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PoliticsNation with Al Sharpton - Season 2025 Episode 93
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00:00Tonight's lead, a holiday season on edge.
00:16As Washington prepares to get back to work after the Thanksgiving weekend,
00:21it's clear there will be no seasonal pause from President Trump and his White House
00:29in pushing to enact an extreme agenda at home and abroad.
00:34The administration is making new claims today about what may have led up to the deadly attack
00:41on National Guard members in the nation's capital on the eve of the holiday.
00:46And they are pushing for sweeping additional restrictions on immigration,
00:52targeting people from what the president calls third world countries.
00:57Meantime, the president's continued escalation of tensions with Venezuela
01:02is beginning to concern even members of Trump's own political party.
01:08Republican lawmakers reportedly have been questioning the defense secretary,
01:13Pete Hexeth, about his role in the killing of crew members
01:18on alleged drug smuggling boats in the Caribbean.
01:22Political divisions are nearing a breaking point.
01:26At the time of year, we should be focusing on glad tidings and goodwill.
01:32Joining me now to talk about it all is Democratic Illinois Congresswoman Robin Kelly,
01:38a candidate for U.S. Senate.
01:40Congresswoman, I want to start with the latest on the National Guard shooting in D.C.
01:46I know you share my outrage and sadness that these young guards people were targeted
01:52while serving and protecting us.
01:54We may not agree on the mission, but we all honor our troops.
01:59But I want to ask you, though, about Homeland Security's handling of the aftermath.
02:05Secretary Christy Norm was on Meet the Press this morning.
02:09She said the vetting of the alleged gunman was Biden's fault, even though he was granted asylum
02:17this year under Trump.
02:18She said he had been radicalized in the U.S., even though the administration is using the
02:25incident to call for a pause in immigration from other countries.
02:29And she had this response when asked why her department is calling for so-called remigration
02:38after the attack.
02:41Take a listen.
02:41On Friday, DHS posted, quote, remigration now.
02:49As you probably know, this term has been used in different situations, but including by the
02:54far right in Europe to call for the mass deportation of non-white immigrants.
02:59How specifically does the Trump administration define remigration?
03:03Well, President Trump has been working towards cleaning up the mess that Joe Biden left us
03:12ever since he came into the White House.
03:13But how do you define that word, Secretary Noem?
03:15How do you define that word?
03:17Well, first of all, we have criminal illegal aliens we've been targeting since day one.
03:22We have removed millions of people from this country already, just in the few short months
03:26that President Trump has been president, by making sure we're going after criminal illegal
03:30aliens that are murderers, rapists, and criminals, and getting them out of our country, bringing
03:35them to justice, and then encouraging people to go home.
03:40I mean, what do you make of the administration's handling of the tragedy so far, Congresswoman?
03:45Now, obviously, the Secretary never explained what re-immigration or re-immigration is.
03:52But what do you make of their policy so far?
03:55Well, thanks for having me.
03:56And also, I just want to give my condolences to Sarah's family and praying for Andrew and his family.
04:02Absolutely.
04:03Of course, they're going to blame President Biden for everything, even though he received
04:07asylum under President Trump.
04:10But I think they're handling it terribly.
04:13And also, just reeks of racism.
04:17You know, their code words about third world countries, those are countries with people
04:23of color, quite frankly.
04:25You know, remember he brought the South Africans here and other people are welcome, but it doesn't
04:31seem like people of color are welcome.
04:33But the code word is third world countries.
04:36Yeah, the code word is third world countries.
04:38And I guess the white Afrikaners he brought from South Africa doesn't fall into that.
04:45I mean, but on the topic of immigration enforcement, the Washington Post is reporting ICE operations
04:52in your hometown of Chicago having been focused primarily on the worst criminals, as Trump had
04:58promised.
04:59Of the more than 6,000 people arrested in recent months, less than 70 were identified by ICE
05:07as, quote, high public safety risks, end quote.
