a performance of hamilton. and obama read one as lindeman well. he was like, dear mister president -- >> i'm not making it as phony as he did, it was so funny. anyway, we ask more classified documents and he said he was, quote, out of the government game and, doing the hollywood thing now. but then, beyoncé called him on his cell phone and he ignored it. so yeah, just like a really cool, fun time. >> that wraps it up for me, everybody. i will be back in the turn excited and sunday 2 pm eastern. simone starts right now. tarts right now. greetings, everyone. you're watching symone. demonstrators across the country are taking to the streets over the killing of harvey nichols. he was brutally beaten by five former memphis police officers. they are now charged with

second degree murder, and calls are growing for police to form a justice and -- we are asking the chair of the memphis city council in the minority leader in the tennessee state senate about what part of the city and state have. they want a meeting with president biden to discuss just that, accountability. they're calling for national reforms within the justice system. we are talking to congresswoman, maxine waters, y'all. and just a few moments, we're going to find out what the congress plans to ask for, and why. plus, in the lead up to black history month, we're celebrating some pioneers in our community who are living black history right now. starting with dana kennedy, she's the first african american to have a major publishing company. it's one of our living firsts. i have something to say.

and then today since the release of videos showing the vicious beating a 29 year old tyre nichols by memphis police officers, we've heard a lot. anger, fear, sadness across america. that attack led to kyrie's death three days later, on january 10th. the officers were charged with second degree murder, and other charges last week. we are not going to be showing you that traumatizing video again today. i believe there have been many opportunities for folks to see it, we played it yesterday. but we are going to dig into some lingering questions. will this time be different? will justice be served? will it be this time that measures are taken to stop abuse at the hands of people who are supposed to serve and protect us? people in every major city, and many smaller towns across america, have shown up to protest the brutal assault he experienced.

americans have just had enough. here's what they have to say at protests in washington. >> to hear a young man plead for his life, i have a black son, and to hear him call for his mama -- those are words i never want to hear or see my son, or look at it on tv. to hear my son coffers mama before takes his last breath. >> many other brothers and sisters died. but this one is more traumatizing, because we've got people that look like us killing us. >> because they were police officers, they are getting away with murdering a man who is on his way home. >> the demand for some kind of changes also coming from lawmakers, right here in washington d.c.. the congressional black caucus has asked president biden for a meeting to talk about

reasonable police reforms. and now, we have the memphis police department saying it is prominently deactivating the special unit to which the five former officers were assigned. saying that in the process of listening intently to the family of tyre nichols, community leaders and the end involved officers, it's in the interest of all to deactivate the scorpion unit. please welcome democratic congresswoman, maxine waters of california. it is very good to see you today. unfortunately, under the circumstances. i want to start here, you were very active in the fight against the department in the knee -- you have said the justice does not come easy, but shouldn't justice have come by now? >> absolutely. thank you so very much for paying attention to this story today. i am absolutely angered, i am

appalled, i am sick and tired of the killing of young black men, in particular. young black and brown people everywhere. yes, it has been a long time since i was engaged in the fight about rodney king, but i took on the police chief in los angeles years ago. his name was darryll gates, we keep fighting. we keep begging, we keep doing everything we possibly can. yes, we have the criminal justice reform act that we are still pushing for. we were not able to get in the last congress, because we don't have enough members who care enough about this issue. when you look at two democrats, manchin and of course -- they don't give a darn about this issue. they would rather have the power to determine what happens in the senate by using 32 votes for themselves, than anything

else. so i would like to be optimistic, i would like to say yes, this time something is going to happen. nothing is going to happen until the people in the streets continue to protest, and to rally. and our numbers grow, and we elect the next elected officials who care about this issue. >> i think there are a lot of people out there who share your sentiment, that they don't have a lot of hope about congress. but we know that the congressional black caucus requested a meeting with president biden about police violence. you know well more than i what the cdc did to get the executive order that the president signed last may, and we're going to get up on the screen, a few things in that executive order. a call for respecting the dignity of all people through more thorough investigations of misconduct, better discipline, and also a better look at who

is being hired and proud in police departments. it is my understanding from the leadership team at the cdc that there's a leadership meeting today. there is a belief that there is more that president biden could do, via executive order. what else would you like to see the president do? >> first of all, our new chair of the congressional black caucus is very focused on this issue. and he has led the requests we are making to the president. and the president will do that, he has expressed sincere anger and thoughts about what is happening, and he is doing everything we possibly can. but we need this to continue. we need him to make this a priority issue. in the final analysis, if we are to get a national issue on police reform, it's got to be the house of representatives.

