i'm marlie hall with breaking news. nbc news has confirmed that a u.s. operation in syria targeted the leader of isis, abu bakr al baghdadi. he is believed to have been killed though testing is still being done to confirm that. president trump will make a major announcement at 9:00 a.m. believed to be about the baghdadi operation. we'll continue to monitor the story and bring you updates. for now, back to our regular programming. i'm craig melvin. >> and i'm natalie morales. >> and this is "dateline." >> free meek mills! >> how do you explain why your case has become so important?

>> this is the same thing that thousands of minorities are going through. they just don't have anybody to speak on their behalf. >> now ty do. >> yeah, now they do. >> rap star, hashtag, symbol, meek mill inspired a movement. >> he's been wronged by the criminal justice system for a decade now. >> we have been conducting criminal justice with a chainsaw. >> in his first post-prison interview, he tells his powerful story. >> my father was murdered in south philly. you ever see somebody get your brains blown out? i've seen it multiple times. >> how he rose from the streets to the charts. >> he has this energy about him. >> sentenced to prison for a probation violation. >> being locked away is just like a mental torture. >> it's affected his life, my life too. yeah, it affects all of us. >> and why he rose up for change. >> i'm still doing time for that case. something is not working. >> this is a tough judge. he violated. he got a tough sentence. what's wrong with that?

>> we take you inside his emotional journey to freedom. >> i feel like i'm in the middle of a movie right now. >> we're there for every step. >> we home! >> you've made powerful friends, kevin hart, jay-z, owner of the patriots, michael reuben with the 76ers. >> i feel like god put me in a position to be the voice for the voiceless. this is way more bigger than me. >> hello and welcome to "dateline." countless young musicians dream of fame and fortune. meek mill was actually living that fantasy. he went from rapping on street corners to rubbing elbows with some of the biggest names in hip-h hip-hop. then suddenly the rising star found himself in a spotlight he never imagined. what happened to meek mill and how he fought back struck a chord that had nothing to do with music. here's lester holt with "dreams and nightmares: the meek mill

story." >> we are here today to demand justice. >> his plight sparked headlines around the world and protests in the streets. >> free meek mill! free meek mill! >> his case defining a cause for millions demanding reform, charging the criminal justice system is corrupt, that mass incarceration and a punitive probation system are unfairly ensnaring minorities. >> we're sick of a system that overincarcerates black and brown people. >> his name is robert rameek williams, also known as meek mill, a philadelphia rapper who has sold millions of albums. in november 2017, he was thrown in prison for probation violations. >> free who? >> meek mill. >> but the free meek mill movement gave many hope that change is finally on the way. according to longtime justice advocates like jason flom.

>> what do we want? >> justice. >> in 25 years of working criminal justice reform, i can't remember a moment that has the potential to galvanize the public the way that meek mill's horrible situation has done and is going to do. >> we're with meek mill as our cameras go behind the scenes to capture his journey to freedom. >> this is too crazy, man. how easy it is to get in the system is probably a hundred times harder to get out, even if you're innocent. >> dreams and nightmares. it's the title of meek mill's 2012 hit debut album. its lyrics tell the story of an inner city kid who made it, overcoming the violence, poverty, and chaos he grew up in. >> it's been a long time since i've heard something that naturally charged. the song is pure adrenaline. kind of mad we didn't have that

for ourselves. >> like meek mill, musicians questlove are from philadelphia. >> i think his style is uniquely philadelphian, but it was a cadence, a register that he was rapping in that it felt fresh. >> before he became a hip-hop star, his family says meek was quiet and shy. his talent came as a surprise to his mother and sister, kathy and nashima williams. >> when did you both realize he had this musical talent? >> i was going to a party and some boys came up, and they were like, she doesn't have to pay. this is meek's sister. i found out they started playing his mix tape, and i found out he rapped. >> you had never heard him rap? >> no. >> never heard his tape? >> nope. >> his music sprang from north philly's tough streets. meek depicted it as a war zone with bullet holes everywhere. when he was only 5 years old, a bullet killed his father. was that really his first

exposure to violence? >> i wouldn't say that because every area we lived in, there was always like violence, shooting, you know. i mean i had one of my brothers got murdered and cousins, all different types of people. the area we lived in, that's all it was about was murder. >> meek saw music as his way t out. he painted his world in songs, first on the corner and then in local clubs. he also caught the eye of hip-hop mogul jay-z, who signed him to his management company, rock nation. there were red carpets, celebrity friends, and one very high-profile romance with hip-hop star nicki minaj. with stardom came new connections to powerful people, like michael rubin, a self-made billionaire and co-owner of the philadelphia 76ers. the two met at a game and instantly hit it off.

