joining me cultural critic and writer, mikala angela davis. cornell, you are just joining us, just got into the city. what do you make of all the protests? >> it is really amazing. just left d.c. they were springing up spontaneously. after the decision, some of us were so fallen. then when people, this diverse group of people, gathering together. saying this is fundamentally unfair taking to the streets. it sort of reconfirms sort of our faith in our society and our values. if people take to the streets in protests in this divorce way wecwe have a chance to see change. >> mikala? >> we are seeing the american project at work. it is messy. it is difficult. it is full of diverse, like we are seeing what this really is. and, i was out after i left here last night. i, i joined the crowd. i happened to be in the mix of of students. mostly white. all chanting "black lives matter." that was an extraordinary moment. i have never seen a movement move like this. definitely feels like a movement. they were talking about this is what democracy looks like.

i'm joined by hln contributor chuck nice and cultural critic and writer michaela angela davis. michaela, is it fair to blame anyone other than this ismaaiyl brinsley for these murders? >> not only is it not fair, it's so hurt to feel a community that is trying to mourn the loss of police officers and also continue to fight for reform and those two things can happen together. new york is a complex city. we can mourn and continue to move forward at the same time. but we were talking about it on the break that it was so unfortunate and so irresponsible, particularly for the union president lynch to say that there were blood on folks' hands and people needed to see leaders come together. it was dishonorable, i think, to blame any -- this was a suicidal killer, let's be clear. the "new york times" made it very clear what his past was and anyone can see this is an unstable human being. but it caused a bigger rift and i felt like there were political pariahs on a terrible situation. >> isn't the blame game how we got here? people were blaming the police officers that could be why now

joining with michaela angela davis and secret service agent new york city police officer. also, more immediately your thought on the lack of an indictment of the officer in the killing of eric garner? >> first, this is stunning. we've never seen this organic protest. but it's illustrated how we're feeling. because i think even though we're suspicious, i think we thought there was going to be an indictment. there was so much evidence. you saw, heard it. he was unarmed, wasn't resisting. i think people were earlier today in a state of shock and a lot of pain and fear. you see them moving into action and strategy and also, i think that perhaps the police department has also had some time to think about it. the world is watching. the government is watching. they also had a strategy that shows the difference between when police are aggressive and what happens when the police let the process live itself out. in terms of how it felt, i think what we're seeing, anderson, is like this cycle of fear on both sides. you see the police are cultured to fear black men and then the commun

i want to talk about this with cultural critic and writer mikaila angela davis.this was so beautifully written and flawlessly delivered. i'm so glad she's writing for television because her talent showed even in that speech but she also hit this chord of being both fierce and humble at the same time. i think that's what women are looking to be and who we are and this idea of her understanding that she didn't praise what she had no power over, meaning her gender and her race. she's like i didn't do that, i woke up like this. and she did talk about what she did have power over which was widening the path and bringing more women forward and i just feel like women do that so much when they are awarded or honored they talk about whose shoulders they stand on and who they hope to bring with them way more than men because the path was created for men, right? so they don't have to acknowledge that, they don't feel that same journey. i love how flawlessly and beautifully and funny she let us feel that. that she was in a trajectory of other women. >> the other thing that s

with michaela angela davis in the green room and about me and how we cover news stories. i think that that's a conversation of privilege. you don't often see people of color, especially minorities, disagreeing with each other. in the minority, there is diversity inside of that and that's what people are seeing playing out. it's a good thing that this is happening because that means we are progressing as a society. people who are in a minority can disagree with each other and agree to disagree. i thought it was a great conversation and we need to do more of it. >> chelsey, jump in. do you agree with don? we should keep talking about this? >> i think that the conversations we're having are very valuable. when i read mr. smith's letter, the first thing that popped out to me was his first three paragraphs he was praising charles barkley for all that he's done in the nba but then he went onto discuss, you know, maybe he's not as credible as someone like al sharpton. i took issue with that. al sharpton is a civil rights leader for hire and he's around giving speeches in front o