05:11In the courts, they were never designated as that.
05:14Only 120 have been identified as having any criminal or arrest record at all.
05:21So, bear in mind, people have been killed and injured in these roundups supposedly to keep
05:27us safe.
05:28What's your reaction?
05:30He traumatized the Chicagoland area.
05:33Chicago, yes, but also Broadview is a suburb of Chicago.
05:37It was my district.
05:38The helicopter landed in.
05:40The car accident happened in.
05:42A mom that's been here for 20 years was taken away.
05:46And she has a 19-year-old and a 16-year-old.
05:50It's crap, you know, what they were saying.
05:53They were going after everybody, not just criminals.
05:55And they handcuffed Americans.
05:59Where the helicopter landed, they took out many black Americans from that building also.
06:05So, he's just going after any and everybody.
06:08The criminal part is certainly not true.
06:10Now, here in New York City, demonstrators held ICE officers at bay for hours yesterday
06:17in a tent standoff that seemed to foil a planned raid in Manhattan's Chinatown.
06:26According to reports, New York City police were dispatched to do crowd control and ended up
06:32scuffling with protesters.
06:34The head of NYPD, who President Trump has praised, told Homeland Security the raid was,
06:41quote, unacceptable, according to the New York Times.
06:45As someone who has seen this play out in your city of Chicago, do you have any thoughts of
06:51what's brewing in New York?
06:53Well, hopefully not what happened in Chicago, because the Chicago police were dragged in,
06:59even though we are a welcoming city, a sanctuary city.
07:02But they were dragged in because of what was going on with ICE.
07:06And actually, I spoke to a Chicago officer that's high up, and he said that, you know,
07:12they have to serve and protect both ICE as well as, you know, the citizens of the Chicagoland
07:18area.
07:20So, New York needs to be aware.
07:23New York needs to be woke.
07:24The police need to be ready.
07:25But, you know, I know New York police are used to a lot of different things, you know,
07:29so I want to get your thoughts on the situation in Venezuela.
07:33President Trump warning on Truth Social that the country's airspace should be considered
07:39closed.
07:40Now, even congressional Republicans have questions about defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's role
07:47in airstrikes against alleged drug smuggling boats off the coast of Venezuela.
07:54The House and Senate have launched inquiries into a Washington Post report that Hegseth personally
08:02ordered a second strike on a boat to kill survivors of an initial strike.
08:10Where do you think such investigation could lead?
08:13Well, first of all, he's quite incompetent for the job, and there's been no evidence.
08:18That's why members on both sides of the aisle are concerned.
08:21They've shown no evidence of drug smuggling, and innocent people have died also.
08:27And then to call for, to kill the two people that were on the side of the boat, that's against
08:32the Geneva Convention.
08:33So he's, you know, he's going against everything that has been put in place, but he needs to
08:39be investigated.
08:40What he's doing needs to be investigated, and he needs to show proof that these are drug smuggling
08:45votes, and, and he still shouldn't be dropping bombs on them.
08:49And, and I, I know that, you know, you're in Congress, you're running for the U.S. Senate.
08:55Does it surprise you that some of the Republicans are even questioning headsets?
09:00You know what, um, even though they don't vote like it, uh, all the time, but they know some
09:06of this stuff is not correct because they, they tell us on the side, they may not always
09:10vote like it, but I just think they have gone so far in so many ways and so many things that
09:16even Republicans realize, um, they need to wake up too.
09:20And that last election woke a few of them up, I'm sure.
09:23Oh yeah, the midterms was a wake up call.
09:25Yes, it was.
09:26All right.
09:26Thank you, Congresswoman Robin Kelly, candidate for U.S. Senate in Illinois.
09:31Let's turn now to the legal fight against some of the Trump's administration's most extreme
09:36policies joining me now is Washington attorney general, state of Washington attorney general,
09:42Nick Brown.
