. >> i sat down at the justice department with kristen clark, the head of the civil rights division anddivision. they say this new office up because environmental justice is a law enforcement issue. just like policing and voting rights, access to healthy communities and a clean atmosphere is fundamentally about civil rights. to that send, i questioned both officials about the water crisis in mississippi. we know that the epa is down there investigating. here's what they told me about the role of the doj. take a listen. the epa is down there investigating what's happening in jackson, mississippi. why is the doj not there yet? >> we can't speak to the status of any activity, but our enforcement strategy, which, again, the attorney general prom low gaited in may, means we will be prioritizing cases where we can do the most. >> we as a nation have a duty to stand up fur our nation's most vulnerable. >> meanwhile, these doj officials also told me they are working on investigations into other environmental justice cases, like the failing system in alabama. >> what's so interesting and importa

i was encouraged when assistant attorney general kristen clark announced a doj investigation of conditions in georgia's state prisons almost one year ago today. but it's become clear in the course ofti the investigation. the department is failing toin determine who is dying behind bars and where. which interventions are needed to save lives. in 2000 congress passed theh reporting act tasking doj with a collection and analysis of data nationwide. then doj itself describes this s an opportunity to improve understanding and develop solutions to preventyo avoidable deaths. for nearly 20 years the doj collected and published the data. overru multiple administrations the departments implementation of the lawbl has failed despite clear internal warnings from th, inspector general and of the thu of justice statistics. at the first quarter of fiscal year 20, the department didn't capture any state prison deaths in 11 states or any jail deaths in 12 states in addition to columbia. fy 21 alone according to the gao analysis produced the departmet failed to identify 1,000 deaths. in my assessment the n

for example, i was encouraged when assistant attorney general kristen clark announced a doj investigation of conditions in georgia's horrific state prisons, almost one year ago today. it has become clear in the course of this investigation that the department is failing in its responsibility to implement that death in custody reporting act. that is the department is failing to determine who is dying behind bars, where they are dying, and why they are dying. and therefore failing to determine where and which interventions are most urgently needed to save lives. in 2000, then again in 2014, congress passed the death in custody reporting act, also known as -- tasking doj with the -- custodial death data nationwide. your day itself describes this law as, quote, an opportunity to improve understanding of why deaths occur in custody and develop solutions to prevent avoidable deaths. but for nearly 20 years, doj collected and published this data, an invaluable resource for the department, for the congress, and the public. then, abruptly, the publication stopped. our investigation followed. we fo

i sat down exclusively at the justice department with assistant attorney general kristen clark, the headnt attorney general todd kin, who heads up the environmental and natural resources division. we had this wide-ranging conversation that comes as activists are marking the 40th anniversary of protests in war warren, california, focused on racial and environmental justice and to that end both officials told me the department is prioritizing the issues through its new environmental justice office, in particular, we spoke about that ongoing water crisis in mississippi with the doj officials telling me they are focused on it and trying to make sure people get clean water. we talked about alabama, because there is a doj investigation into a failing sewage system, a story i did when i went down to alabama, talking to people about how the sewage that is literally pooling in people's yards, this is raw sewage, a lot of people see this as environmental racism. i asked the officials what are they doing on the ground, and here's what they told me. take a listen. i was in alabama and people told me

vanita gupta and kristen clark for both of them they had repeatedly explicitly vigorously argued fordefunding or abolishing the police. and every single democratic senator voted to confirm both of them.. so democrat politicians in an election season so they don't support defunding the police been given a chance to decide should one of the leading advocates of defunding the police be the number three-person of the department of justice. 100% of senate democrats said a okay with me. sergeant penny, sheriff for this committee what the effect of the rhetoric directed at police officers has been to the men and women in the fields. the men and women risking their lives to keep us safe. >> it's been demoralizing for officers in the field. officers try to work or did you but safe we gotta go back to the july seven 2016 shooting attack and look at how the rise of anti police sentiment was being used to incite violence against police. that actually radicalized an individual to come down town dallas to shoot multiple people and killed five police officers. those of you that have never seen a sh

for example, i was encouraged when assistant attorney general kristen clark announced a doj investigation of conditions in georgia's horrific state prisons, almost one year ago today. it has become clear in the course of this investigation that the department is failing in its responsibility to implement that death in custody reporting act. that is the department is failing to determine who is dying behind bars, where they are dying, and why they are dying. and therefore failing to determine where and which interventions are most urgently needed to save lives. in 2000, then again in 2014, congress passed the death in custody reporting act, also known as -- tasking doj with the -- custodial death data nationwide. your day itself describes this law as, quote, an opportunity to improve understanding of why deaths occur in custody and develop solutions to prevent avoidable deaths. but for nearly 20 years, doj collected and published this data, an invaluable resource for the department, for the congress, and the public. then, abruptly, the publication stopped. our investigation followed. we fo