that question and twitter breaking and going viral with this, the white house did indeed call cedric richmond, head of the congressional black caucus, and they're trying to pin down a time to meet. the way we understand, the 49 members, all are not going to attend because some just don't want to meet with this president. >> maxine waters not going to be there. >> she's declared it, made her own executive order about it. but bottom line is this president is talking about urban agenda, education, criminal

senator sherrod brown and congressman cedric richmond joins me tonight. and the president's pick called the president's broadside against the judicial branch demoralizing and disheartening on the heels of yet another attack from the president trump on the judges weighing his signature travel ban laurence tribe is here to discuss the presence of assault on the judicial branch and i'll speak with the washington state attorney general who challenged the ban. we begin with the senate's vote to confirm senator jeff sessions as attorney general of the united states. a razor thin 52-47. joe manchin the only senator to cross party lines. jeff sessions has been the most controversial of donald trump's nominees, his confirmation coming almost 24 hours after the showdown on the senate floor between senators elizabeth warren and mitch mcconnell, the republican senate majority leader. elizabeth warren was in the midst of reading 1986 written testimony by coretta scott king opposing session's nomination at the time to be a federal judge. king the widow of martin luther

senator sherrod brown and congressman cedric richmond joins me tonight.

would yield as much time as he would consume to the chair of the congressional black caucus, cedric richmond, from the great state of louisiana, who will speak on this subject matter here on the floor. mr. richmond: thank you, mr. speaker. let me just thank my colleague, stacey plaskett, from the virgin islands, for taking this assignment and making sure that the congressional black caucus continues its conversation with america and to inform people on issues that are important to us and also reflecting on how important african-american history is. not just to us, but to this country. it's african-american history that made this country great in the first place. how our civil rights groups and people of the same kind, not necessarily the same color, came together to make this a more perfect union. so today what i wanted to do was actually talk about some of the civil rights organizations that changed this country and made it better and made it possible for me to be here and compare and talk about some of the movements that we see today that are making some of the same differences for the nex

cedric richmond is the person that asked about that, i'm certainly not the leader of the cbc but i believeead a response to him that suggested that they have reached out to him. >> what i'm wondering is moving forward is how do you feel this relationship is going to develop over time? do you feel like there's somebody within the white house that is sort of listening and perhaps has the president's ear as well? >> i don't know. you know, they just -- they just fired a young man who was working for secretary carson because he had the audacity to criticize the president before the president was elected. they hired him and discharged him for comments he made back in october. quite frankly are on point. we are a diverse people. you can't paint us with one brush. you need to meet us where we are. >> representative, it took president obama more than a year to actually meet with the cbc. how hopeful are you that you will meet with the current president sooner than the previous administration? >> well, don't forget, president obama was a member of the cbc in congress. he certainly was familiar with

two, i played the tape of the interview i did with cedric richmond, the chairman of the congressionalck caucus who by the way requested meeting and trump people didn't get back with them. number two, i had a caller who called in and said who talks about being the least racist? if i ask any of you right now are you or are you not a racist, i don't think any one of you would say i'm the least racist. you are or you aren't, you don't judge racism by degrees. that's pretty much what was going on. this has been a terrible week for the trump people, and you had monday, i think it was labor secretary withdrawal, flynn on tuesday, wednesday was the whole campaign staffer, russia fiasco, and thursday that off the hinge news conference that he loved. >> which john loved i'm sure. >> whatever. and the reality. that's what my listeners are talking about. but to be quite candid, you know -- and don't let me leave out asking a reporter, a 20 year veteran, april ryan. >> to set up a meeting. >> first of all, she doesn't work for him -- >> okay. >> finally why didn't you ask alma rosa? she's the one

that question and twitter breaking and going viral with this, the white house did indeed call cedric richmondngressional black caucus, and they're trying to pin down a time to meet. the way we understand, the 49 members, all are not going to attend because some just don't want to meet with this president. >> maxine waters not going to be there. >> she's declared it, made her own executive order about it. but bottom line is this president is talking about urban agenda, education, criminal justice, all sorts of things, economics. and then you also have him at end of the month talking about historically black colleges and universities making an executive order on that. and these are the people who have basically been carrying the ball on these issues for decades and they want in, they want to talk about this and find out what he's doing and to help. so it's very important that they meet. and it's also important for any president to meet with groups, whether governmental or private groups who have a stake in certain communities. he's president of all america, even with the rhetoric he's still pre

