killers put in jail, ahmaud arbery, just recently. but there are so many others where we haven't seen justice. maybe a are productive sort of question is, what does justice look like for these families? these murders happened so long ago, people are dead, the perpetrators are dead. so, how can we look at what's really, what can justice really look like for these families? one thing that's really interesting is, congressman louis really wanted a truth and reconciliation commission, to be a part of this process. and, of course, that was politically not doable at the time. by can we start to look at that now? >> unfortunately those things work better while people were

involved are alive, as these days go by we're only going to have the documentation that you and filmmakers and authors provide us. but, thank you so much for the work you have done on this, and all of your other products. it reba rich in is the, writer and producer of american reckoning, don porter is the executive producer of that documentary. it's out tuesday, be sure to check it out. american reckoning, starts tuesday february 15th, on pbs. straight ahead, live report from kyiv, ukraine as the world awaits an imminent russian invasion. this of course is canada that you're looking at, we are struggling to get a canada camera shot that we had earlier. for technical reasons it's disappeared. we do believe that police are, in fact, removing trucks from the border. we are seeing that trucks are being towed, and that this occupation of the bridge, the international border, is ending. we will continue to cover that story as soon as we have a live

shot closer than this one, we will bring it to you. senator ben carson also weighs in on what to expect. another hour velshi begins, right now. begins right now. good, morning i'm ali velshi. at 9 am the, east six and out west, 4 pm in eastern ukraine, where a russian invasion could happen at any, moment according to u.s. officials. president biden is warning putin that there could be, quote, swift and severe consequences if moscow moves forward with an attack. in an hour-long phone call with putin this weekend, biden emphasize that a russian invasion would produce, quote, widespread human suffering and diminish russia stunt dan ding, and quote, in the world. they also say that biden warned putin that, while the u.s. remains engaged in diplomacy, it is equally prepared for

other scenarios. this week, an additional 3000 american troops are expected to arrive in europe for a potential russian invasion. currently, there are more than 80,000 american service members in europe, that's according to the department of defense. that comes as at least 100,000 russian troops, now, mass around ukraine, effectively surrounding it. a u.s. official with direct knowledge of the escalation says russia has assembled about 80% of the forces it would need to launch a full scale investigation. the estimate is, by tuesday, they will have 100% of the forces required for a full invasion of ukraine, from all sides. meanwhile, the united states is evacuating almost all of its staff from its embassy in kyiv, the capital, and warning american citizens individually to leave ukraine, immediately. nbc news is foreign correspondent matt bradley joins us line from kyiv. matt, what's the situation? >> ali, it's exactly like you

described. three threatening warnings from washington. like i said before, ali, the situation here in kyiv, and in ukraine, we were just out east yesterday, closer to the border of russia. people are not worried, the government is not worried. in fact, volodymyr zelensky, the president of ukraine, he messaged joe biden and said, where you getting this intelligence? that intelligence has been coming very fast in very frequent, just over the last couple of days. it was only on friday night that we really start to see the temperature increase in that messaging from washington. and, we're starting to see these very, very perilous sounding warnings, with very specific information. we heard from jake sullivan, the national security adviser, that this invasion could be as soon as wednesday, and it could come before the end of the beijing olympics on february 20th. but this, again, the ukrainian government, i spoke with a former soldier this morning who is now a member of ukraine's legislature. i asked him directly, do you

believe the messages you're getting from washington? especially the ones that are warning of conspiracy theories on the border? he said that we appreciate washington's messaging, and sharing their intelligence, but he doesn't sound like he necessarily believes it. he believes that washington is making these maneuvers and airing at this intelligence for geo strategic reasons, that they are essentially trying to put moscow in the kremlin on notice by making these, what's moscow calls, increasingly hysterical claims about the kremlin's intentions here in ukraine. so, it's really hard to know who to believe. because, of course, ali, as you know very well, we have heard wrong information from the pentagon in the cia before. so, there's no real reason to believe, without any firm evidence, and the u.s. and washington has yet to provide real evidence, that this information is any more true. ali? >> matt, that does not absolve us of our responsibility to have you out in the cold covering.

