-8 would not have stopped many of the circumstances i raised, but a wall, a barrier on the southern border, may have, and that's what we're fighting for. >> mr. chairman -- >> well -- >> our -- >> gentleman will suspend. >> tomorrow, the president is going to el paso, texas, to hold a rally for his border wall in the one city in that state known for being safe. he'll have his crowd of fans and will do a live sit-down interview with the one fox news anchor that believes everything

that comes out of his mouth. laura ingraham. be prepared for the president to use everything at his disposal to convince you of a crisis at the border. from threatening a national emergency, to calling attention to nonexistent migrant caravans, and, of course, he'll take to the deep presidential policy forum that is tweeter to exaggerate statistics and percentages without giving proper context. so to be clear, congressman gaetz and the rest of the republican party, your connection between violence from undocumented immigrants and the need for a border wall is weak. and there is absolutely no way that taxpayers should pay for the president's vanity project. especially since we saw how the last one turned out. in the meantime, congressman, i can think of something that no

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i stand before you as the granddaughter of an ironer miner, as a daughter of a teacher and newspaperman, as the first woman elected to the united states senate from the state of minnesota, to announce

my candidacy for president of the united states. >> another strong candidate is joining the expanded list of 2020 presidential candidates. our question to senator klobuchar and the rest of the democratic field, how will you deal with america's racial issues? driven by an insensitive president. joining me again, back with me, juanita tolliver from the center for american progress. republican strategist shermichael singleton. and radio host, dean obeidallah. juanita, klobuchar is in the race, a strong candidate. liz warren officially came in yesterday. and the list is growing. and klobuchar has the honor that president trump just tweeted that she was talking about

global warming while it was snowing all overleagues for pret to say something outrageous on twitter about you. how do you see in terms of where many of us are concerned as you are about social justice and the racial inequality, how do you see these candidates in terms of laying out a real policy agenda that is not in any way short and not limited as opposed to the president who has really driven a lot of this divide? >> yeah, i think a lot of it's going to come down to a couple of factors here. one, each candidate's individual connection to race through their identity or acts of service and directly relating to those communities. but also, the fact that this nation is on a daily basis seemingly grappling with a number of racial issues and in insensitiveties and racial actions, whether policies from the trump administration oar r

behaviors like we see in virginia. it's up to candidates to come out strong and show zero tolerance for these type of racist ideals but to lay out a vision and platform that can directly respond to some of the social injustice, racial injustice we've seen whether related to economic issues about jobs and wages or even democratic issues around voting rights which we have seen be under attack throughout the 2018 cycle as well as cases going all the way up to the supreme court. >> let me go to the very young shermichael l. >> okay. >> what happened to the republican outreach to blacks that we kept hearing about unless it's to reach out to slap us in the face? i haven't seen it. >> yeah, well, there so no outreach. you talking about the growth and opportunity project after 2012 when romney lost against president obama in 2013. the party said under reince priebus we're going to allocate i think $20 million to reaching black people. well, how can you reach black

people when you essentially ultimately nominated and elected a person who happens to be president who essentially assaults every person of color almost on a daily basis? i mean, i think it falls on deaf ears. i think at least for republicans, a lot of people like black culture. they want to hang out with black people. they want to dress like black people. but they don't want to actually talk about the issues that actually impact black people. >> and to -- >> that's a problem. >> -- really deal with the despairs because even under a strong economy, dean, we're still doubly unemployed to whites, still don't get the contracts, still have the worst educational facilities, we're still in the worst part of towns in terms of environmental concerns. so even in good times, we still are doubly afflicted or getting half as much as everyone else. >> and when you look at the strongest support for the democratic party from black women and among equal pay, black women still trail white men for the same jobs -- >> and white women. >> and white women. you have a big gap there. it's going be up to the

candidates to have a credible message. yesterday when elizabeth warren announced, many people were covering her history of working with the black community and leaders like jesse jackson over the years. that kind of helps. senator amy klobuchar, a state that's overwhelmingly white, not primarily, but she did talk about in her speech that a somali-muslim family dealing with racism. it's interesting she brought that up. it's not a panacea for everything. it's interesting she brought that up when she didn't have to on a national stage. >> juanita -- >> yeah. >> -- they will say that people who do what you do and i do in national action network and other activities are race baiters, but the fact is if we don't deal with race, it's not going to be dealt with on its own. is it not the responsibility of all of us that have a platform or organizations who come out of that to really make sure that people address specifically these inequities? >> absolutely. if no one's pushing, then we should be. and honestly, facilitating a

