presented an argument in a community grappling with mistrust of the police, with the member rivory rodney king still fresh. >> i understand people have mistrust of police departments. but for a family sitting across the room, looking across it and seeing the person they believe killed their brother or loved one, you want all of that to go away, because that's not what's supposed to be on trial. what's supposed to be on trial is the evidence, the facts, the science. >> reporter: a year after the criminal case, o.j. simpson was found liable for the deaths of nicole and ron in a civil trial. >> the judgment for both families was $33.5 million. split, as he willingly paid anything? no. the only justice that would have mattered when it comes right down to it is that he would have been in jail on death row. >> reporter: but in 2007, surveillance video captured simpson stealing sports memorabilia from a hotel room in vegas. the charges landed him in a courtroom once again. the goldmans were there, this time simpson would end up in prison, convicted of robbery and kidnapping. but in 2017, he was relea

like rodney king says, why can't we all just get along? we should put away our nonsense and just look for the good of the country. host: thanks, walter. guest: thank you so much. you hit a lot of good points. are believe that -- we dealing with a lot of issues. many times when we are working on the floor with our republican colleagues, we don't always agree on a lot of things, but you are absolutely correct. protecting this country and our sons and daughters who serve in our military, if there was a time we ought to be able to come together, it is that time. if we made the decision to go to war, and i believe america has the most powerful and capable military in the world, and if we go to war and we send our sons and daughters into war, we need to have every piece of information possible to protect them, keep them safe as possible. so doing our homework, if you will, is critical to that. we need to continue to do that and congress needs to be a major part of that. in terms of the iranian deal, i will just say this. as i said earlier, iran

one of the events that really stuck with me when i was growing up was actually the rodney king riots. we lived in southern california at the time, and my parents had a restaurant in inglewood, california. i can remember smelling smoke, seeing ashes where we lived. it was incredibly scary because we didn't know if we were going to lose that restaurant, if it was going to be burned down, if it was going to be damaged, and it was our entire livelihood. and i remember there were a lot of conversations at that time around what it was that government to do to create more opportunities or help people be more successful, and that stuck with me. it stuck with me because i remain believe government has a role, government has a responsibility to change the outcomes for communities, to create opportunities, to help people go to school, to help people open businesses and be successful. >> make sure to be safe, and of course to have fun. >> and then, i think as you continue to serve in government, you realize that those convictions and the persons that you are really help to inform you, and so long

on the heels of rodney king, the murder occurred in brentwood but the trial did not occur in the affluenturb. you know, hindsight, monday morning quarterbacking, huge mistakes made by the prosecution, the glove is the obvious one. never ever ever put on somebody -- put on a witness when you don't know what they're going to say. kennedy: and wit as slam dunk. if you watch "the people versus a.j. simpson." if you watch the series, the actor dos a pretty good job other than david. >> always going to be ross to me. >> she is such a sociopath. kennedy: david schwimmer . >> when o.j. says he's done talking about this it means no one is offering him money to talk. kennedy: that's the amazing thing. 25 years we're still talking about this with renewed interest. it hasn't faded. >> we've gone through a weird racial conversation in this country in the last five or six years, beginning with ferguson but the obama year, the rise of trump. things have gotten weird in a way and enough distance has passed since the 1990s that we had to gl go back and look at t. kennedy: i like the fact that we can talk

. >> you have to remember, this was in the backdrop of the rodney king acquittal of police officers and people were killed, 2,000 injured. part of l.a. was burning down. there was this awful tinder box with the afro american community and law enforcement in the early 90s. you had 11 afro american jurors on the case, you know, with o.j. simpson in all white, detectives and cops, you didn't have a chance. they could have videotaped the murder and the jury would have come back the same way. >> shepard: i remember being outside the courthouse as the verdict was being read. standing in front of the courthouse downtown with the smog still thick in the air with a bunch of photographers and produce producers, we made a plan. here's how we were getting out of town. there was nobody in los angeles that didn't believe if there was a guilty verdict all hell was about to break loose. you could feel it. >> the evidence was guilt was ever overwhelming, this was the case. marsha clark became a friend of mine from a show i did, which i played any self, a reality show. all the o.j. lawyers, prosecutors a

>> i work for a mayor during the rodney king era. what i saw was the pain that mothers showed. that's what really touched me more than anything. and that pain is very local but it's also what's happening all over the country. i think what was very important, yes, for the mayor to host and hear the pain of the people but also to address the concerns of the people in real, tangible ways. and what i heard was that this was something that had been going on for a while and now it's really coming to the forefront. so, he has to address that in real, tangible ways. you heard the pain of those mothers. not just mothers but the pain of those mothers and the concern they have for their sons and, of course, their daughters. it has to be addressed if he's going to be on a national stage and says he wants to be the president of the united states. i think he has to address those issues he heard tonight. >> chief ramsay, mayor pete had a tough job, addressing some outraged but not throw his police department under the bus. did he do a good job? >> well, just being there and listening, i think

like rodney king says, why can't we all just get along?should put away our nonsense and just look for the good of the country. host: thanks, walter. guest: thank you so much. you hit a lot of good points. are believe that -- we dealing with a lot of issues. many times when we are working on the floor with our republican colleagues, we don't always agree on a lot of things, but you are absolutely correct. protecting this country and our sons and daughters who serve in our military, if there was a time we ought to be able to come together, it is that time. if we made the decision to go to war, and i believe america has the most powerful and capable military in the world, and if we go to war and we send our sons and daughters into war, we need to have every piece of information possible to protect them, keep them safe as possible. so doing our homework, if you will, is critical to that. we need to continue to do that and congress needs to be a major part of that. in terms of the iranian deal, i will just say this. as i said earlier, iran is a

was infuriated by the rodney king events and the case was about race.you don't need a law degree or to be a judge in order to evaluate that. but johnnie cochran played the race card and f. lee bailey's cross examination of mark fuhrman was one of the most successful i've ever seen. it's played in law school as a classic for how to cross-examine a police officer on the issue that wasn't the merits of the testimony. it was about animosity towards african americans, rather than what did you discover at the scene and what did o.j. tell you. that's what the case rose and fell on. dagen: which lawyers should never have been involved in a murder trial? >> i'll tell you who should. johnnie cochran was terrific. marsha clark was superb and in my view tried the best case she could. i'll tell you who should never have been in the courtroom. the judge. lance ito did a terrible job. he was running for re-election. they have a system where the judges are elected. he was playing to the gallery while he was ruling in the case. and nearly all of the close calls where ju