what was your first impression of him? >> my first impression of him was actually, man, you can't judge a book by its cover. he was kind of a hard core rapper, but yet this guy was asking me so many great questions. it was just like it kind of reminded me of myself. >> the two were an unlikely pair. two sons of philadelphia with dramatically different upbringings. did you come to think that maybe there's two philadelphias? there's the one you grew up in and the one he grew up in? >> so whether there's two philadelphias, whether it was two worlds, the way he's been treated and the way i'm treated far before any of the business success i've had, are completely ways of being treated. >> rubin says he had never been in trouble with the law, but meek had. he told rubin he'd been on probation for years. >> we're going to this place in atlantic city. he's like, i'm not allowed to go. i'm like, do you need a note from your mother? ear going an hour away. he's like, no, i'm on probation.

>> in november 2017, meek was ordered to court for a hearing on a probation violation. michael rubin went with him. >> the probation officer literally got up in front of me and said all kinds of great things about meek mill, and they said, we recommend no sentence. then the district attorney, assistant district attorney, got up and said, we recommend no sentence. i looked over at the team of lawyers and said, i don't get it. why are we here? >> but the judge said meek needed to be punished because he wasn't following the rules she set for his probation. she brought down the hammer and sentenced him to two to four years in prison. >> and when she said two to four years in state prison, i looked up at meek, and he may not want to admit this, but his eyes turned read, and tears starting coming out of his eyes. i started tearing up and crying. i looked at him and said, i got you. i'm not going to stop until we fix this together. >> coming up, meek mill back behind prison walls.

>> what's your life like there? >> like a caged animal basically. >> and a look back at the case that started it all. did the judge actually give meek a break? when "dateline" continues. packed with b vitamins, electrolytes, antioxidants, plus more vitamin c than 10 oranges. why not feel this good every day? emerge and see. is skincare from around the wobetter than olay?

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>> no peace! >> reporter: setting off a social media firestorm, including meek's friend, comedian kevin hart. >> really trying to get this sentence reevaluated. i mean, look, it's just not fair. >> reporter: jay-z wrote in the "new york times," "meek mill is just one example of how our criminal justice system entraps and harasses hundreds of thousand of black people every day." >> when i read jay-z's "new york times," then i realized how serious it was. hopefully, this is the turnaround period in which we really address the issue of why young black men are severely punished for crimes that their counterparts aren't. >> reporter: meek had been thrown into prison for what many saw as petty offenses. he had recently been arrested twice. once for an airport scuffle. and once for popping a wheelie on a new york city street. both charges had been dropped. but the judge had sent him to prison anyway.

michael rubin struggled to wrap his head around it. >> put bad people in prisons. put murderers in prisons. put rapists in prisons. don't put somebody in prison because they had a technical probation violation. >> reporter: meek was sent to tion this prison to serve out his two to four-year sentence. i first spoke to him by telephone in april 2018. what's your life like there? >> like a caged animal basically right now. it's jail time. it's jail time all day. it gets worse. >> reporter: why was meek mill even on probation? it was for a crime that happened years earlier, when he was 19. on the night of january 24, 2007, he was walking out of his cousin's house, a gun in his waistband, when he says a gray charger suddenly pulled up and cops from philadelphia's narcotics field unit jumped out. they were acting on an officer's claim that he had seen meek the