it is extraordinarily important, and i am sure that biden will continue to focus on the issue and to pressure the legislators to do the right thing. so all of these things are going to happen, but will it result in what we want? and that is stop killing a young black men and women in this country. of course, it has been going on historically, going on for too long. and i want to tell you, to hear george floyd and then to hear tyreek -- at the point they've been beaten to death. we can't take it anymore, and i've got to say, to black and brown mothers, let's lead this fight. let's get in front of it. let's demand meetings with legislators and city councils who are in charge of budgets of these police. let them stop giving them everything that they want, all

of it. everything that they get, they get additional overtime. they get good pay raises, they get everything they ask for. because nobody wants to be called anti police. come, on local city councils. let's deal with that budget, and for these associations. they will protect congress. >> the police associations, yes ma'am, we could do a whole show on the police associations themselves. i'm speaking with the chairman of the memphis council after i speak with you. and i plan to get into this in the nitty-gritty. we'll be watching forum that a meeting, what comes with president biden and what comes out of the cdc. i want to get your thoughts, you are the ranking member of the financial services committee in the house. speaker mccarthy was on this morning, he made the rounds. and this is what he had to say on cbs face the nation, about the debt ceiling in his meeting

with president biden. >> our whole government is designed to find compromise. i want to find a reasonable and responsible way that we can lift the debt ceiling but take control of this runaway spending. if you take a look at the last four years, with the democrats have increased spending by 30%, 40 billion dollars. we're at 100 and 20% gdp. we haven't been in this place of death since world war ii. >> speaker mccarthy will meet with president biden this week. you had this new poll today from nbc news, it's up on the screen. and they believe the republican-led house will be too inflexible on dealing with the president. briefly, congresswoman, how confident are you that the country won't default here? >> well, let me just say that we all should be very wary and suspicious of whatever mccarthy has to say. and of course, we have his

caucus know being controlled by the right wing, by marjorie taylor greene. and so they want to show that they can harm us. they want to cut some of our most important programs. i don't trust them on social security. i don't trust them on medicare. i don't trust them on housing. and they are wanting to negotiate some cuts, in order to support raising that debt limit. well, they ought to just do what is right. we've spent this money, and we don't want to default. we don't want to be shelved as poor people to apply to have credit. we have got to raise the debt limit, and we've got to stop playing political games. we've got to come together, and we cannot default. we cannot cause our economy to fall, to collapse. we cannot have seniors basically homeless because we don't raise the debt limit. so i don't trust her. we've got to push them very hard, we've got to push very hard, for them to do the right

thing and show that they are real patriots, and they want to protect this country. >> i believe we are going to push, it will be watching to see what happens. congresswoman maxine waters, thank you very much for your time. >> you're so welcome. thank you. >> coming up on simone, folks, people across the nation are pushing for police accountability. after the killing of tyre nichols, we are going to take it to the state level. we're going to talk to see what local leaders are saying, what are they planning to do? how are they going to crease change? but first, my colleague richard louis has today's other top news stories. hey, richard. >> hey, simone. a good sunday to you. ukraine now saying fast-track talks are underway with western allies to potentially get long range missiles in place after -- this after western pledge to sand 300 tanks. russia calling this assistance from u.s., quote, blatant provocation. and some good news from buffalo bills safety, damar hamlin. who spoke publicly for the

first time, after suffering cardiac arrest on the field earlier this month. hamlin posted a heartfelt video, thinking numerous borders and clean the bills organization. the children who sent him gifts, and more. and brandon singh was honored today for his exceptional bravery. saying, disarm the monterrey park shooter after the gun was aimed at him. he saved countless lives. that shooter had already killed 11 people during a celebration. today, he was a word with a medal of courage when the police department. more simone, right after this break. break. did we choose safelite? >> vo: driving around is how we get our baby to sleep, so when our windshield cracked, we trusted the experts. they focus on our safety... so we can focus on this little guy. >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪

