ris it realized as we get ready dto celebrate dr. king's life and legacy tomorrow? we'll look closer at the state of black america with the head of the national urban league and a panel of local voices. oprah 2020? her powerful speech at the golden globes has pundits and voters wondering if the american icon is bound for the white house. daca deadline, we'll have the latest efforts to protect undocumented immigrants who came here as children, and the new developments in washington that could affect hundreds of thousands of so called dreamers. male announcer: "nbc10@issue" starts now. rosemary: good morning, i'm rosemary connors for "nbc10@issue." tomorrow is dr. martin luther king jr. day. this year will mark 50 years since dr. king's passing. on this historic anniversary, we discuss where his dream stands in 2018.

for some perspective about the economic status of african-americans, according to the urban league's 2017 report on the state of black america, in the philadelphia-camden- wilmington region, the african-american unemployment rate is 12%, while the white unemployment rate is 5.3%. we begin this morning with nbc10's erin coleman who sat down with the president of the national urban league, marc morial. he calls the black community strong and resilient, but admits there are still challenges ahead. marc morial: one challenge is we're in this new environment, we're in the trump environment. and rollbacks and cutbacks and efforts to repeal are, if you will, diminish value and the effectiveness of civil rights laws and civil rights principles is in play now. i think secondarily, we are in a time when, although black unemployment has come down, the economy is doing better, even black people who

were not working 6 years ago, 7 years ago and now working, poverty, the challenges of people's paychecks not providing them with the money they need to pay the basic necessities of life is a new reality. it's a 21st century reality. it's the reality of post-recession america. rosemary: tomorrow is the martin luther king jr. holiday. and this spring marks 50 years since he was assassinated. so, i asked morial, what would dr. king think of the state of black america now? marc: i think martin luther king would have a lot to say about the progress that's been made in terms of elected officials, in terms of politics, in terms of the growth of the nation in the african-american community. but he'd be very, very disappointed with the poverty, with the violence, with the continued strife on a global scale.

what i hope people in 2018 will understand when they think about the 50th, 50 years since his assassination, is they will remember his last campaign, which was a poor people's campaign for economic justice and economic rights, and recognize that that is the challenge of the modern civil rights and social justice movement. one of our current challenges is not only to protect the vote, not only to deal with issues like mass incarceration, but to understand all of those issues in the lens of helping people achieve economic parity in this country. rosemary: joining the discussion now is pastor kevin johnson from dare to imagine church in philadelphia. allison green, the senior vice president of diversity, inclusion, and engagement at lincoln financial group. she's also on the board of directors for the urban league of philadelphia. and chad dion lassiter, the president of the organization

black men at penn. thank you all for being with us. kevin johnson: thank you for having us, good morning. rosemary: so, we're going to pose the same question to you as we did to marc morial. what does dr. king's i have a dream speech mean in 2018? are his dreams realized? have politics put them on hold? we'll start with you, pastor. kevin: well, when i think about dr. king's legacy and i have a dream, this is the 55th anniversary of that speech. and of course, it was a great speech there in washington d.c. of course, we've made some advances when you look at how african-americans are moving forward, particular in the culture as far as in the corporate sector. but also, there's still a lot more that needs to be done. there's also the presidency of philadelphia oic. i see so many needs that are out there. i see the people who are hurting. i see the illiteracy that is still there. and so, while on the one hand we have advanced from a corporate standpoint, from a community and economic standpoint, particularly in philadelphia, there's still a lot more work that needs to be done. rosemary: pastor speaks to the corporate inclusion. and that's where you come in, allison. allison green: yes.

so, when i think about dr. king's speech, there was some things in his speech, particularly a few points, that speak to time. the time is now. we're ready. time is now. the need--the need for us to take action now. and i think we see that, so i think we see progress there. if you take few weeks ago in alabama, the african american female vote, 98% of african-americans, females, turned out to elect the first in many, many years candidate for the us senate that was democratic. so, i think when we talk about the time being now from his speech, we recognize that. i think our resilience helps us to honor that. and i think we're ready. so, i think there's progress that's been made. there's more that needs to be made. rosemary: chad, i see you nodding your head. chad dion lassiter: yeah, i like what my colleagues have shared. i would just add that there's aspects of the dream that has