day before selling drugs down the street. >> and they screaming, "police." i ducked behind a car and i put the firearm on the ground and they ran up on me and tackled me to the ground. and, like, knees on my head. put the cuffs on me, behind my back. and barged me through the front door. they barged me through the front door. like, with my head basically. when i came in, they were brutal. they got brutal. there was blood everywhere. i got knocked out about three or four times. did you ever see my mug shot? >> reporter: yeah. >> you know no one's ever asked me how did my face get so beaten there like that. so it's just, like, normal that a black guy had a mug shot like that. >> reporter: the officer on the scene, reggie graham, claimed meek pointed a gun at him. meek was charged with 19 counts. that included assault, gun and drug possession. >> reporter: the police say you pointed the gun at them. did you? >> do you think that's true? a black male at 8:00 at night with a full raid. at least ten cops at one time,

with their firearms drawn. do you think i pointed a gun at them cops and left there without being riddled with bullets? we wouldn't even be having this conversation. >> reporter: meek chose to waive a jury trial and placed his fate in the hands of judge genece brinkley. >> i've known her honor for decades. and obviously, she had a reputation for always being tough. >> reporter: brian mcmonagle and jordan siev are meek's current defense attorneys. they did not represent him at his trial. >> reporter: some people say she's no nonsense. is that a fair characterization? >> i think it's a very fair description of her. no nonsense. >> reporter: only one witness testified against meek. reggie graham, the arresting officer. when meek took the stand, he admitted he had a gun but denied pointing it at anyone. and he also denied selling drugs the day before his arrest. >> meek has always professed his innocence. >> reporter: so was this

essentially meek's word versus a police officer's word? is that what this case came down to? >> it really did. it was a bench trial, and it was a one-witness case. and obviously, the court returned a verdict, taking the word of the police officer over robert. >> reporter: the trial lasted a day, and robert williams, aka meek mill, was found guilty on 6 of the 19 charges, including gun and drug possession and simple assault. prosecutors asked for 5 to 10 years in prison, but judge brinkley gave him a break. she sentenced him to 11 to 23 months in the county jail. then after less than six months, she ordered his release. she could of put him in jail for a lot of years. and she didn't. and i look at that and think, sounds to me like she did him a favor. >> the problem with the sentence wasn't the jail sentence that was imposed, it was the enormous amount of probation that was placed on top of it. >> reporter: eight years of probation. judge brinkley would keep meek on a short leash, requiring him

to follow the court's rules. among them, random drug tests. travel restrictions. and he had to submit his travel schedule for court approval. any misstep, called a technical violation, could send him to prison. >> reporter: so what exactly is a technical violation of one's probation? >> a technical violation can be anything. it can be being late for a curfew. it can be being out of the jurisdiction. it can be something as -- as minor as not being on time for a probation meeting. >> reporter: meek mill returned to his life as a rapper, but it wasn't long before he got in trouble. judge brinkley found him in technical violation multiple times. in november 2012 she banned meek from touring for a month after he was arrested for suspected marijuana use, but never charged. in 2014, she sent meek to jail

for three to six months for travelling without permission and testing positive for opioids, and added more years to his probation. and two years later, she slapped him with "house arrest without permission to work for 90 days," again for travel violations and for giving a fake urine sample. and again added more years to his probation. there are a lot of law-abiding people who hear this story and say, "well, technical or not, you know, the rules were laid out. you knew what the rules were and you violated them." how do you respond to that? >> you know, we've never made any excuses for anything. when people are put on probation, they're expected to toe a line. but when you put somebody in a tightrope, and i don't mean a probation but a tightrope for their entire adult life, they are gonna fall off. >> reporter: according to the bureau of justice statistics, in 2016 meek was just one of a

staggering 4.5 million people under parole or probation supervision in the u.s. a third of them are african-americans. >> this is the life of the black man. there's two americas. you've got a america where cops -- they'll smack you in your face with a pistol so fast. doing horrendous crimes and getting away with it. and that's just on our side of -- of america. >> and as he always said to me, it was fascinating, he'd be like, "michael, there's two americas." i'd be like, "meek, there's not." he'd be like, "michael, there's america and there's black america." i've got to tell you something. he was right, and i was wrong. >> so while the rapper sat in prison serving his 2-4 year sentence for a probation violation, an investigator looking into his original conviction was about to make a discovery that could change everything. how solid was the case against 19-year-old meek mill? a key witness comes under scrutiny. coming up -- >> the only witness against meek was the police officer who

arrested him. >> i distinctly remember him saying he arrested this kid, he beat this kid, and he ripped a row of braids out of this kid's head. >> when "dateline" continues. devices are like doorways

