. >> i think if you live in dallas county and you read the paper, he would craig watkins had an accidentn the tollway and while he was distracted ran into another car. in the story just keeps going on and on and on. you are given as a whole different picture here. i am wondering to what extent the exoneration whether there is a pattern that existed prior to his first coming on and whether it's something he's picked up and brought to the city a lot of name in recognition. there's a lot to this man which we are missing by reading the "dallas morning news." >> i won't say anything about the paper that i write for. thank you for your question. the dna exoneration had begun in 2001 because of chapter 64 to effectively certifying for dna testing. that happened for mr. watkins took office. he returned the news on and see barry shaq from the innocence project in new york. after mr. watkins became the first african-american d.a. in the history of texas, he can be credited for picking up the ball and running with it because the organization i worked with the innocence protection detective was able

he can be neither grant such added to what you are saying when craig watkins took office he ran withit and the whole thing changed. i've been waiting for six or seven years to get announcements from dallas county and i never got one until i called for the changing of the gods. >> absolutely correct and i would like to add to that working with greg, keep in mind he came into office at 29-years-old, so one of the youngest ever elected. i enjoyed my tenure with the project working with him and meeting him. keep in mind even if we brought the case he could still reject and fight it. he had the power to say i don't believe that he's innocent. .. >> so a lot of people do have a great, abiding respect for henry wade, and i'm sure that the legacy he left was due to him being a man of his time. but times change. and there needs to be equal justice more so in the state. and i just want to mention while we're talking about justice, don't you believe that america is crying out for justice in some form or another all over, whether it's ferguson, missouri, whether it's isis and beheadings? you see

another former "governing" cover subject -- craig watkins, the dallas county district attorney. he lost. he was famous for having a wrongful conviction unit that exonerated about 35 people. he had some personal problems. he had a car crash where he was driving while on a cell phone. his opponents say she'll continue the exoneration work. we will see watkins claim that was the real issue, not his personal problems. i mentioned i am from st. louis. michael brown was killed on a aug. 9, a saturday and we had the primaries the tuesday before. he won the primary for county executive. the county prosecutor had an opponent in the primary but note opponent in the general election. he is a controversial figure for putting the case into that front of the grand jury rather than deciding whether to indict in his own. it became a very contested race. $3 million race. the republican nominee was a statehouse member. he ran a very -- he was extreme. he kept saying he is too extreme. some of the african-american officials endorsed stanger out of anger for the party not supporting charlie but als

another former "governing" cover subject -- craig watkins, the dallas county district attorney. he lost. he was famous for having a wrongful conviction unit that exonerated about 35 people. he had some personal problems. he had a car crash where he was driving while on a cell phone. his opponents say she'll continue the exoneration work. we will see watkins claim that was the real issue, not his personal problems. i mentioned i am from st. louis. michael brown was killed on a saturday and we had the primaries the tuesday before. steve stenger won the primary for county executive. the county prosecutor had an opponent in the primary but note opponent in the general election. he is a controversial figure for putting the case into that front of the grand jury rather than deciding whether to indict in his own. it became a very contested race. $3 million race. republican nominee was rick stream who was a statehouse member. he ran a very -- he was extreme. he kept saying he is too extreme. some of the african-american officials endorsed stenger out of anger for the party not supportin

watkins. democratic strategist danielle gibbs ledger joining us from washington, d.c. this morning. joe, good to see you, sir. >> good to see you, craiglations between the president and republicans in congress at a low point. is the gop going to put up a fight to just about anyone that president obama picks to lead the pentagon? >> i don't think that happens. i think the gop, like other americans, want to see a good strong u.s. defense secretary in place. and the hope is that the president can choose somebody who can work closely with him and his team. he's got a number of people that can do that, of course. maybe jay johnson. he's got debra james. ashton carter. a number of folks in place that can do that. it's got to be somebody who can work closely with the president and advise the president. >> danielle who would you like to see? >> i don't have a preference. i'm going to agree with joe. happy thanksgiving to both of you. i think there's some great names mentioned already. i'm not quite as optimistic, if the president puts up somebody like an ash carter or jay johnson, that republicans in the senate still won't find a way to make