it which are going to be doing for a while. stay safe my friend, i know you headed to know how to do, this but stay safe. matt bradley, in kyiv. joining me now senator ben cardin, he serves on the finance committee. he's also the chairman on the committee of cooperation in europe. so, is uniquely qualified have this conversation. senator, always good to see, you thank you for being with us. this is a tricky one. most times, when our country is surrounded by an adversary that is expansionist and they have this big ally in nato and the united states warning the adversary not to do anything, they tend to embrace it. there's something very unusual that matt was talking about, where the ukrainians continue to push back on americans warning of an imminent invasion. can you help us make sense of why that is happening? >> ali, first of all, it's good to be with you. first of all, it's incumbent upon us to counter the misinformation of mr. putin. you don't have 100,000 troops on the border, you don't amass the backup for an invasion,

without a purpose. we've seen this playbook before, where moscow will send out misinformation about aggression from the local people, rather than russia aggression. we want to dispel that from the beginning. our hope is that we don't see a further incursion by mr. putin, into ukraine, that we can avoid this military confrontation, because it's going to be deadly. make no mistake about, it that ukrainian people are going to fight, they're going to have our support from the point of view of military equipment that's being made available by the united states, and our allies. it will be a very costly battle, but even in addition to that the unity that we have with our european allies, russia will pay a very heavy economic price if they do, in fact, do this incursion. >> i want to talk to you about the potential price they'll pay, in a moment. do you, and your fellow members

of the foreign relations committee, are you concerned? do you know that the u.s. is doing something directly with volodymyr zelensky, president of ukraine, to have him sound like he's on the side with the tens of thousand troops ready to mobilize and defend their country? >> ukraine is an independent country, they have their own sovereignty. their leader is going to make the messaging he thinks is important for the security of his own people, and his own security of the government. we recognize that, but the facts are that russia has this capacity right now to overwhelm ukraine with its military. and, we've seen this play before, mr. putin has always indicated that he wanted to take over ukraine. he resisted it, wants to put back the former soviet union. it's an extremely dangerous situation. but i can understand mr. zelensky's views being different, from the point of view of strategy for his own

people. >> let me ask you about what we can do. i always want to know with the room is between sanctions and war. we are in that middle space, right now. the threat of sanctions, or actual sanctions. is there, in your opinion, enough that america, nato, european colleagues can do to either threaten or impose penalties on russia, to either avoid an incursion or punish them if one occurs? >> first, i think under u.s. leadership with european allies, you first set the factual record straight. that's what was done over the last several weeks, as to what russia's intentions are all about. despite what putin might be saying. secondly, we have provided substantial support for the ukraine and defense. both in dollars and equipment. not only ourselves but, again, our european allies. so, we have prepared the ukraine military as the defense to the best they can. they know they have our support, in that regard.

third, we've made it clear, with our european allies, that further incursions they will see the most severe sanctions from different sectoral parts of their economy, to individual people being sanctioned. so, it will be a very heavy, heavy price that mr. putin will incur. >> so, what is your best sense of it? do you think we a void an incursion? or, do you think vladimir putin has made his mind up? >> the one thing we know about mr. putin is that no one knows what he's going to do, including his closest advisors. so, it's a personal decision that he will make. he isolates himself from interacting with a lot of people. the truth of the matter is, we don't know. our strategy is to do as much as we possibly can to prevent the incursion. so, i think the type of messaging that is gone out, the type of unity, the type of consequences, the telephone conversations. all that is aimed at finding a diplomatic way to avoid a

military conflict. but no one knows what he's going to do, we've seen this before. where he has used his military to gain territory. so, it would certainly be consistent with what he's done in the past, to now do this military operation. and why would he put 100,000 of his troops on the border and make all these preparations if it was not for the military action? >> it is remarkable to look at that map, we are just showing it. every part of ukraine's border that is bordering russia or a pro russian country is surrounded with troop installations. senator, good to see you as always. thank you for taking time to be with us this morning. senator ben cardin of maryland, part of the foreign relations committee in the senate. want to go back to that footage of police at the ambassador bridge and windsor, canada. this is the winds are, side the canada side, across from detroit, michigan. law enforcement has now undertaken to arrest truckers and clear trucks who continue to protest the vaccine

mandates. we did have a judge rule on friday that, as of 7 pm friday, the truckers were in an illegal position. police didn't do anything until yesterday morning, and it does seem that they mostly coerced people in the morning to leave. but, a bunch of people didn't leave, and now police have assembled. you've got state police, you've got local police, sorry, provincial police, local police. you also have backup by the royal canadian mounted police. you can see this police in the front was of ties, and we will continue to stay on top of the story. but reports are that the bridge is being cleared now. there's no force, no violence that we are seeing. but there may be arrests underway, and they are prepared to tow trucks away now that will not move voluntarily. still to come, the supreme court picture that you're seeing right now is going to look a little different very soon. president biden says he's got a short list of potential nominees to replace justice stephen breyer, and he's making good on his promise. they are all black women. plus, our very first velshi