09:43Thanks for being with us, uh, attorney general.
09:46I wanted to, uh, have, uh, I wanted to have you on to talk about the lawsuit you filed along
09:55with 18 other attorney generals across the country, challenging steep cuts, uh, the Trump
10:02administration wants to make to the department of housing and urban development.
10:06The white house wants to cut more than half of next year's funding for permanent housing
10:13assistance, money that will go to help domestic violence victims and families struggling with
10:18homelessness.
10:19Can you talk about what's at stake?
10:23Yes, absolutely.
10:24And thank you for having me on.
10:25As you know, the administration is really trying to cut out the legs from a program that keeps
10:30people in safe and secure housing, not only in my state of Washington, but across this
10:35country, this is money that states rely on and organizations rely on to keep people in
10:40safe housing as they're transitioning out of homelessness.
10:44This is a vital program that is really a lifesaver.
10:47And I don't want to overstate that this is a money that keeps people healthy and safe and
10:52saves their lives.
10:53And they're trying to change the rules to that funding, which is why we filed a case just
10:57last week to fight against that.
10:58Now, these are funds that have already been constitutionally appropriated to address homelessness
11:06and the housing shortage, issues this administration claims to care about.
11:11Why are they attacking HUD when it could be part of the solution?
11:15Well, I really don't try to get in the head of the people that are in the White House or
11:21working for this administration right now, because time and time again, not only are
11:25they doing things that are harming Americans, but they're doing things that are plainly
11:29illegal or unconstitutional.
11:31And as you noted earlier in your show, this is a time of year where people are coming together.
11:37They're often trying to spend time with family.
11:39We're also entering the winter season across this country where housing is more vital than
11:44ever before. And the fact that they would make these cuts at this moment in time, not only
11:48against the law, but in a very immoral way, I think it's pretty devastating.
11:52And, you know, we need to have policy debates in this country, but we need to follow the
11:56law when we do so. And this administration cannot do that.
12:00I can't help but notice that while Trump is cutting funds to public housing, claiming fraud
12:05and preaching fiscal responsibility, he's building himself a ballroom with private funds and
12:12pardoning white collar criminals. Do those political arguments have any bearing on the
12:18legal case here? And in other words, does the administration's actions have to make sense
12:25to be legal?
12:28Well, look, you know, any new president can come in and change policy in the United States.
12:33The way they do that, the way they need to do that is work with Congress and convince the
12:37American people that their policy proposals are the right move for the United States of
12:42America. That is not what this administration does. And I think the fact that this president
12:46has issued so many executive orders contrary to congressional authority, contrary to state's
12:52sovereignty, shows really how weak he is in his administration because he can't convince
12:57Congress to agree with him. But I think you know that all the hypocrisy that we've seen
13:02in this administration, cutting housing while building a ballroom, the fact that this president
13:06and his family and his business have made billions in the last 11 months as his administration.
13:11But that's a political argument that has no bearing on my case or the cases that attorney
13:15generals are bringing across the United States. Our cases are based on the law, based on the harm
13:20that they're doing to our states. And that's why it's so vital to be in this position to fight back
13:25against unlawful actions.
13:27Now, before we let you go, this HUD case is just one of many you and other state attorney generals
13:34have brought against the administration more than 300 days into this presidency. Do you
13:41feel like the legal guardrails have been holding?
13:46Well, we filed our 45th case in the 11 months that I've been attorney general of my state,
13:51and there are, I think, almost 60 across the United States that at least one of my Democratic
13:56attorney generals have filed to fight back against this administration. And I would say for the most part,
14:01you know, the fact that we are winning these cases, that judges of all political backgrounds
14:06are holding them to account gives me some confidence that the guardrails are holding.
14:10But this is also at a time where the United States Supreme Court has vastly expanded executive
14:16authority, has given the president really a blank check in so many different areas. But in the vast
14:21majority of our cases, we're winning. We're holding them to account. In our state alone, we've protected
14:26about 15 billion dollars of funding to Washingtonians that they were otherwise going to try to cut.