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and memphis has americans asking who exactly polices the police. for many communities, part of the answer is civilian review boards. those are panels of community members who review police actions and hold law enforcement accountable. depending on where you are, they are powers very. memphis has the oldest civilian review board in the state of tennessee and its powers are decided by the city. in recent years, the tennessee state legislature has worked to undermine the power of civilian review boards statewide. look at this. in 2019, they passed a bill limiting the boards from having subpoena power or the ability to compel witness testimony or -- testimony. it had no teeth. >> in 2021, legislation

requiring board members to take a civilian police academy course became law. and just days ago, republican state senator mark posey introduced legislation to abolish community oversight boards altogether and replace them with a so-called police advisory and review committees. how are memphis officials grappling with these efforts to undermine accountability? especially in the wake of the death of tyre nichols? also, we should note, this is an election year for the mayor in city council. joining me now to discuss is memphis city council chairman martavious jones, and the minority leader and the tennessee state senate -- thank you both for being here. chairman, i will start with you. can you tell us how exactly the state legislatures actions impacted the memphis review board's ability to hold police countable. ? >> thank you for having me. let me ask for the country to

keep praying for my city. i've been on city council since 2016. we have a term limit. i'm in my last term limit in 24-year terms. during my entire time on the council, there have been local efforts whether it's dealing with this issue or others that have been usurped by the states general assembly. i live in a state where we have a super majority monte -- local control has been undermined by the general assembly. looking at the actions of our law enforcement review board is just a long line of things that have been -- >> senator, if you can speak to that then, given the supermajority republicans have in both chambers, is there anything to keep this legislation from representative -- that targets civilian review boards from passing? >> i'm hoping the situation with tyre nichols really

highlights the need for a strong civilian review board. the legislation that took away the ability to have subpoena power really was damaging but i am hoping that we can get allies on both sides of the aisle that recognize it's important for civilians and community members to have access to police records when you have incidents of violence. they cannot police themselves, we have to hold them accountable. >> mister chairman, let's talk about the budget. review boards are one piece of this. the police budget for memphis has increased by millions of dollars every year since at least 2016, the year you started to serve on the council, with the exception of 2022. it was a year when the homicide rate fell by nearly 13%. overall violent crown in memphis fell by 4%. look at this year. police services take up more than a third of the entire cities budget. in about three months,, for civil, your reaction to that, sir. what do you say to folks who say more money to police

departments, particularly the memphis police department is not the answer. >> before i was on city council, i served on our school board here and i always heard and the rhetoric, well, we can't just throw money at the problem when it comes to education. it seems like we are willing to do that without measuring any kind of outcomes when it comes to more money for police budgeting. i'm originally from memphis. i spent years away but in my being back i can remember you fictive ease. things that we provided for children. we have abandoned baseball lots in most of our parks. we used to have youth baseball leagues and other activities for children. >> chairman, let me interrupt you to ask then, in three months, the mayor strickland of mayor will present his budget. it is the city council going to push back on the allegations that are there for the police department? are you going to ask for -- you just talked about baseball. some of these other community services, mental health. is that something that yourself

or other representatives will press the mayor on? you >> can count on me to do so. i am just one of 13 votes. however, whatever we need to get done -- i think the climate has changed here. i'm hopeful that i have at least six supporters in order to push back on any type of increase for the mayor. if there is an increase, it needs to be more money for new services to restore what we used to be. >> thank you, mister chairman. senator, police chief davis in memphis has now disbanded the scorpion unit, the specialized but niece unit for some of the officers who be tyre nichols were part of. the unit was established once she came to the police department. she has defended the unit in the past and praised it. do you have confidence in her ability to lead here? >> i certainly think that chief davis has stepped up with the

quick and speedy firing of those five officers working with the tennessee board of investigation to make sure criminal charges were brought quickly along with our da. this disbanding of the scorpion unit was a good first step. as officials and community members, it's important that we hold chief davis, mayor strickland, and everyone else accountable to make sure these special units are disbanded and we focus on more innovative ways to reduce crime. because it can be done and certainly not without violence. extra violence does not reduce violence. it creates mistrust and misalignment in the community. >> we will have to leave it there. state senator akbari, councilman and chairman martavius jones. thank you both very much for your time. after the break, don't go anywhere. the bitter part is embattled over one of the most powerful house committees. also what's up with classified document investigations? we will talk about that. particularly we are talking about the former vice president pence has admitted he had to turn over documents.