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kids vaping. that's a dangerous idea. vote no on juul. no on big tobacco. no on prop c. ♪ >> reporter: in some ways, meek mill was lucky. unlike many in the probation system, he had money and powerful people working to free him, including billionaire michael rubin. >> you know, look, there's been a huge group focus on this every single day. people are talking dozens of times a day, fighting for him, because we all felt so personally appalled by what had happened. >> reporter: luke brindle-khym is an investigator who joined the team that rubin and roc nation had bankrolled. he spent months combing through documents, tracking down witnesses. the only witness against meek in his criminal trial was the police officer who arrested him.

his name was reggie graham. reggie graham served in philadelphia's narcotics field unit. the investigator tracked down a former undercover officer who had worked with graham for years. >> we worked in the squad together. i talked to him everyday. >> reporter: jeffrey walker wasn't involved with meek mill's case, but remembers graham talking about his arrest. >> i remember sitting at my desk. and it was reggie graham's -- came in the -- he was in the office. we were doing paperwork. and we all talk in there. and reggie graham was talking about a kid named meek mill. i distinctly remember him saying he arrested this kid, he beat this kid, and he ripped a row of braids out of this kid's head. >> reporter: walker says graham was a dirty cop and that he should know because he was one too. >> i participated with reggie in one particular job in 2003 where i watched reggie fabricate evidence. >> reporter: in 2013 walker was

arrested by the fbi for stealing money from a drug dealer. in exchange for a lighter prison sentence, he pleaded guilty to attempted robbery and testified against fellow officers. so far, his information has led to more than 1,000 overturned convictions in philadelphia. brindle-kyhm was learning more about what was going on inside the police department at that time, and specifically about reggie graham. >> in the middle of 2013, reggie graham last appears as a testifying witness for the commonwealth of pennsylvania, which suggested to us that prosecutors had some doubts about his credibility. >> reporter: there were rumors that the district attorney's office had compiled a list of cops too unreliable to testify in criminal cases. brindle-khym got that list, and guess whose name was on it? none other than reggie graham's.

>> how did that affect meek mill's case? >> one of the things that our investigation has uncovered is that there were doubts about officer reggie graham's credibility going all the way back to the time that meek was arrested and even before he was arrested. it is fair to say that graham was already a questionable witness at the time he makes this arrest. and we know this because graham failed a lie detector test about conduct that occurred before meek's arrest. >> reporter: he also learned the philadelphia police internal affairs unit investigated graham, and found he'd engaged in criminal conduct and committed theft. he was never charged. soon after, graham retired, leaving the force and philadelphia. >> we identified where reggie graham is now living, and i flew down to see him. >> reporter: reggie graham has not answered our numerous attempts to reach him. but he did talk to luke brindle-khym.

>> he adamantly denied that he ever made a single bad arrest. he had made thousands of arrests, he said. not one could he think of where there was a problem with the search warrant or where the circumstances of the arrest didn't play out exactly as was written in the police documentation. >> he absolutely denies? >> absolutely denies. >> reporter: just two months ago, meek's legal team filed a motion based on the new information about graham. they asked judge brinkley to toss meek mill's conviction and grant him bail. even the district attorney's office agreed the conviction should be overturned. but judge brinkley, who'd overseen meek's case for a decade, denied the motion for bail and set a date for a hearing. meek would remain in prison. >> it's something that i've never seen a judge do. >> reporter: one of meek's lawyers is joe tacopina. he says the judge has become a big part of the problem for meek.