14:32And so I've been really confident and happy with our results. But we have to stay mindful and watch
14:36these actions every day because every day there's some new immoral, un-American and illegal action from
14:41this administration. All right. Washington Attorney General Nick Brown, thank you for being with us.
14:49The Trump administration is seizing on the National Guard shooting in Washington, D.C. to call for new
14:56restrictions on Afghan refugees. When we come back, we'll talk to an activist who says this is a community
15:05who has sacrificed for this country and deserves its respect. We'll be right back.
15:11Welcome back to Politics Nation on MSNOW. The Trump administration says it will undertake a massive
15:24reexamination of Afghani asylum seekers after last week's shooting in Washington, D.C. that left one
15:32National Guard member dead and another wounded. The move is being criticized by many Democrats,
15:38including former Navy Captain Arizona Senator Mark Kelly. Take a listen.
15:46This president has an immigration policy right now that is not helping our country,
15:51that is tearing communities apart. These are individuals that were fleeing the Taliban.
15:56Many of them worked alongside U.S. service members and provided a valuable service to the United
16:04States of America and deserve an opportunity, you know, to resettle in our country.
16:12Joining me now is Arash Azizada, Executive Director of Afghans for a better tomorrow.
16:19Thank you for being with us. Arash, tell me what were your feelings as you learned about the attack
16:27and learned the identity of the alleged gunman? Thank you, Reverend, for having me on today. I think the
16:36first feeling was that, yeah, deeply saddened and shocked at this tragedy. Loss of life is always
16:44something that hurts specifically the Afghan community. If anyone wants to think about why Afghans
16:51Afghans have been fleeing our native country for so many decades, it's because we've always been in
16:58search of peace and safety and security. And often, like myself, we found that here in the United States.
17:04And so I was really disheartened to see that this was done and committed by an Afghan. However, I think,
17:13like, now that feeling of sadness has really moved into anger, seeing that the Trump administration and
17:21President Trump has moved to deeply retaliate against the Afghan American community. And it feels
17:27like now the Afghan American community is under attack. Now, how has the incident impacted the
17:33Afghan community so far? What has been the response? I think the response has been that this has been a
17:41tragic incident, but that President Trump is trying to capitalize and exploit this tragedy and politicize
17:48it and weaponize it against our community. He's trying to sow fear. And I will tell you that
17:56in the many conversations and the messages I've been getting in the past few days from our community
18:00members, most of them newly arrived Afghans who fled post-2021 after withdrawal of the United States,
18:07they're asking me, what should I do? I'm living in deep fear. I'm petrified. Why is this happening to us?
18:15And they're asking me that because for 20 years they stood by the United States. They supported the
18:21American mission of Afghanistan. They supported all the efforts, whether it was U.S. military or U.S. aid agencies
18:29or U.S. media outlets. And I think it's really painful to see our community, especially the folks
18:38who fled war, conflict, displacement, political persecution, to then be faced with the exact same
18:47here under the hands of the Trump administration. Now, I want to stick with this for a moment.
18:53Can you talk about why the targeting of these Afghan refugees is particularly cruel? These are not
19:00just people who have come here seeking opportunity. In many cases, these refugees have risked their
19:07lives to help Americans fight a war in their country. Rev, I'll just tell you that I've had the honor of
19:15meeting hundreds of the 200,000 newly arrived Afghans that have come to the United States. Each of them
19:23has potentially lost a family member, has had a family member who has been tortured by the Taliban,
19:29who probably fought alongside a U.S. service member, who was a journalist, who was a prosecutor,
19:36who put Taliban members behind jail. And now they're feeling this sense of deep betrayal and just
19:46another level of abandonment, another betrayal at the hands of the United States. Because when the
19:52United States entered Afghanistan in 2001, they looked at all these Afghans who were willing to
19:58support the mission and said, we will give you our word. We will stand by with you. We will offer you
20:04safety and refuge when it's necessary. And all the actions of the Trump administration reek of a deep,
20:13deep betrayal of our community, of Afghans who stood alongside the United States. But furthermore,
20:18it's just a slap in the face. And I think it's just horrendous that now we have to comfort and provide
20:26another level of defense for our community members who were, they were fleeing this violence and this
20:33political persecution in the first place.