dialogue of solutions. people of color want solutions to these challenges. whether it's encountering racism on the street or experiencing it in the workforce, so it's really up to these candidates. and as was mentioned before, senator klobuchar mentioning the somali family, it really highlights how this is in every single community, every single state. there is no jurisdiction on racism. we need to facilitate that dialogue across the country. >> all right. i'm going to have to leave it there. thank you, juanita. >> thanks so much for having me. >> shermichael , and dean. my next guest, a very prominent woman sent daily letters to her son while he was in jail. what it meant to both of them. jacqueline jackson and former congressman jesse jackson jr. next. be right back. ight back.ging my moderate to severe crohn's disease. then i realized something was missing... me. my symptoms were keeping me from being there.

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six years ago, former illinois congressman jesse jackson jr. was facing a private crisis on a public stage. the son of civil rights leader reverend jesse jackson had recently resigned from his office due to mental health struggles and he was facing down a 30-month prison sentence for

campaign finance violations. to keep her son's spirits up as he served his time, jesse's mother, jacqueline, wrote him daily letters of encouragement, which have now been compiled in a book, in a book called "loving you, thinking of you, don't forget to pray: letters to my son in prison." i caught up with the other and son earlier this week. thank you, first of all, for being here. >> thank you for having us, reverend al. >> let me say, as i always have said on this show, reverend jackson and you mentored me and have a lot to do with where i went. i've always known you as compassionate, and i was not surprised that you wrote the letters. i was surprised that we got you to publish the letters. what made you share this intimate relationship with your son, and what was the

inspiration for you to make sure you wrote him every day? >> that's a big question to ask me, but let me say, crime causes pain and hurt. justice repairs that hurt. and i was concerned about repairing my son and sharing with him -- sharing with him my concern for him. prison has a way of placing one away from their community. it was a 17th century poet who wrote while, during his incarceration, his name was richard lovelace. he said, "stone walls do not a prison make, nor iron bars a cage." i wanted my son to know that this was not a statement regarding his character. this was a bump in the road. and we would get over it and we

would get over it together. and many people are languishing in the penal institution and there are some things a parent can do to help their children, bring them back home, because a letter, you can sleep with it under your pillow, you can pick it up and read it any time you want to, and any time you need encouragement and to know that you're being thought of, you're being loved, and don't forget to pray. >> you know, jesse, when she talks about that, and you shared with me how you would see guys that nobody seemed to care, what did it mean to you that every day, you would get a letter? i mean, you had seen -- you'd been to the -- i remember we were talking, you were there when mandela walked out of jail, now you find yourself incarcera incarcerated. what did it mean that your mother would write you every day

when you told everybody just leave you alone? >> i actually wanted to be abandoned. i think most men who have gone through the shame and are ashamed, who either accepted responsibility for their behavior or they did not, they were guilty, i didn't meet a single person, by the way, in prison, who was guilty. everybody was innocent and had a reason for why they were there. but at 4:00 when the camp officer, the police officer, we would call them, after the count, would call out my name at mail call, jackson, jackson, jackson, i would watch my head go up and i would watch other men who weren't being communicated with at all, i would watch their heads going down. i end up with a stack of letters every single day and men who had served far longer than i, no letters. there came a point during this process that i started reading my mother's letters to men who

had not heard from their families in decades. >> wow. >> because they wanted some sense of connectedness. and to some extent, we became our own family within the prison, own family within the prison itself, but every man in the joint was going through the exact same process. we were in deep shame. man, we were hurting. we -- many of us did not want to accept responsibility for our behavior. we were looking for somebody to blame and we were guilty. shame, blame and guilt was dominant and my mother i think she saw me in that cycle and through her letters she threw me a life line and began to pull me out. >> this book talks about how you must keep a connection no matter what somebody goes through. we can't bring the community back if there's this disconnect and as i read these letters and i had the benefit of knowing your family well, part of the extended family, but as i read this, making the connection. you are still part of us, we're

still part of you. >> well, i was letting him know what was happening to the many people who loved him. and connecting him to the outside. as i said, the stonewalls do not a prison make. i did not want prison to be a part of his character. i even referred to him in one of the letters -- i told him to think of himself as a detainee. someone who has been detained from his travel. i wanted my son and i want every mother to know i understand how they feel when someone they love has been taken away from them. but there's something she can do. the prisons -- the penal institution is not a correctional institution. it is an institution that is created to punish and punish and punish. we must see a very humane --

