The First Step

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In a divided America, advocate Van Jones controversially works across party lines on landmark criminal justice reform and a more humane response to America's addiction crisis. Facing fierce opposition from both political parties in a climate where bipartisanship has become a dirty word, Jones and his team enlist the support of justice-impacted individuals, faith leaders, grassroots activists and cultural figures — including Kim Kardashian — to pass legislation that would fix some broken aspects of the justice system and bring thousands of incarcerated people home early. The bill’s champions immediately find themselves navigating a high-stakes game of political chess in Washington, D.C. Their quest brings them face-to-face with progressive champions like Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, U.S. Senators Kamala Harris and Bernie Sanders, as well as conservative figures like U.S. Senator Rand Paul, Kellyanne Conway, Jared Kushner — and ultimately, Donald Trump himself. While trying to pass the bipartisan bill through a deeply polarized Congress, Jones is condemned by the right for his progressive beliefs — and by the left for working with conservatives. THE FIRST STEP reveals an intimate portrait of an activist’s isolation and internal struggles while attempting to be a bridge builder in a time of extreme polarization, what it takes to make change in a divided nation, and the lives of frontline activists fighting for their communities.

New York Times | Natalia Winkelman
"Personal, compelling, human,"

Politico | Kathy Gilsinan
"The Kramer brothers are D.C. documentarians attuned to the guts of the policy-making process: The resulting arc resembles Schoolhouse Rock’s “How a Bill Becomes a Law,” with more length and suspense, less music, and a lot more Van Jones."

Oregon Arts Watch
"It’s a fascinating exploration of how, and whether, the political process can function in these divisive times."

The Hill
"The film reminds us that we must take small steps to achieve great things."

Read at Joe's
"The First Step is a triumph of a documentary and goes beyond being a Van Jones opinion piece. This shows democracy at work and how the government can align in the name of justice and fairness. Finally, this proves that Americans don’t need to make the country great again; it’s already great."

It's Just Movies | Bev Quested
“The First Step” is an inside revelation about the dynamics between what’s good for the country and the war between political parties. It’s the frustration and wisdom of Jones, who wants to get something done, that makes this film into a bit of a thriller as we watch to see if he can succeed.

Bain's Movie Reviews
"Powerful."

Columbia Daily Tribune | James Owen
“Incredibly intimate, far-reaching in scope and engaging. One thing I missed during the pandemic was the joy of stumbling upon a riveting piece of cinema that surprises the audience as it unfolds. I had that experience…Even if you’re not a political junkie, I think you will agree it’s one of the best films of 2021.”

International Documentary Association's Documentary Magazine | Anselm Beach
“As a film that looks intimately at what “bipartisan effort” means these days, its timeliness is evident.”

The Original Feed | Steve Ramos
“You’ll leave 'The First Step' inspired to keep working on the next steps in prison reform and equal justice."

The Knockturnal | Joshua Gutman
"A necessary watch for anyone involved in politics and activism, just to see the importance and the risks of crossing party lines."

Screen Comment | Eric Althoff
"Van Jones is a fascinating man, extraordinarily intelligent and with empathy to spare. He so often reports on the news, but this time, he gets to be the story."

Patch.com | Gerogi Presecky
“A movie for this moment.”

Screen Zealots | Louisa Moore
“The First Step” is a documentary that matters because it reminds us all to look beyond our differences and organize to fight for what we believe in, because we are always stronger together.”

Invention of Dreams | Yashwanth Manjunath
"Overall, The First Step is both an illuminating look into Van Jones, and an insightful portrayal of what effective legislative advocacy looks like. It’s a beautiful example of what is still possible to achieve with the right strategy. I’d highly recommend this film for anyone looking for reasons to still have hope and faith in the American experiment."

Highbrow Magazine | Ulises Duenas
"Gripping." " There are many compelling stories here, and seeing how people turn their pain into action is what makes this documentary gripping." "does a great job of telling an important story in a compelling fashion."

Atlanta Mail | Chris Jones
"An essential viewing experience for anyone interested in the challenges and triumphs of activism."

Fresh Buttered Popcorn | Joe Compton
"Well crafted." "Go support Indie Film and if you see it at your cinema, give a chance."

Reel In Film | John Ramos
"A great documentary."

AWFJ | Valerie Kalfrin
"Absorbing."

Film International | Elias Savada
"The film’s heart beats compassionately.”

The Curvy Film Critic | Carla Renata
"Brilliantly plotted and politically nuanced"

Escape Into Film | Paul Carlson
"This incisive documentary is a snap shot of sharp and seemingly wide division of modern American politics and a behind-the-scenes look at how genuine bipartisanship, compromises and all, can still find majority support...even in a nation that voluntarily divides itself between blue hats and red hats."

Willamette Week | Ray Gill Jr.
"A documentary examining what it takes to get something accomplished."

Rachel's Reviews | Rachel Wagner
"If you want to see a fascinating a look at modern day politics watch The First Step."

Boulder Weekly | Michael Casey
"The film's title, The First Step, is a suggestion to an approach to healing hurt communities."

The Moveable Fest | Stephan Saito
“When progress is usually messier as it’s happening than when it’s remembered, the ability of The First Step to engage with the moment that it’s in is invaluable.”

PHIndie | Dan Scully
“The First Step is a story worth telling. Diverse people, whose relationships aren’t typically simpatico, gathering together to produce tangible, permanent change in an area of society that desperately needs it.”

Oregon Artswatch | Marc Mohan
"It’s an impressive and immersive fly-on-the wall look at, as they say, how the sausage gets made...Whether one agrees with his political strategy or not, The First Step is a fascinating look at process and personality in Washington."

Hollywood Chicago | Patrick McDonald
“An interesting and in-depth documentary regarding [Van Jones’] journey to prison reform legislation during the Trump administration."

Film Threat | Alan Ng
“The First Step works because it’s as honest about the state of government as it is passionate about doing so.”

The Playlist | Cory Woodroof
"The First Step engages without patronizing and tries to provide a balanced portrait of Jones and his causes."

Washington Area Film Critics Association | Tim Gordon
“A wonderful film about Van Jones, who finds a group of parents affected by the crack epidemic in South Central L.A. and a group of parents in West Virginia affected by the opioid epidemic, and brings those two together to pass The First Step Act.”

Jon of All Trades Podcast | Jonathan Ekstrom
“A fascinating documentary featuring a cadre of compelling personalities and a multitude of twists in the journey. Prison reform is a complex issue with no easy solutions, and this documentary does a fantastic job of capturing an unusual snapshot in time where an unusual coalition works toward a shared goal.”

Tilt Magazine | Stephen Silver
"This fascinating documentary looks at the work of CNN commentator Van Jones and his push to pass a criminal justice reform bill...It’s a rare documentary that shows the step-by-step shepherding of a piece of legislation."

The Arty Chick | Jill Boniske
“Very timely and engaging.”

Film Festival Today | Christopher Llewellyn Reed
“A wonderful examination of the day-to-day hard work of policy-making.”

Starry Magazine | Jennifer Vintzileos
"Kramer’s attention to capturing scenes are a stark reminder of just how alike we all are, despite who we back politically. Both groups had had their own fair share of heartache and trauma from family members being imprisoned for unfair sentences to loved ones they have physically and metaphorically lost to drugs, gangs, etc. And in their pain, everyone could come together to work towards a positive first step in making change.”

Chlotrudis Film Society | Vicki Oleskey
“A very honest and revealing portrait of Van Jones...Throughout the film we see Jones as a bridge builder. When he brings together a group of community activists from South Central LA with another group from West Virginia to talk about the opioid crisis, it is very moving and powerful.”

The Journal | Greg Fields
‘The First Step,’ illustrates so clearly what we, as a collective, pluralistic society, need — building bridges across the most volatile issues while treating those on the other side with respect, dignity and, ultimately, as fellow citizens rather than adversaries.”

Supicket | Audrey Chapman
“This documentary is absolutely compelling, and it hit so close to home (literally) to see awareness about such imperative issues in West Virginia being spread in such a compassionate yet illuminating way."

Citation

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Main credits

Kramer, Brandon (film director)
Kramer, Lance (film producer)

Other credits

Director of photography, Emily Topper; music, Joshua Abrams; editors, Natasha Livia Mottola [and 3 others].

MARC Record See Worldcat record

Keywords

criminal justice,Criminal Justice Reform,polarization,Bipartisan Solutions to Polarization,addicition,Humane Responses to Addiction Crisis,Bridge Building,African American Leadership,african american studies,american studies,Van Jones,bipartisanship,incarceration,prison system,Hakeem Jeffries,Kamala Harris,Bernie Sanders,Congress,progressivism,grassroots activism,policy making,policymaking,political process,legislation,political parties; "The First Step"; GOOD DOCS

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(turn signal clicking)

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(people chattering)

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{\an8}- [Van] (laughs) You have to
watch my show, figure it out.

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{\an8}(Van laughs)

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- I said it was a whitelash
in part

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and it was.
- Really?

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- It is a part

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of your coalition that-
- My coalition?

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Don't you include me with
this coalition.

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- Okay, very good, enough.

00:01:59.453 --> 00:02:01.246
Very good, enough.
- That you think we are.

00:02:01.246 --> 00:02:03.457
- Very, very good.
- That's wrong.

00:02:03.457 --> 00:02:06.585
{\an8}- I think we ought to
appreciate the fact

00:02:06.585 --> 00:02:08.921
{\an8}that Van Jones has a lot
of courage and character

00:02:08.921 --> 00:02:09.755
{\an8}to be here today.

00:02:09.755 --> 00:02:11.256
(audience applauding)

00:02:11.256 --> 00:02:12.841
- So on that note,

00:02:12.841 --> 00:02:15.636
Van Jones,
what are you doing here?

00:02:15.636 --> 00:02:18.222
(solemn music)

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- [Crowd] U-S-A, U-S-A,
U-S-A, U-S-A, U-S-A.

00:02:35.572 --> 00:02:38.450
{\an8}- It's hard to be a parent
tonight for a lot of us.

00:02:38.450 --> 00:02:41.620
{\an8}You tell your kids,
"Don't be a bully.

00:02:42.579 --> 00:02:44.581
{\an8}"Don't be a bigot."

00:02:44.581 --> 00:02:45.541
{\an8}And then you have this outcome

00:02:45.541 --> 00:02:49.086
{\an8}and you have people putting
children to bed tonight

00:02:49.086 --> 00:02:51.421
{\an8}and they're afraid of
breakfast.

00:02:51.421 --> 00:02:55.425
{\an8}This was a whitelash
against a changing country.

00:02:55.425 --> 00:02:59.346
{\an8}It was a whitelash against
a Black president, in part.

00:02:59.346 --> 00:03:01.890
{\an8}And that's the part where
the pain comes.

00:03:01.890 --> 00:03:03.767
{\an8}(crowd cheering)

00:03:03.767 --> 00:03:06.019
{\an8}- [Crowd] Not my president!

00:03:07.104 --> 00:03:09.439
Not my president!

00:03:11.733 --> 00:03:14.528
- They have the White House,
the Senate,

00:03:14.528 --> 00:03:17.197
the House and
the Supreme Court.

00:03:20.325 --> 00:03:21.159
You could sit here

00:03:21.159 --> 00:03:23.871
and just resist, resist,
resist at all costs

00:03:23.871 --> 00:03:28.375
and let the Republican
Party get worse and worse,

00:03:28.375 --> 00:03:30.002
or you could find a better
strategy.

00:03:30.002 --> 00:03:32.546
(solemn music)

00:03:42.681 --> 00:03:45.517
- So just a little bit
about myself.

00:03:45.517 --> 00:03:48.562
{\an8}I work for a guy,
his name is Van Jones.

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{\an8}Anybody in here ever
heard of a guy

00:03:50.189 --> 00:03:51.231
{\an8}by the name of Van Jones?

00:03:51.231 --> 00:03:52.191
{\an8}All right, everybody.

00:03:52.191 --> 00:03:53.066
All right, cool.

00:03:53.066 --> 00:03:56.904
Van Jones co-founded an
organization called #cut50

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and we are focused on
bipartisan criminal justice
reform.

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If you had something

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to recalibrate our
criminal justice system,

00:04:03.911 --> 00:04:05.037
what would it be, yes.

00:04:05.037 --> 00:04:06.330
- I'm facing a big sentence.

00:04:06.330 --> 00:04:08.790
I never had a juvenile
record or anything like that.

00:04:08.790 --> 00:04:11.627
So, it's more of they're
trying to give us more time

00:04:11.627 --> 00:04:14.588
as a harsh punishment,
rather than rehabilitating us

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and giving us a second
chance at life.

00:04:16.632 --> 00:04:18.550
- I've been locked up 23 years.

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I been sentenced to 30 to life.

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Upon release, finding a
job and finding a house,

00:04:23.639 --> 00:04:24.681
if you don't have
family support,

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it's gonna be extremely hard.

00:04:27.434 --> 00:04:30.187
(train clacking)

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- [Van] As an attorney, as
an activist, a journalist,

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I go into a lot of prisons.

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This is the way they
take Black people out.

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I take it personally.

00:04:44.993 --> 00:04:47.496
- I've been in and out of the
system since 12 years old.

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I wanted to change, I
just didn't know how.

00:04:49.540 --> 00:04:51.708
Like, I didn't have resources
and, uh.

00:04:51.708 --> 00:04:54.253
- You get out of prison, that's
what they expect out of you.

00:04:54.253 --> 00:04:57.714
Washing dishes for five
years while you're on parole.

00:04:57.714 --> 00:05:02.261
And that's it, nobody don't
see past McDonald's for us.

00:05:05.430 --> 00:05:07.099
- [Van] Hey, hey, good morning.

00:05:07.099 --> 00:05:07.933
- Now, #cut50,

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that's your mass incarceration
organization, right?

00:05:09.643 --> 00:05:10.477
- Yes, sir.

00:05:10.477 --> 00:05:11.895
- Are you making any progress

00:05:11.895 --> 00:05:13.063
and what challenges
have you seen

00:05:13.063 --> 00:05:14.815
like with the Trump
administration?

00:05:14.815 --> 00:05:16.650
- Here's what I want
you guys to think about.

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You got the criminal justice
system that is so broken

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that even the Republicans
admit it.

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How do we use that to get
some folk home?

00:05:24.366 --> 00:05:25.742
We've got an addiction crisis.

00:05:25.742 --> 00:05:28.787
Now it's not just our folks
addicted to narcotics,

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white folk now addicted
to opioids.

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They're dropping like flies.

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How do you use that to get
something done

00:05:34.835 --> 00:05:36.545
for our folk and for everybody?

00:05:36.545 --> 00:05:38.046
- Trump caters to his base.

00:05:38.046 --> 00:05:39.006
- True.
- So for us,

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shouldn't we just cater to
the good people in society

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and say eff for everybody else?

00:05:43.552 --> 00:05:46.305
- It's not good enough
just to be anti-Trump.

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We have to be for our community
and for real solutions.

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Trump is terrible and
he's not trying to change.

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But, even some of the people

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who are in his administration
right now,

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some of them may come out
and be our strongest allies

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if we are open to
the possibility.

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(reporters mumbling)

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- Later today,
President Trump will hold

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{\an8}a listening session on
an issue near and dear

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{\an8}to his son-in-law, Jared
Kushner, prison reform.

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{\an8}Kushner, whose father Charles
served time in federal prison,

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has reportedly been working
on the issue quietly

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for the last six months.

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- [Interviewer] What is Mr.
Kushner's role

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in the prison reform
initiative exactly?

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{\an8}- He's hoping to lead that
conversation

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{\an8}and put stakeholders together

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from a number of
different areas.

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(solemn music)

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- What's the agenda?

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- This is a feel you
out meeting.

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{\an8}You know, there is an intention
to be able to do something.

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{\an8}I'm gonna trust that
that intention

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{\an8}is a good intention on
Kushner's part.

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But, I don't think that they
know what to do exactly.

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And I wanna help them
be better.

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- Do you think there's gonna
be blow back?

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I mean, are you worried about,

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what's your view in
terms of just,

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like Steve Harvey went
and talked to Donald Trump

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and he just got tore
apart in our community.

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And so people feel like
they can't go.

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- I'm prepared for this
to get out.

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And if it does, you know,
I stand by this choice.

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{\an8}- Thank you for doing this.

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{\an8}- No, no, no, thank you,
very good.

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{\an8}- Yeah, exactly, I don't
wanna be that train crash.

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{\an8}Exactly.

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{\an8}He's like, "Let me take this
fork and put it in this socket.

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"What could possibly go wrong?"

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{\an8}In Washington, D.C., actual
people actually sit down

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{\an8}and try to solve actual
problems.

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So, I'm proud to work
with anybody

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to do something about this.

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(tense music)

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- Yeah, that was good.
- That's awesome, yeah.

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- [John] The White House is
teaming up

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with an unlikely ally to
fight for prison reform.

00:08:03.233 --> 00:08:05.861
We're talking about
CNN Political Commentator
Van Jones.

00:08:05.861 --> 00:08:08.280
{\an8}- I can't sit here and let
2,000 federal prisoners

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{\an8}continue to be abused if
they're sincere

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{\an8}and we could make something
happen.

00:08:12.159 --> 00:08:13.577
{\an8}It turns out Hakeem Jeffries

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{\an8}has been working on a bill

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{\an8}that would actually
make things a lot better

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{\an8}for people in prison right now

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{\an8}and Jared Kushner
supports that bill.

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{\an8}Hey, my warrior, my
warrior king. (laughing)

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{\an8}- No, this is not, we're
rocking in this together.

00:08:27.674 --> 00:08:29.009
{\an8}- Yeah, man.

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{\an8}Point is I just wanted
to come and talk to you.

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It's like, I just,
we need some guidance

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about how to move forward.

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- There's a new realization
on the left and on the right

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in terms of the
over-criminalization problem

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that we've had in America.

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Look, we have negotiated

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the strongest possible
prison reform bill.

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And if we can keep this
in the bipartisan space,

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it'll have robustness
throughout time.

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And that's the fundamental
importance

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of doing it Democrats and
Republicans,

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left-right advocacy groups.

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And that's why we gotta seize
this moment.

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- The First Step Act,

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{\an8}it's a measure that could
let thousands

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{\an8}of people out of federal
prisons earlier.

00:09:11.969 --> 00:09:14.972
Van, what could help
this bill come together,

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especially when things are
so partisan?

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- This is the equivalent of
the 1959 Civil Rights Act.

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Everybody remembers the '64
act, the '65 act, the big acts.

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But, the first thing that
had to happen was in 1959,

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you had to be able to
vote for civil rights

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and not lose your seat

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for being a communist or
a Negro lover.

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And once that happened, you
were able to do much more.

00:09:35.701 --> 00:09:37.786
(tense music)

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- We saw this as a great
opportunity

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to help bring a bill that
gets people job ready

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so that when they come
out, they can succeed.

00:09:46.044 --> 00:09:48.046
They'll be getting good
time credits

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so that you can go home while
serving part of your sentence.

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They will be moved to
within 500 driving miles

00:09:53.886 --> 00:09:55.554
of their families.

00:09:55.554 --> 00:09:58.765
And it is ending the
shackling of women in labor.