20:37What impact could this have for future cooperation with the United States in the future?
20:42Who would dare cooperate with the U.S. government if after decades of dangerous work,
20:48the U.S. government goes back on its promises?
20:51I think it's pretty clear that in the future, they will look at how the United States treated Afghans
21:00and Afghan allies who stood by the mission, who supported the mission, who took the United States
21:05by their word. And what they see now is a betrayal. They see abandonment by America's
21:12top leaders from ranging, it ranges from the president down to Congress, where everybody is
21:21turning their back on these Afghans who sacrificed blood, sweat and tears. They sacrificed their entire
21:28lives to support this mission. And I think, you know, they, it's not just that they also sense that
21:36there's a hatred now. Uh, they see that President Trump is trying to stoke anti-Afghan and Islamophobic
21:44hate, um, and is really trying to exploit this tragedy, um, to go after, uh, not just Afghan refugees,
21:53but all brown and black immigrants in the United States.
21:58Yeah, that, that, that, that's where I want to go because my question, and I know we're out of time,
22:03but where do we go from here? President Trump has been rather indiscriminate in his reaction,
22:10using this incident to go after a number of immigrant groups, especially Muslim ones,
22:15and, uh, people from nations of color. What's he's, what he calls third world countries. I mean,
22:22what's next on this? Uh, it's hard to say, uh, but it's very clear that the Trump administration
22:31is trying to push, uh, my community members, newly arrived Afghans seeking just safety, seeking just
22:38peace, uh, fleeing political persecution in their home country. Um, I think, you know, it's a deep
22:44betrayal, but he's also trying to push them into undocumented status, allowing them to be much more
22:51vulnerable to ICE and CBP, kidnapping him off the streets anywhere in the United States. And I think,
22:57um, what people really should know that this policy is not just cruel, uh, it's not just bigoted and
23:04racist, but, um, you know, there was a memo that came out on Monday that laid out re-vetting of all
23:13Afghan and new refugees that had entered during the Biden era. And what's become clear to us now is
23:19that, um, you know, once the incident happened on Wednesday, that the Trump administration capitalized on
23:25that to, to push forward this, this new policy. And, um, and, um, and I'll just know that the
23:31conditions in Afghanistan, the reasons why people are fleeing in the first place is because decisions
23:36are made in by, uh, policymakers in Washington, DC. These are the, uh, final consequences of America's
23:44forever wars in places like Afghanistan.
23:46Arash Azizada, thank you for coming on tonight. Coming up, what Trump could really be after with
23:55his proposed peace deal between Russia and Ukraine. Plus, ICE agents in lower Manhattan clashed with New
24:03Yorkers this weekend as mayor-elect Zoran Mondani, uh, prepares to take office in the Big Apple. We'll discuss how
24:13he might handle federal operations like this right after the break.