here with me right now, mckayla angela davis and from st.kevin jackson, executive director of black conservative coalition. thank you for joining me. to start touching on some of what charles was saying to me. one of the points he kept trying to drive home over and over is that a lot of people made up their mind based upon initial notions of what they thought had happened in ferguson that day in august. and people jumped to the conclusion, didn't wait until the grand jury decided, didn't read the testimony, didn't look at the forensics and autopsy. charles says he has. and he agrees with the grand jury decision. do you think that much of our society is guilty of not looking at the picture in totality? >> ferguson is a specific experience. charles was all over the place on a lot of issues. what's frustrating sometimes is we have these simplistic reflections on really complicated experiences. this is a community that has been isolated and occupied and in a state of tension and terror for a long time. so when you have events like this, this is

do you know michaela angela davis?a conversation of privilege because now we are in positions of power or high-profile positions and we can have these conversations and people aren't used to seeing a group that they think is monolith have disagreement. >> that's true. >> monolithic. >> that's true. i see you on tv quite often and i often don't agree with you but i'm proud to see you there. i think we all need to make our voices heard. that's what this is about. that's what this country is about. all of the ideas in one pot to try to figure out what is the right thing to do. it is a privilege. >> ava duvernay, congratulations and good luck. joining me now, martin luther king iii, global human rights activist and the eldest son of the reverend dr. martin luther king jr. also with me charles blow, senior political commentator and "new york times" political columnist. and van jones, cnn political commentator. thanks, gentlemen, for joining me tonight. martin, you're the eldest son of martin luther king jr. i want to know w

he served 14 years as a new york city police officer, angela davis, cultural critic and writer. eugene, the blame for why this happened. okay. there is a lott being offered on this. should it begin and end with this guy who came up, shot his girlfriend and shot these two officers? should the blame begin and end right there? >> two conversations. we have a mental health crisis and the guns that are available. that's one issue for sure. the second issue, i'm not sure this is the tremendous amount to spend time on it. the atmosphere send sent to police is intolerable. elected fish versus to step up and stoppableing like bystanders. they are partners in government. i'm not sure this is the weak to have that conversation. it's an ecertainly conversation. we heard much about negative stuff about police. untruths. distortions. it's in cities. >> there were those in brooklyn and online who were celebrating. >> they were young, misguided, there is a hatred out there. what do we do with it? where do you see it sourcing? >> i live in the community. i live in this tight community. there is

joining us to discuss this is cultural critic and writer angela davis.so, what was she thinking? >> you know, i don't know. the litany of pathetic ironies are endless. it was really like oh my god, did you see what the obama girls were wearing? it was so adolescent, her response. the fact she's a communications director, talking about having class, saying they're teenage girls and digs at them on facebook. it's endless how ironic it is, her position and how she's supposed to be a role model. she's talking about them being role models. she literally kind of bullied girls on facebook. this is what we're trying to tell our girls not to do. have some respect for each other. >> a prime example of all conversations we've been having about how to social media etiquette et cetera. she just stepped over the lines. it's interesting. i was sort of trying to reflect on past presidents and past first daughters et cetera. they have their share, but it's a game changer when you add the interweb. >> and the bush girls had their drama. chelsea had drama. >> it was all wr

. >> angela king. >> julie davis. >> colleen, "wall street journal." >> back in september president obamaur questions from the traveling white house press corps. he called on four reporters, they were all women reporters. and while that was neat on that international trip, it also was apparently just kind of a coincidence. today it was on purpose. >> josh has given me the who has been naughty and who has been nice list. and i'm going to use it to take some questions. we're going to start with carry brown from politico. >> april, go ahead. >> president obama's year ending press conference lasted about 50 minutes. he took eight questions, all of them were from female reporters. and it was on purpose. the press secretary released this statement, the fact is there are many women from a variety of news organization who is day in and day out do the hard work of covering the president of the united states. we realized we had a unique opportunity to highlight that fact. at the president's closely watched end of the year news conference. joining us is april ryan, white house correspondent for amer