he thinks the rules she set for him were designed to make meek fail probation again and again. >> there was one occasion where he went to los angeles for a series of shows. one of them was canceled. he wanted to come back home a day early, and he was not allowed. judge brinkley didn't allow him to come back to philadelphia a day early. >> reporter: another time, he says, the judge sentenced the rapper to community service and then surprised him. >> he was sentenced as part of his probation to go to a homeless shelter to assist the homeless. and judge brinkley showed up at the homeless shelter to watch him do community service. and complained that he wasn't serving food like she wanted. >> i have never in 38 years of practicing law seen criticism leveled at a judge to this degree. i mean, this is really ferocious. >> reporter: charles peruto is judge brinkley's attorney. he says she's ethically prohibited from discussing meek's case publically. he insists she's done nothing wrong here. if anything, she tried to help

meek mill. >> judge brinkley believes that what she has done is proper. she has given him enough rope to hang himself. she didn't give him a severe sentence in the beginning, she gave him a chance. now she's yanked that chance and said, "okay, now you're gonna serve the sentence you should have gotten in the beginning." >> reporter: after being turned down by junk brinkley, meek's attorneys filed a motion with the pennsylvania supreme court, asking that he be released from prison on bail. >> the system has really failed him at every step of the way. and it has really set him up for a situation where he was destined to fail, and he was destined to be thrown back in jail based on minor technical violations. >> reporter: meanwhile, meek's friend michael rubin kept the case in the headlines with a parade of high-profile prison visits, like with patriots owner robert kraft. >> he's an amazing young man. this guy is a great guy and shouldn't be here. >> reporter: -- and with meek's

friend, kevin hart. >> the frustration for me is, just, why is he still there? it's -- literally, it's -- it's the craziest thing i've ever seen in my life. >> reporter: the day of hart's visit was an exciting one in philadelphia. rubin's team, the 76ers were looking to close out the first round of the playoffs. so after the prison visit, rubin headed back to his office to get ready. and that's when, at about 3pm -- he got the call. the supreme court had just issued a ruling in meek's case. >> coming up -- an emotional day in the fight for freedom. >> oh, my god. i've never been more excited in my life! >> it's a national holiday right now. >> when "dateline" continues. no. >> when "dateline" continues 90% of women

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i'm marlie hall with breaking news. isis leader abu bakr al baghdadi is believed dead in a u.s. operation in syria. the operation was conducted by u.s. special forces from the air and later on the ground.

confirmation of the operation came shortly after the white house announced that president trump would be making a major announcement at 9:00 a.m. eastern time. you can watch those remarks live on msnbc. for now back to our regular programming. welcome back to "dateline." i'm natalie morales. rap star meek mill was in prison for parole violations and his supporters were on a mission to get him freed. his legal team uncovered damaging information about the key witness at his trial almost a decade earlier. now mill's controversial case was about to take another stunning turn. once again, lester holt with "dreams and nightmares: the meek mill story." >> reporter: tuesday, april 24th, 2018. michael rubin was getting ready for the biggest basketball game in philadelphia in years when his phone rang. it was the news he had been

hoping for. the pennsylvania supreme court ruled philly's new favorite son should be released on bail. >> the first thing that went through my mind is meek is gonna wanna be at game five for the philadelphia 76ers to close out the series against the miami heat. >> you want him at the -- at the game here at 8:00? >> i knew he'd want to be here. i knew our players would want him here. i knew the city would want him here. >> as soon as the order gets entered, he'll be out within an hour. so everyone is still hopeful that he's making the game tonight. >> reporter: at rubin's office it was a flurry of activity. he allowed our cameras to film it all. >> do you guys understand this is literally the closeout game? day five. meek mill -- >> is it going to be a special day in philadelphia? >> reporter: to get to the prison, rubin had something special in mind for his friend. tell me about the helicopter. >> meek told me that in prison he kept having this dream that i came to get him in the helicopter.

>> call josh harris's office right now. tell him -- i'll call josh. hold on. >> so i called my partner in the sixers, josh harris, who owns harrah's casino, which is right across the street from the jail. and within ten minutes they set up for us to land there. >> reporter: tipoff was only three hours away. >> it's ben simmons. >> reporter: on the helicopter, sixers star point guard ben simmons facetimed rubin. >> going to pick him up right now! he's going to be at the game. we've got to win by 50. we're on the heli right now. we're going literally to go pick him up right now. >> he coming to the game? >> 100%. oh, my god. i've never been more excited in my life. >> reporter: minutes away from the prison, rubin gets a call from kevin hart, who had visited meek just hours earlier. >> we're rolling into the jail right now. literally everyone is going crazy. >> listen, there is absolutely -- listen. do you understand how big this is? for everyone, for the [ bleep ]