24:25Welcome back to politics nation on MS. Now war and peace appear to be on the balancing scale at the
24:34White House this week. Today's secretary of state, Marco Rubio and other U S officials are meeting with
24:41the Ukrainian delegation in Florida, trying to hammer out a peace plan to end the war in Ukraine. This while
24:50President Trump seems to be threatening military action against Venezuela after he declared via social
24:57media that the airspace there is closed. Joining me now is my political panel, Mario Nicholas, general counsel to
25:06the Lincoln project and Joel Payne, a democratic strategist. Mario, let's start with you. Trump
25:13campaigned on the idea of being a peace president and he's fixated on a Nobel peace prize. But he
25:20clearly seems to also enjoy threatening countries with military action and wants the approval of
25:27dictators who start wars like Vladimir Putin. Which of the president's impulses do you think are likely to
25:35went out in this term? Oh, I think it's obviously going to be whatever he feels like is going to give
25:43him the greatest influence. And, you know, I think what we're seeing in Venezuela and him attacking
25:50Venezuelan ships off the coast and launching missiles at him and having his defense secretary say,
25:56kill them all. That's the kind of machismo he wants to put out there. You know, he sees himself as a
26:05dollar store Putin, basically, and he wants to be Putin. He's just not quite there yet,
26:10but he thinks this is the path to it. He'll keep on saying how many, you know, wars he stopped. And
26:16honestly, it seems like a really good way to start a war, stop a war, claim you stopped war. Maybe that's
26:21what his plan is in the end. Now, I mentioned earlier those peace talks between the U.S. and
26:28Ukrainian officials. The Wall Street Journal published an investigation on Friday detailing
26:34a complex web of business dealings between Trump, his inner circle, and the Russians. Joel,
26:42is Trump seeking peace or just personal enrichment?
26:46Well, Rev, as always, Donald Trump's number one priority is looking out for Donald Trump. I think
26:54on the way to possibly impacting what happens in Ukraine with Russia and Ukraine, does he mind an
27:03outcome that he can tell a story about a peaceful outcome? Sure, he doesn't mind that. But the first
27:07principle of Donald Trump is to look out for Donald Trump. And so that reporting is not all that
27:12surprising. And, you know, Rev, if you take all of this in whole, the issue that the American people,
27:17I think, are having with what Donald Trump is presenting in terms of being a president that has
27:22this international footprint is this idea that he sold to the American people. He was interested in
27:27peace. And he kind of, you know, this continuation of what Barack Obama talked about eloquently in the
27:33past about making sure that the United States did not get into dumb wars. And Donald Trump likes
27:38that. He thinks that that's good marketing. Unfortunately, he, his worldview, his inner
27:42circle don't match that. They don't agree with it. And as much as Donald Trump likes to act like a
27:48bulwark or act like someone who is challenging the national security establishment of the Republican
27:54Party, he's actually a continuation of it. I mean, Donald Trump has not shown any ability to stand up to
28:01the military industrial complex that belies the Republican Party. Mario, there was a tense
28:06standoff yesterday afternoon in New York City between ICE and demonstrators trying to block them
28:13from conducting a raid in Manhattan's Chinatown. More than 200 were arrested in clashes with police.
28:20According to the New York Times, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tish, who was recently praised by Trump,
28:28said that ICE's actions were unacceptable. Mario, where do you think this is headed as New York
28:35may be the next target of Trump's aggressive sweep on immigration?
28:41Oh, I think that's absolutely the truth. I think that's exactly what's going to happen. We're going to
28:45see. You're going to see ICE presence increase there. And you're going to see some of the ICE folks,
28:51particularly Border Patrol. And I want to make a distinction that there were a lot of ICE folks
28:56who have been pushed out by Border Patrol, who are much more aggressive, much more violent. And they
29:03push that to the edge. I think some of these guys just simply like that. I think that Trump knows
29:09that he can go into blue states, into blue cities, and it's at no political cost to him. So he looks great
29:15for his folks in his base by beating up on migrants and protesters in blue states. And I think that's exactly
29:25what he's after. And I don't think there's anything that New York is going to do about it. Now,
29:29you know, I think the New York City police force, 35,000, should be able to deal with themselves.
29:36And I think the mayor elect has said that they can, and that they're up to the task. But I don't think
29:41Trump cares what anyone else says. Joe, last question to you. Dealing with the immigration enforcement
29:49will likely be one of the major tests for Zoran Mondani's leadership as New York's next mayor.
29:56How should he approach it?