band book club this coming up. we are speaking with all boys aren't blue author johnson on their new book, and the backlash it's received across the country. backlash it's received acros the country. we always dreamed of having this property, so - i want to make my yard look as beautiful as butters, here. butters. how are you doing over there? we do both vegetables and large mouth bass. yep. we've got tons of them, don't we, buddy? there are millions of ways to make the most of your land. learn how to make the most of yours at deere.com ♪♪♪ my name is austin james. as a musician living with diabetes, fingersticks can be a real challenge. that's why i use the freestyle libre 2 system. with a painless, one-second scan i know my glucose numbers without fingersticks. now i'm managing my diabetes better and i've lowered my a1c from 8.2 to 6.7. take the mystery out of managing your diabetes

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basketball legends of our time, names like michael jordan, kobe bryant, lebron james come to mind. if you're old enough, you also remember lend bias. bias was a college baseball star who is destined for greatness. as a ford for the university of maryland he faced off against the young michael jordan, who were number 23 for the carolina car. heels the famed duke basketball coach mike krzyzewski, coach k, once told the post that during my years as a coach, the two most dominant players we face for michael jordan and len bias. in 1986, bias was second overall in the nba draft by the boston celtics, a rising star of the to join one of the

league's greatest franchises. but not even two full days after that draft, a single 9-1-1 call change both sports and american history. at the age of 22, len bias died of a horrid heart attack caused by a cocaine overdose. it is one of the saddest what ifs in sports history, but len bias's death sparked change, both good and bad for the country. he died at a time when america was headed into the war on drugs. crack cocaine was all over the news, time magazine labeled at the issue of the year. bias, through his drug related death, became a symbol of the dangers of drug use and a catalyst for new drug laws. later that year, ronald reagan signed the anti drug abuse act, which introduced a whole host of narcotics laws, including mandatory sentence for drugs like crack and marijuana. the law created mandatory sentences that disproportionately sent black people to jail and bolstered

and unfair incarceration wave that we are still trying to fix today. a law inspired by the untimely death of a young black athlete ended up being devastating to black america. but, there's a reason i am recounting bias story today. another consequence of his death is a measure within the drug act known as the crack house statue. which says, you are not allowed to knowingly own, ease, lent ranney place for the purpose of using were distributing any controlled substance. on the surface that appears to make sense. last, year the crack a statue was used to deny philadelphia so-called, safe injection sites. safe injection sites are safe havens for attics to use heroin or other substances under the supervision of professionals, who can administer proven protections against fatal overdoses, and try to reduce the transmission of disease. this year, under the biden administration, the justice department is signaling a

possible change of heart. the doj told the associated press that it is evaluating supervised injection sites, and speaking with regulators about appropriate guardrails. some safe injection sites are a good way to curb death. critics say they're bad for the neighborhood. drug addiction is a type of disease, but it's not the kind that can be fixed with medication. society still clings to the notion that the best way to fight addiction is stigma. but it doesn't matter how much you stigmatize drug addiction, it doesn't eradicate the underlying disease. just saying no might cut down on drug use, but it never wiped it out. what we can do is prevent death from overdosing. we have come a long way since 1986, we are fortunate enough to now have lifesaving drugs, particularly narcan. that can prevent in reverse potentially fatal overdoses. police and emts carry because it works so well. safe injection site stop it,

and they have someone around who can administer in an emergency. last year, new york open to facilities, which they call overdose prevention centers. so far, the site of intervene on more than 125 overdoses. heroin overdoses are often fatal, that could be 125 lives that were saved. there is no doubt that these are unconventional, but when you have a problem as monstrous as the opioid overdose epidemic, it just might call for unconventional solutions. safe injection sites are start, they will not stop people from taking illicit drugs. it's not with they're designed to do. but they do stop people from dying, of drug overdoses. eople from dying, of drug overdoses