city. there's no discussion. >> reporter: the news was barely an hour old by the time rubin arrived at the prison, but fueled by social media, big crowds had already beaten him there. >> free meek! free meek! free meek! >> reporter: an hour later meek mill, the face of a new movement, climbed into rubin's waiting suv a free man. >> how excited are you to get on the heli? >> this don't even feel real man. the helicopter right here? >> reporter: with about an hour left until game time, meek, still in his prison clothes, boarded rubin's helicopter. >> this is too crazy, man. this is too much for me. >> meek, did you think this morning when you woke up that you were going to be out? >> no. hell, no. >> what did i tell you today? >> that you might be at the game tonight. i said that's impossible. >> reporter: he said he found out about his release just like most of his supporters. >> i went to go play chess, and

then i went in my cell and we had to do the -- for the count -- >> what time did you know though? what time did you end up knowing? >> i went in my cell and looked at the news and it came on the news. i was just laying in my cell just now with my eyes closed. i didn't even know what to think. >> reporter: meek's release was breaking news in philadelphia. helicopters tracked his drive to the arena. >> hold on. you got joe, too. >> reporter: inside the car, the calls poured in. from his mom -- >> hi, mom. >> reporter: his sister -- >> this like a national holiday right now. >> i know, it's crazy. i can't even imagine what's going on. >> reporter: and of course, his friend kevin hart. >> first of all, i did it. [ laughter ] >> you taking all the credit, huh? >> i did it. >> how's his outfit look? he's in a jail outfit. >> reporter: an hour earlier, meek mill was in a prison cell.

>> he's going to get a shower. >> reporter: now he was walking into the philadelphia 76ers locker room. >> he walks into our venue, literally goes in the back, has a barber come in and fix his hair up, takes a shower in the players' locker room. >> we home! we home! >> had someone bring him clothes, and comes out and rings the bell at 8:00. >> welcome home, meek mill! [ bell ringing ] >> reporter: 18 hours after he walked out of prison, i sat down with him to talk. >> so do you feel free? truly free? >> meek mill gets his first post-prison interview, and he doesn't mince words. coming up -- >> how do you explain why your case has become so important? >> this is the same thing that thousands of minorities are going through on a daily basis. they just don't have anybody to speak on their behalf. >> now they do.

>> when "dateline" continues. saturdays happen.

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have you slept since you got out of prison? >> no, i haven't slept one minute since i've been out of prison. it's actually like a culture shock, coming from a small cell back into the real world so -- >> reporter: less than 18 hours after his release, meek mill sat down with me for his first post-prison interview. >> yeah, it felt like a dream.

and when i -- when i got in my bed at night, which i -- i didn't go to sleep, i closed my eyes and i thought like, "don't let me open my eyes back up and i'm in a jail cell." and thinking like, ah, this is just a good dream. because in jail you dream a lot of being on the streets, and then you wake up and, like, you're back in prison. so i was playing, like, mind games with myself. but it -- it felt like a dream come true just to exit that way and get right back to life so quick. it was fast for me. it was -- it was overwhelming, but it was nothing but love and support and you know i took it. >> free meek! free meek! >> reporter: while the supreme court granted him bail, his conviction stood. the court denied his request to remove judge brinkley from his case. and in june 2018 judge brinkley denied meek mill's appeal asking her to overturn his 2008 conviction. >> you're still on bail? >> yeah. >> so do you feel free, truly free? >> no, i don't feel free.

i ain't feel free since i caught this case at the age of 19. i'm 30 now. and me, i just -- i pray. i believe god is my first lawyer. i always believed that. i don't feel free at all. >> how do you explain why your case has become so important? >> i was a public figure. i'm a rapper. i inspire -- a lot of people don't know the history, i inspire a lot of these young children. like my brand is dream chasers. it's about chasing your dreams, no matter what you do in life. no matter what color your race is, where you come from, everyone goes to sleep at night and has a dream and has something they want -- aspire to be. and this is the same thing that thousands of other minorities are going through on a daily basis. they just don't have the platform to have anybody speak on their behalf. >> well, now they do. now you're -- >> yeah, now they do. at this point i feel like i'm a sacrifice for a better cause. >> reporter: a sacrifice for those who grew up just like he