and still questions as it relates to what is happening in memphis. my political panel will be here to break it all down. reak it all down

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republicans are offering sympathy after the killing of tyre nichols. but if you look at their record, that's empathy is about as useful as their thoughts and prayers on these kinds of issues. it is to basically say, not very much. in 2021, at the democratic house passed the george floyd

justice in policing act. that was a bill that would've lowered the federal prosecutions standard for law enforcement. it would have limited qualified immunity defenses. it would have established a national police misconduct registry. it doesn't exist! and more. all but one house republican voted against it. that one republican leader said it was by accident. negotiations to secure the ten republican votes to pass the bill no senate was also falling apart because tim scott was leading. it left president biden to make a few improvements within his power through executive action. joining me now to discuss is my political panel. kimberly is here, msnbc political analyst and columnist for the boston globe. and mike madrid is also here. he is the cofounder of the lincoln project and former political director of the california republican party. welcome to you both. i want to start with you, mike. maybe you can illuminate some things about republicans.

republicans in congress keep expressing sympathies about tyre nichols death, which i think is important. it does feel like this same old story over and over and they have power to pass police legislation but they have continued to do absolutely nothing about it and then you have republican congressman jim jordan on meet the press today saying this -- >> i don't know there's any law that can stop that evil that we saw, it's difficult to watch. that strikes me as a lack of respect for human life. i still think you want to keep this at the state local level. this is a law enforcement issue. you start getting that federal government involved with that of basing in federalizing things, the federal government screws it up so many times. >> mike, go ahead. >> thanks again for having me, symone. this is just like the thoughts and prayers response every time there is a mass shooting. there is all this and deference to what happened, acknowledging

tragedy but doing nothing to resolve it. the big question here is qualified immunity. everything you just pointed to with those three bullet points in the federal legislation aren't going to do that much. even a national registry, sure, it is something. sure, it is helpful. is that going to stop this problem? of course it's not. it's the least we can do. it's the minimum that should be done. republicans are standing in the way of even that. the reason why is very simple. they don't want us to change. it's not about laws, it's not even about virtue, it's about power structure. republicans do not want to give it up. it's not within their dna until we at the grassroots level start to force of this change, bring some focus and intention to these issues. we won't see any. i will agree with what you said earlier and add on to what congressman jordan said. this is a state and local level issue. we are going to have to bring the federal government into this. until we do, until we nationalize reforms, we won't

see change. >> kimberly, i see you shaking your head on this. i would also argue, i talked to congresswoman maxine waters at the top, we know the congressional battle black caucus is -- i had asked all the members i know what more are you looking for. they said, stay tuned. your thoughts on this kimberly? executive action from the president is not legislation. >> no. and the president is limited in at the power he has to address this directly, whatever we'll have to be done, and i agree with mike that qualified immunity is the most powerful tool to incentivize police departments to change. and that will have to come from the legislative angle. it's interesting to see congressman jordan saying this has nothing to do with us. for the past three years, republicans in washington have been strongly messaging against the grassroots movement since the death of george floyd in