representative cedric richmond saying president trump would be wise to tap into the decades of expertisey the congress an black caucus. joining me is brenda lawrence of michigan, a member of the black caucus. april ryan called it a moment. susan rice called it offensive. what is your reaction? >> i watch with great concern as i have with other lack of demonstration of leadership from our president. when i heard him say "do you know them, " as if we were some abstract group, are they your friends? here's some facts we need to know about the black caucus. there are 49 members of the black caucus. we represent almost 80 million people in america and 17 million of those 80 are african-american. so if you are going to have a dialogue or talk about african-americans, it would seem that you would talk to the people who directly can give you advice and advise you and really give you the concerns and issues in the black community. and another thing that's very telling is he speaks about us as if we're all just one suffering, depressed group. you know, the facts are 39% of african-americans live i

>> the communication i received from our chair, cedric richmond, is it's still being planned so we don'ta definite date. i thought it was incredibly ironic when the reporter asked the president why does he think racial difficulties still exist in our country? he was very vague. he said, well, you know, he really doesn't know. sometimes it just explodes. he doesn't see his own responsibility. when you appoint somebody like jeff sessions with the long history of racial discrimination, when we don't know whether or not they will enforce voting rights, when you look at the issues that are important in the african-american community, you know, he released a ten-point plan for afternorican-americans which is beyond insulting and also very dangerous to the community. so, if you look at education f you look at health care, all the way down the line, he doesn't take responsibility for his own contribution to racial strife. he was the leader of the birther movement. what he did during his campaign, the way he talks about african-american communities, and he doesn't understand why race continues to

but keep in mind, one thing he did not say is that on january 19th, cedric richmond, the chairman of the congressional black caucus wrote to the president asking for a meeting and they have gotten no response to date. and, so, maybe the president will give him a call tomorrow. but i'm happy to meet with the president. keep in mind, this is my president, this is your president for the next four years. and i've said it many times, wolf, those things that we can work together on, social security, making sure that people's children can get into college and be able to afford it, jobs, infrastructure, i'm with him. but where our values clash, that's a whole 'nother issue. >> i know that you didn't boycott the inauguration. you went to the inauguration. >> no, i was sitting right there. >> a lot of your colleagues decided they wanted to boycott the inauguration. did you get political grief for going to the president's inauguration on january 20th? >> no, i did not. wolf, when you've been in politics as long as i have, a congress for 21 years, 14 years in the state legislature, i think my co

but cbc under cedric richmond sent a detailed letter to donald trump laying out the issues we would likelk to him about if, in fact, he's genuinely interested in working on issues of importance to black america. not just inner city black america, by the way. there are african-americans who live in the suburbs all across this country and many african-americans, a substantial number live in rural america. there's a whole host of issues we would like to discuss with him. our broken criminal justice system and need to reform it. we incarcerate more people in america than any other country in the world. that's shameful. we want to create an economy that works for communities all across this country regardless of race. we've got to fix the voting rights act. these are issues that have been put on the table. hopefully, he now realizes that entertainers and actors like steve harvey and others aren't the ones who speak for black america. there are actually 49 members of congss inheousend in the sena who are african-american, who are looking forward to improving things for the communities we repre

the most respected congressmember's a longtime civil rights activist, as well as congressmember cedric richmondo questioned why these three men spoke not at the beginning of the hearing as is but at the end, saying we feel like we're the back of the bus. >> it is not enough to call him racist, but some culmination of federalist society and the confederates. he has a point of view about women in labor and people of color. it is the most powerful job in the country, just like tillerson it would stick a knife in the crown jewel of dr. king's work, inhibiting the protected right to vote. any cup what do you think should happen? the vote has not taken place. you're a man long engaged in civil disobedience, not to mention other kinds of protests. >> the senators have an obligation, one, to stand tall against his nomination. even those republicans who would see the world through -- they have an obligation to break ranks. they cannot justify their ignoring his record to vote for him -- they cannot choose party unity over patriotism. johndonald trump calling lewis all talk, talk, talk, no action. >> we