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news that the shortlist is now down to three, and that one of these candidates will soon become the first black woman on the supreme court. first, there is judge ketanji brown jackson. she's currently a judge on the court of appeals for the d.c. circuit. she was first nominated to the federal, bench to the district court of d.c., by president obama. she's worked as a public defender, and is favored by progressives. next is california supreme court justice leandra kruger. she's seen as a moderate on that court, she used to work for the justice department and also clerk for supreme court justice john paul stevens. finally, there's judge j. michelle childs, she's been a u.s. district judge of the district court judge of south carolina since 20 twin. normally no gun -- , when obama appointed her to the district court she received bipartisan support, notably from republican senator lindsey graham who called her highly qualified and would bring some welcome diversity to the court. she's seen as the most moderate candidate on the short list. the president plans to spend as

we can at camp david, reviewing materials related to a supreme court candidates. including their writings and personal and professional backgrounds. before beginning to interview candidates, as early as next week. joining me now is 50 my got graham, she is the president and ceo of the women's law center. a former classmate of the aforementioned we andra kruger, who is maybe one of the candidates being considered. great to see you, thank you for being us this morning. >> they do. >> what is your sense, before we talk about the people you know in this, that you know of all of them. what is your sense of these women, and the concept that it allows joe biden to keep his promise about nominating a black woman? but, presidents nominee to the judiciary committee in the entire senate who could be approved by more than maybe just the democrats. >> the first thing i should say is that, it's clear representation matters, for sure i've been moved by the

idea that the next generation will no doubt understand that the supreme court is a possibility for them. but, what the president has really said is that he's going to nominate someone who is highly credentialed, highly qualified, highly experienced. and he had a long list of black women attorneys to choose from. these women, each of the ones that you have named, a really at the height of their profession. and so, i would imagine that, what's the president is doing this week, is digging so very deeply into the differences between them. and there are meaningful differences, no matter what happens though. we are going to be in this exciting situation where we will finally have a black woman on the supreme court, who is reflecting more deeply, and importantly, the diversity in this country. >> they all have particular advantages, if it is important

to get beyond democratic support in the senate and on the senate judiciary committee. it may, mathematically, not be important to do so. do you think it is or not? in other words, should there be any effort from joe biden to convince republicans that his candidates are good? >> i think he's made it clear that outrage is important to him. but, i have to say, we are talking about someone like judge ketanji brown jackson, who was just confirmed with bipartisan support last june. so, i'm not sure what's would have changed between last june and now, in terms of the consideration for someone like her. we are also talking about someone like judge childs, who was confirmed by bipartisan support. i have to name my former classmate, dr. leondra kruger, who, if you look at your record, she has argued 12 cases before the supreme court. these women are in a very different category to be

considered. i have trouble understanding what objections that republicans would have with them, at all. >> they all come with some degree of support from, as you mentioned, some republicans. i come from canada, where the space between moderates and progressives and conservatives is actually much narrower than it is in the united states. we characterize the three candidates sort of along a spectrum of progressive to moderate. is that significant? or is that just as being media, and putting people on a line? >> i have to say, i think it might be too easy of boxes. i think, the thing to do, is to dig more deeply into their various records. one of the things that i think is important, is that they bring a real diversity in backgrounds. judge ketanji brown jackson has experience being a federal defender, and so that perspective that she would bring to the court, as someone who has represented criminal

defendants, we haven't had that perspective on the court in many decades. since justice marshall was on the court. or justice cruger is someone who will have come from serving on a state supreme court. it's a california state supreme court, so when people are describing her as moderate, maybe it's moderate for the california supreme court, but i think it's actually the thing to do is look more deeply at their records, at their temperament. and look at the incredible perspectives that they would bring, that we don't have right now. >> leondra cooker was offered, i believe, to be made the solicitor general of the united states, and elected to stay on the california bench. what does that tell you about her? obviously, the solicitor general argues cases at the supreme court, which, as you pointed, out she had experience doing. >> she would have been a great solicitor general. she is also a great supreme

court justice on the california supreme court. i would imagine that it was a hard decision for her. but i am excited to see her being so carefully considered. when we are in law school, she was also the first woman of color, the first black woman, to be elected the head of the yale law journal. so, she has been path breaking at various points in time. it would have been exciting to see her as the first black woman solicitor general, i guess she can only be for so many times. >> fatima, great to talk to you. i appreciate the insight that you bring to us. fatima got graves is the national law center president and ceo. we're going to be talk about these candidates for a long time, so good that you know about them as much as we do. we just got word that biden is expected to speak with vladimir zelensky, quote, the coming hours. they will discuss the current security situation and current efforts to de-escalate. this comes a day after biden