did, surrounded by poverty and violence. it's a theme consistent dloutd his music. >> i come from an environment, like we're actually killing each other, our own people are killing each other. and when you hear these young kids talk about guns and things in their music, it's a reason for that. when you hear them talk about death a lot, it's a reason for that because this is what we are -- what we went through. and the environment i come from is -- is really rough. >> reporter: that rough childhood may have led meek into trouble with the law, but after he served his time in 2009, he never imagined his probation would be its own type of prison. >> what did probation mean to you? >> i thought the definition of probation was to help better you. keep you on track. and not destroy you. >> reporter: instead of helping him succeed, meek says he quickly found the terms of his probation too restrictive, both professionally and personally. >> you ready to go to skyzone now? >> some of the issues you had were simply reporting.

you were required to notify if you were going to go to another state. >> this is a perfect example. the new jersey bridge is in walking distance about four blocks east. my son goes to school in new jersey. my mother lives in new jersey. i have to call someone every day just to go pick my son up from school. >> because it's another state. >> i shouldn't have to call another grown person to go pick my son up from school. >> reporter: another requirement of his probation was to be drug free. meek admits he'd gotten hooked on painkillers, but he didn't understand why he was punished. addiction didn't make him a criminal, he says. he was sick. >> i was addicted to opioids, popping percocets on and off because it had always been a battle with me. i never been a guy to just get high my whole life and think drugs was the solution. i actually took off in the music industry. i overwhelmed myself, and i got caught up in the lights, the fame and we seen prince die from taking opioids. and i was -- i was in the same boat, but it was a battle for me. >> but it got you hauled back

on probation violations. >> yeah. it was a violation every time i got taking pills. we set up a rehabilitation for me and they cleansed my body. i had therapy and i never touched a percocet again. >> reporter: by the time i sat down with him, meek had spent a third of his life under the control of the court system. >> for young minorities like us, being away from the ghetto is the most important. opportunity is the most important. if i'm not in the ghetto or on a corner or if i don't live down the street from -- he's a killer, he's a killer, he's a robber, i don't have to carry a gun. i live in a suburban area where i could wake up and go sit on my step and don't got to hear gunshots. >> reporter: meek mill is determined to use his fame and experience to fight for criminal justice reform. and he has found partners because in philadelphia change is in the air. >> a rap star, a billionaire, and a crusading d.a. now sharing

a common cause -- fixing the system they say is broken. coming up -- >> is the answer to lock fewer people up? >> the answer is absolutely to lock fewer people up. >> rising up for reform. >> i feel like god put me in a position to be the voice for the voiceless. >> when "dateline" continues. cs you're covered. (dramatic music) and you're saving money, because you bundled home and auto. sarah, get in the house. we're all here for you. all: all day, all night. (dramatic music) great job speaking calmly and clearly everyone. that's how you put a customer at ease. hey, did anyone else hear weird voices while they were in the corn? no. no. me either. whispering voice: jamie. what? you have fast-acting power over pain, so the whole world looks different. the unbeatable strength and speed of advil liqui-gels. what pain?

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for many justice advocates meek mill's case represents the

path to reform. >> i feel like we're entering a new age of activism. >> reporter: jason flom is a founding board member of the innocence project. >> young people getting energized, taking to the streets, like they haven't since probably the vietnam era. and now with one of their heroes, meek mill, going through this nightmare situation and shining a light on this broken system of ours, this criminal injustice system i call it. >> reporter: advocates say the system is a revolving door for people of color -- too many of them are incarcerated, and even when they get out of prison, they're stuck in the probation system for years. >> we've got to push back against this politics of fear and anger. >> reporter: bryan stevenson, founder of the equal justice initiative. >> i think the case of meek mill represents the critical problem we have in america, which is that we have become the most punitive society in the world. we have the highest rate of