2020. demonizing black lives matter, demonizing efforts to hold police more accountable and just to stop killing black people at a rate of more than three times the rate they kill white people in america. that should be something, that was something america seems to be getting behind and republicans did everything they could to message against that and to weaponize black lives matter. that's really interesting to hear him say that now. but, yeah, i think the fact that you have the congressional black caucus in talks with the white house now, you will probably see legislation come out of the senate, at the very least. what republicans will do, i project, is the same thing they've been doing for the last three years. yes, we do have to incentivize people at the state level, state houses, to pass stronger gun reforms. even that is hard. even in massachusetts, a very blue state that i cover, they passed gun reform, they passed police reform at every level

except qualified immunity. >> we could do a whole segment just on boston. this is something we are going to stay on. we are going to continue this conversation on this show throughout the course of the next couple weeks. i want to move to the classified documents found in former vice president pence's home. because this is really been boiling my buttons. there is the documents that were found at president biden's home and former office from the obama biden administration. as we, know mayor garland has appointed two special councils for the biden documents, one for the special counsel of the trump document case. i want to but the special counsel regulations on screen. this is what it says. the attorney general will appoint a special counsel when he or she determines criminal investigation of a person or matter is warranted. that is from the u.s. code of federal regulations. we know donald trump is under criminal investigation, okay?

obviously. so far, there has been no evidence that president biden is under scrutiny. my question is, if merrick garland believes the department of the united states of america has committed a crime or has intel on that, he should tell us. correct? if he doesn't, why is there a special counsel, mike? make it make sense. >> i wish i could make it make complete sense. i think this is a political loophole. it's a difficult dynamic where you've got two parties dealing with very serious allegations on very serious issues. i'm not trying to equate the two. i'm not trying to suggest that what donald trump did was what joe biden did. we all know that's not the case. what i will say is, in the court of public opinion, if you look at polling, both republicans and democrats are reacting in a way that's very predictable. everyone has dropped into the partisan potholes. it's an extremely volatile situation for the department of justice and the president of the united states to weigh in on this. issue out of an abundance of caution, political clarity,

they are making the decision to handle it this way. is it ideal? no, it's not. is it probably the best given the political volatility of what's likely to come from partisans? i think it probably is. >> you talk about polling, mike. nbc news is out with new polling today that says -- speaks to what you just said. when it comes to trump documents investigation and investigation into president biden, those documents, folks find it equally concerning. 67%. kimberly, let's go back to the special counsel. given the standard and that a.g. garland has established, if you are going to have a special counsel for biden, the apples to apples comparison would be vice president pence's situation here. do you expect a.g. garland to appoint him in that? case t a. i want to be clear. i don't think he should. do you think that is what will happen? >> i don't know. as you pointed out, we have not seen consistency here. if they were following that

rule to the letter, they would have appointed a special counsel right out the gate in the trump matter. from the beginning, his refusal to turn over the documents is what raised that to the level of potential criminality, as opposed to waiting until he declared his candidacy to do so. i am unclear what the rule is now. do they do it if the person is a candidate or if they are in office? does that mean before -- unless mike pence declares his candidacy there won't be one? i'm on certain. they haven't been following the letter of the law as much as they've been trying to avoid political blow back. we will have to. she >> seems to me like merrick garland is doing what everybody was mad at james comey for doing as it relates -- that's another panel. thank you very much. up next, y'all, professor michael eric dyson is here to have a session. we will have a candid conversation about the r-word in the tyre nichols case and

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every other month, and i'm good to go. ask your doctor about every-other-month cabenuva. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> video of the five former memphis police officers brutally tyre nichols beating leading to his hospitalization and death from injuries is once again drawing attention to the issue of police brutality. the five black officers charged in his death were part of the now permanently deactivated scorpion unit. it was an acronym for street crimes operations to restore peace in our neighborhoods. what we saw in those horrendous videos a tyre nichols being beaten and terrorized was about as far from restoring peace as you can get. police brutality has been an unfortunate and painful part of the history of black americans for centuries. in my opinion, and the death of tyre nichols is just the latest

chapter. it's a part of history, part of black history, american history. some states are attempting to erase it from the curriculum of our schools. joining me now is michael eric dyson. he is the coauthor of unequal and the author of entertaining race. also a distinguished university professor of african american and diaspora story studies at vanderbilt university. thank, you doc, for being here today. i want to give your words back to you. you said this about the death of george floyd. you said the reality is white people saw this dude was no harm, and causing no trouble even though the police later on tried to say he was resisting arrest, i think it moved white people in a way it hadn't done before. is that message the same when folks, particularly white people, see black police officers beating a black man? >> unfortunately, not thank you for having me. we know the life of black people is never -- what this is a reminder of his what many black people said