spoke to russian president vladimir putin for over an hour. we will, of course, bring you the latest on that conversation when it happens. coming, up a history lesson velshi style, i have the story of the first ever banned book. and there's a story but was printed in his pages. book. book. an. just didn't feel like things were as sharp as i knew they once were. i heard about prevagen printed in his pages and then i started taking it about two years now. i feel like it's kept me on my game. i'm able to remember things. i'd say give it a try. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. hearing is important to living life to the fullest. that's why inside every miracle-ear store, you'll find a better life. it all starts with the most innovative technology. like the new miracle-earmini, available exclusively at miracle-ear. so small that no one will see it, but you'll notice the difference.

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which is a lot. so take care of that heart with lipton. because sippin' on unsweetened lipton can help support a healthy heart. lipton. stop chuggin'. start sippin'. objecting the pieces of literature has been an american pastime since the puritans settled massachusetts bacon. a but, it goes back much farther than that.

and back across the ocean. book banning is a phenomenon that began when books were first mass printed. would i have here is the first ever banned book. it is the tin dale bible, the bible as translated into english by william tyndall in 56. i don't have enough time in the show to give you a complete history of but -- i can tell you this much, for a lot of the history the bible was reserved for the clergy, and then it was translated into select languages like latin, that late people couldn't read. this one is an english. it was heresy for a commoner to read the bible, less they try to interpret it for themselves or even disagree with it. so, tyndall shows up and he's a master scholar and linguist. he divide the church and created an english copy of the holy book. something that every single english speaking person who could read, could read. this book was banned and burned, and tyndall suffered the same gruesome fate as a martyr. today, we're seeing a new

modern book bannon cruciate. while this time it isn't always religious, though sometimes it, is the average person is still the one who suffers from a limited access to a crucial. text for all these generations, books are still being banned in an effort to control what is being consumed, so the velshi banned book club takes access to books seriously. and just a few moments, we will have our first banned book meeting, with the author george and johnson, author of the new york times bestseller all boys aren't blue. my colleague, jonathan kaye, park in the meantime, warms us up. he is the host of the sunday show, and he joins me now. jonathan, i'm excited about this. >> i'm excited about it too. like i said last sunday, i'm jealous that you're doing this banned book club, because it is always going to bring the light for a lot of people books that they should know about and that they should read. but, as always alley, a packed sunday show. i just spoke with pentagon press secretary john kirby, and i'll have the latest on what

u.s. intelligence believes is an imminent invasion of ukraine by russia. also ali, joining me this morning, congresswoman elaine gloria and former congressman joe look goose, talking about the latest on the january six situation, as we get word that rudy giuliani may testify before the committee. and, it's super bowl sunday, but a cloud is hanging over the big game just a week after fire dolphins coach brian flores sued the nfl for rachel discrimination. we're going to be talking to national urban league president marjory all about his recent meeting with nfl commissioner roger cuddle, about hiring practices in the league. all this, and more, coming up on the sunday show, in just minutes ali. >> i'm looking forward to, it jonathan. thank you for that, jonathan kaye part. stay tuned, for the sunday show with jonathan capehart. starts at 10 am eastern. we have been hyping it up all week, our first velshi banned book club meeting is called to order. up next, i'll talk to author

george and johnson, author of all boys aren't blue, about their seemingly relentless calls to ban their memoir and their unique story. coming up next, on velshi. unique story unique story coming boost® high protein also has key nutrients for immune support. boost® high protein. (vo) america's most reliable network is going ultra! up next, on ve. now in many more cities so you can do more. hey, it's mindy! downloading a movie up to 10 times faster than before. oh, is that the one where the mom becomes a... (mindy) yep! (vo) i knew it! let's work offsite. public wi-fi? no thanks. 5g ultra wideband is faster and safer. and what's this? 5g internet for your home and business? just plug and play. see ya cable! 5g ultra wideband is now in more and more places. verizon is going ultra, so you can too. what happens when we welcome change? 5g ultra wideband is now in more and more places. we can make emergency medicine possible at 40,000 feet.