incarceration in the world. we're throwing away people. the bureau of justice predicts that one in three black male babies born in this country is expected to go to jail or prison. and nobody seems to be upset about that. and i just think it's shameful. >> reporter: but one person who is making changes is larry krasner, a longtime civil rights attorney, now district attorney of meek mill's hometown, philadelphia. in may 2019 krasner filed an appeal with the pennsylvania superior court asking for a new trial for meek mill. and a new judge. two months later the court granted both requests. but rather than retry the rapper the d.a. offered a deal. in august 2019, more than a decade after his original conviction, robert rihmeek williams pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor gun violation. in exchange prosecutors dropped all other charges against him. >> and the sentence is no further penalty. >> reporter: outside the

courthouse meek mill thanked his supporters. >> meek free. i'm not on probation no more. i don't have to go to court no more. thank you y'all. i appreciate it a lot. >> reporter: and vowed to keep fighting for them. >> i will continue to do what i do with the reform movement and help the people that helped me. so i thank y'all. >> reporter: it's a mission the district attorney shares. >> i mean, we call ourselves the land of freedom. we ought to be the land of freedom. and what we are in fact is the most incarcerated country in the world. >> reporter: is the answer to lock fewer people up? >> the answer is absolutely to lock fewer people up. we have not been focusing on the 6% of criminals who commit 60% of the crime because we're so busy locking up everybody. >> how do you help people understand that the system can work for them when they're seeing what they believe is a huge injustice? >> you change it. i mean, the only way that you can convince people there's integrity in prosecution is by trying to prosecute with integrity. and i'm not speaking of myself because i truly view this as a movement. >> reporter: shortly after taking office this year, krasner

sent out this internal memo to his prosecutors, laying out new guidelines that many criminal justice experts have called groundbreaking. >> and those guidelines are based on science rather than intuition. >> reporter: the new guidelines are designed to reduce the prison population and bring fairness to sentencing. >> we have a policy that you don't ask for more than six months for a technical violation of probation or parole absent extraordinary circumstances. and often our position will be don't violate them at all. let's find alternative ways other than jail, other than spending more of the taxpayers' money on jail. >> reporter: in the case of meek mill's probation, the district attorney's office requested no jail time at all but the judge sent him away for two to four years. >> it would be your position, though, that his case stands as a symbol of what's wrong with the criminal justice system? >> i think a lot of people view it that way. of course the irony here is that no one lifted up a poor person.

no one lifted up someone who's not famous. no one lifted up someone whose, you know, alleged technical violations may even be less serious. >> there are a lot of meek mills in the system. >> there are a lot of meek mills who are not privileged and do not have access to the resources. >> i salute that guy with all my heart. larry krasner with -- the approach he came into philadelphia with, trying to put a stop to mass incarceration. >> reporter: meek understands all too well, after his long journey through the justice system, that his case is hardly unique. >> i think we always been divided in america where it's always black and white. i don't really call it black and white. a lot of black people are in prison, a lot of spanish men are in prison, a lot of these laws and policies are made to keep most of these minorities trapped forever. >> i think meek mill will be to criminal justice reform in a lot of ways what's happened with the

me too movement. he's going to shine a giant light on this incredible problem that we have. i think he's going to help to make it significantly better. >> he's able to actually make himself a catalyst for some real change. so you know, i hope that this isn't something that he takes for granted. >> is there a special responsibility now? you're free. you've had all these people, you know, rally to your cause. do you feel now that you're on a bigger platform? >> yeah. i feel like god put me in a position to be the voice for the voiceless. >> reporter: it's a responsibility, he says, that he takes to heart. >> at this point, it's not all about me having a light to shine on my situation. it's about the thousands of others that's caught up in that situation. how can we fix young black men going to jail for frivolous reasons and other young children growing up without fathers in their homes? >> what would you say to them in general, the folks that rallied to your cause?

>> i would say let's continue, let's retire the free meek mill hashtag and make it hashtag justice reform. >> that's all for this edition of "dateline." i'm natalie morales. thank you for watching. i'm marlie hall with breaking news. nbc news has confirmed that a u.s. operation in syria targeted the leader of isis. abu bakr al baghdadi. he's believed to have been kill killed. though testing is still being done to confirm that. president trump will make a major announcement at 9:00 a.m. believed to be about the baghdadi operation. we'll continue to monitor the story and bring you updates. for now back to our regular programming. i'm craig melvin. >> and i'm natalie morales. >> and this is "dateline."