00:09:58.765 --> 00:10:00.684
Show the world that the
sky is not gonna fall

00:10:00.684 --> 00:10:03.103
if we put people over politics.

00:10:03.103 --> 00:10:05.230
{\an8}- [John] Jeff Sessions,
who's the Attorney General,

00:10:05.230 --> 00:10:08.859
{\an8}is absolutely opposed to
these reforms.

00:10:08.859 --> 00:10:12.571
{\an8}- This President was elected
as a law and order President.

00:10:12.571 --> 00:10:15.365
{\an8}He was elected to make
America safe again.

00:10:15.365 --> 00:10:17.868
{\an8}- I will continue to oppose
any effort

00:10:17.868 --> 00:10:20.746
{\an8}to give leniency to
dangerous felons.

00:10:20.746 --> 00:10:24.541
If anything, we have an
under incarceration problem.

00:10:24.541 --> 00:10:27.294
(crowd chanting)

00:10:28.754 --> 00:10:30.380
- Are you guys from Arkansas?

00:10:30.380 --> 00:10:32.966
Tom Cotton needs to be
hearing from his constituents.

00:10:32.966 --> 00:10:35.135
Show up at his office,
take meetings,

00:10:35.135 --> 00:10:37.012
{\an8}have a rally in Arkansas.

00:10:38.138 --> 00:10:39.097
{\an8}- Get them calling.

00:10:39.097 --> 00:10:41.475
I mean, his phone should
be ringing off the hook.

00:10:41.475 --> 00:10:43.560
I'm not voting for you
if you don't pass this.

00:10:43.560 --> 00:10:47.689
We've been proudly working
to pass the First Step Act.

00:10:47.689 --> 00:10:49.358
{\an8}This fight is personal for me.

00:10:49.358 --> 00:10:50.984
{\an8}My daughter Hannah was only
two months old

00:10:50.984 --> 00:10:52.945
{\an8}when her dad was
sent to prison.

00:10:52.945 --> 00:10:53.904
- At the time,
I was too young to know

00:10:53.904 --> 00:10:55.364
that we weren't gonna
be allowed

00:10:55.364 --> 00:10:57.032
to have any contact with him

00:10:57.032 --> 00:10:57.866
or that we were gonna have

00:10:57.866 --> 00:11:00.285
to drive hundreds of miles to
see my dad.

00:11:00.285 --> 00:11:02.037
- You're introducing him next.
- Okay.

00:11:02.037 --> 00:11:02.996
- [Organizer] So as soon
as these guys are done,

00:11:02.996 --> 00:11:05.082
we're gonna get you on stage.
- Perfect.

00:11:05.082 --> 00:11:07.918
So for me, this fight is
personal, like many of you.

00:11:07.918 --> 00:11:09.878
It's important to remind
politicians

00:11:09.878 --> 00:11:12.256
that it is real families
we're talking about.

00:11:12.256 --> 00:11:14.842
(solemn music)

00:11:14.842 --> 00:11:16.051
- Hey!

00:11:16.051 --> 00:11:17.052
I knew if I waited long enough,

00:11:17.052 --> 00:11:17.970
something good would
happen to me.

00:11:17.970 --> 00:11:20.472
We had a great meeting
with your team

00:11:20.472 --> 00:11:22.432
and basically we're
hoping that you'll come

00:11:22.432 --> 00:11:24.518
and help Durbin and stop
Tom Cotton.

00:11:26.395 --> 00:11:27.229
{\an8}Exactly.

00:11:27.229 --> 00:11:29.189
- [Jon] Very, very good.
(people laughing)

00:11:29.189 --> 00:11:30.691
- [Van] Hey, very good.

00:11:30.691 --> 00:11:31.692
- [Allison] Are you here for
the meeting?

00:11:31.692 --> 00:11:32.651
Allison, nice to meet you.
- I am here

00:11:32.651 --> 00:11:33.986
for the meeting.

00:11:34.903 --> 00:11:37.114
Hi, good, shake your hand.

00:11:37.114 --> 00:11:38.991
- [Woman] Hi, how are you?

00:11:38.991 --> 00:11:40.742
- [Van] We have a pretty
powerful team

00:11:40.742 --> 00:11:42.452
and they bring forth
the voices of the people

00:11:42.452 --> 00:11:44.454
who are directly impacted.

00:11:51.378 --> 00:11:53.380
- Man, that was the longest
half an hour

00:11:53.380 --> 00:11:55.591
{\an8}in the history of time, man.

00:11:58.677 --> 00:12:02.264
- [Van] Louis is an
organizing genius.

00:12:02.264 --> 00:12:03.807
- Right, and when you got
people like, you know,

00:12:03.807 --> 00:12:05.350
Tom Cotton,
who's basically trying

00:12:05.350 --> 00:12:07.519
to Willie Horton this
thing, right?

00:12:07.519 --> 00:12:08.937
- [Van] When he got
out of prison,

00:12:08.937 --> 00:12:13.650
he used his charisma to build
a huge grassroots network

00:12:13.650 --> 00:12:16.862
of formerly incarcerated
people.

00:12:16.862 --> 00:12:18.197
- This is good

00:12:18.197 --> 00:12:20.449
until we know what
the next play is.

00:12:20.449 --> 00:12:22.910
- And Jessica Jackson has
been our secret weapon

00:12:22.910 --> 00:12:26.205
because she is so effective
at moving Republicans.

00:12:26.205 --> 00:12:27.039
What'd she say?

00:12:27.039 --> 00:12:30.292
- They're in Mitch
McConnell's office right now.

00:12:30.292 --> 00:12:33.212
- [Van] Her dad is a
southern Trump supporter

00:12:33.212 --> 00:12:36.131
and her mom is a Swedish
socialist. (chuckles)

00:12:36.131 --> 00:12:39.259
So, her whole life she's had
to go between left and right.

00:12:39.259 --> 00:12:43.013
{\an8}- So 700 people who have
received rehabilitative
programming

00:12:43.013 --> 00:12:46.934
{\an8}and cognitive behavioral
programming have actually
come home

00:12:46.934 --> 00:12:49.228
{\an8}and not ended up committing
more crimes.

00:12:49.228 --> 00:12:51.897
{\an8}Both conservatives and
progressives

00:12:51.897 --> 00:12:53.357
{\an8}have adopted-
- If that's true.

00:12:53.357 --> 00:12:55.651
{\an8}- That shows that
programming works.

00:12:55.651 --> 00:12:58.445
{\an8}- You just solved the age-old
question of human sin.

00:12:58.445 --> 00:13:02.074
{\an8}I hope you did. (laughing)

00:13:02.074 --> 00:13:03.033
- So what's the next step?

00:13:03.033 --> 00:13:05.160
Like when do, when do,
when do, when do we?

00:13:05.160 --> 00:13:06.245
- I think we just have to
fight like hell.

00:13:06.245 --> 00:13:09.164
This is why I'm saying
somebody has to present a deal

00:13:09.164 --> 00:13:10.457
to the president.

00:13:10.457 --> 00:13:11.375
- Part of the problem, I think,

00:13:11.375 --> 00:13:14.336
is that people perceive
this as a Jared-led effort.

00:13:14.336 --> 00:13:15.170
- Yes.

00:13:15.170 --> 00:13:17.089
{\an8}- And they need to perceive
it as a Trump-led effort.

00:13:17.089 --> 00:13:17.923
- Yeah.

00:13:17.923 --> 00:13:18.799
The Republicans need him

00:13:18.799 --> 00:13:20.801
to have
the Trump Prison Reform Bill

00:13:20.801 --> 00:13:22.845
or Criminal Justice Reform Bill

00:13:22.845 --> 00:13:24.388
and just put his brand on it

00:13:24.388 --> 00:13:27.599
and his power on it and
buy into it.

00:13:27.599 --> 00:13:29.351
- I'll talk to Jared.

00:13:33.480 --> 00:13:34.773
{\an8}Hey!
- Hey, man.

00:13:34.773 --> 00:13:35.607
{\an8}How are you?
- All right.

00:13:35.607 --> 00:13:38.026
{\an8}- Welcome, good to see you.

00:13:38.026 --> 00:13:39.403
- Do we have the Trump card?

00:13:39.403 --> 00:13:41.822
- I mean, we need
literally the Trump card.

00:13:41.822 --> 00:13:44.032
And people are saying that
if Trump doesn't do it,

00:13:44.032 --> 00:13:45.409
it's not gonna get done.

00:13:45.409 --> 00:13:48.745
- So, we're trying everything
we can do.

00:13:49.580 --> 00:13:51.039
We'll see.

00:13:51.039 --> 00:13:53.166
Some of the people who
are against the bill

00:13:53.166 --> 00:13:55.252
approach him to try to
get him to back down

00:13:55.252 --> 00:13:57.171
or to kind of let this
fade away,

00:13:57.171 --> 00:13:59.590
but we're not gonna allow
them to do that so easily.

00:13:59.590 --> 00:14:03.010
And we're staying very
engaged with them.

00:14:17.191 --> 00:14:18.025
- I basically have the job

00:14:18.025 --> 00:14:20.944
that I wanted when I was a kid.

00:14:20.944 --> 00:14:22.613
Wanted to be a superhero.

00:14:22.613 --> 00:14:24.198
So this is like the bat cave,

00:14:24.198 --> 00:14:25.741
the Fortress of Solitude,

00:14:25.741 --> 00:14:27.201
whatever you wanna call it.

00:14:27.201 --> 00:14:28.160
Secret headquarters,

00:14:28.160 --> 00:14:32.706
this is the secret
headquarters of Van Jones.

00:14:32.706 --> 00:14:34.875
I moved in here last year.

00:14:36.251 --> 00:14:37.961
I didn't really have
a place to stay

00:14:37.961 --> 00:14:39.838
because, you know,
had been going

00:14:39.838 --> 00:14:41.089
through the end of a marriage.

00:14:41.089 --> 00:14:44.176
It's sometimes good to
have your own place.

00:14:44.176 --> 00:14:47.930
You know, people say,
"Who are your friends?"

00:14:49.348 --> 00:14:51.183
I mean, here they are.

00:14:52.142 --> 00:14:55.229
(bookshelf clicking)

00:14:58.649 --> 00:15:00.526
Anybody who's successfully
made change,

00:15:00.526 --> 00:15:02.236
I try to study.

00:15:02.236 --> 00:15:05.614
These books about the
right, cover-to-cover.

00:15:05.614 --> 00:15:09.993
You can't fight an opponent
you don't understand.

00:15:09.993 --> 00:15:11.745
We're like,
"I don't wanna watch Fox.

00:15:11.745 --> 00:15:12.996
"I don't wanna listen to
Rush Limbaugh."

00:15:12.996 --> 00:15:14.581
Well, then how are you
gonna win?

00:15:14.581 --> 00:15:17.167
(gentle music)

00:15:18.877 --> 00:15:23.799
There's no substitute for
having spent years
turning pages.

00:15:28.262 --> 00:15:30.848
(static buzzing)

00:15:30.848 --> 00:15:33.308
You know, this is my room where
I've been for three years.

00:15:33.308 --> 00:15:36.186
Most important feature in
my room is my bookshelf.

00:15:36.186 --> 00:15:38.522
We have books about revolution,

00:15:38.522 --> 00:15:41.316
books about radical
reform politics.

00:15:41.316 --> 00:15:43.902
This is my outfit for tomorrow.

00:15:45.696 --> 00:15:47.865
Beautiful Malcolm X shirt.

00:15:49.867 --> 00:15:51.577
{\an8}Very lucky to have my
mother and father here.

00:15:51.577 --> 00:15:53.161
{\an8}Made me very happy.

00:16:01.503 --> 00:16:02.921
{\an8}(both laughing)

00:16:07.467 --> 00:16:08.760
- When I was in law school,

00:16:08.760 --> 00:16:11.680
the Rodney King rebellion
happened.

00:16:19.813 --> 00:16:24.860
{\an8}When I found out that the
four white LAPD officers

00:16:24.985 --> 00:16:29.489
{\an8}who had beaten him so
mercilessly,
had been acquitted,

00:16:31.408 --> 00:16:33.452
the first thing I did
was establish a project

00:16:33.452 --> 00:16:35.120
to start suing cops.

00:16:36.622 --> 00:16:39.708
{\an8}Now the question is
whether or not

00:16:39.708 --> 00:16:42.544
it is okay to gag and
leave to die

00:16:43.962 --> 00:16:47.257
{\an8}an African-American suspect
alone in a paddy wagon.

00:16:47.257 --> 00:16:49.635
{\an8}(solemn music)

00:16:49.635 --> 00:16:54.139
{\an8}We started getting a reputation
as a very vocal force.

00:16:55.557 --> 00:16:58.310
We started programs pushing
back on state violence

00:16:58.310 --> 00:17:02.397
and hate violence and the
so-called war on drugs.

00:17:04.775 --> 00:17:06.568
The prison system had
gotten approvals

00:17:06.568 --> 00:17:09.571
to build this massive
jail for kids.

00:17:10.989 --> 00:17:13.617
I realized we can stop
the super jail

00:17:13.617 --> 00:17:15.744
by working with white
conservatives

00:17:15.744 --> 00:17:17.996
who didn't want the
prison in their community

00:17:17.996 --> 00:17:19.498
and black and brown
progressives

00:17:19.498 --> 00:17:22.209
who didn't want the
prison at all. (chuckles)

00:17:22.209 --> 00:17:24.628
And that unity gave us
a massive victory.

00:17:24.628 --> 00:17:27.381
And we stopped that thing.

00:17:27.381 --> 00:17:31.510
You cannot help people
en masse with one party

00:17:31.510 --> 00:17:33.178
or with one race.

00:17:33.178 --> 00:17:34.721
The only way you're gonna help

00:17:34.721 --> 00:17:37.224
is you get everybody together.

00:17:38.851 --> 00:17:41.645
(people cheering)

00:17:50.737 --> 00:17:52.823
- Legislation is working
through Congress

00:17:52.823 --> 00:17:55.325
to reform our federal prisons.

00:17:56.410 --> 00:17:59.371
My administration strongly
supports these efforts

00:17:59.371 --> 00:18:03.959
and I urge the House and
Senate to get together,

00:18:03.959 --> 00:18:05.502
get a bill to my desk.

00:18:05.502 --> 00:18:08.255
I will sign it and it's
gonna be strong.

00:18:08.255 --> 00:18:09.047
It's gonna be good.

00:18:09.047 --> 00:18:10.966
It's gonna be what
everybody wants.

00:18:10.966 --> 00:18:13.927
I also wanna thank Van Jones,

00:18:13.927 --> 00:18:15.637
primarily because he
constantly says

00:18:15.637 --> 00:18:17.055
such nice things about me.

00:18:17.055 --> 00:18:17.973
(people laughing)

00:18:17.973 --> 00:18:20.058
Not too often, but I'll
tell you what though,

00:18:20.058 --> 00:18:21.560
it does feel good.

00:18:23.896 --> 00:18:24.855
{\an8}- Any other quality time

00:18:24.855 --> 00:18:25.898
with the president you
had in there?

00:18:25.898 --> 00:18:27.691
{\an8}Did you get a chance
for chit chat,

00:18:27.691 --> 00:18:29.151
{\an8}enjoy some tea, anything?

00:18:29.151 --> 00:18:31.570
{\an8}- (laughing) No, I was
afraid in that speech

00:18:31.570 --> 00:18:32.946
{\an8}he was gonna start saying stuff

00:18:32.946 --> 00:18:34.156
{\an8}that I disagreed with.

00:18:34.156 --> 00:18:35.991
{\an8}Actually, everything he said

00:18:35.991 --> 00:18:37.784
{\an8}about compassion for prisoners,

00:18:37.784 --> 00:18:40.412
{\an8}I think the most liberal
Democrat would have
agreed with.

00:18:40.412 --> 00:18:42.998
{\an8}(gentle music)

00:18:45.959 --> 00:18:48.504
{\an8}- CNN host and long time
Democrat,

00:18:48.504 --> 00:18:52.883
{\an8}Van Jones has been praising
Trump and his administration.

00:18:52.883 --> 00:18:55.636
Twitter wasn't so happy
about this.

00:18:55.636 --> 00:18:57.221
- Donald Trump is not
interested

00:18:57.221 --> 00:18:59.139
{\an8}in helping black people
and everything he does

00:18:59.139 --> 00:19:01.850
{\an8}he's abetted by men like
Van Jones.

00:19:01.850 --> 00:19:03.352
Earnest looking men who
pretend like

00:19:03.352 --> 00:19:05.187
they have people's best
interests at heart.

00:19:05.187 --> 00:19:06.897
{\an8}- Do you think that Van Jones
even thinks

00:19:06.897 --> 00:19:07.898
{\an8}that he's doing
something wrong?

00:19:07.898 --> 00:19:10.192
{\an8}I think he actually thinks
he's helping.

00:19:10.192 --> 00:19:11.026
It is super important

00:19:11.026 --> 00:19:13.987
that we hold people accountable
who are in those rooms

00:19:13.987 --> 00:19:16.406
supposedly advocating for us.

00:19:21.828 --> 00:19:23.372
- "Van Jones is a big
hypocrite.

00:19:23.372 --> 00:19:25.749
"Does he agree with the
racist conservatives?

00:19:25.749 --> 00:19:29.586
"I guess everything Trump
has said and done is fine.

00:19:29.586 --> 00:19:31.338
"You can't
compartmentalize hate.

00:19:31.338 --> 00:19:33.298
"You can't ignore racism.

00:19:33.298 --> 00:19:36.343
"Amend, or kill,
the First Step Act."

00:19:36.343 --> 00:19:38.929
That's why I say Twitter
should just be called hater.

00:19:38.929 --> 00:19:41.682
Just call it hater and
ignore it.

00:19:46.728 --> 00:19:49.189
{\an8}- The bill has what I call
like a Goldilocks problem.

00:19:49.189 --> 00:19:51.108
{\an8}It is too hot for some
on the right,

00:19:51.108 --> 00:19:52.860
{\an8}too cool for some on the left.

00:19:52.860 --> 00:19:55.863
{\an8}- I see this not as making
progress,

00:19:55.863 --> 00:19:57.573
{\an8}but potentially stalling it

00:19:57.573 --> 00:19:59.074
{\an8}or undermining
the possibility for us

00:19:59.074 --> 00:20:03.579
{\an8}to get substantive, meaningful
criminal justice reform.

00:20:03.579 --> 00:20:04.788
- Can criminal justice reform

00:20:04.788 --> 00:20:06.206
be improved in the U.S.?

00:20:06.206 --> 00:20:07.291
Joining us to discuss this,

00:20:07.291 --> 00:20:09.334
{\an8}we have Patrisse Khan-Cullors.

00:20:09.334 --> 00:20:12.129
{\an8}She is a co-founder of
Black Lives Matter.

00:20:12.129 --> 00:20:14.965
{\an8}Patrisse,
what is your take on it?

00:20:14.965 --> 00:20:19.052
{\an8}- I think the First
Step Act is not the bill

00:20:19.052 --> 00:20:20.804
{\an8}that we need at this moment.

00:20:20.804 --> 00:20:25.767
{\an8}When the president has not just
said terrible, dehumanizing

00:20:26.268 --> 00:20:28.687
{\an8}things against communities,
but has acted criminally,

00:20:28.687 --> 00:20:33.358
{\an8}we need to be very wary when
he's willing to pass bills.