before. that lack people, ourselves, have to internalize the notion that black lives matter. it's not simply for white folks. it's not simply a pedagogical lesson in a class. it's also for us to internalize. why is that? we know white supremacy is deeply entrenched into the collective unconscious of this nation, including black people. the colonization of our minds, the ways in which we've been taught to respond and react the same way. so, no. we know that had those been five white cops, it would have been unlikely that they would have been as aggressively pursued in terms of a legal system. we've seen white cops get away with murder time and time again. we are not asking for affirmative action for black cops winner, for the delay of justice. we are asking for the speed up of white cops to kill black people and others to be held to account. there is no question that this is one of the most heinous, disregards of black life we've ever seen and white folk have to come to grips with that in

the same fashion that they come to grips with their ailments and injuries in their own communities. >> doc, when you say that we have never seen -- folks are aware of the history of the issue of police brutality in this country that dates all the way back to, frankly, the times of slavery. >> right. >> and given that, we have to understand the reality that some politicians are going to great lengths. not just politicians, people. great lengths to undermine black culture, erase black history being taught in our schools. make it make sense for me here. because of those that don't know their history are going to repeat it. >> right. i'm going to say something. you are absolutely right, and that quote you just cited there, that those who don't know their history will repeat it and they will keep on repeating it because they will keep on refusing to learn. we are in a nation that is banning books, trying to segregate knowledge, trying to

disband the coming together of classes of people who want to study more deeply these issues. do you know why? because ron desantis and his anti woke bill in florida doesn't want to know the history. he wants to make it comfortable. he literally said this in signing the bill. i do not want to have studies in american schools and that make young white people uncomfortable. guess what? i am a professor. i've been one for nearly 35 years. discomfort is my trade and call. discomfort is the way in which we make people uncomfortable with ignorance. -- >> have you ever had a concern about what you are doing in the classroom, have you ever thought -- >> no doubt. people will report you, talk about it. i've been under that scrutiny for 30 years, so i'm good. the point is, we live in a nation now that ostensibly says it's committed to freedom, equality, and just as. a claims that left-wing are a

bunch of snowflakes. who are the real snowflakes here? white brothers and sisters who are incapable of hearing something with which they disagree. i think at the end of the day, what happened in memphis was happening in florida is more intimately related than we could ever imagine. >> doctor michael eric dyson, we will have to leave it there. thank you very, very much. you took me to class today. >> bless. you appreciate it. >> ahead, y'all, i have my when i won with a woman who is truly living black history. it's my conversation with the pulitzer prize-winning journalist and publisher -- that's next. to sleep, so when our windshield cracked, we needed it fixed right. we went to safelite.com. there's no one else we'd trust. their experts replaced our windshield, and recalibrated our car's advanced safety system. they focus on our safety... so we can focus on this little guy.

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now available in cinnabon® bakery-inspired flavor. learn more at boost.com/tv >> as we discuss with professor dyson a moment ago, folks are going to great lengths to stop the teaching of black history in our classrooms. let's just be clear about what we are talking about. black history is in fact american history. when we talk about black history, it's usually about the past. there are many people in the president who are living black history right now. in the lead up to black history month and through the end of february, we will celebrate the pioneers in our community through a series we are calling living black history. to kick off our series, our first guest is dana kennedy. dana is a former new york times reporter and pulitzer prize-winning journalist. she's also the first woman and first person of color to be administrator of the pulitzer

prizes. that is just the beginning of her -- she was the senior vice president publisher at simon & schuster and she has been the author of the best selling memoir a journal for jordan where she said others her family of losing a partner and father of her son to war. this memoir was turned into a movie directed by denzel washington and starring michael b. jordan. let's take a look. >> what's this? >> it's a journal, so you can write to your son. >> what do i write? >> tell him who you are, what you believe in, and tell him you love him. >> i asked dana what it meant to be the first in the accomplishments and here's what she had to say. >> i don't spend a lot of time honestly thinking about firsts. i've had a lot of firsts before my name but i don't focus on that. i focus on the work and i'm mindful that any of us who are the first our first with an asterisk because we stand on