this is a humane opportunity for us as a nation and as a people to become a part of the correction and rehabilitation of our children as they re-enter society. so they need to know what happened to miss sally the lady down the street who gave him popsicles and quarters. they need to know she's now deceased so when they return to us they're not disconnected. i was concerned about reconnecting my son to the people who love him and the people he loves. >> as you're now doing and sharing these letters for your mother and your mother is talking about what we need to do in the criminal justice system, i don't know anyone that has a sharper policy mind than you. how do you look at what is happening in criminal justice

now? with president trump's bill and others? what would you say as one that has seen it from the congress to the jail, what do you think we ought to be doing in the spirit of your mother's book? >> i believe in the first step back, it did not begin in this administration. in fact, it did not begin as a process under even president obama. it's a long time in the making so many men and women are due some level of credit for having advanced fundamental change in the criminal justice system. but i'm felon. paid my debt to society. i have done what the judge said to do. i have done what the jury said do. i accepted responsibility for my crime. and yet, every single day as a felon i still lived through the process because someone reminds me of it. you and i were talking not long ago over lunch and we were talking about governor northam in virginia. a one-term governor, he's not going to resign, but he wants

forgiveness. what about every man and woman in the state of virginia who did what the judge said do? who did what the jury said do? why not issue them a pardon? they don't owe the commonwealth of virginia another thing, forgive them and give them a real chance at a second life in the commonwealth of virginia. >> well, the book is "loving you, thinking of you and don't forget to pray." everyone needs to read this book and share it because we have somebody that we need to keep that connection with. >> reverend sharpton, thank you for this opportunity. i have always loved you. >> okay, i know that. >> as long as you behave. >> you always told me don't forget to pray. >> thank you so much. >> and reverend jackson i'm sure will be watching. he was the visitor in chief with you, but your mother wrote every day. >> thank you. >> i think he loves you more than i do. >> thank you. thank you.

my thanks again to jacquelyn jackson and jesse jackson jr. my thoughts coming up. yn jackson and jesse jackson jr my thoughts coming up. try parodontax toothpaste. it's three times more effective at removing plaque, the main cause of bleeding gums. leave bleeding gums behind with parodontax toothpaste. leave bleeding gums behind at first slice pizza lovers everywhere meet o, that's good! frozen pizza one third of our classic crust is made with cauliflower but that's not stopping anyone o, that's good! [indistinct conversation] [friend] i've never seen that before. ♪ ♪ i have... ♪

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want more from your entejust say teach me more. into your xfinity voice remote to discover all sorts of tips and tricks in x1. can i find my wifi password? just ask. [ ding ] show me my wifi password. hey now! [ ding ] you can even troubleshoot, learn new voice commands and much more. clean my daughter's room. [ ding ] oh, it won't do that. welp, someone should. just say "teach me more" into your voice remote and see how you can have an even better x1 experience. simple. easy. awesome. february is black history month and as one that grew up always a voracious reader and student of history particularly black history, i look at black history month 2019 through the eyes of those that mentored me.

i have been able to be on the front line and also have a front seat, mentored by jesse jackson and my pastor reverend william jones. had access to the first black president, barack obama. i have seen some history in my lifetime. and i have seen and studied from the history that brought us even to the point where they were doing what they did. but if you look at the first ten days of black history month 2019, we're talking about blackface. we're talking about voting rights. it's been a rough first ten days of black history month 2019. coming right after a white female winning in mississippi after saying she would have a front seat at a lynching. or with ron desantis winning in florida after running against a black candidate andrew gillum saying let's stop monkeying around. or the racial kind of

gerrymandering and suppression in georgia that defeated our speaker this week that answered donald trump's state of the union stacey abrams. we must not only study black history but make some and make american history because the real history is no matter how hard it got, we never stopped and we win if we keep going. that does it for me. thanks for watching. i'll see you back here next saturday at 5:00 p.m. eastern. up next, "meet the press" with chuck todd. this sunday, the democratic divide. >> when government works only for the wealthy and the well connected, that is corruption plain and simple. >> some progressives are pushing hard for goals like a green new deal. >> i don't think that we lose elections by addressing climate change. >> but other democrats worry they're being impractical. >> i know congress won't pass medicare for all.