00:20:34.359 --> 00:20:37.196
{\an8}Many of us have been a
part of this movement

00:20:37.196 --> 00:20:40.657
{\an8}to end mass incarceration
for a very long time.

00:20:40.657 --> 00:20:42.034
I am an abolitionist.

00:20:42.034 --> 00:20:45.287
I believe that
the prison-police state,

00:20:45.287 --> 00:20:47.789
as we know it shouldn't exist.

00:20:48.832 --> 00:20:51.418
I do believe in reforms,

00:20:51.418 --> 00:20:55.088
but this bill is actually
gonna jeopardize the work

00:20:55.088 --> 00:20:58.759
that we've done for the
last couple decades.

00:21:00.093 --> 00:21:02.387
There's this concept
called all of us or none.

00:21:02.387 --> 00:21:04.223
And it really comes out
of this idea

00:21:04.223 --> 00:21:06.350
that you don't just save
a few people,

00:21:06.350 --> 00:21:09.353
{\an8}you try to save everybody.

00:21:09.353 --> 00:21:12.314
Other movements are
drowning right now.

00:21:12.314 --> 00:21:14.858
So, many of us had
agreed that we would not

00:21:14.858 --> 00:21:18.403
have any negotiations
under this presidency.

00:21:18.403 --> 00:21:21.698
And that #cut50 and Van
and the team went in

00:21:21.698 --> 00:21:26.286
without that solidarity,
really made us feel betrayed.

00:21:26.286 --> 00:21:28.872
(gentle music)

00:21:36.630 --> 00:21:38.340
{\an8}- [Andi] The left and your base

00:21:38.340 --> 00:21:41.301
{\an8}don't seem to understand
what you're doing

00:21:41.301 --> 00:21:44.304
{\an8}and really resent how
you're moving.

00:21:45.556 --> 00:21:49.685
There may be something
beneficial that we're missing

00:21:49.685 --> 00:21:54.231
because we're not taking any
of the feedback seriously.

00:21:55.148 --> 00:21:57.818
- I've got some,
some stuckness.

00:21:58.694 --> 00:22:02.030
I mean, it's dumb for
me not to reach out more

00:22:02.030 --> 00:22:04.950
and I gotta figure out
how to do it

00:22:06.201 --> 00:22:08.871
in a way that feels
right to me.

00:22:10.080 --> 00:22:11.206
{\an8}- [T.D.]
He who walks in the middle

00:22:11.206 --> 00:22:13.375
{\an8}of the road gets hit on
both sides.

00:22:13.375 --> 00:22:14.459
{\an8}- [Van] Um-hmm.

00:22:14.459 --> 00:22:18.046
{\an8}- [T.D.]
Do you ever come up for air?

00:22:18.046 --> 00:22:19.965
- [Van] Not really.

00:22:19.965 --> 00:22:22.217
- [T.D.] If your answer to
everything is to work harder,

00:22:22.217 --> 00:22:25.846
you're actually running
away from something.

00:22:41.778 --> 00:22:43.280
- Hey!
- Do you have an appointment?

00:22:43.280 --> 00:22:44.489
- [Van] What happened
to the afro?

00:22:44.489 --> 00:22:46.617
(Angela laughing)

00:22:46.617 --> 00:22:48.285
- I can reach y'all.

00:22:49.161 --> 00:22:51.997
There's some humidity
or something outside.

00:22:51.997 --> 00:22:52.998
- [Van] Good to see you, man.

00:22:52.998 --> 00:22:54.333
Hey.
- Hey, how you doing?

00:22:54.333 --> 00:22:55.626
- Good to see you, Aunt Tommie.

00:22:55.626 --> 00:22:56.752
- Nice seeing you.

00:22:56.752 --> 00:22:59.379
- Nice seeing you, too.
- God bless you.

00:22:59.379 --> 00:23:01.173
- [Van] You remember that
old video I had

00:23:01.173 --> 00:23:03.258
when I was interviewing
Mama and Big Daddy?

00:23:03.258 --> 00:23:04.843
- [Angela] Oh.

00:23:04.843 --> 00:23:07.012
- [Van] I cannot find that
thing anywhere.

00:23:07.012 --> 00:23:09.473
(gentle music)

00:23:09.473 --> 00:23:12.601
These past couple of years
my mom has been bedridden

00:23:12.601 --> 00:23:15.145
in a nursing facility

00:23:15.145 --> 00:23:18.565
and we're near the end of
the road on it.

00:23:20.526 --> 00:23:22.569
- [Angela] Look at
Loretta Jones.

00:23:22.569 --> 00:23:24.154
You know,
it's rough having twins.

00:23:24.154 --> 00:23:27.699
Look at, she's like,
"Lord, why me?"

00:23:27.699 --> 00:23:29.868
Two terrible small people.

00:23:32.287 --> 00:23:33.330
- Look at my father.

00:23:33.330 --> 00:23:35.040
- [Angela] Yeah, look at him.

00:23:35.040 --> 00:23:35.916
Did you see him wink?

00:23:35.916 --> 00:23:38.085
My daddy was so beautiful.

00:23:39.545 --> 00:23:40.963
Every year Mama made sure

00:23:40.963 --> 00:23:44.007
we got birthday cakes.
- Different cakes.

00:23:44.007 --> 00:23:45.133
- [Angela] We had separate
birthday cakes.

00:23:45.133 --> 00:23:47.135
We didn't have to share.

00:23:49.263 --> 00:23:50.430
- When I was little,
I had a lisp.

00:23:50.430 --> 00:23:51.431
I stuttered.

00:23:52.641 --> 00:23:56.436
But Mom, you know, she gave
me a real pathway outta

00:23:56.436 --> 00:23:57.855
that emotionally.

00:23:58.939 --> 00:24:01.400
{\an8}- You both have good minds.

00:24:01.400 --> 00:24:05.946
{\an8}And if you use those minds
for something positive,

00:24:05.946 --> 00:24:08.323
{\an8}you can be what you want to be.

00:24:08.323 --> 00:24:09.157
{\an8}Does that make sense?

00:24:09.157 --> 00:24:09.992
- Yes ma'am.

00:24:09.992 --> 00:24:10.868
- Okay.

00:24:10.868 --> 00:24:14.037
- And do you remember
telling that to us?

00:24:14.037 --> 00:24:15.330
- Hm, probably.

00:24:15.330 --> 00:24:16.248
- Like every day?

00:24:16.248 --> 00:24:17.833
- No.
- Yes. (chuckles)

00:24:17.833 --> 00:24:19.585
- Did I?
- Yes, ma'am.

00:24:21.420 --> 00:24:25.174
- You know Mama says I have an
unhealthy obsession with you.

00:24:25.174 --> 00:24:29.052
I've stopped reading the
comments when you post stuff.

00:24:29.052 --> 00:24:32.389
Even though you're four
minutes older than I am,

00:24:32.389 --> 00:24:35.601
in my heart I'm responsible
for you.

00:24:35.601 --> 00:24:37.769
Growing up,
people didn't pick on me

00:24:37.769 --> 00:24:40.564
like they picked on you.

00:24:40.564 --> 00:24:43.483
I remember when you
used to tell me

00:24:45.736 --> 00:24:47.821
what to tell other people

00:24:50.449 --> 00:24:52.701
because you were so afraid.

00:24:54.953 --> 00:24:58.790
When you looked at me one
day and said,

00:24:58.790 --> 00:25:01.835
"I'm gonna change the world."

00:25:01.835 --> 00:25:04.171
And I said, "Yeah, okay,
whatever."

00:25:04.171 --> 00:25:05.714
You said, "No, I am.

00:25:05.714 --> 00:25:08.091
"I'm gonna change the world."

00:25:08.091 --> 00:25:10.135
I was like, "Okay, okay."

00:25:11.386 --> 00:25:12.554
And I'm thinking to myself,

00:25:12.554 --> 00:25:14.890
you can't speak in front
of people.

00:25:14.890 --> 00:25:16.141
"Okay."

00:25:16.141 --> 00:25:20.187
- When you grow up and
you're like the most marginal

00:25:20.187 --> 00:25:21.271
of the nerds,

00:25:22.105 --> 00:25:24.816
the benefit is you have
to learn just

00:25:24.816 --> 00:25:27.069
to shut out everybody
else's opinion.

00:25:27.069 --> 00:25:28.904
I'm like,
"And while you comment

00:25:28.904 --> 00:25:30.322
"and say negative stuff on
Facebook,

00:25:30.322 --> 00:25:33.200
"I'm talking to
Oprah Winfrey, Jay-Z

00:25:33.200 --> 00:25:34.451
"and whoever else I
wanna talk to.

00:25:34.451 --> 00:25:36.495
"So, y'all can keep with that,

00:25:36.495 --> 00:25:38.372
"I'm doing what I'm
here to do."

00:25:38.372 --> 00:25:42.417
- People have always thought
you were tilting at windmills.

00:25:42.417 --> 00:25:46.171
And to be able to see
that this is important.

00:25:49.883 --> 00:25:51.426
And people can laugh.

00:25:51.426 --> 00:25:53.262
People can talk about me.

00:25:53.262 --> 00:25:56.098
People can do whatever,
I'm gonna do this,

00:25:56.098 --> 00:25:57.850
till the day I die.

00:25:57.850 --> 00:26:00.435
(gentle music)

00:26:10.487 --> 00:26:13.949
- I believe in bringing
people together

00:26:13.949 --> 00:26:17.953
to help the people at
the very bottom.

00:26:17.953 --> 00:26:22.875
The dividers need us to stay
in our own little bubbles,

00:26:22.875 --> 00:26:26.545
talking about each other,
not talking to each other.

00:26:26.545 --> 00:26:29.798
We have to try something else.

00:26:29.798 --> 00:26:32.801
Bipartisanship is not gonna
come from the top-down.

00:26:32.801 --> 00:26:33.886
It's gotta come from
the bottom-up.

00:26:33.886 --> 00:26:36.471
(solemn music)

00:26:53.238 --> 00:26:55.532
- Hi, good afternoon.
- Hi, good afternoon.

00:26:55.532 --> 00:26:56.909
- So, these are the young
people I get to work with.

00:26:56.909 --> 00:26:58.619
{\an8}So they're they doing homework
and academic tutoring.

00:26:58.619 --> 00:26:59.494
{\an8}- That's good, that's good.

00:26:59.494 --> 00:27:00.370
{\an8}So this is your program?

00:27:00.370 --> 00:27:02.581
{\an8}- Yes, it's what I helped to
create, yeah.

00:27:02.581 --> 00:27:04.124
- Beautiful.

00:27:04.124 --> 00:27:06.376
There's a linkage here
between the people

00:27:06.376 --> 00:27:09.796
who are on the front lines
of addiction in urban America

00:27:09.796 --> 00:27:11.715
and the people who are in
rural America

00:27:11.715 --> 00:27:13.884
and the prison system.

00:27:13.884 --> 00:27:15.052
How are you, brother?

00:27:15.052 --> 00:27:18.805
- Last time I saw you, June,
1998, Chicago, Illinois

00:27:18.805 --> 00:27:19.973
{\an8}Black Radical Conference.

00:27:19.973 --> 00:27:20.891
{\an8}- Oh.

00:27:20.891 --> 00:27:22.434
{\an8}- You were on the youth panel,
- I know!

00:27:22.434 --> 00:27:23.352
{\an8}and so was I!

00:27:23.352 --> 00:27:24.728
{\an8}Ah!
- Ah!

00:27:24.728 --> 00:27:26.063
{\an8}That was crazy.

00:27:26.063 --> 00:27:27.856
The so-called war on drugs,

00:27:27.856 --> 00:27:30.317
which means war on people
who are addicted to drugs,

00:27:30.317 --> 00:27:32.236
led to this whole expansion

00:27:32.236 --> 00:27:35.739
of the prison system in
the first place.

00:27:35.739 --> 00:27:38.158
And now we have a chance
to revisit the conversation

00:27:38.158 --> 00:27:40.285
on addiction because you
got a bunch of white people

00:27:40.285 --> 00:27:42.120
who are addicted to opioids.

00:27:42.120 --> 00:27:42.955
Hi.
- Hi!

00:27:43.872 --> 00:27:44.706
- How are you doing, sister.

00:27:44.706 --> 00:27:45.666
- [Virgie] Fine, how are you?

00:27:45.666 --> 00:27:47.417
- So good to see you.

00:28:00.264 --> 00:28:04.476
- When we went through
the crack cocaine crisis,

00:28:04.476 --> 00:28:06.937
the focus was incarceration.

00:28:06.937 --> 00:28:11.608
So now that the crisis is
beyond the community of color,

00:28:14.987 --> 00:28:17.072
it's a noticeable crisis.

00:28:18.490 --> 00:28:21.159
Can we put
the differences aside

00:28:22.077 --> 00:28:24.413
to work on a common project?

00:28:26.373 --> 00:28:28.417
- I'm scared being put in that
environment

00:28:28.417 --> 00:28:32.337
when over 80% of the folks
voted for Trump

00:28:33.547 --> 00:28:35.507
and where I come from,
we don't.

00:28:35.507 --> 00:28:38.677
But, it's the opportunity to
have the hard conversation

00:28:38.677 --> 00:28:42.181
around the impact of the
crack epidemic in South L.A.

00:28:42.181 --> 00:28:44.057
- You seen any other exchanges
like this?

00:28:44.057 --> 00:28:44.892
- No.

00:28:44.892 --> 00:28:45.726
- Me either.

00:28:45.726 --> 00:28:48.353
(both laughing)

00:28:49.396 --> 00:28:51.481
Lot of folks in the
social justice community,

00:28:51.481 --> 00:28:56.486
they were like, "Nah, I can't
be in a project with Van."

00:28:56.778 --> 00:29:00.490
I don't support what
Van's doing with Trump

00:29:00.490 --> 00:29:02.826
and the First Step Act.

00:29:02.826 --> 00:29:05.078
But, when we're talking
about the opioid

00:29:05.078 --> 00:29:07.748
versus the crack cocaine
epidemic,

00:29:07.748 --> 00:29:10.334
I believe that I had a duty
to make sure

00:29:10.334 --> 00:29:13.170
that I was a part of that
conversation.

00:29:16.548 --> 00:29:17.508
{\an8}- Rhonda.
- Hi, Rhonda.

00:29:17.508 --> 00:29:18.467
{\an8}I'm Virgie Walker.

00:29:18.467 --> 00:29:20.594
- [Rhonda] Okay,
nice to meet you.

00:29:20.594 --> 00:29:23.263
- Hi, I'm Dee.
- Hello, nice to meet you.

00:29:23.263 --> 00:29:24.765
- Hi, Tylo.

00:29:24.765 --> 00:29:26.767
- We have common pain.

00:29:26.767 --> 00:29:29.561
When you have people going
to funerals in West Virginia,

00:29:29.561 --> 00:29:32.940
in South Central for the
same addiction crisis

00:29:32.940 --> 00:29:34.816
and nobody's ever called
anybody to say,

00:29:34.816 --> 00:29:36.985
"How can I help you?"

00:29:36.985 --> 00:29:40.364
So, just talk to the
person across from you

00:29:40.364 --> 00:29:42.324
and just do some get to
know you stuff.

00:29:42.324 --> 00:29:46.787
- So, I'm here because I'm a
product of the crack epidemic

00:29:46.787 --> 00:29:50.165
in South L.A., so I was
born addicted to drugs.

00:29:50.165 --> 00:29:51.416
- No matter what color you are,

00:29:51.416 --> 00:29:53.460
if you're not given the tools,

00:29:53.460 --> 00:29:55.128
you're given a certain
way of life

00:29:55.128 --> 00:29:57.923
that just keeps repeating
itself, repeating itself.

00:29:57.923 --> 00:30:00.843
- There are victims that
nobody's talking about.

00:30:00.843 --> 00:30:04.304
- God has put us in faithful
positions to help people

00:30:04.304 --> 00:30:06.348
and that's what a calling is.

00:30:06.348 --> 00:30:10.269
- My vision was to own
a recovery center.

00:30:10.269 --> 00:30:11.603
- [Woman] Now we're
paying attention.

00:30:11.603 --> 00:30:12.813
- [Woman] They didn't
have a choice.

00:30:12.813 --> 00:30:14.857
- [Woman] I really do believe
we are much more similar

00:30:14.857 --> 00:30:16.149
than we are different.

00:30:16.149 --> 00:30:18.694
(solemn music)

00:30:24.825 --> 00:30:27.661
{\an8}- This street here is the main
street down the city of Welch

00:30:27.661 --> 00:30:32.040
{\an8}and used to be businesses
all through here.

00:30:32.040 --> 00:30:33.208
People that wanna stay here,

00:30:33.208 --> 00:30:35.169
stayed and tried to make it
and couldn't.

00:30:35.169 --> 00:30:37.588
And a lot of people turn
to drugs and alcohol.

00:30:37.588 --> 00:30:41.967
In 1973 we probably had over
50,000 still lived here,

00:30:42.885 --> 00:30:44.469
now we have 18,000.

00:30:47.639 --> 00:30:51.101
{\an8}- I just don't want us to,
to blow it,

00:30:51.101 --> 00:30:54.605
{\an8}you know what I mean,
with the LA folks.

00:30:55.772 --> 00:30:59.193
I went into that thinking,
"I'm so small.

00:31:02.446 --> 00:31:04.198
"And so is my state."

00:31:04.198 --> 00:31:07.576
And it's like,
how do I squash the rumors

00:31:08.493 --> 00:31:11.747
about West Virginia to big
city people?

00:31:14.291 --> 00:31:16.084
{\an8}- Coming down the windy road,

00:31:16.084 --> 00:31:18.670
{\an8}just like in our neighborhood,
church after church,

00:31:18.670 --> 00:31:20.464
{\an8}after church.
- After church, right.

00:31:20.464 --> 00:31:21.423
- [Pete] In the hood,
what we got?

00:31:21.423 --> 00:31:23.675
Liquor stores and churches.

00:31:27.721 --> 00:31:32.351
- We are first or second per
capita in overdose deaths.

00:31:32.351 --> 00:31:35.062
These are not numbers,
these were people that,

00:31:35.062 --> 00:31:36.230
that you grew up with.

00:31:36.230 --> 00:31:37.981
People that you know.

00:31:38.857 --> 00:31:40.234
- [Bailiff] God save the
state of West Virginia

00:31:40.234 --> 00:31:41.360
and this honorable court.

00:31:41.360 --> 00:31:42.945
You may be seated.

00:31:48.867 --> 00:31:50.077
- [William] How are you
doing Mallory?

00:31:50.077 --> 00:31:52.287
- [Mallory] I'm good,
how are you?

00:31:52.287 --> 00:31:54.081
- [William] Got something
you wanna ask me today?

00:31:54.081 --> 00:31:56.416
- If I can graduate. (laughs)

00:31:56.416 --> 00:31:58.168
(crowd laughing)

00:31:58.168 --> 00:31:59.753
- You can graduate.

00:31:59.753 --> 00:32:02.256
Very proud of you.
- Thank you.

00:32:03.090 --> 00:32:05.676
- You realize on March 17th
of last year,

00:32:05.676 --> 00:32:10.264
you tested positive for
Suboxone, Oxycontin and Benzos.