been realized, but similar to how we were rushing to say that we're a post-racial america, there's aspects of that that's a mirage, there's aspects of the dream that's still a mirage. i think when i think about king, i think about how king articulated the triple evils. he talked about poverty, racism, and militarism. and when we're looking at where we're at in our democracy now, we're looking at our military might. we're not looking at the beloved community that he so articulated for us to engage with people on every side of the color line, every side of the gender line. when we're looking at transphobia, when we're looking at xenophobia, when we're looking at the anthology of some police officers engaging in police brutality and getting off with impunity, i think that when we're looking at some of the things that king is talking about, if we had king in this era, can you imagine what king would do with a hashtag? can you imagine what king and his colleagues would do with social media? and so, i'm also looking at the fact that during king's day, he had the letter from a birmingham jail that he wrote. with young people in this era, we have black lives matter, we have the dakota pipeline. and so, i think that what we have to do is move it from

theory to working to make sure that his dream is realized, actualized, but also implemented. rosemary: we started off the segment giving the statistic about the poverty rate, the unemployment rate rather, specifically in our region, philadelphia-camden-wilmington. are you surprised by these numbers, especially the disparity with white people who are unemployed? allison: i'm not surprised by the numbers. while we talked earlier about progress, we definitely said that there's more progress to be had. i think that some of the-- some other progress, especially for african-american women, if you think about during the time of dr. king's speech, over 50, almost 60% of females employed were in the domestic service space. now, 64% of females employed are in white collar roles. so, that's progress. so, while there is a gap between, within our race we do see lots of change.

rosemary: and that's the work you're doing day to day at lincoln financial. allison: it's the work that we're doing, yes. rosemary: and chad, in terms of dr. king, if he were here today, what would be some of the issues that would be at the forefront of his speeches? what would he be talking about? chad: certainly mass incarceration and ending the age of mass incarceration. unemployment, underemployment, educational apartheid, and the whole aspect of just this police brutality that is running rampant by some police officers. i think king would be taking up issues of some of the rhetoric that we see that's mean-spirited that's emerging from the white house. i think that he definitely would continue all the work that he was doing from that period. and in this period, he would really crystallize the whole aspect of how we can speak back to white supremacy, but in a loving manner. that was the amazing thing about king is that when he really critiqued american empire and when he critiqued our democracy, he didn't do it from a standpoint where it was mean-spirited, he did it with love, really trying to get america to look at itself in the mirror. and i certainly know that he would be down with,

you know, the take the knee movement and colin kaepernick, and really trying to work with both the nfl as well as the players to create a beloved community, where we can respect individuals, and having individuals recognize that it's not about patriotism and it's not about dissing the national anthem and signs and symbols that are endearing to our democracy for some, but he also would want america to look at some of the challenges that kaepernick and others are bringing to the forefront. rosemary: i'd be remiss if we didn't bring up politics in this discussion of race relations in america. where are we? and is it moving in a good direction? can we move in a good direction? kevin: i would say we're not moving forward, we're moving backwards. we need to look at the legacy of dr. king. that i have a dream speech was a speech that is going to last forever because it was a unity cry saying, "let's bring america together." rosemary: there certainly to that speech is obviously an inspirational, hopeful, moving forward tone, so here we are in 2018.

how do we move forward? allison: i think we have to begin to address, acknowledge and address some of the areas that we need to make progress in. it's no secret around maternal mortality rates for african-american women that that is three times higher than non-minority women. when we think about non-minority women are more likely to have breast cancer, but african-american women are more likely to die from breast cancer. being honest about pay gaps. for african-american women, we make 67 cents on the dollar compared to non-minority men. when we think about education, african-american women are graduating--enrolling, graduating from college, but the opportunity is around what's the curriculum and are they in stem programs, which is where the roles are? those are opportunities for us to start. rosemary: we'll leave it there.

thank you all for being with us. pastor kevin johnson, allison green, and chad dion lassiter, we appreciate your perspectives. kevin: thank you. allison: thank you. female: she can most certainly win, especially in today's climate. rosemary: does oprah have 2020 vision, and is the country ready for the possibility of another celebrity presidential candidate? we'll discuss the o factor next.