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it never really left. name a state, and it or school boards in it are literally challenging books that open your eyes, or challenge or worldview. or at least did for you in high school, or middle school. oklahoma state senator ron stay underage filed a bill targeting books in his state, texas governor greg abbott is making conservative minded education the central focus of his reelection campaign. we've covered the banning of the holocaust graphic novel mouse, in tennessee, a few weeks ago. all of this is in the name of protecting children from this cruel world, or leaving them ignorant to it. which is why we launch the velshi banned book club, to highlight works of literature

that deserve a place on shelves and libraries around the united states. we want to look at why a book was targeted, and what it means to you, the members of this book club. you are all, members whether you want to be or not! it's important to note, that we will not just be focusing on books banned by conservative groups, apropos of nothing. the velshi band book club condemns all forms of censorship, regardless of party affiliation. we're going to pick books to cover accordingly. the good news for the book club, but the bad news for society, is that there are many, many banned books to choose from. having said that, selecting our inaugural book to feature was easy. it had to be george and johnson 's bestselling debut, all boys aren't blue. this memoir was published back in 2020, but calls to have it removed from libraries around the nation are intensifying. 15 states have called for bands, or have already taken copies of all boys aren't blew off of library shelves and school shelves. looks like more removals could be on the way. all boys aren't blue has been the ire of conservative groups

who say that the books depiction of sexual assault and sexual awaken-ing our pornographic. many other pieces of lgbtq+ literature our challenge for the same reason. all boys aren't blue is a poignant coming of age story, as told by a series of essays. it follows johnson from jersey, to young adulthood, as they grapple with their identity an agency as a black non binary person. it is inherently intersectional, as is johnson's life. all boys aren't blue talks is on a breadth of topics, including institutionalize and racialized violence, and actual abuse and gender identity. the radar joins johnson as they recount schoolyard bullies, beloved garden with their grandmother, and experience at a college for tierney. while johnson states of the aim of this book is, to quote, give a voice to so many from marginalized communities whose experience have not yet been captured between the pages of a book, and quote.

it is worth noting, i've invited you all to comment on this book, to read it, to biden comment on it. it is noteworthy how many cisgender, white velshi viewer's road and with emotional reactions after finishing their copies. very nuanced criticisms, in a good way. clearly, all boys aren't blue resonates on a very human level for many people. it certainly did with me. after this break, i will talk with the author george and johnson. stay with us. johnson. stay with us liz, you nerd, cough if you're in here! shh! i took mucinex dm for my phlegmy cough. what about rob's dry cough? works on that too, and lasts 12 hours. 12 hours?! who studies that long? mucinex dm relieves wet and dry coughs. mission control, we are go for launch.

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welcome to the first meeting of the "velshi" banned book club. joining me is george m. johnson, the author of the best-selling memoir, manifesto "all boys aren't blue." george is a writer, activist, author, featured in numerous publications, most importantly the first ever author to be featured on the "velshi" banned book club. george, welcome to you, thank you for participating in this with us. >> yes, thank you for having me. >> look, you can't google "all boys aren't blue" without finding another school district considering it for ban and removing it from shelves. we're not talking about being in the curriculum, the idea it was even in the library this is what book banning is all about. what is it about your book that you believe has made it such a target? >> yeah. it is very simple.

my book tells the truth. my book tells the truth about the black experience. it is tells the truth about the queer experience and tells the truth about the black queer experience. a lot of people are upset because my book gives the actual truth against the stories that many of us historically as young adults have been conditioned to think was the truth. so i push back against the notions of the forefathers and the founders of this nation, and i give the actual truth about what the real experience is like to grow up black and queer in america. and we know that one thing about the united states of america is that telling the truth about the situation that we are in has always been a threat to the truth that has always been indoctrinated in us.

and so, yeah, my book tells the truth. and a lot of people are not happy about that. >> what do you say to arguments that it is about the sex. there are two detailed sex scenes including a scene involving rape. you write about sexual trauma, about sexual awakening. in fact one of our viewers wrote in part, saying, i wouldn't want a child to read this chapter before they had been introduced to the way normal sex, that's their language, normal sex happens, and the health risks related to all kinds of sex. i would want kids to know that the health risks of any kind of contact expands exponentially when people are in contact with more people. the viewer goes on to argue in favor of ban ing "all boys aren't blue" for elementary school students but not all students. what do you make of that? >> what i make of that is because thank you, on amazon, barnes & noble and every other website, the book is for 14 to