00:32:11.348 --> 00:32:12.474
- [Mallory] Yes.

00:32:12.474 --> 00:32:14.142
- [William] Where are we today?

00:32:14.142 --> 00:32:16.186
- Almost a year clean.

00:32:16.186 --> 00:32:17.437
I started school back.

00:32:17.437 --> 00:32:20.232
I'm almost got my first year
completed in.

00:32:20.232 --> 00:32:22.317
I've got a very good
lead on a job.

00:32:22.317 --> 00:32:24.903
I'm just really pleased with
where I'm at in this life.

00:32:24.903 --> 00:32:27.823
(crowd applauding)

00:32:34.121 --> 00:32:35.038
{\an8}Right.

00:32:36.915 --> 00:32:37.958
{\an8}Yeah, yeah, right?

00:32:47.551 --> 00:32:50.971
- (sighs) I'm not ready.

00:32:50.971 --> 00:32:53.307
Someone else can go.

00:32:53.307 --> 00:32:54.141
Please.

00:32:58.312 --> 00:33:01.148
- Take your time.
- Yeah, go again.

00:33:03.025 --> 00:33:04.860
- My mother was an alcoholic

00:33:04.860 --> 00:33:09.448
and I guess my mother kind
of created a pattern for me.

00:33:13.076 --> 00:33:15.120
And I don't know how
I broke it.

00:33:15.120 --> 00:33:17.998
I don't know how I broke it,
but I did.

00:33:17.998 --> 00:33:20.167
Now I'm raising daughters.

00:33:22.252 --> 00:33:24.588
One is a heroin addict.

00:33:24.588 --> 00:33:28.175
Oh God, I've been
through so much with her.

00:33:29.426 --> 00:33:34.264
I found her dead on my bathroom
floor a couple months ago.

00:33:36.016 --> 00:33:39.436
And I guess God helped me
bring her back.

00:33:41.647 --> 00:33:45.067
But, I have a feeling she is
using again.

00:33:48.570 --> 00:33:51.156
I'm just gonna keep
going forward

00:33:51.156 --> 00:33:54.826
and I hope she follows
me or I'll bury her.

00:33:59.623 --> 00:34:03.877
(sighs) Thank y'all,
that was good.

00:34:03.877 --> 00:34:05.879
Thank you for listening.

00:34:07.214 --> 00:34:11.969
- I learned my mom did drugs
when I was like 11 or 12.

00:34:11.969 --> 00:34:14.847
{\an8}My older brother didn't
have support.

00:34:14.847 --> 00:34:16.098
{\an8}He grew up questioning,

00:34:16.098 --> 00:34:20.519
{\an8}grew up trying to find
his way in the world.

00:34:20.519 --> 00:34:21.395
And just not having stability,

00:34:21.395 --> 00:34:23.981
our dad being impacted
by the drug epidemic,

00:34:23.981 --> 00:34:26.441
by mass incarceration,
in and out of our home,

00:34:26.441 --> 00:34:29.236
I think my brother was
searching for understanding.

00:34:29.236 --> 00:34:33.031
And so he joined a gang
and got gang involved.

00:34:33.031 --> 00:34:35.200
Subsequently he has a
triple-digit sentence

00:34:35.200 --> 00:34:37.286
and is in prison now.

00:34:37.286 --> 00:34:40.956
They're throwing away
youth in prison cells.

00:34:43.834 --> 00:34:46.587
(train clacking)

00:34:53.844 --> 00:34:55.262
- We are in a part of
the country

00:34:55.262 --> 00:34:57.848
that went strong for
Donald Trump.

00:34:57.848 --> 00:34:58.724
We're from California.

00:34:58.724 --> 00:35:00.934
We went strong against
Donald Trump.

00:35:00.934 --> 00:35:05.147
So, I have a very high,
philosophical treatise

00:35:05.147 --> 00:35:08.066
that I'd like to lay
out with a very complex,

00:35:08.066 --> 00:35:09.401
why y'all vote for Trump?

00:35:09.401 --> 00:35:12.946
(people laughing)

00:35:12.946 --> 00:35:16.325
{\an8}- I think we need to bring
jobs back into this country.

00:35:16.325 --> 00:35:19.119
{\an8}And I think President Trump
will do that.

00:35:19.119 --> 00:35:21.538
A lot was going downhill with
the prior administration.

00:35:21.538 --> 00:35:25.000
And I think Trump hasn't
been given a fair chance.

00:35:25.000 --> 00:35:28.170
{\an8}- There were things about
Donald Trump

00:35:29.254 --> 00:35:34.259
{\an8}that have come to light
relative to his qualifications.

00:35:34.635 --> 00:35:36.470
- How has things picked
up since he's been in

00:35:36.470 --> 00:35:38.347
if he's not fit for office?

00:35:38.347 --> 00:35:42.643
- Donald Trump is a
international embarrassment

00:35:42.643 --> 00:35:44.186
relative to that.

00:35:44.186 --> 00:35:45.187
{\an8}When it come to-

00:35:46.730 --> 00:35:50.108
- That is, surely, that
is, that is my opinion.

00:35:50.108 --> 00:35:52.069
- Okay, so we're gonna have
to have some ground rules.

00:35:52.069 --> 00:35:53.779
I can see that already.

00:35:53.779 --> 00:35:55.072
{\an8}But we have two-

00:35:55.906 --> 00:35:59.701
{\an8}- I know, exactly.
(people laughing)

00:35:59.701 --> 00:36:02.788
- But there's this layer
that I have to ask myself,

00:36:02.788 --> 00:36:07.793
{\an8}like, you know, do they
perceive me like every
immigrant

00:36:08.001 --> 00:36:12.297
{\an8}that's being deported
in California right now?

00:36:12.297 --> 00:36:15.425
Like I had to put up this
guard, right?

00:36:15.425 --> 00:36:18.554
- I am surprised people
would think

00:36:18.554 --> 00:36:21.348
{\an8}that I would feel a certain
way just

00:36:21.348 --> 00:36:25.102
{\an8}because my state voted for
Donald Trump.

00:36:25.102 --> 00:36:26.436
I only voted for him

00:36:26.436 --> 00:36:30.691
because I will not vote for
anybody who supports abortion.

00:36:30.691 --> 00:36:32.025
- We already did it, right?

00:36:32.025 --> 00:36:33.151
Okay, we already voted.

00:36:33.151 --> 00:36:34.111
He's in there.

00:36:34.111 --> 00:36:36.488
Okay, it doesn't make
a difference right now.

00:36:36.488 --> 00:36:38.240
We make a difference.

00:36:38.240 --> 00:36:39.491
- We have common values.

00:36:39.491 --> 00:36:40.701
We have common struggle.

00:36:40.701 --> 00:36:43.495
However,
I'm Black and Donald Trump

00:36:43.495 --> 00:36:45.622
has said terrible things
about Black folks,

00:36:45.622 --> 00:36:46.832
about LGBTQ folks.

00:36:46.832 --> 00:36:48.208
I identify as queer.

00:36:48.208 --> 00:36:50.294
As Muslim folks,
my father is Muslim.

00:36:50.294 --> 00:36:51.128
You know what I mean?

00:36:51.128 --> 00:36:52.588
Like what does that mean

00:36:52.588 --> 00:36:56.925
when the president of the
United States is divisive?

00:37:05.851 --> 00:37:08.145
- I would hope that no
one would ever judge me

00:37:08.145 --> 00:37:13.150
by the way I voted, but more
so on the person that I am.

00:37:13.483 --> 00:37:16.153
And, but I can see it
both ways.

00:37:18.947 --> 00:37:22.534
- Shouldn't how we vote
reflect our values?

00:37:23.744 --> 00:37:27.414
I think that we have
values that align,

00:37:27.414 --> 00:37:31.376
but come into question
when we vote differently.

00:37:32.836 --> 00:37:34.254
Things that folks where I
come from

00:37:34.254 --> 00:37:36.798
have fought for decades
to secure,

00:37:36.798 --> 00:37:38.258
he's undoing it now for us

00:37:38.258 --> 00:37:41.345
and attempting to dismantle
the gains

00:37:41.345 --> 00:37:44.097
that we've made for my
community.

00:37:45.724 --> 00:37:47.976
How do you, how do you
respond to those folks?

00:37:47.976 --> 00:37:49.895
I think it's a matter of
humanity.

00:37:49.895 --> 00:37:52.564
- Yeah,
I don't have the answer.

00:37:58.862 --> 00:38:03.617
If it makes a difference,
I'd walk with you in L.A.,

00:38:03.617 --> 00:38:05.369
shoulder-to-shoulder.

00:38:07.746 --> 00:38:09.081
- Come out, I invite you out.

00:38:09.081 --> 00:38:10.832
Come to South L.A.

00:38:10.832 --> 00:38:13.001
We would love to have you.

00:38:17.548 --> 00:38:18.423
- We've talked about addiction.

00:38:18.423 --> 00:38:19.550
We've talked about
homelessness.

00:38:19.550 --> 00:38:22.427
We've talked about despair of
a community.

00:38:22.427 --> 00:38:24.763
So what are we trying to do?

00:38:26.223 --> 00:38:29.351
- If you really wanna see
the group come together,

00:38:29.351 --> 00:38:31.687
you'd take us to D.C.

00:38:31.687 --> 00:38:34.565
We'd get to sit down with
a Democratic

00:38:34.565 --> 00:38:36.608
and a Republican Congressperson

00:38:36.608 --> 00:38:39.862
from both West Virginia
and California.

00:38:41.780 --> 00:38:43.073
- I think we have gotta develop

00:38:43.073 --> 00:38:47.160
a common set of values
that will hold us together

00:38:50.664 --> 00:38:53.125
in times where it
gets difficult.

00:38:53.125 --> 00:38:55.669
(solemn music)

00:39:02.176 --> 00:39:03.594
- All right, well, we're
going to keep pushing.

00:39:03.594 --> 00:39:04.803
Vote's at 4:30.

00:39:04.803 --> 00:39:05.971
{\an8}We should be in the good zone,

00:39:05.971 --> 00:39:09.850
{\an8}but, of course, still,
still worried about it.

00:39:09.850 --> 00:39:11.268
{\an8}- We incarcerate more people

00:39:11.268 --> 00:39:12.561
{\an8}in the United States of America

00:39:12.561 --> 00:39:15.856
{\an8}than any other country
in the world.

00:39:15.856 --> 00:39:17.482
It is a scandal.

00:39:22.029 --> 00:39:24.489
- We need to have a strong
vote of support

00:39:24.489 --> 00:39:27.451
in order for this to get
taken up in the Senate.

00:39:27.451 --> 00:39:29.411
(gentle music)

00:39:29.411 --> 00:39:30.287
(gavel knocking)

00:39:30.287 --> 00:39:31.205
{\an8}- Gentleman from Georgia.

00:39:31.205 --> 00:39:32.456
{\an8}- I asked for the yeas
and nays.

00:39:32.456 --> 00:39:33.290
{\an8}- Yeas and nays requested.

00:39:33.290 --> 00:39:34.166
{\an8}Those in favor of
taking this vote

00:39:34.166 --> 00:39:35.501
{\an8}by the yeas and nays will rise

00:39:35.501 --> 00:39:36.835
{\an8}and remain standing
until counted.

00:39:36.835 --> 00:39:38.712
{\an8}- [Reporter] A bipartisan
prison reform bill

00:39:38.712 --> 00:39:39.796
{\an8}just got through the House.

00:39:39.796 --> 00:39:42.007
{\an8}In fact,
it was passed overwhelmingly,

00:39:42.007 --> 00:39:44.927
{\an8}but there are still major
obstacles in the Senate.

00:39:44.968 --> 00:39:47.471
{\an8}- The First Step Act
does not contain reforms

00:39:47.471 --> 00:39:50.265
{\an8}to federal mandatory
minimum sentencing laws

00:39:50.265 --> 00:39:52.142
{\an8}that have kept low-level
drug offenders

00:39:52.142 --> 00:39:54.186
behind bars for decades.

00:39:54.186 --> 00:39:56.522
Progressives are pushing for
those changes

00:39:56.563 --> 00:39:59.483
{\an8}to be included in any
measure passed by the Senate.

00:39:59.483 --> 00:40:01.527
{\an8}- To create the radical
change that needs to happen

00:40:01.527 --> 00:40:02.861
{\an8}in the criminal justice system.

00:40:02.861 --> 00:40:05.113
{\an8}When you're trying to
end mass incarceration,

00:40:05.113 --> 00:40:09.701
{\an8}it requires more than just
really weak legislation.

00:40:09.701 --> 00:40:14.581
Just imagine if nobody held
the line for sentencing reform.

00:40:15.457 --> 00:40:17.084
- Van and I have been
brothers fighting

00:40:17.084 --> 00:40:19.586
for communities like mine for
a long time.

00:40:19.586 --> 00:40:21.463
{\an8}But look, we disagree on a lot

00:40:21.463 --> 00:40:23.507
{\an8}of fundamental aspects of this.

00:40:23.507 --> 00:40:25.050
We're not gonna just rubber
stamp a bill

00:40:25.050 --> 00:40:27.177
from the House side
that doesn't even affect

00:40:27.177 --> 00:40:30.097
what I know could end
up liberating thousands

00:40:30.097 --> 00:40:32.683
of Americans from
prison right now.

00:40:32.683 --> 00:40:35.227
This bill is dead on
arrival on the Senate side,

00:40:35.227 --> 00:40:37.980
unless we can get our
sentencing reform

00:40:37.980 --> 00:40:39.815
and more into this bill.

00:40:39.815 --> 00:40:40.774
- Okay, how do you say it?

00:40:40.774 --> 00:40:44.444
Prison reform is making
prisons less brutal,

00:40:45.529 --> 00:40:48.824
less punitive,
making them work better.

00:40:48.824 --> 00:40:51.785
The automatic critique
of that is,

00:40:51.785 --> 00:40:54.413
Well, why are people going to
prison in such large numbers

00:40:54.413 --> 00:40:56.331
in the first place?

00:40:56.331 --> 00:41:01.336
Reform the sentences,
sentencing reform,
that's my position.

00:41:02.379 --> 00:41:06.508
But, we don't have the votes
for that in the Senate.

00:41:06.508 --> 00:41:08.886
All the stuff they're saying
should get in the bill

00:41:08.886 --> 00:41:10.554
will only get in the bill

00:41:10.554 --> 00:41:14.641
if you start with a little
to get a lot.

00:41:14.641 --> 00:41:17.477
We're in danger of losing
the bipartisan consensus

00:41:17.477 --> 00:41:18.812
that we built up

00:41:18.812 --> 00:41:23.817
{\an8}because the progressives are
trying to kill this bill.

00:41:23.817 --> 00:41:25.194
{\an8}- Don't be fooled.

00:41:25.194 --> 00:41:27.446
We have to change
the sentencing laws,

00:41:27.446 --> 00:41:29.823
so that people don't go into
the system,

00:41:29.823 --> 00:41:31.491
have their life ruined,

00:41:31.491 --> 00:41:33.869
then they give you a few
days off your sentence

00:41:33.869 --> 00:41:35.787
and think that they've
reformed the system.

00:41:35.787 --> 00:41:36.830
Absolutely not.

00:41:36.830 --> 00:41:39.625
(people chattering)

00:41:39.625 --> 00:41:41.043
- I know that you wound up
being a no vote

00:41:41.043 --> 00:41:42.085
on the First Step Act.

00:41:42.085 --> 00:41:43.670
What held you back from
supporting it?

00:41:43.670 --> 00:41:46.256
{\an8}- Okay, way back, my two
sons got into trouble

00:41:46.256 --> 00:41:49.343
{\an8}and got sentences that
were harsher

00:41:49.343 --> 00:41:51.178
{\an8}than the prosecutors asked for.

00:41:51.178 --> 00:41:53.805
I see criminal justice
reform holistically,

00:41:53.805 --> 00:41:56.141
from schools to prison.

00:41:56.141 --> 00:42:00.062
And I just did, wasn't
gonna give them my vote

00:42:00.062 --> 00:42:02.606
to say that that was
criminal justice reform,

00:42:02.606 --> 00:42:04.191
'cause it wasn't.

00:42:04.191 --> 00:42:06.401
I didn't want the white
folks to think that,

00:42:06.401 --> 00:42:09.404
"Okay, we did criminal
justice reform.

00:42:09.404 --> 00:42:11.031
"Now we're gonna go out here

00:42:11.031 --> 00:42:14.117
"and we are going to
campaign on it."

00:42:14.117 --> 00:42:15.077
- The other side of
the argument is

00:42:15.077 --> 00:42:17.037
that we've had such
a big log jam,

00:42:17.037 --> 00:42:19.081
try to do the whole thing so
many times

00:42:19.081 --> 00:42:20.457
and haven't gotten anywhere,

00:42:20.457 --> 00:42:23.752
maybe starting smaller would
let us build from there.

00:42:23.752 --> 00:42:27.381
- The first step in this sort
of decades

00:42:27.381 --> 00:42:29.883
of a dynamic destruction of us

00:42:31.718 --> 00:42:33.470
needs to be a little
bit bolder.

00:42:33.470 --> 00:42:36.056
(solemn music)

00:42:38.934 --> 00:42:43.438
{\an8}- I served almost 14
years in federal prison.

00:42:43.438 --> 00:42:45.023
{\an8}You have no idea what it's like

00:42:45.023 --> 00:42:48.443
{\an8}unless you've sat in a four
by nine cell.

00:42:50.904 --> 00:42:53.323
Literally every night, my
phone is ringing from people

00:42:53.323 --> 00:42:54.741
who are still incarcerated,

00:42:54.741 --> 00:42:57.828
who really are invested
in this bill.

00:42:58.787 --> 00:43:00.581
If the bare skeleton
of this bill

00:43:00.581 --> 00:43:02.583
was getting out a few
days early,

00:43:02.583 --> 00:43:04.334
to me, that's reform.

00:43:05.335 --> 00:43:08.255
We stand on different sides
of the aisle

00:43:08.255 --> 00:43:10.132
as it relates to First Step.

00:43:10.132 --> 00:43:14.261
{\an8}But, I just wanted to make
sure that you guys connect.

00:43:14.261 --> 00:43:15.095
{\an8}- Absolutely.

00:43:15.095 --> 00:43:15.929
{\an8}- Having that conversation

00:43:15.929 --> 00:43:19.474
{\an8}to see exactly what-
- Absolutely.

00:43:19.474 --> 00:43:21.894
You obviously have a platform

00:43:23.478 --> 00:43:25.814
that far exceeds the platform

00:43:25.814 --> 00:43:28.609
that many of us that are
doing this work

00:43:28.609 --> 00:43:32.362
in terms of the sisters
who, that we're with today.

00:43:32.362 --> 00:43:35.282
It's helpful if we're not
maligned.

00:43:36.158 --> 00:43:38.911
And we have felt that
from #cut50

00:43:41.038 --> 00:43:44.374
and the aggression in which
they go after their issue

00:43:44.374 --> 00:43:46.710
and they are advocating
particularly around things

00:43:46.710 --> 00:43:49.671
that we might not necessarily
agree on,

00:43:49.671 --> 00:43:53.091
we need to have a common
respect for one another.

00:43:53.091 --> 00:43:55.427
- I've never been called so
many coons.