rosemary: safe to say speculation is swelling after oprah winfrey's memorable speech at the golden globes. could she be a candidate for president in 2020? the talk heated up when winfrey's long-time partner, stedman graham, told the la times, quote, "it's up to the people. she would absolutely do it." many fellow celebrities quickly shared their support on social media, as did civil rights leader and former presidential candidate reverend jesse jackson. here's what he tweeted. he tweeted, quote, "oprah is eminently qualified to be president. she is a patriot. she has integrity, is smart, and communicates with the broadest

cross section with americans, from appalachia to the mississippi delta; from the very rich to the very poor. she can raise our moral standing in the world. #visionary." for his part, president donald trump doesn't seem too concerned about oprah as an opponent. male: can you beat oprah? donald trump: yeah, i'll beat oprah. oprah will be a lot of fun. i know her very well. you know, i did one of her last shows. she had donald trump, this is before politics. her last week, and she had donald trump and my family, it was very nice. no, i like oprah. i don't think she's going to run. rosemary: here to discuss a possible oprah candidacy is jasmine sessoms. she's the founder and ceo of she can win, a nonpartisan organization with the mission to promote women in government. thanks for being with us, jasmine. jasmine sessoms: thanks, rosemary, for having me. excuse my voice. rosemary: oh no, it's that time of year. yeah, flu season in full effect. so, all right, let's talk about oprah for president. certainly her speech was very powerful, moving. it seemed like she was the right person to deliver that message

at the golden globes. you also have to wonder if she may have thought there might be deeper implications to her speaking on that stage that night. jasmine: i think oprah knows what she's doing. i don't necessarily think that oprah is saying, "i am the person to run for office." but i think she is trying to inspire women to step up. one thing she said in her speech was, "it's a new day on the horizon." oprah is the face of empowerment, women, women of color. and i think she used that speech to kind of prickle some ears and say it's time for us to step up. i don't know if she's necessarily saying she's running, but she says, "someone needs to run," and she knows that someone is a woman. rosemary: mm-hmm. and speaking of women running, that's what your organization, that's your mission, she can win, you work to get women into office. why is it so important to have that voice in government? what's missing when a woman's voice isn't there?

jasmine: rosemary, i'm going to put it in perspective for you. there are 535 seats in congress. of that 535 seats, 106 of them are women. it's like 9%. of that 106, literally 38 are women of color. it is a gross misrepresentation. and in order to have a balanced government, you need balanced voices. that's women. we are missing that woman's voice in government. so, i work really hard. it doesn't matter if you have political capital, it doesn't matter if you have experience. i want you, if you have the passion, if you have the know how to run, we'll teach you everything else because we need that fair and balanced voice. without it, the government will fail. our government decides on our healthcare, women's issues, but there are no women in the room talking about issues that affect them directly. how are the outcomes being decided? by men, and mostly white men.

well, they can't speak for someone like me who's 34 years old and african-american, mother of 2 girls. we need a fair and balanced representation in the government. rosemary: mm-hmm. in terms of oprah or somebody maybe like oprah running for office in 2020, possibility? jasmine: absolutely, let's think about oprah. oprah has run a billion dollar company. she has international experience, she has managed hundreds of thousands of employees. oprah is qualified particularly to run for office. she came from nothing and built something that most people could only dream of. that is the american dream. oprah is the embodiment of the american dream. she is qualified to run for office. now, would she want to give up her empire to move over to the public sector? i don't know about that. but most certainly oprah is someone that is qualified. and on social media, i kind of see people saying, "we don't need another celebrity running for office."

why not? they have a following. and if they're qualified and if they have good ideas, maybe we do need that other additive voice to the government. now, they're going to have to surround themselves with people that actually know policy and they understand what's going on, but i don't think we should discount that. rosemary: jasmine sessoms with she can win, thank you so much for being with us. appreciate your perspective. jasmine: thank you for having me. rosemary: coming up, a deadline is approaching for daca, the program that protects undocumented immigrants who came to this country as children. just ahead, we'll hear from one person who could be personally affected if lawmakers don't make a deal. and we'll see how a recent court decision is impacting the president's agenda.

rosemary: this past week, a federal judge temporarily blocked president trump's decision to end the deferred action for childhood arrivals program, better known as daca. the administration had said the program would end in march unless lawmakers step in with a plan.

the program protects nearly 800,000 undocumented immigrants who came to the country as children. they refer to themselves as dreamers, and many have lived here almost all of their lives. daca keeps them from being deported and has given them the right to work legally in the us since 2012. president trump and leaders from both parties have said they want congress to pass a law to protect the dreamers, but there are some caveats. mr. trump and congressional republicans insist any daca deal must include security measures including a border wall and reforms to both the visa lottery and the so-called chain migration. here to join the conversation is prudence powell from the pennsylvania immigration and citizenship coalition. she's a daca recipient herself. and also joining us is philippe weisz, managing attorney of the pennsylvania office of hias, a global jewish nonprofit that protects refugees. thank you both for being with us. prudence powell: thank you for having us. rosemary: so, first thing, if a deal doesn't get done, tell us what happens to daca.