18-year-olds, so thank you for confirming exactly what we have been saying from the very beginning. it is interesting that the term child is being used. this book is not for children. it is not a children's book. it is not a middle grade book. it is a young adult book for kids age 14 to 18. and when you also look at the website, it also says grade 10 through 12. so this book is geared towards young adults who are actually experiencing those type of things. because i dealt with sexual assault by the age of 12, to say, like, i don't want my child to read about this, it is, like, yes, but, like, if your child is already 16, and i was 12 when i dealt with this, your child could already be dealing with this issue, right? and then to pretend that our teens are not -- even if they're not having sex, they're talking about it. this book is literally just a

resource guide to give them the information, the tools and the knowledge that they need. should they enter that particular space, because our school systems are trying to deny them that information, but denying the information doesn't mean they're not still dealing with the actual thing that is happening. and so that's all my book is doing. >> and so our viewer was not wrong in saying that it is not for little kids. you didn't intend it to be for little kids. on page 274 of your book, you write, i didn't explore sexuality during my teen years. i didn't have openly gay friends or mentors growing up. i didn't have the opportunity to date boys or have a boyfriend. i had to figure a lot of this -- "s" word out on my own. some of the mistakes people make and lessons they learn from exploring their teens i was just starting to learn as i transitioned it adulthood. that captured, to me, the point

of your book. >> yes, absolutely. the second adolescence. we talk about it a lot. queer people have to live the second adolescence. so what happens is because we are denied the ability to pick up certain social cues and social skills in our teenage years, once we have in many ways what we feel as the freedom to explore it, we're already considered adults and so we are making juvenile mistakes in our adult years simply because during our juvenile years we had no opportunity to live them out. we had no opportunity to explore. we had no opportunity to take the risk. and to learn how to sharpen that tool of social development. and so many of us, including myself, still to this day, i'm 36, i still do things and i'm, like, why did i do that? it is, like, oh, because i

should have been able to explore this particular aspect of my life when i was a teen. and i'm only getting to explore it now as an adult because i have more freedom to do so. but most heterosexual people have already explored this particular type of thing. >> it is a ya novel. you would like it if people would read it as a bit of a guide. i don't know what proportion of my viewers now are black, queer nonbinary, but in fact i had a lot of emails from white cisgendered straight people who enjoyed reading your book. i don't know if they agreed with it or liked it, but they thought it was eye opening. is that any part of your audience? do you care my white straight audience reads your book? >> absolutely. it is extremely important that those who have the power to pass their privilege are reading this book. and so one thing i noticed

throughout the whole book being out is that, white heterosexual not just women, but men, have been reading the book. white heterosexual parents have been reading the book. and literally emailing me and telling me that it is helping them with how they're raring their children and how they're going to have conversations with their children. and so it is extremely important because the next generation is gen z. if we can get in their minds that people like me exist, when they become the next senators, governors, ceos of organizations, as cis white people, they will already have in mind people like me exist and they will include in the plans of change that people like me exist. >> george, an amazing conversation, which i wish could go on for a very long time. but it will with our book club and we'll keep forwarding you emails we get and people can continue to engage with the book. thank you so much, george, for being our first author. george m. johnson, the author of

"all buys aren't blue" and we are not broken." the "velshi" banned back club is just getting started. we'll talk about "to kill a mockingbird" by harper lee. since its publication, it has been translated into 40 languages and sold more than 40 million copies worldwide. it has been praised for its subject matter, a child awakening to the abject racism in the u.s. south, but it has been contested for embodying the toxic white savior complex ideology. many members of the "velshi" vaned book club will remember reading this for high school english class. others have not. it has been contested in libraries and reading lists for generations. many book club members already wrote in with memories and opinions on "to kill a mockingbird," one of our most requested books, so we listened. this is a club, after all. tune in next sunday for our discussion. please continue to email us ideas, thoughts, questions,

reactions on "to kill a mockingbird" to my story at velshi.com. catch me here every saturday and sunday morning from 8:00 to 10:00 a.m. eastern. "the sunday show" with jonathan capehart begins right now. rn "the sunday show" with jonathan capehart begins right now. just when you thought the trump saga couldn't get any stranger, new reports that rudy giuliani is in talks with the january 6th select committee as it tries to follow a paper trail that trump may have literally tried to flush away. i'll discuss it all with john 6th select committee member congresswoman elaine luria, and former house impeachment manager congressman joe naguse. president biden issues a dire warning to vladimir putin as russia appears closer to invading ukraine. pentagon press secretary john kirby joins me with the latest. breaking news on the u.s./canadian border as police begin to