00:43:55.427 --> 00:43:57.804
I've never been called so
many Uncle Toms.

00:43:57.804 --> 00:43:59.765
I've never been called so
many sellouts.

00:43:59.765 --> 00:44:00.891
And I don't know if that
was coming

00:44:00.891 --> 00:44:03.018
from anybody in your corner-
- That's not, we don't-

00:44:03.018 --> 00:44:03.894
- So, I'm just saying

00:44:03.894 --> 00:44:04.728
that it was-
- We don't wanna

00:44:04.728 --> 00:44:06.605
be portrayed as it's
coming from our corner

00:44:06.605 --> 00:44:08.148
because I think that
there are sides

00:44:08.148 --> 00:44:09.983
that are playing each
other against themselves.

00:44:09.983 --> 00:44:12.277
And we're not,
we're not doing that.

00:44:12.277 --> 00:44:14.029
And we won't do that.

00:44:23.497 --> 00:44:26.083
(upbeat music)

00:44:40.556 --> 00:44:41.974
- There are other leaders

00:44:41.974 --> 00:44:45.060
who are making their own
calculation.

00:44:47.437 --> 00:44:49.398
And, you know,
they could rightfully feel

00:44:49.398 --> 00:44:52.818
that I'm not showing them
enough respect.

00:44:57.406 --> 00:44:59.700
It's the left wing now,

00:44:59.700 --> 00:45:04.162
but 10 years ago, when I was
in the Obama White House,

00:45:05.163 --> 00:45:07.499
it was the right wing
attacking me.

00:45:07.499 --> 00:45:11.086
Both times, based on a
fundamental misunderstanding

00:45:11.086 --> 00:45:14.006
about who I am and
what I'm about.

00:45:14.006 --> 00:45:16.592
(solemn music)

00:45:18.302 --> 00:45:20.470
{\an8}We need green jobs, not jails.

00:45:20.470 --> 00:45:24.516
{\an8}Those four words have just
totally turned my life around.

00:45:24.516 --> 00:45:27.603
{\an8}I was working to get the kids
we were getting out of jail

00:45:27.603 --> 00:45:31.106
{\an8}jobs in the so-called
green industries.

00:45:31.106 --> 00:45:36.111
{\an8}I went from grassroots
outsider to White House insider

00:45:36.111 --> 00:45:40.532
{\an8}to pariah (laughs) in about
nine months.

00:45:40.532 --> 00:45:42.910
{\an8}- Obama's new
Green Czar Van Jones,

00:45:42.910 --> 00:45:46.830
{\an8}this is the guy who is
a self-avowed communist.

00:45:46.830 --> 00:45:48.916
This president has
surrounded himself

00:45:48.916 --> 00:45:51.335
{\an8}with not good,
decent Democrats,

00:45:51.335 --> 00:45:55.088
{\an8}radical leftists, the
Van Jones of the world.

00:45:57.090 --> 00:45:58.967
{\an8}- I mean,
I'm a big colorful mouth.

00:45:58.967 --> 00:46:00.219
{\an8}So, I mean,
I'm sure that I'll be able

00:46:00.219 --> 00:46:01.261
{\an8}to find something every
day that I said that,

00:46:01.261 --> 00:46:02.930
{\an8}you know,
that would raise an eyebrow.

00:46:02.930 --> 00:46:05.724
{\an8}- We put together a little
Van Jones greatest hits.

00:46:05.724 --> 00:46:08.352
{\an8}- The white colluders and
the white environmentalists

00:46:08.352 --> 00:46:10.270
{\an8}are essentially steering poison

00:46:10.270 --> 00:46:12.231
{\an8}into the people of color
communities.

00:46:12.231 --> 00:46:16.568
{\an8}You've never seen a Columbine
done by a black child.

00:46:18.737 --> 00:46:20.781
{\an8}- Look at the board again,
please.

00:46:20.781 --> 00:46:23.534
{\an8}He wants to free a cop killer.

00:46:23.534 --> 00:46:24.785
{\an8}He's a black nationalist.

00:46:24.785 --> 00:46:26.662
{\an8}He wants to spread
the wealth around.

00:46:26.662 --> 00:46:30.541
{\an8}- This is gonna be every day,
worse and worse and worse.

00:46:30.541 --> 00:46:32.960
I think we should, I think
I should quit tonight.

00:46:32.960 --> 00:46:35.295
{\an8}- The question of,
can you serve better

00:46:35.295 --> 00:46:37.005
{\an8}from the inside or
better from the outside?

00:46:37.005 --> 00:46:40.509
{\an8}I mean, I think at this point,
maybe it is time to get out.

00:46:40.509 --> 00:46:43.095
(solemn music)

00:46:47.182 --> 00:46:49.142
- I have bad news for you.

00:46:49.142 --> 00:46:50.602
- Van Jones's resignation came

00:46:50.602 --> 00:46:53.230
in the middle of the night
on a holiday weekend.

00:46:53.230 --> 00:46:54.064
- [Reporter] Was he the victim

00:46:54.064 --> 00:46:56.108
of a smear campaign,
as he alleges?

00:46:56.108 --> 00:46:58.861
- This was Van Jones's
own decision.

00:46:58.861 --> 00:47:00.320
- The president,
according to a spokesman,

00:47:00.320 --> 00:47:03.782
{\an8}doesn't endorse Van
Jones's words or actions.

00:47:03.782 --> 00:47:05.409
- I'm happy to take a bullet
for the team.

00:47:05.409 --> 00:47:06.952
I'm happy to walk away.

00:47:06.952 --> 00:47:07.786
Don't trash me.

00:47:07.786 --> 00:47:10.664
Leave me the ability to
try to rehabilitate myself

00:47:10.664 --> 00:47:15.627
and defend the next people
better than you guys
defended me.

00:47:23.927 --> 00:47:26.680
(rain pattering)

00:47:30.309 --> 00:47:33.562
(telephone ringing)

00:47:33.562 --> 00:47:34.396
- [Jana] Hey.

00:47:34.396 --> 00:47:36.315
- Hey, it's Van, how are you?

00:47:36.315 --> 00:47:37.733
- [Jan] I'm fine,
how are you doing?

00:47:37.733 --> 00:47:39.359
You didn't sound good
last night.

00:47:39.359 --> 00:47:41.737
I was a little bit worried

00:47:41.737 --> 00:47:43.113
about you.
- Well,

00:47:43.113 --> 00:47:45.699
I mean, it's just super stress.

00:47:47.576 --> 00:47:49.995
I mean, between what's going
on, you know,

00:47:49.995 --> 00:47:50.829
what's going on with my mom

00:47:50.829 --> 00:47:55.334
and what's going on with,
you know, all this stuff.

00:47:55.334 --> 00:47:56.710
- [Jana] I know.

00:47:56.710 --> 00:47:59.546
I didn't wanna ask, I just,
you know.

00:47:59.546 --> 00:48:02.799
- Well, she's,
she's not in good shape.

00:48:03.717 --> 00:48:05.219
I mean the-
- Yeah.

00:48:07.387 --> 00:48:09.389
- It's just, you know, we're
out of moves, you know,

00:48:09.389 --> 00:48:10.682
the end of the road.

00:48:10.682 --> 00:48:11.850
- [Jana] Yeah.

00:48:12.726 --> 00:48:15.145
- I'll tell you what,
(throat clearing)

00:48:15.145 --> 00:48:18.649
Mom would not want me to
fuck up this interview

00:48:18.649 --> 00:48:20.984
because she's sick or dying,
you know,

00:48:20.984 --> 00:48:24.154
like, that's not how I was
raised, so.

00:48:25.572 --> 00:48:26.949
- [Jana] Yeah.

00:48:26.949 --> 00:48:29.535
(solemn music)

00:48:31.328 --> 00:48:33.664
- Hi, Jared's in here, okay.

00:48:38.168 --> 00:48:39.002
{\an8}- Um-hmm.

00:48:46.093 --> 00:48:47.010
{\an8}Like maybe that's a better
way to do it.

00:48:47.010 --> 00:48:48.512
- That's fine, that's good.

00:48:48.512 --> 00:48:51.557
I want Jared talking more
publicly about this stuff.

00:48:51.557 --> 00:48:52.933
You know, that gives
me a lot more leverage

00:48:52.933 --> 00:48:55.394
with the other Republicans.

00:48:55.394 --> 00:48:58.397
You get a chance to get him
on camera,

00:48:58.397 --> 00:49:00.274
committing himself to
this agenda,

00:49:00.274 --> 00:49:01.233
I gotta do it.

00:49:01.233 --> 00:49:03.443
(audience applauding)

00:49:03.443 --> 00:49:05.070
Let's start where we started
on prisons.

00:49:05.070 --> 00:49:09.157
Why are you working on prison
reform and criminal justice?

00:49:09.157 --> 00:49:10.742
- When I had my personal
experience,

00:49:10.742 --> 00:49:14.121
I wish that there was
somebody who was in my office

00:49:14.121 --> 00:49:16.456
in the White House who
cared about this issue

00:49:16.456 --> 00:49:19.585
as much as I do and prisons
have become too full.

00:49:19.585 --> 00:49:22.254
We're spending too much
money on warehousing people.

00:49:22.254 --> 00:49:24.673
We should be figuring out
how to improve people,

00:49:24.673 --> 00:49:26.091
so that when they get out,

00:49:26.091 --> 00:49:27.759
they can become productive
citizens again.

00:49:27.759 --> 00:49:29.094
- I get that you care.

00:49:29.094 --> 00:49:31.680
Does the president actually
care about this stuff?

00:49:31.680 --> 00:49:33.390
- He's actually spent a
lot of time on the issue.

00:49:33.390 --> 00:49:35.934
He's pushed us to really,
you know,

00:49:35.934 --> 00:49:38.228
see if we can be
successful with the effort.

00:49:38.228 --> 00:49:39.938
- I feel very,
very proud to have a chance

00:49:39.938 --> 00:49:42.024
to work with you where
we do agree

00:49:42.024 --> 00:49:44.526
and I'm also gonna
work very hard

00:49:44.526 --> 00:49:46.695
to get you a new job in 2020.

00:49:46.695 --> 00:49:48.280
(audience laughing)

00:49:48.280 --> 00:49:51.867
- Thank you, thank you.
- Jared Kushner.

00:49:51.867 --> 00:49:53.577
- Jared Kushner broke
his silence

00:49:53.577 --> 00:49:57.164
in his first extended TV
interview since Trump was
elected.

00:49:57.164 --> 00:49:58.165
It was often boastful

00:49:58.207 --> 00:50:01.418
{\an8}and at several points,
honestly, bizarre.

00:50:01.418 --> 00:50:03.378
{\an8}- (laughing) I mean,
it's like you

00:50:03.378 --> 00:50:05.422
{\an8}have like the dopest job
in the world,

00:50:05.422 --> 00:50:06.715
{\an8}like secretary of everything.

00:50:06.715 --> 00:50:09.635
{\an8}Does it bug you when they call
it secretary of everything?

00:50:09.635 --> 00:50:12.471
- [Reporter] That interview
was a disappointment.

00:50:12.471 --> 00:50:13.639
- [Man] When Trump's
out of office,

00:50:13.639 --> 00:50:17.476
I hope Van Jones gets
ran out of fucking town.

00:50:17.476 --> 00:50:20.312
{\an8}- To have this black person
who's seen and who's recognized

00:50:20.312 --> 00:50:23.440
{\an8}as someone who's part
of the intelligentsia,

00:50:23.440 --> 00:50:25.359
other white people,
they look at that

00:50:25.359 --> 00:50:27.986
and say, "Oh,
Kushner's now legitimized."

00:50:27.986 --> 00:50:31.865
And so now it looks like
all the rest of us feel

00:50:31.865 --> 00:50:33.200
that same legitimacy.

00:50:33.200 --> 00:50:35.536
It's like, hell no,
no we don't.

00:50:35.536 --> 00:50:38.288
- [Woman] Ever since he got
fired from his White House job,

00:50:38.288 --> 00:50:39.790
what is his problem?

00:50:39.790 --> 00:50:41.166
- [Man] Now get the fuck
outta here.

00:50:41.166 --> 00:50:43.669
Van Jones is a goddamned liar.

00:50:45.921 --> 00:50:46.922
- Oh my God.

00:50:51.385 --> 00:50:53.053
I'm in the fucking gym,

00:50:53.053 --> 00:50:55.722
minding my own business,
in my apartment,

00:50:55.722 --> 00:50:57.516
and this guy comes in
and he's like,

00:50:57.516 --> 00:51:00.936
"Hey, you had a fucked up
day on Twitter.

00:51:02.312 --> 00:51:04.439
"People just gonna attack
you no matter what you do.

00:51:04.439 --> 00:51:05.858
"How do you feel?"

00:51:05.858 --> 00:51:08.569
I'm like,
"Can I do some crunches, man?"

00:51:08.569 --> 00:51:11.071
Like, I'm just trying to
lose this gut.

00:51:11.071 --> 00:51:13.073
Do I have to like sit up here.

00:51:13.073 --> 00:51:16.660
But, I wasn't prepared
and it triggered me.

00:51:17.494 --> 00:51:18.954
So then I'm trying to explain
to him why,

00:51:18.954 --> 00:51:21.915
like A, I don't give a shit,
I need you to leave me alone.

00:51:21.915 --> 00:51:23.834
But, then explaining
why I didn't give a shit

00:51:23.834 --> 00:51:25.586
it was obviously I did
give a shit. (laughs)

00:51:25.586 --> 00:51:28.422
So then, I was like, "Fuck
it, I'm just going back

00:51:28.422 --> 00:51:29.423
"to my room and eat a cookie."

00:51:29.423 --> 00:51:34.428
As a matter of fact,
got a cookie right here,
sweet. (sighs)

00:51:36.847 --> 00:51:39.016
{\an8}- Donald Trump's administration
is getting a lot of credit.

00:51:39.016 --> 00:51:42.436
Black people need to be
out of prison, definitely.

00:51:42.436 --> 00:51:45.147
But, Trump can't get reelected.

00:51:45.147 --> 00:51:48.483
- It's easier for you as
a Democrat to beat Trump

00:51:48.483 --> 00:51:50.569
when he's with you on
criminal justice.

00:51:50.569 --> 00:51:52.279
The fight you cannot win,

00:51:52.279 --> 00:51:55.574
and have never won in this
country one single time,

00:51:55.574 --> 00:51:58.619
it's when the Republicans say,
"I am going to keep you safe

00:51:58.619 --> 00:51:59.703
"from those black people.

00:51:59.703 --> 00:52:01.288
"I'm going to build
more prisons."

00:52:01.288 --> 00:52:02.497
- [Karen] Um-hmm,
he's doing that.

00:52:02.497 --> 00:52:03.498
He's doing both.

00:52:03.498 --> 00:52:04.917
He's putting kids in cages.

00:52:04.917 --> 00:52:05.876
- With regard to immigration.

00:52:05.876 --> 00:52:07.461
- [Karen] And leaving out
the Mexicans.

00:52:07.461 --> 00:52:08.629
So, as Black people,
should we be like,

00:52:08.629 --> 00:52:09.713
"Okay, as long as he's
doing that

00:52:09.713 --> 00:52:11.715
"to the Mexicans, we're good?"
- Nope.

00:52:11.715 --> 00:52:14.760
- We act like both parties
are the same when they're not.

00:52:14.760 --> 00:52:18.764
One party is inherently not
really fighting for justice.

00:52:18.764 --> 00:52:20.265
And why don't we have that
conversation

00:52:20.265 --> 00:52:22.768
and be honest about it?

00:52:22.768 --> 00:52:24.853
Okay, can we Topeka?

00:52:24.853 --> 00:52:25.896
Can we talk about that?

00:52:25.896 --> 00:52:27.523
- Well, we will,
we'll talk about it

00:52:27.523 --> 00:52:29.066
right after break, okay.

00:52:29.066 --> 00:52:30.943
So this is your host
Topeka K. Sam,

00:52:30.943 --> 00:52:34.530
on the "Topeka K.
Sam Show" with Karen Hunter and
Van Jones.

00:52:34.530 --> 00:52:37.699
(audience applauding)

00:52:40.661 --> 00:52:43.830
- The interview you did with
Jared Kushner pissed me off.

00:52:43.830 --> 00:52:46.208
Every time someone like you
sits with someone like him,

00:52:46.208 --> 00:52:47.751
you give him validation.

00:52:47.751 --> 00:52:50.963
You represent power and
you represent the ability

00:52:50.963 --> 00:52:52.756
to speak truth to power.

00:52:52.756 --> 00:52:55.300
- I've been black my
whole life.

00:52:55.300 --> 00:52:57.427
I don't know that many people
who've closed a single prison,

00:52:57.427 --> 00:52:58.929
I've closed five.

00:52:58.929 --> 00:53:01.682
I thought I had built up
some credit.

00:53:01.682 --> 00:53:03.267
- Our responsibility as
Black people

00:53:03.267 --> 00:53:05.060
and those of us who have
the microphones,

00:53:05.060 --> 00:53:08.814
those of us who have the
ears and the eyes of people,

00:53:08.814 --> 00:53:11.984
bear different responsibility
than anyone else, you know?

00:53:11.984 --> 00:53:15.320
- And so, if you were,
you know,

00:53:15.320 --> 00:53:19.408
somebody from the community
or barbershop, nail salon,

00:53:19.408 --> 00:53:22.202
community center, like, I
mean, how was it landing?

00:53:22.202 --> 00:53:25.706
- [Karen] I think it, it
landed like he's not with us

00:53:25.706 --> 00:53:27.624
and, you know,
coupled with the white wife

00:53:27.624 --> 00:53:29.668
and, you know, it was
like all of these things,

00:53:29.668 --> 00:53:33.213
it paints a different picture
from the 25 years of service.

00:53:33.255 --> 00:53:35.716
(solemn music)

00:53:36.925 --> 00:53:38.093
{\an8}Yes.

00:53:41.054 --> 00:53:43.599
It's just this relentless
barrage of shit.

00:53:43.599 --> 00:53:45.809
Like I'm literally get up in
the morning,

00:53:45.809 --> 00:53:47.686
you just changed everything.

00:53:47.686 --> 00:53:51.940
Get up, I'm gonna fly
into Memphis, rent a car,

00:53:51.940 --> 00:53:54.109
and by the time I get there,
my mom is,

00:53:54.109 --> 00:53:56.820
they're making decisions
about whether

00:53:56.820 --> 00:53:59.156
to put her in hospice.

00:53:59.156 --> 00:54:01.700
And it's just, you know.

00:54:01.700 --> 00:54:03.660
Then I look on Twitter and
they're like, "Fuck Van Jones.

00:54:03.660 --> 00:54:05.370
"He's a terrible person."

00:54:05.370 --> 00:54:09.041
- I'm like, "Yeah, but like,
fuck you.

00:54:09.041 --> 00:54:11.960
"You do this,
you fucking do this."

00:54:19.593 --> 00:54:22.179
(solemn music)

00:54:28.810 --> 00:54:33.565
♪ If I can help somebody as I
pass along ♪

00:54:44.409 --> 00:54:48.872
♪ Then my living shall not
be in vain ♪

00:55:02.344 --> 00:55:04.847
- I don't talk about my
mother in public.