the shoulders of so many people who made those achievements possible. >> dana, when you say, that i used to work for -- i had the privilege to work for vice president kamala harris. she often was asked the question i just asked you. she said she would say the exact same thing. and what is it about the first, the trail blazers that you don't think about it at all, you just do? >> whenever i do think about, it's in response to a question usually. it reminds me of all the people who sacrificed so much, including their lives, so that we could vote, so i could be in the offices i've been in. i was at the new york times for 23 years. i was part of a team that won a pulitzer prize. i remember standing there for the day for the announcement was red and we won the pulitzer and thinking, wow, 20, 30 years ago if i was standing in this

new news room, i would have been emptying the trash can. there are so many people, our great grandfather's, and others who have sacrificed for all of us. we are living their hope and their dream as so many of us have said over time. i just believe that. >> i'm sure there are some challenges, to say the least, that you faced rising through the media industry to the pinnacle of the publishing world. what were some of those? >> starting from back to my college days. i remember doing an internship at the newspaper called the -- at the time. first week. i was one of the only suits i owned. we went out for lunch and we were walking down the street and we were also proud to be there. i remember a homeless white man yelled the n-word at me. everybody stopped and looked at me. i was so embarrassed. i thought, you know what, i'm going to walk over here and keep going.

i literally did. i kept going and never looked back. it was that or time to time having difficult bosses or feeling afraid about a new assignment. i always believed first of all that god had me and a purpose for the talent he blessed me with. also, i believed in my training and my experience. i had a goal. no one will steal my joy. >> as i was reading and we were researching about this conversation, i remembered when it was announced that you acquired the rights to the mike pence autobiography. people know now that is the imprint under which his book was published. there was some consternation, a lot of criticism at that time. and did the criticism ever make you question the decision you made? >> not once. the reason i got that book is

this. i'm so glad you asked about this. simon shuster and the publishing industry in general has a long industry we publishing political books when -- you need to hear from those folks at the top of the administration. as important as that information is for the coming elections should someone become a candidate, when my son and grandchildren are reading about this time in history, i want them to be able to open that book and say, what were they thinking, or they got it right. you need that information so people can say, you know what, those people were crazy or we got it wrong. >> before i let you go, we have to talk about the new project you mentioned. you are no longer the publisher at simon & schuster because they have bought your next project. you are writing another project. for folks who don't know, a journal for jordan takes the story of your fiancée who was tragically killed by a roadside bomb before he was due to come

home. as i mentioned, denzel washington directed this film. what was the process of getting this to the big screen? and then what message do you hope people have taken away from this movie? >> denzel and i worked on this for years and years and years. he's a dear friend. he took this personally, very seriously. he said to me, symone, he felt all his training and moviemaking had prepared him to do this, which touched me very deeply. it was a wonderful process. we've had a movie made that is this serious, it has a real impact. i was hearing for so many readers of my book, people from the movie wanting to know more, wanting me to. speak i thought, i have to do another book. i just have to. i couldn't do both. i just couldn't. i'm writing a book about resilience, professional resilience in our country. my personal resilience. those will be the things in the book, a journey with jordan.

>> a journey with jordan. we cannot wait to read it. oh dana canedy, thank you so much for your time and we will be watching. >> thank you so. much >> thank you for watching symone on this sunday. i am symone sanders towns. it you can catch me on msnbc -- on peacock where i have new episodes on the msnbc hub every monday. if you want more of this show, find us on instagram, twitter, and the tiktok. i checked my phone to see if the eagles have won and politics nation with the great reverend al sharpton starts right after the break. ter the break. way series. an all-star menu of delicious subs. like #8 the great garlic - rotisserie style chicken, bacon and garlic aioli. i've tasted greatness. great garlic though - tastes way better. can't argue with that analysis. try subway's tastiest menu upgrade yet. ♪ma ma ma ma♪ [clears throut] for fast sore throat relief, try vicks vapocool drops with two times more menthol per drop*, and the powerful rush of

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politicsnation. tonight's lead, a nation reengaged. ♪ ♪ ♪