senator she sharrod brown and congressman cedric richmond joins me tonight.president's pick called the president's broadside against the judicial branch demoralizing and disheartening on the heels of yet another attack from the president trump on the judges weighing his signature travel ban laurence tribe is here to discuss the presence of

congressional black caucus and the white house to their credit within a couple of hours reached out to cedric richmond, the head of the congressional black caucus. when will the meeting happen? what date and time. the cbc wants to build on the momentum. people are trying to find out especially today and congratulations oen that great interview and that get, craig, but people are trying to find out exactly what did he see in the museum. as you pointed out you are in the civil rights portion of the newseum. there are several levels. we want to hear a little bit more about what happened. people wanted to know what did he feel and see. when he was on the campaign trail he said things like "we built with country" it wasn't talking about african-americans. people wanted to make sure he saw the history, the pain ying the accomplishments. we saw the accomplishments because he stood by his friend dr. ben carson and that piece of the exhibit but people want to see more. people want to know a little bit more about the black agenda, not just the fact he's talking about education and health and dealing with crime.

the head of the cbc, chairman cedric richmond, democrat from louisiana, said in a statement "since thehas reached out in an appropriate manner to request a meeting with the caucus, i am now in discussions with them about setting one up." to go back to that exchange when the president seemed to suggest that april ryan, a black reporter, had some unique relationship with the congressional black caucus, we had maryland democrat and cbc member elijah cummings on the show. we asked him what he thought of that moment. >> i don't think he knew what the cbc was and then i think -- the young lady, ms. ryan, cleared it up so he knew who it was. i think a lot of people assume all black people know all black people. so i mean -- and then the idea that the president would ask somebody in the press pool to set up a meeting with the congressional black caucus, he's the president of the united states of america, he can make that phone call himself. >> today fellow cbc member congressman emanuel cleaver responded to the president's comments towards april ryan saying "i'm also pleased he didn't ask her

the united states congress, cedric richmond, chairman of the congressional black caucus, as well as many staff members and former members of congress hold degrees from morehouse. u.s. presidents have relied on alumni, such as former secretary of homeland security, jay johnson, former secretary of health and human service, dr. lewis sullivan. former surgeon general, dr. dan thatcher. and former u.s. ambassador to the united nations. around the country, state, and local governments have been led by alumni such as maynard h. jackson, the first african-american mayor of atlanta, georgia. as a 1968 graduate of morehouse college, this one of a kind institution has a special place in my heart. during my matriculation, i got to know on a personal level the late dr. benjamin elijah mays, the most renowned president of morehouse, who was a mentor to dr. martin luther king jr. through him i met dr. king during his life. followed him in protest marches. and sang at his funeral. which was held on the campus and which was attended by many national and international luminaries. today under the leadersh

the chairman of the cbc is cedric richmond from new orleans. he would appreciate the phone call. the congressional black caucus is the largest caucus within the democratic caucus. here's the deal with the whole news conference, and katy, you said this earlier, and malcox x said this, you've been bam boozeled, hood winked, led amuck. this whole news conference was to get us to focus on his attacks on media. to hallie's point, she's absolutely right. his side, they love the attacks on media. what media should not do is chase this rabbit hole. willing to defend ourselves, flog ourselves. we should brush off our shoulders and go, back to mike flynn. that's what he wanted today. he threw out all kinds of stuff hoping something sticks because he wants us fighting amongst ourselves. it's not going to happen, president trump. we're going to focus on russia, period. >> let's focus on russia and mike flynn. katie, what are republicans saying behind the scenes? >> i think there's a sense that this is something president trump needs. he needs to be out there and attacking the media. it's som

to thank the chair of the congressional black caucus, our friend and colleague, the honorable cedric richmond, for his continued leadership of our caucus and on issues impacting black america and minority communities across this nation. mr. speaker, black history month is a time to reflect on notable african-american icons, their achievements as a people and our continued struggle for a more perfect union. not only does it serve as a source of great pride and an anchor to the african-american descendants and the african-american community, but it's also a vehicle to educate the masses on the totality of the black experience throughout the history of this nation. as we gather this evening to celebrate the life legacy and a-- the life, legacy, and achievement of african descendants, it's important to tell the journey told and the same resilient spirit in our continued push for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. the congressional black caucus is a body of 49 members in both houses of congress representing millions of african-americans and other minority and majority people across this c