00:55:04.847 --> 00:55:07.182
I usually talk about my dad.

00:55:13.272 --> 00:55:15.482
In third grade my knees,

00:55:15.482 --> 00:55:18.902
my legs stopped working
for a while.

00:55:18.902 --> 00:55:22.114
And I'll never forget,
I was crutching myself

00:55:22.114 --> 00:55:25.033
through the airport and
I fell over

00:55:26.410 --> 00:55:28.620
and I started crying,

00:55:28.620 --> 00:55:32.332
really more out of
embarrassment than out of pain.

00:55:32.332 --> 00:55:33.917
And I looked around with all
these people

00:55:33.917 --> 00:55:37.921
and I learned I should fall
more often.

00:55:37.921 --> 00:55:40.382
(people laughing)

00:55:40.382 --> 00:55:42.384
I got so much attention.

00:55:44.469 --> 00:55:48.974
My mother said, "Anthony,
when you fall, it scares me.

00:55:50.809 --> 00:55:53.187
"So, I just wanna make
a request.

00:55:53.187 --> 00:55:56.481
"Only fall if you're
really falling

00:55:56.481 --> 00:55:59.234
"and cry as much as
you need to,

00:55:59.234 --> 00:56:02.613
"but only as much as
you have to."

00:56:02.613 --> 00:56:04.656
You wanna say something?

00:56:04.656 --> 00:56:07.784
- I promise I'm not gonna
talk as long as my brother.

00:56:07.784 --> 00:56:10.495
Being on CNN has made him
long-winded.

00:56:10.495 --> 00:56:13.081
(people laughing)

00:56:13.081 --> 00:56:14.583
I'm six feet tall.

00:56:15.542 --> 00:56:17.211
My mother was 5'11".

00:56:18.879 --> 00:56:22.966
I can remember standing
like this, slouched over.

00:56:23.967 --> 00:56:28.096
And my mother would walk behind
me and poke me in my back.

00:56:28.096 --> 00:56:31.934
"Stand up, stand up, be
proud of who you are."

00:56:39.358 --> 00:56:40.692
- [People] Amen.

00:56:42.861 --> 00:56:47.199
- "God made you exactly the
way he wanted you to be.

00:56:48.408 --> 00:56:49.284
"Stand up."

00:56:50.577 --> 00:56:53.163
(solemn music)

00:57:12.516 --> 00:57:14.476
- Hello!
- Hello.

00:57:14.476 --> 00:57:16.603
- Hey y'all,
can you guys hear me?

00:57:16.603 --> 00:57:17.896
- Yeah.
- Yes.

00:57:17.896 --> 00:57:18.939
- Sound okay?

00:57:18.939 --> 00:57:20.190
- Yep.

00:57:20.190 --> 00:57:22.860
- Van, I didn't know about
the loss of your mother.

00:57:22.860 --> 00:57:25.362
Sorry to hear about that.

00:57:25.362 --> 00:57:26.321
- I appreciate everybody.

00:57:26.321 --> 00:57:27.155
I really do.

00:57:27.155 --> 00:57:28.115
I'm glad we're getting
back together.

00:57:28.115 --> 00:57:31.368
Maybe we can, can get
some things done together.

00:57:31.368 --> 00:57:33.328
How do people think
about this idea

00:57:33.328 --> 00:57:36.582
of a trip to D.C.
and Los Angeles?

00:57:36.582 --> 00:57:40.586
I have been working
increasingly with Jared Kushner

00:57:40.586 --> 00:57:44.381
and Kellyanne Conway in
the Trump White House.

00:57:44.381 --> 00:57:45.507
I think people are gonna listen

00:57:45.507 --> 00:57:46.592
to what this group has to say

00:57:46.592 --> 00:57:48.677
because there's no
group like it.

00:57:48.677 --> 00:57:50.721
- I think it's a great idea.

00:57:50.762 --> 00:57:53.891
{\an8}It may be the one chance
that I get in this lifetime

00:57:53.891 --> 00:57:58.020
{\an8}to speak that truth to
power, no matter who it is.

00:57:58.020 --> 00:57:59.396
- I'm excited about it.

00:57:59.396 --> 00:58:01.773
You know, it's good for
any leader to listen

00:58:01.773 --> 00:58:06.361
to the people that have the
issue in their communities.

00:58:11.575 --> 00:58:13.535
{\an8}- I ain't going into the
Trump White House, right.

00:58:13.535 --> 00:58:17.289
I got like, "Nah,
I'm not doing that."

00:58:17.289 --> 00:58:21.084
- Should I take a stand and
not even take this opportunity

00:58:21.084 --> 00:58:22.753
'cause of Trump being in
the White House?

00:58:22.753 --> 00:58:26.465
What would that reflect like
on my community and my people?

00:58:26.465 --> 00:58:28.634
Like, right, that was
an internal struggle.

00:58:28.634 --> 00:58:29.635
- To like interact with people

00:58:29.635 --> 00:58:32.971
who I know who vote against
me, who speak against me,

00:58:32.971 --> 00:58:34.348
who live against me,

00:58:34.348 --> 00:58:38.310
I mean, my existence and
people like me,

00:58:38.310 --> 00:58:41.480
it just doesn't seem
like a healthy choice.

00:58:41.480 --> 00:58:45.067
- I have no doubt Trump,
Kelly lying Conway

00:58:47.903 --> 00:58:50.906
would find a way to misuse it.

00:58:50.906 --> 00:58:54.701
- To your point, they can
use our presence there

00:58:54.701 --> 00:58:57.162
in any way they want.

00:58:57.162 --> 00:59:00.457
And that's not a risk
that I'm willing to take.

00:59:00.457 --> 00:59:04.294
- As shocking an idea
as it is from this side,

00:59:04.294 --> 00:59:08.048
that we would go, it's equally
shocking on their side,

00:59:08.048 --> 00:59:09.424
that anyone would go.

00:59:09.424 --> 00:59:12.469
Because the only people
who will go

00:59:12.469 --> 00:59:14.972
are the people who
shouldn't go.

00:59:14.972 --> 00:59:16.473
That's my problem.

00:59:18.392 --> 00:59:21.854
I mean, I'm literally living
a nightmare

00:59:21.854 --> 00:59:24.565
where the only people
who will go

00:59:24.565 --> 00:59:27.776
are the people you know
damn well shouldn't go.

00:59:27.776 --> 00:59:30.737
And the people who damn
well should go won't go.

00:59:30.737 --> 00:59:33.407
- Look, I'm looking for
forward to folks

00:59:33.407 --> 00:59:36.869
from West Virginia coming to
South Central Los Angeles.

00:59:36.869 --> 00:59:40.622
To me, that's where the
organizing is happening.

00:59:40.622 --> 00:59:43.292
For me, it's just not in
the White House.

00:59:43.292 --> 00:59:44.710
(solemn music)

00:59:44.710 --> 00:59:46.712
- We almost forgot you.
(laughing)

00:59:46.712 --> 00:59:48.714
- I was getting worried.

01:00:10.444 --> 01:00:12.362
- Come on, y'all.

01:00:12.362 --> 01:00:17.075
Dogon, want y'all to meet my
friends from West Virginia.

01:00:17.117 --> 01:00:20.537
{\an8}General Dogon been organizing
with LA CAN

01:00:20.537 --> 01:00:22.039
{\an8}from what was it?

01:00:22.039 --> 01:00:23.207
{\an8}- 2005.
- 2005.

01:00:24.374 --> 01:00:25.250
- [Dogon] All right,
y'all ready?

01:00:25.250 --> 01:00:26.335
- [Man] Yeah.

01:00:28.045 --> 01:00:32.049
- Skid row was created
as a containment zone

01:00:32.049 --> 01:00:35.761
to contain L.A.'s unfavorable
citizens.

01:00:35.761 --> 01:00:38.347
(solemn music)

01:00:41.141 --> 01:00:44.144
It's about a 82% Black.

01:00:44.144 --> 01:00:48.649
About 90% of us is broke
below the poverty level.

01:00:57.241 --> 01:00:58.825
- This could be us.

01:01:09.461 --> 01:01:10.921
{\an8}- I've been down 15 years

01:01:10.921 --> 01:01:13.507
and I still got 18 more
years to go.

01:01:13.507 --> 01:01:16.009
When I started using drugs,
I was nine years old.

01:01:16.009 --> 01:01:18.220
I never had moral
support, physical support,

01:01:18.220 --> 01:01:20.514
emotionally support,
no, nothing.

01:01:20.514 --> 01:01:22.933
- We may call for help over
and over and over again.

01:01:22.933 --> 01:01:26.687
It may take us several
times to get it right,

01:01:28.814 --> 01:01:31.149
but it can happen.

01:01:31.149 --> 01:01:35.946
- I can pick myself up in here
or I could go back out there.

01:01:35.946 --> 01:01:40.075
And, I'm very scared,
I'm scared about that.

01:01:40.075 --> 01:01:42.661
(solemn music)

01:01:49.042 --> 01:01:49.877
- Doesn't make sense.

01:01:49.877 --> 01:01:51.420
I mean,
especially if you're there

01:01:51.420 --> 01:01:53.755
because you have an
addiction problem.

01:01:53.755 --> 01:01:56.800
- Whatever their substance
was, it was criminalized.

01:01:56.800 --> 01:01:58.552
You could hear, they
cycled in and out of jails

01:01:58.552 --> 01:02:02.097
as opposed to the compassion
as being handled right now,

01:02:02.097 --> 01:02:03.932
you know,
that started with opioids.

01:02:03.932 --> 01:02:06.310
- Yes, the answer continues
to be like,

01:02:06.310 --> 01:02:09.646
"Yo, on this coast, we gonna
continue to lock them up."

01:02:09.646 --> 01:02:11.523
(solemn music)

01:02:11.523 --> 01:02:12.649
- Father, we do praise you

01:02:12.649 --> 01:02:15.360
and we thank you for what
we've learned and experienced.

01:02:15.360 --> 01:02:18.655
We give you praise in Jesus'
name, Amen.

01:02:21.033 --> 01:02:23.452
Get him to walk down skid row

01:02:23.452 --> 01:02:26.496
and see really what we've saw.

01:02:26.496 --> 01:02:29.750
Go to the prison to hear what
we've heard.

01:02:29.750 --> 01:02:31.168
This is heart-wrenching.

01:02:31.168 --> 01:02:32.211
- Our narratives have
been shift

01:02:32.211 --> 01:02:35.923
because we're in a relationship
with each other, you know.

01:02:35.923 --> 01:02:38.342
But, for folks who like
never been exposed to us

01:02:38.342 --> 01:02:40.427
or the conditions that we've
talked about

01:02:40.427 --> 01:02:41.637
or are the experiences
that we've had,

01:02:41.637 --> 01:02:43.931
it's brand new to them.

01:02:43.931 --> 01:02:48.769
- What each and every one
of you showed us people

01:02:48.769 --> 01:02:53.273
from the hollers is something
that we'll take back

01:02:53.273 --> 01:02:55.150
and use every day.

01:02:55.150 --> 01:02:57.486
And if we don't, shame on us.

01:03:00.030 --> 01:03:02.616
(gentle music)

01:03:10.666 --> 01:03:14.044
- Do you wanna grab
some breakfast?

01:03:14.044 --> 01:03:14.878
- No.

01:03:16.088 --> 01:03:18.340
I don't want to go to school.
(crying)

01:03:18.340 --> 01:03:20.050
- Mommy's got to go up
to the Capitol though.

01:03:20.050 --> 01:03:21.969
You see that big building
right there?

01:03:21.969 --> 01:03:23.512
(child sobbing)

01:03:23.512 --> 01:03:24.346
We'll see you soon.

01:03:24.346 --> 01:03:25.973
I love you.

01:03:25.973 --> 01:03:26.807
Bye, baby.

01:03:27.975 --> 01:03:30.644
Had to get my three-year-old
off to daycare.

01:03:30.644 --> 01:03:32.771
So, we're really all eyes

01:03:32.771 --> 01:03:35.023
on the sentencing reform
provisions.

01:03:35.774 --> 01:03:37.651
{\an8}- President Trump took
it a step further today

01:03:37.651 --> 01:03:41.113
{\an8}backing not just prison
reform, but the sentencing

01:03:41.113 --> 01:03:43.991
{\an8}that puts people behind
bars in the first place.

01:03:43.991 --> 01:03:47.160
{\an8}- The bipartisan Senate group
have a prison reform deal

01:03:47.160 --> 01:03:48.579
{\an8}that would shorten and
reduce the use

01:03:48.579 --> 01:03:50.497
of some mandatory minimum
sentences

01:03:50.497 --> 01:03:52.040
for non-violent offenders,

01:03:52.040 --> 01:03:55.127
eliminate a regulation that
triggers longer sentences

01:03:55.127 --> 01:03:56.920
and reducing sentencing
disparity

01:03:56.920 --> 01:03:59.006
between crack and
powder cocaine

01:03:59.006 --> 01:04:01.425
for some convicted offenders.

01:04:02.759 --> 01:04:06.430
- Republicans and Democrats
started negotiating

01:04:06.430 --> 01:04:09.433
to get sentencing reform
into the bill.

01:04:09.433 --> 01:04:12.811
But, they didn't wanna
introduce the bill

01:04:12.811 --> 01:04:15.772
until the president
endorsed it.

01:04:15.772 --> 01:04:18.734
Trump put out a tweet that
said, you know,

01:04:18.734 --> 01:04:21.528
"I support adding to
sentencing reform

01:04:21.528 --> 01:04:23.989
to the First Step Act."

01:04:23.989 --> 01:04:28.243
And the Senate introduced the
bill with sentencing reform.

01:04:28.243 --> 01:04:29.953
It took both factions, right?

01:04:29.953 --> 01:04:32.247
It took the people who
didn't like it in the House

01:04:32.247 --> 01:04:33.749
calling for it to be stronger.

01:04:33.749 --> 01:04:36.001
It took those of us who
got it through the House

01:04:36.001 --> 01:04:38.045
breaking the logjam.

01:04:38.045 --> 01:04:39.630
- A number of progressive
groups,

01:04:39.630 --> 01:04:42.049
which had previously opposed
an earlier House version

01:04:42.049 --> 01:04:44.885
of the First Step Act,
have come out in support.

01:04:44.885 --> 01:04:47.638
{\an8}- Many of us in the civil
rights community

01:04:47.638 --> 01:04:51.099
{\an8}was very concerned at first
sentencing was not in.

01:04:51.099 --> 01:04:55.062
{\an8}- It is not the overhaul that
the system desperately needs,

01:04:55.062 --> 01:04:57.606
{\an8}but once the sentencing
provisions were added,

01:04:57.606 --> 01:05:00.484
we became supportive
of the bill.

01:05:00.484 --> 01:05:02.569
- Are you coming here
expecting better news from me?

01:05:02.569 --> 01:05:03.445
- I am.

01:05:03.445 --> 01:05:05.614
I'm coming on bended knee.

01:05:06.532 --> 01:05:07.491
(Bonnie laughing)

01:05:07.491 --> 01:05:08.867
I'm coming begging.

01:05:08.909 --> 01:05:09.785
{\an8}- I don't like the idea

01:05:09.785 --> 01:05:11.537
{\an8}that we're not dealing
with sentencing, really,

01:05:11.537 --> 01:05:14.081
{\an8}although we did a little,
little bit, you know.

01:05:14.081 --> 01:05:16.500
It represents a baby step.

01:05:16.500 --> 01:05:18.252
So, I'm more than likely
gonna support it.

01:05:18.252 --> 01:05:23.257
- (cheering) Yes, yes,
yes, thank you so much.

01:05:27.302 --> 01:05:29.388
Listen, I gotta high bar.

01:05:30.722 --> 01:05:33.934
If I had to walk outta here
and say you weren't with me,

01:05:33.934 --> 01:05:35.769
I was gonna have a hard
time, man.

01:05:35.769 --> 01:05:37.187
That's awesome.
- Yeah.

01:05:37.187 --> 01:05:38.063
- I'm gonna take yes for
an answer

01:05:38.063 --> 01:05:39.439
and get outta here before
you change your mind.

01:05:39.439 --> 01:05:41.358
(tense music)

01:05:41.358 --> 01:05:43.110
- I had a very long
conversation with Cory Booker.

01:05:43.110 --> 01:05:45.195
And he said, "I'm gonna
be behind this bill.

01:05:45.195 --> 01:05:46.572
"I don't care about
the politics."

01:05:46.572 --> 01:05:48.240
- Democrats aren't
standing in the way here,

01:05:48.240 --> 01:05:49.324
it's Republicans.

01:05:49.324 --> 01:05:51.535
{\an8}- Prisoners should be given
a helping hand in prison

01:05:51.535 --> 01:05:52.995
{\an8}once they pay their
debt to society

01:05:52.995 --> 01:05:54.997
so they won't be a menace
to society.

01:05:54.997 --> 01:05:56.373
{\an8}And unfortunately,
in the Senate,

01:05:56.373 --> 01:05:59.960
{\an8}it's become a early release
and sentencing reduction bill.

01:05:59.960 --> 01:06:02.296
- Let me ask you about
Tom Cotton's opposition.

01:06:02.296 --> 01:06:04.423
{\an8}It's a counter-campaign
that one fellow Senator

01:06:04.423 --> 01:06:07.885
{\an8}believes came at the
request of Mitch McConnell.

01:06:07.885 --> 01:06:09.219
{\an8}Do you believe
the majority leader

01:06:09.219 --> 01:06:12.222
is trying to quietly
kill this bill?

01:06:13.098 --> 01:06:14.641
- [Van] How are you, sir?

01:06:14.641 --> 01:06:15.475
What do you think it would take

01:06:15.475 --> 01:06:16.518
to get Mitch McConnell
to do it?

01:06:16.518 --> 01:06:20.355
{\an8}- Making it clear this
is a modest first step.

01:06:22.566 --> 01:06:24.234
And that it is bipartisan.

01:06:24.234 --> 01:06:26.904
Everybody says nothing
can happen bipartisan.

01:06:26.904 --> 01:06:27.821
Well, what do we think,

01:06:27.821 --> 01:06:30.407
we have 60 people in the Senate
on board?

01:06:30.407 --> 01:06:34.286
All right, so, you know,
what's his problem?

01:06:34.286 --> 01:06:35.954
- This is just the tip of
the iceberg.

01:06:35.954 --> 01:06:38.874
{\an8}Even though I think we'd
get 70, 75 votes on this

01:06:38.874 --> 01:06:40.000
{\an8}if we're allowed a vote,

01:06:40.000 --> 01:06:41.043
{\an8}but it's looking more
and more like

01:06:41.043 --> 01:06:42.920
we're not gonna be
allowed to vote.

01:06:42.920 --> 01:06:45.672
{\an8}- What's your view on
McConnell's willingness.

01:06:45.672 --> 01:06:47.257
{\an8}It seems like he's.

01:06:47.257 --> 01:06:49.760
{\an8}- He holds his cards close.
- Yeah.

01:06:49.760 --> 01:06:51.929
{\an8}- And he's holding them
especially close right now.

01:06:51.929 --> 01:06:53.514
We're continuing to
encourage him

01:06:53.514 --> 01:06:56.642
from every direction we can.