explain what the next steps are. philippe weisz: sure. so, as of march 5 of this year, what we're going to start seeing is 221 individual daca recipients who are going to start losing their status. and as we know, the numbers are close to 800,000 individuals who currently have daca, the protections of work permits and drivers licenses. and those individuals are going to start losing jobs and start--you know, we're going to start losing members of our community. rosemary: and for you, this affects you personally, prudence. prudence: for me, yes. this affects me personally because i'm a daca recipient. and just in october, when he passed the last incentive to end daca, i was able to renew for another 2 years. so, come november of 2019, i will no longer have daca. what will happen then, you know? we need congress the past something that's fair for all undocumented youth to be able to continue to work, continue to pay taxes, continue to take care of our families. you know, i have two children of my own, son in high school,

a daughter in elementary school. if anything happens to me and i get deported, what's going to happen to them? rosemary: how long have you been here for, prudence? prudence: i've been here for 23 years. rosemary: wow. prudence: yes. rosemary: and you consider the us your home. prudence: the us is my home, yes. rosemary: philippe, a lot of negotiations happening on capitol hill this week, so what do republicans and democrats need to do in terms of boxes to be checked to get the president to sign a deal on this? philippe: well, what's amazing is if we look across the spectrum, both democrats and republicans in and the president himself have indicated that they all want a dream act. and so, the truth is that's what we're hoping is going to happen. over 80% of the us population has indicated support for a dream act. and so, it's just time for the administration for congress to kind of get this done, get it on the president's desk, and have that signed. and we're hopeful that that will happen. rosemary: if the march deadline is not met, you said the first few hundred could be deported right away. but then as prudence just pointed out,

people renewed obviously this past fall, and so it would certainly be a rolling-- philippe: well, that's exactly what's happened. it's a rolling--so, the deadline is gone, is passed. individuals have work permits right now, and they will be rolling out their expirations. so, we'll start seeing that on march 5, and then moving forward 200 individuals every single day. it's important to understand that those individuals won't from one day to the next disappear. those individuals remain in our midst. what will happen? are those individuals, you know, continue--the fear will high increase, they're going to lose their jobs, they're going to lose their drivers license, lose their opportunity to continue to pay down their mortgages for the houses they purchased, cars they've purchased. and so it's really kind of a-- prudence: their families. philippe: taking care of their families. and it's really kind of dismembering essential elements of our society. rosemary: and pushing people potentially into the shadows. prudence: back into the shadows. 'cause we were already in the shadows before 2012, and now we have the opportunity to come out and work,

and now you're going to put us back in fear. rosemary: and pay taxes too. prudence: the big thing, paying taxes. rosemary: all right, philippe weisz and prudence powell, thank you so much for being with us. prudence: thank you for having us. philippe: thank you. rosemary: and we'll be right back.

[ laughs ] rodney. bowling. classic. can i help you? it's me. jamie. i'm not good with names. celeste! i trained you. we share a locker. -moose man! -yo. he gets two name your price tools. he gets two? i literally coined the phrase, "we give you coverage options based on your budget." -that's me. -jamie! -yeah. -you're back from italy. [ both smooch ] ciao bella.

[ both smooch ] rosemary: tomorrow, girard college will host a musical tribute to dr. king at 1:30 in the afternoon. the philadelphia orchestra will perform its annual martin luther king jr. tribute concert at the girard college chapel. the 90-minute program will feature uplifting works and excerpts from dr. king's i have a dream speech. that does it for this edition of "nbc10@issue." i'm rosemary connors, thanks for joining us. enjoy mlk day. be kind to your neighbors and also enjoy the day of service. ♪

,000 deaths in america last year. we need to stand up and say enough. the only way this problem is going to be solved is if we raise our voices. choose help over helplessness, hope over hopelessness. make sure that the lives we've lost will not have been lost in vain. addiction is a disease. when you ask for help, help is there for you.

you know you're watching televisionsymbol, that's educational and informational. "the more you know" on nbc. -all across america, people are dedicating their lives to giving back. -you're gonna make me cry. -from executive producer blair underwood, this is "give." -thank you so much. -each week on "give," blair... jenna bush hager... or one of their celebrity friends, drop in on two small but mighty charities that are making a big impact. -can you believe that, from the pit to the palace? -they'll discover what makes these two charities so effective and what they each need to do even more good. -good boy! -working with some of the world's greatest givers, our celebrity ambassadors will have to make tough decisions on how to distribute grant funding between the two charities,