01:06:56.642 --> 01:06:57.476
- [Interviewer] First of all,

01:06:57.476 --> 01:06:58.769
is there gonna be
a vote on this?

01:06:58.769 --> 01:06:59.978
- I sure hope so.

01:06:59.978 --> 01:07:01.438
There needs to be.

01:07:01.438 --> 01:07:03.440
- This bill is terribly flawed.

01:07:03.440 --> 01:07:07.528
99% of the people we prosecute
are truly, actually guilty

01:07:07.528 --> 01:07:09.780
of the crime for which they're
prosecuted.

01:07:09.780 --> 01:07:13.992
The purpose of sentencing
is to punish, to deter,

01:07:13.992 --> 01:07:16.578
to incapacitate, and yes,
to rehabilitate.

01:07:16.578 --> 01:07:17.621
I know, but it's so important.

01:07:17.621 --> 01:07:20.415
- You spend most of your
time, even up there,

01:07:20.415 --> 01:07:22.709
talking about punishing
people and deterring people,

01:07:22.709 --> 01:07:24.586
incapacitating people.

01:07:24.586 --> 01:07:25.879
We can do a better job,

01:07:25.879 --> 01:07:27.506
and we should do a better
job on rehabilitation.

01:07:27.506 --> 01:07:28.590
- If we pass this legislation,

01:07:28.590 --> 01:07:30.551
we'll be paying more and
getting less

01:07:30.551 --> 01:07:31.677
than we currently have.

01:07:31.677 --> 01:07:32.511
How does that make sense?

01:07:32.511 --> 01:07:33.971
- I want you to meet Louis.

01:07:33.971 --> 01:07:34.805
- My name is Louis-
- Federal or state?

01:07:34.805 --> 01:07:36.557
- Federal.
- Federal?

01:07:36.557 --> 01:07:38.392
Let me see your
pre-sentence report.

01:07:38.392 --> 01:07:39.643
Let me see your
pre-sentence report

01:07:39.643 --> 01:07:41.478
then you and I can have
a meaningful conversation

01:07:41.478 --> 01:07:43.146
because so many people talk

01:07:43.146 --> 01:07:46.108
about their circumstances and-
- You haven't

01:07:46.108 --> 01:07:47.109
even listened to him.

01:07:47.109 --> 01:07:48.068
- I know, but.

01:07:48.068 --> 01:07:49.403
- You can't just throw
somebody in a category

01:07:49.403 --> 01:07:50.237
and not listen, it's not fair.

01:07:50.237 --> 01:07:51.071
- I'm not throwing him
anywhere.

01:07:51.071 --> 01:07:51.905
But you, as a journalist,

01:07:51.905 --> 01:07:53.073
need to see his
pre-sentence report.

01:07:53.073 --> 01:07:54.449
- And you, as a human being,

01:07:54.449 --> 01:07:55.284
need to listen to-
- I will.

01:07:55.284 --> 01:07:56.326
- Are you a father?

01:07:56.326 --> 01:07:58.120
- I am far much more than
something

01:07:58.120 --> 01:07:59.663
that has been written about me.

01:07:59.663 --> 01:08:02.666
I'm a father, I'm a husband,
I'm a son.

01:08:02.666 --> 01:08:04.877
I'm a licensed clinician in
the state of Connecticut.

01:08:04.877 --> 01:08:07.004
I have a master's degree
in clinical counseling.

01:08:07.004 --> 01:08:08.630
I have a bachelor's degree
in psychology

01:08:08.630 --> 01:08:10.841
and I also have a bachelor's
degree in criminal justice.

01:08:10.841 --> 01:08:13.594
All of which I earned
while I was incarcerated.

01:08:13.594 --> 01:08:15.929
Now, however-
- Isn't that a terrific thing?

01:08:15.929 --> 01:08:17.514
In the federal system, you
learned all those things?

01:08:17.514 --> 01:08:18.765
- However-
- Is that right?

01:08:18.765 --> 01:08:20.100
- Yes, but here's the caveat.

01:08:20.100 --> 01:08:22.186
I did not,
I did not earn those things

01:08:22.186 --> 01:08:26.315
by way of the institution
subsidizing my education.

01:08:26.315 --> 01:08:27.858
I learned those things
and I was,

01:08:27.858 --> 01:08:30.527
I had the, the great,
the great fortune

01:08:30.527 --> 01:08:33.322
of being educated and
matriculating through
university

01:08:33.322 --> 01:08:35.824
because I was subsidized
by my family and friends.

01:08:35.824 --> 01:08:37.576
And I shouldn't be
exceptionalized.

01:08:37.576 --> 01:08:38.702
I take these conversations back

01:08:38.702 --> 01:08:40.120
to the people who are
on the inside

01:08:40.120 --> 01:08:41.246
and I tell them that there
are people

01:08:41.246 --> 01:08:43.916
who don't want you to
come home.

01:08:44.833 --> 01:08:45.667
- Let's stay together.
- Yeah.

01:08:45.667 --> 01:08:47.586
- Are you okay?
- Yeah.

01:08:47.586 --> 01:08:49.463
- Thank you, sir.
- Thank you.

01:08:49.463 --> 01:08:50.297
(telephone ringing)

01:08:50.297 --> 01:08:51.882
- It's Jared's now.

01:08:56.595 --> 01:08:58.597
So, where does that leave us?

01:08:58.597 --> 01:09:00.098
What do you think?

01:09:02.809 --> 01:09:03.644
Yeah.

01:09:06.396 --> 01:09:07.773
Um, all right, man.

01:09:07.773 --> 01:09:10.025
We'll let, keep fighting,
appreciate you.

01:09:10.025 --> 01:09:11.985
Okay, bye, all right, goodbye.

01:09:11.985 --> 01:09:14.905
(solemn music)

01:09:14.905 --> 01:09:17.324
McConnell and Cotton beat us.

01:09:18.367 --> 01:09:20.869
That's where we are right now.

01:09:27.584 --> 01:09:30.045
- Tom Cotton had come
over to the White House.

01:09:30.045 --> 01:09:33.131
He happened to see the
president, pulled him aside

01:09:33.131 --> 01:09:36.051
and really, you know,
I think scared him

01:09:36.051 --> 01:09:39.805
and the president decided
not to continue

01:09:39.805 --> 01:09:41.348
to endorse the bill

01:09:43.976 --> 01:09:47.229
- We're not dead,
but we're in a ditch.

01:09:57.656 --> 01:09:59.908
It's hard to ask people to do
more, right?

01:09:59.908 --> 01:10:02.578
And that's what we gotta do.

01:10:02.578 --> 01:10:06.456
I'm calling influencers, trying
to get them to take action.

01:10:06.456 --> 01:10:09.710
This is like a one shot into
the heart of the Death Star.

01:10:09.710 --> 01:10:12.296
You gotta do a bunch of stuff

01:10:12.296 --> 01:10:15.382
with no margin for error,
or you lose.

01:10:15.382 --> 01:10:17.551
- [Reporter] Happening
today, Kim Kardashian West

01:10:17.551 --> 01:10:20.804
{\an8}is going to the White House
to discuss prison reform.

01:10:20.804 --> 01:10:21.638
{\an8}- [Reporter] This issue really

01:10:21.638 --> 01:10:23.932
{\an8}does attract very strange
bedfellows.

01:10:23.932 --> 01:10:26.226
{\an8}Jared Kushner hopes
that dynamic

01:10:26.226 --> 01:10:28.645
{\an8}can help lead to bipartisan
support.

01:10:28.645 --> 01:10:31.023
{\an8}- Good to see you.
- You, too.

01:10:31.023 --> 01:10:31.857
{\an8}How are you?

01:10:31.857 --> 01:10:33.192
{\an8}- I got the Hollywood
kiss down.

01:10:33.192 --> 01:10:35.819
{\an8}- Hollywood kiss down,
yeah, don't ruin the makeup.

01:10:35.819 --> 01:10:38.739
- The president can stay
with this issue

01:10:38.739 --> 01:10:39.573
and get stronger on it,

01:10:39.573 --> 01:10:41.325
or it could just fall
off the radar screen.

01:10:41.325 --> 01:10:43.785
We just gotta keep this
candle lit.

01:10:43.785 --> 01:10:45.412
It doesn't have to be
the biggest, you know,

01:10:45.412 --> 01:10:49.791
torch in the room, but
it's gotta stay lit.

01:10:49.791 --> 01:10:51.793
- [Interviewer] You both have
spent time with the president.

01:10:51.793 --> 01:10:55.172
The fear is that this is some
form of a political ploy.

01:10:55.172 --> 01:10:57.466
Is a genuine commitment on
behalf of the president?

01:10:57.466 --> 01:11:00.385
- I truly think it is
a genuine commitment,

01:11:00.385 --> 01:11:02.638
but let's say it's not.

01:11:02.638 --> 01:11:05.891
It's still helping a lot of
people and getting people out.

01:11:05.891 --> 01:11:09.895
If it's life versus
criticism and my reputation,

01:11:11.522 --> 01:11:15.442
I will gladly walk proudly
into the White House

01:11:18.612 --> 01:11:19.947
and save someone's life.

01:11:19.947 --> 01:11:22.491
(solemn music)

01:11:38.799 --> 01:11:42.970
- It's my decision not to
go into the White House.

01:11:44.263 --> 01:11:47.224
I'm glad that some folks
are going in.

01:11:47.224 --> 01:11:48.642
But, for me, nah.

01:11:50.269 --> 01:11:53.897
I'm responsible for my role in
movements.

01:11:53.897 --> 01:11:56.233
LA CAN, Black Lives Matter,

01:11:56.233 --> 01:11:59.736
I'm holding down something
bigger than me.

01:12:07.077 --> 01:12:10.622
- [Tylo] It's not easy
to walk those halls.

01:12:12.207 --> 01:12:14.084
But, I think about folks

01:12:14.084 --> 01:12:17.337
who had to push the lines
in history

01:12:17.337 --> 01:12:20.090
and I wanna invoke
their spirits.

01:12:21.675 --> 01:12:24.845
I believe that it's gonna
take brave conversations

01:12:24.845 --> 01:12:28.515
to bring about some
solutions for our folks.

01:12:31.518 --> 01:12:33.770
If I have the opportunity
to speak on their behalf,

01:12:33.770 --> 01:12:35.105
who am I not to?

01:12:37.441 --> 01:12:39.067
- [Van] Hey, how are you?

01:12:39.067 --> 01:12:40.736
{\an8}- Love this guy.
- I know.

01:12:40.736 --> 01:12:41.570
{\an8}- How are you?
- I'm so happy to see you.

01:12:41.570 --> 01:12:42.404
{\an8}- Thank you for being here.

01:12:42.404 --> 01:12:43.238
{\an8}- Thank you for doing,

01:12:43.238 --> 01:12:45.824
{\an8}I brought the best people
in the world to meet you.

01:12:45.824 --> 01:12:47.242
{\an8}- [Kellyanne] Hi,
I'm Kellyanne.

01:12:47.242 --> 01:12:48.368
- Hi, Tylo James,
nice to meet you.

01:12:48.368 --> 01:12:49.286
- [Kellyanne] Nice to see
you, Tyler.

01:12:49.286 --> 01:12:51.914
- Community Coalition in
South Los Angeles, Tylo.

01:12:51.914 --> 01:12:53.123
- [Kellyanne] Oh, Tylo!
- Yes.

01:12:53.123 --> 01:12:53.957
- [Kellyanne] That's
a great name.

01:12:53.957 --> 01:12:55.000
- I do youth organizing work.

01:12:55.000 --> 01:12:58.128
So, I do prevention
work with young people.

01:12:58.128 --> 01:12:59.755
- You tell your story
so they can tell theirs.

01:12:59.755 --> 01:13:00.631
- [Tylo] Of course.

01:13:00.631 --> 01:13:01.590
- [Kellyanne] Hi,
I'm Kellyanne.

01:13:01.590 --> 01:13:02.591
- Hi, nice to meet you.

01:13:02.591 --> 01:13:03.425
- [Kellyanne] It's my pleasure.

01:13:03.425 --> 01:13:07.429
- Dee Pierce, I've suffered
watching my daughter suffer

01:13:07.429 --> 01:13:09.056
through heroin addiction.

01:13:09.056 --> 01:13:13.894
Several times she's tried to
be clean and she's failed.

01:13:13.894 --> 01:13:16.021
- Well, somehow your
daughter was able

01:13:16.021 --> 01:13:17.231
to accomplish what many don't,

01:13:17.231 --> 01:13:19.608
which is busting through
that stigma and that silence.

01:13:19.608 --> 01:13:20.984
And that's what we're
really trying to change.

01:13:20.984 --> 01:13:22.277
That people don't have
to feel alone

01:13:22.277 --> 01:13:23.695
and they don't have to
feel afraid.

01:13:23.695 --> 01:13:25.364
The first thing to do is
talk about it.

01:13:25.364 --> 01:13:27.699
(solemn music)

01:13:27.699 --> 01:13:29.701
- Now they're quick to
talk about drug addiction

01:13:29.701 --> 01:13:31.328
in mental health terms,

01:13:31.328 --> 01:13:35.332
when it should've always
been that conversation.

01:13:36.667 --> 01:13:38.710
I think that it's good for
them to see the disparities

01:13:38.710 --> 01:13:41.964
between the different
drugs epidemics.

01:13:41.964 --> 01:13:43.048
But, to what extent

01:13:43.048 --> 01:13:46.134
are we gonna continue these
conversations?

01:13:46.134 --> 01:13:48.303
I'm looking for solutions.

01:13:58.897 --> 01:14:00.148
- Hi.
- Hi, hi.

01:14:02.484 --> 01:14:05.237
- This is the nucleus
of a group

01:14:05.237 --> 01:14:07.698
that we believe could
really grow.

01:14:07.698 --> 01:14:11.535
- People coming together
across community

01:14:11.535 --> 01:14:16.331
is the way that we're gonna
get this institution to work.

01:14:16.331 --> 01:14:18.917
- I'm here because I'm a parent

01:14:20.961 --> 01:14:24.756
that has lost our son
because of an addiction.

01:14:26.425 --> 01:14:29.428
I was one of those
people that said,

01:14:31.471 --> 01:14:34.474
"You got yourself into this.

01:14:34.474 --> 01:14:37.561
"You need to get yourself
out of it."

01:14:51.783 --> 01:14:55.078
Rather than ask God why he
took my son,

01:14:55.078 --> 01:14:58.498
I thank him for the 22 years
he gave me.

01:14:58.498 --> 01:15:00.167
- I had mine for 23.

01:15:01.543 --> 01:15:05.214
I lost my daughter and my
son-in-law.

01:15:05.214 --> 01:15:06.131
It never goes away.

01:15:06.131 --> 01:15:07.341
- It doesn't.

01:15:07.341 --> 01:15:10.427
- [Karen] You think of
them every single day.

01:15:10.427 --> 01:15:12.971
(solemn music)

01:15:14.097 --> 01:15:16.975
- This is about a public
health matter.

01:15:16.975 --> 01:15:18.936
{\an8}It is something that we
can address

01:15:18.936 --> 01:15:22.189
{\an8}if we are smart with the
limited resources we have.

01:15:22.189 --> 01:15:24.149
Keep speaking and loudly.

01:15:24.149 --> 01:15:27.861
- [Dee] This is where we
all have so many ideas,

01:15:27.861 --> 01:15:30.030
but y'all have to hear us.

01:15:35.077 --> 01:15:36.411
{\an8}- You know,
I'm afraid we're gonna lose

01:15:36.411 --> 01:15:37.829
{\an8}a whole generation to this.

01:15:37.829 --> 01:15:42.000
{\an8}- Humanity is not gonna
survive in a house divided.

01:15:42.000 --> 01:15:46.380
I rode with the sheriff in
his van through West Virginia

01:15:46.380 --> 01:15:51.385
with Confederate flags flying
everywhere, as a Black man,

01:15:51.593 --> 01:15:54.888
to show that we can
look beyond red and blue

01:15:54.888 --> 01:15:57.266
and say, we gonna organize.

01:15:57.266 --> 01:16:00.435
- You are doing the great work.

01:16:00.435 --> 01:16:03.355
- [Dee] You're a great
inspiration.

01:16:04.731 --> 01:16:08.360
- If we could have some
bipartisan bottom-up motion

01:16:08.360 --> 01:16:11.697
and some bipartisan
top-down motion,

01:16:11.697 --> 01:16:13.073
then at least there's hope.

01:16:13.073 --> 01:16:15.659
(gentle music)

01:16:18.579 --> 01:16:22.165
- [Photographer] And
looking right here, please.

01:16:22.165 --> 01:16:24.084
- Today,
we're waiting on the president

01:16:24.084 --> 01:16:26.420
to see if he will endorse
the First Step Act.

01:16:26.420 --> 01:16:29.464
And that would be a
really, really big deal.

01:16:29.464 --> 01:16:31.842
- What does he say today,
what do you guys think?

01:16:31.842 --> 01:16:34.011
Are we betting on this?
(laughs)

01:16:34.011 --> 01:16:38.390
- [Man] I hope he says whatever
Jared tells him to say.

01:16:38.390 --> 01:16:40.350
- [Jessica] I just looked
up and saw the building

01:16:40.350 --> 01:16:44.313
and I got this butterflies in
my stomach.

01:16:44.313 --> 01:16:46.732
What is about to happen?

01:16:46.732 --> 01:16:48.942
- Hello, everybody.

01:16:48.942 --> 01:16:51.236
- Trump, Trump, Trump.

01:16:51.236 --> 01:16:52.738
- Talking about
the First Step Act.

01:16:52.738 --> 01:16:53.822
- [Kim] She's so nervous.

01:16:53.822 --> 01:16:56.742
- [Man] Jessica's right
over there.

01:16:58.285 --> 01:17:00.370
- Today I'm thrilled
to announce my support

01:17:00.370 --> 01:17:02.080
for this bipartisan bill

01:17:02.080 --> 01:17:03.832
that will make our
communities safer.

01:17:03.832 --> 01:17:05.167
(people cheering)

01:17:05.167 --> 01:17:07.628
And give former inmates
a second chance at life

01:17:07.628 --> 01:17:09.796
after they have served
their time.

01:17:09.796 --> 01:17:10.923
We will have done something

01:17:10.923 --> 01:17:14.468
that hasn't been done in many,
many years.

01:17:14.468 --> 01:17:18.222
- Honestly, I was like
about to cry up there.

01:17:19.264 --> 01:17:20.641
And then, when he was like,

01:17:20.641 --> 01:17:22.351
but then he said something
about dangerous criminals

01:17:22.351 --> 01:17:23.685
and I was like.

01:17:23.685 --> 01:17:24.603
- I know what he said.

01:17:24.603 --> 01:17:25.437
I heard that.

01:17:25.437 --> 01:17:26.647
I was like, uh.

01:17:26.647 --> 01:17:28.607
- I was like, maybe don't.

01:17:28.607 --> 01:17:33.278
{\an8}- Eternal God, help us all
to rise above petty rivalries

01:17:35.322 --> 01:17:36.907
{\an8}to a fresh unity.
- We pray

01:17:36.907 --> 01:17:38.492
that you will touch
their hearts,

01:17:38.492 --> 01:17:39.618
that you will touch
their minds,

01:17:39.618 --> 01:17:41.036
that you will move
their spirits.

01:17:41.036 --> 01:17:43.622
And we pray that ultimately
your will will prevail

01:17:43.622 --> 01:17:46.416
in this First Step Act bill
being passed.

01:17:46.416 --> 01:17:47.251
- Yesterday, the Senate voted

01:17:47.251 --> 01:17:51.004
{\an8}to advance the pending
criminal justice legislation.

01:17:51.004 --> 01:17:53.590
{\an8}- This bill is our opportunity
to make meaningful changes,

01:17:53.590 --> 01:17:57.010
{\an8}to begin fixing a problem
that plagues our country.

01:17:57.010 --> 01:17:58.679
- I think this is a major bill

01:17:58.679 --> 01:18:00.681
{\an8}that moves in the direction
of justice.

01:18:00.681 --> 01:18:04.643
{\an8}- This bill is a result of
compromises between two sides.

01:18:04.643 --> 01:18:08.063
{\an8}- I wanna see more than
the bill we have today.

01:18:08.063 --> 01:18:10.190
{\an8}And I know we can do more.

01:18:10.190 --> 01:18:12.776
This is a step in the right
direction.

01:18:12.776 --> 01:18:16.947
{\an8}- On this vote, the yeas
are 87, the nays are 12.

01:18:16.947 --> 01:18:19.825
{\an8}This motion has been agreed to.

01:18:19.825 --> 01:18:23.662
(gavel knocking)
(people cheering)

01:18:23.662 --> 01:18:26.248
(gentle music)

01:18:27.708 --> 01:18:29.459
- [Woman] Beautiful.

01:18:29.459 --> 01:18:31.378
- Circle up, circle up.

01:18:33.964 --> 01:18:36.842
You should be able to walk
the halls of this democracy

01:18:36.842 --> 01:18:39.469
and tell the truth about
what's going on

01:18:39.469 --> 01:18:41.138
and get help to people.

01:18:41.138 --> 01:18:42.931
And that's what we did.

01:18:42.931 --> 01:18:44.892
- Today we were vindicated.

01:18:44.892 --> 01:18:47.144
Everybody that we know,
that we fought for,

01:18:47.144 --> 01:18:51.106
everybody's in the circle,
vicariously through us.

01:18:51.106 --> 01:18:52.065
- Everything I went through,

01:18:52.065 --> 01:18:54.443
for everything you three
went through,

01:18:54.443 --> 01:18:56.737
this is beautiful coming
together like this.

01:18:56.737 --> 01:18:58.071
- Let's keep going, all right?

01:18:58.071 --> 01:18:59.698
(people cheering)

01:18:59.698 --> 01:19:00.532
Well done.

01:19:00.532 --> 01:19:02.367
- Thank you.
- Welcome.

01:19:06.121 --> 01:19:08.290
- Here we go.
- Here we go.

01:19:09.958 --> 01:19:12.878
(people murmuring)

01:19:15.506 --> 01:19:18.425
(cameras clicking)

01:19:21.220 --> 01:19:22.429
- [Donald] If you'd
like to say a few words,

01:19:22.429 --> 01:19:23.514
raise your hands.

01:19:23.514 --> 01:19:26.475
- Mr. President,
there's nothing

01:19:26.475 --> 01:19:28.018
more important than freedom.

01:19:28.018 --> 01:19:29.603
That's what America was
founded on,

01:19:29.603 --> 01:19:32.272
what the civil rights
movement was founded on,

01:19:32.272 --> 01:19:35.234
Civil War was fought over,
women's rights,

01:19:35.234 --> 01:19:38.153
all the great movements
about freedom.

01:19:38.153 --> 01:19:40.614
And when you're trying to help
people on the bottom, sir,

01:19:40.614 --> 01:19:43.992
I will work with or against
any Democrat,

01:19:43.992 --> 01:19:46.245
with or against any Republican

01:19:46.245 --> 01:19:48.622
because there is nothing
more important than freedom.

01:19:48.622 --> 01:19:49.456
So, thank you, sir
- Thank you.

01:19:49.456 --> 01:19:52.459
(people applauding)

01:19:58.257 --> 01:20:00.843
(gentle music)

01:20:11.687 --> 01:20:14.606
{\an8}(people murmuring)

01:20:15.649 --> 01:20:16.608
{\an8}- [Van] Good to see you, buddy.

01:20:19.778 --> 01:20:22.739
{\an8}- (laughs) Well, I was gonna
ask you the same thing.

01:20:22.739 --> 01:20:25.993
I was gonna ask you
the same thing.

01:20:25.993 --> 01:20:29.788
- On that note, Van Jones,
what are you doing here?

01:20:29.788 --> 01:20:31.290
- Here's the deal.

01:20:32.374 --> 01:20:36.378
The conservative movement
in this country,

01:20:36.378 --> 01:20:38.922
unfortunately,
from my point of view,

01:20:38.922 --> 01:20:43.927
is now the leader on this issue
of criminal justice reform.

01:20:44.678 --> 01:20:48.807
Now, my problem is I now
have a conservative movement

01:20:48.807 --> 01:20:50.976
that, for libertarian reasons,

01:20:50.976 --> 01:20:52.769
for Christian conservative
reasons,

01:20:52.769 --> 01:20:55.230
and for fiscally conservative
reasons,

01:20:55.230 --> 01:20:57.941
is actually doing a great job
on what should be my issue.

01:20:57.941 --> 01:20:59.109
(people laughing)

01:20:59.109 --> 01:21:01.403
This is supposed to be
my issue.

01:21:01.403 --> 01:21:03.989
You are stealing my issue!
(audience cheering)

01:21:03.989 --> 01:21:06.909
(audience yelling)

01:21:08.035 --> 01:21:11.038
- They're welcoming you-
- They want you to keep going.

01:21:11.038 --> 01:21:12.497
- [Van] You want me to
keep going?

01:21:12.497 --> 01:21:14.416
Look, I'm gonna stay
in my party.

01:21:14.416 --> 01:21:16.418
I'm gonna stay in my party.

01:21:16.418 --> 01:21:18.420
(gentle music)

01:21:18.420 --> 01:21:21.173
- Van said,
"Conservatives are leading

01:21:21.173 --> 01:21:23.800
"the criminal justice reform
movement."

01:21:23.800 --> 01:21:25.969
No, that's a lie.

01:21:25.969 --> 01:21:28.430
- The people who are working
on criminal justice reform

01:21:28.430 --> 01:21:30.098
are not at CPAC.

01:21:30.098 --> 01:21:32.100
{\an8}- He is a fan of these
unholy alliances.

01:21:32.100 --> 01:21:33.268
{\an8}He always has been.

01:21:33.268 --> 01:21:35.437
- Van was playing Mr.
Bojangles for them white folks.

01:21:35.437 --> 01:21:37.397
I hope he was paid well.

01:21:39.775 --> 01:21:42.569
- I think the thing that
was disheartening for me,

01:21:42.569 --> 01:21:44.821
definitely the comments about

01:21:44.821 --> 01:21:47.199
y'all have done more
on the right

01:21:47.199 --> 01:21:49.368
than my friends on the left
have done.

01:21:49.368 --> 01:21:52.412
That was like a slap in
the face, deep disrespect,

01:21:52.412 --> 01:21:55.499
and then strategically,
deep consequence.

01:21:55.499 --> 01:21:57.417
- And there's been some
real warriors,

01:21:57.417 --> 01:22:01.922
some real soldiers, fighting
for this for the longest.

01:22:02.756 --> 01:22:04.633
They didn't get their due.

01:22:04.633 --> 01:22:05.509
- I think that the conversation

01:22:05.509 --> 01:22:08.720
that we're also lifting up
here is erasure of histories

01:22:08.720 --> 01:22:10.973
and of struggles and
I think that our folks

01:22:10.973 --> 01:22:13.892
have experienced that
for too long.

01:22:14.810 --> 01:22:16.520
It comes at a cost.

01:22:16.520 --> 01:22:18.438
- The idea that I'm gonna be
judged based

01:22:18.438 --> 01:22:20.858
on one badly worded sentence.

01:22:21.692 --> 01:22:24.111
I thought it was people
who didn't know me.

01:22:24.111 --> 01:22:26.196
To understand it's people
who actually know my heart,

01:22:26.196 --> 01:22:28.448
who've seen my work,

01:22:28.448 --> 01:22:31.577
I was trying to make the point

01:22:31.577 --> 01:22:34.413
that there's a war inside
that party

01:22:34.413 --> 01:22:36.331
between some of them
that are trying

01:22:36.331 --> 01:22:38.417
to do a little bit more right

01:22:38.417 --> 01:22:40.752
and a bunch of them who
wanna keep doing wrong.

01:22:40.752 --> 01:22:43.797
I understand that what I said
caused harm

01:22:43.797 --> 01:22:46.508
and maybe gave more
harm than help.

01:22:46.508 --> 01:22:50.179
- But, that's why we,
that's why we said,

01:22:50.179 --> 01:22:52.764
"Okay, let's have
the conversation."

01:22:52.764 --> 01:22:55.684
- Do you feel like I'm not
doing a good job listening?

01:22:55.684 --> 01:22:58.145
- Not at this moment.

01:22:58.145 --> 01:22:59.730
- The amount of calls
that I've gotten like,

01:22:59.730 --> 01:23:01.356
"You doing what?

01:23:01.356 --> 01:23:03.025
"You still fucking with him?"

01:23:03.025 --> 01:23:04.568
You're gonna need to come
back to folks

01:23:04.568 --> 01:23:07.779
and be like, "Yo,
this is what I'm about.

01:23:07.779 --> 01:23:10.949
"This is what I, this is
what I'm trying to do."

01:23:10.949 --> 01:23:13.410
You don't carry all of
this yourself.

01:23:13.410 --> 01:23:15.495
We here, you ain't alone.

01:23:18.999 --> 01:23:22.544
- Is this law going to be the
best thing we could have done?

01:23:22.544 --> 01:23:23.378
I don't know.

01:23:23.378 --> 01:23:24.671
Like, I didn't sit on
y'all's team.

01:23:24.671 --> 01:23:25.881
I didn't craft it.

01:23:25.881 --> 01:23:27.466
{\an8}I'm not interested in
meeting with conservatives.

01:23:27.466 --> 01:23:29.760
{\an8}That's like a thing that
you have really picked up,

01:23:29.760 --> 01:23:32.012
{\an8}which I think is a very
interesting strategy,

01:23:32.012 --> 01:23:33.347
an important strategy.

01:23:33.347 --> 01:23:35.432
- But, we don't have enough
Black liberals

01:23:35.432 --> 01:23:37.434
and progressives and radicals
to do that by ourselves.

01:23:37.434 --> 01:23:40.395
It's not possible for
us to free our people

01:23:40.395 --> 01:23:41.939
without dealing with
Republicans.

01:23:41.939 --> 01:23:43.565
- I don't think
a non-engagement strategy

01:23:43.565 --> 01:23:45.526
for everybody is necessary.

01:23:45.526 --> 01:23:49.780
But, if we had a strong
movement, we would say,

01:23:49.780 --> 01:23:53.700
{\an8}"Okay, the majority of us
will not work with them, but-"

01:23:54.535 --> 01:23:56.787
{\an8}- Exactly, this group will.

01:23:57.704 --> 01:24:01.625
- I think we, out of
arrogance and out of pain,

01:24:04.878 --> 01:24:06.588
just said, "We're just
not gonna communicate.

01:24:06.588 --> 01:24:09.925
"Our communication will be
when Trump signs our bill."

01:24:09.925 --> 01:24:12.302
And our people started
coming home.

01:24:12.302 --> 01:24:16.598
I know it's important to try
to figure out how to have

01:24:16.598 --> 01:24:21.478
at least a respectful
relationship with
the Black left.

01:24:21.478 --> 01:24:23.355
- And I think there's a fine
line around

01:24:23.397 --> 01:24:25.899
how we debate the things we
disagree on

01:24:25.899 --> 01:24:28.318
and how we still stay in
relationship to each other.

01:24:28.318 --> 01:24:29.695
And that last piece is
the piece

01:24:29.695 --> 01:24:32.739
I think many of us
have failed at.

01:24:32.739 --> 01:24:35.284
(gentle music)

01:24:39.621 --> 01:24:42.666
- Everybody wants to be able
to come home

01:24:42.666 --> 01:24:44.251
and be appreciated.

01:24:46.587 --> 01:24:49.256
I gave that up to get
a victory.

01:24:52.050 --> 01:24:54.178
You know, I get stuff wrong,

01:24:54.178 --> 01:24:56.597
but I feel that what I'm doing,

01:24:56.597 --> 01:24:58.682
it's in alignment with
what I was raised to do.

01:24:58.682 --> 01:25:01.018
And I'm gonna keep doing it.

01:25:08.483 --> 01:25:11.236
(dramatic music)

01:25:16.116 --> 01:25:21.121
(people cheering)
(gentle music)

01:25:23.540 --> 01:25:25.083
- I'm free at last!

01:25:30.631 --> 01:25:33.300
(woman sobbing)

01:25:37.554 --> 01:25:40.390
(people cheering)

01:25:44.144 --> 01:25:49.149
- [Man] Dee, go, chicken
man, chicken man! (laughing)

01:25:50.025 --> 01:25:53.612
- [Woman] Yeah! (laughing)

01:26:16.885 --> 01:26:19.763
♪ Some call me a sinner ♪

01:26:19.763 --> 01:26:22.474
♪ Some call me a saint ♪

01:26:22.474 --> 01:26:25.227
♪ Sometimes I'm a winner ♪

01:26:25.227 --> 01:26:28.146
♪ Sometimes I ain't ♪

01:26:28.146 --> 01:26:33.151
♪ God didn't wash everybody
with the same color paint ♪

01:26:33.735 --> 01:26:35.863
♪ Sunlight won't fade
this black ♪

01:26:35.863 --> 01:26:39.366
♪ Until it's dull and
it's faint ♪

01:26:39.366 --> 01:26:42.327
♪ Well,
I know there's a purpose ♪

01:26:42.327 --> 01:26:45.414
♪ Hidden under the surface ♪

01:26:45.414 --> 01:26:49.960
♪ All my life I heard that
the truth shall set you free ♪

01:26:49.960 --> 01:26:54.965
♪ Won't somebody tell
the truth sent for me ♪

01:26:55.257 --> 01:26:58.302
♪ You set me free ♪

01:26:58.302 --> 01:27:03.307
♪ I need the truth to set
me free ♪

01:27:03.891 --> 01:27:06.602
♪ From all the lies that
they telling on me ♪

01:27:06.602 --> 01:27:09.229
♪ Set me free ♪

01:27:09.229 --> 01:27:10.898
♪ Well, I know my destiny ♪

01:27:10.898 --> 01:27:12.149
♪ And I walk faithfully ♪

01:27:12.149 --> 01:27:15.235
♪ Set me free ♪

01:27:15.235 --> 01:27:17.821
♪ I want the truth to set
me free ♪

01:27:17.821 --> 01:27:21.950
♪ Set me free ♪

01:27:21.950 --> 01:27:24.453
♪ Mama knows who I am ♪

01:27:24.453 --> 01:27:27.414
♪ She raised me to be
a good man ♪

01:27:27.414 --> 01:27:30.167
♪ And she knows what
I'm made of ♪

01:27:30.167 --> 01:27:33.045
♪ Well, she was sure that
she gave love ♪

01:27:33.045 --> 01:27:36.340
♪ Everybody ain't got
the same home training ♪

01:27:36.340 --> 01:27:38.342
♪ That don't need no
explaining ♪

01:27:38.342 --> 01:27:41.428
♪ It's gonna be some weeds in
the garden ♪

01:27:41.428 --> 01:27:44.389
♪ Spoiled seeds with
hearts that have hardened ♪

01:27:44.389 --> 01:27:47.059
♪ But, I know the purpose
within this ♪

01:27:47.059 --> 01:27:49.645
♪ Underneath the surface is
forgiveness ♪

01:27:49.645 --> 01:27:54.608
♪ And all my life I heard that
the truth shall set you free ♪

01:27:54.942 --> 01:27:59.947
♪ Won't somebody tell
the truth sent for me ♪

01:28:00.197 --> 01:28:02.950
♪ Set me free ♪

01:28:02.950 --> 01:28:05.869
♪ Oh, I need the truth to
set me free ♪

01:28:05.869 --> 01:28:08.914
♪ Set me free ♪

01:28:08.914 --> 01:28:11.458
♪ From all the lies that
they telling on me ♪

01:28:11.458 --> 01:28:14.127
♪ Set me free ♪

01:28:14.127 --> 01:28:15.712
♪ Well, I know my destiny ♪

01:28:15.712 --> 01:28:17.047
♪ And I walk faithfully ♪

01:28:17.047 --> 01:28:20.676
♪ Set me free ♪

01:28:20.676 --> 01:28:23.637
♪ Set me, set me, set me free ♪

01:28:23.637 --> 01:28:26.640
♪ I've been to the edge of
darkness ♪

01:28:26.640 --> 01:28:29.518
♪ Where dreams don't exist ♪

01:28:29.518 --> 01:28:32.646
♪ I've seen the cold and
the heartless ♪

01:28:32.646 --> 01:28:35.399
♪ It doesn't need to be
like this ♪

01:28:35.399 --> 01:28:37.901
♪ I know some way, some how ♪

01:28:37.901 --> 01:28:40.696
♪ The truth will persist ♪

01:28:40.696 --> 01:28:45.701
♪ And I'd never take
for granted my freedom ♪

01:28:48.787 --> 01:28:50.956
♪ Set me free ♪

01:28:50.956 --> 01:28:53.792
♪ Oh, I need the truth to
set me free ♪

01:28:53.792 --> 01:28:56.670
♪ Set me free ♪

01:28:56.670 --> 01:28:59.464
♪ From all the lies that
they telling on me ♪

01:28:59.464 --> 01:29:01.592
♪ Set me free ♪

01:29:01.592 --> 01:29:03.760
♪ Well, I know my destiny ♪

01:29:03.760 --> 01:29:05.470
♪ And I'm walking faithfully ♪

01:29:05.470 --> 01:29:07.347
♪ Set me free ♪

01:29:07.347 --> 01:29:12.352
♪ Set me free ♪

01:29:13.979 --> 01:29:16.398
♪ And give me back all of
my lost time ♪

01:29:16.398 --> 01:29:18.442
♪ Set me free ♪

01:29:18.442 --> 01:29:22.029
♪ Don't tell me that being
Black is my worst crime ♪

01:29:22.029 --> 01:29:23.614
♪ Set me free ♪

01:29:23.614 --> 01:29:26.074
♪ I got dreams and goals ♪

01:29:26.074 --> 01:29:27.784
♪ And it feeds my soul ♪

01:29:27.784 --> 01:29:29.912
♪ Set me free ♪

01:29:29.912 --> 01:29:34.917
♪ Set me free ♪

01:29:38.921 --> 01:29:43.926
♪ Set me free ♪

01:29:44.593 --> 01:29:49.598
♪ Set me free ♪

01:29:50.182 --> 01:29:55.187
♪ Set me free ♪

01:29:55.729 --> 01:29:58.232
♪ Set me free ♪

This film documents how the USA has betrayed its founding ideals in 2015-2025…

Main content

The First Step

Citation

Main credits

Other credits

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