29:59Well, a few things. You know, the American people in the last election, yes, did they want some tighter
30:04controls on immigration? Did they want a little bit of reform in terms of, you know, what the
30:09kind of status quo immigration approach was that Democrats took last time? I think it's fair to say,
30:13yes, they did not ask for this. And by this, I mean, unaccountable, you know, men and women,
30:21and, you know, out of uniform going after people in our communities, turning our communities against
30:27each other, targeting churches and synagogues and schools, grabbing people out of daycare lines.
30:32The American people didn't ask for this. They just wanted a common sense approach to have some tighter
30:37controls around our border. And I think what Donald Trump, the reason why he's gotten upside down,
30:43on this issue, Rev, is because he misread his mandate. He thought that the American people
30:49were saying he could go do the full MAGA on immigration regime. And that's not true. That's
30:55not what the American people want. And so to your question about Zoran Mondani, I think it's good
30:59that Zoran Mondani has built a rapport with Donald Trump. I think he can continue to do that. But he's
31:04got to stand firm on why he was elected a few weeks ago in New York City. He wasn't elected to
31:09kowtow to Donald Trump like Eric Adams did. He was elected to have a common sense approach to local
31:15law enforcement and local immigration enforcement in New York City. And as long as he keeps that as
31:19his North Star, he'll be OK.
31:20Mario Nicholas and Joel Payne, thank you both for being with us. I must say at this rate, Trump will be
31:29at 20 percent approval in like six, seven days. Up next, from the jailhouse to elected office,
31:37how a man wrongfully convicted of murder became his own advocate and a representative
31:44of so many others after the birth. Welcome back to Politics Nation. My next story is about the route
31:58from prison to public office. It's about a black man wrongfully convicted of murder 40 years ago and
32:06sentenced to life in prison. But after his conviction was vacated in 2021, he was elected clerk
32:14of Orleans Parish Criminal Court in Louisiana after handily defeating the established incumbent
32:22earlier this month. And that man is Calvin Duncan. And he's joining me now to tell us his story.
32:29Calvin, congratulations on your win. You've maintained your innocence for more than 40 years.
32:36Take us back to 1981 and why Louisiana labeled you as a murderer.
32:41Well, thank you for having me. So in 1981, a young lady and her boyfriend was at a bus stop
32:48and two guys approached him, tried to rob him and wound up killing the boyfriend.
32:53They didn't have any suspects. So they reenacted the crime and they they put out to the public that if
33:00you know anything about the crime or who committed the crime, you could get up to a thousand dollars
33:04reward if you called into Crime Stopper. So somebody called in Crime Stoppers and say that it was a
33:11Negro male named Calvin Duncan. Unfortunately for me, my name is Calvin Duncan and I'm black. And so they
33:18targeted me target me. And I was 19 at the time when I got arrested and their position was that I should
33:25be executed, although I didn't commit the crime. And so while in prison, I was in a job
33:32court at the time and they extradited me to New Orleans to stay in trial. And they put me on a unit
33:37and told me that I was going to, some of the guys that had already been sentenced to debt
33:42say that I was going to get the debt penalty, that they actually was going to execute me in my position.
33:48And I say, well, I didn't commit the crime. And they say, well, you have the same lawyer that I have,
33:53same prosecutor, same judge. And my lawyers wasn't going to come see me. And they say that I needed to
33:59become a lawyer. And that's when I started studying law. Now, as the saying goes, God helps those who
34:05help themselves. And while in jail, you decided to teach yourself law, as you just said. It's all documented
34:12in your book, The Jailhouse Lawyer. When did you know you had to learn law and fight for your own
34:19freedom? When some of the guys are like the book, in the book, one of my friends named Big Duggar,
34:26he had the same lawyer I had, same judge, same prosecutor. And he said that if I didn't learn
34:32the law, that I was going to be executed. So I started studying the law. And at that time,
34:36it was very difficult to get my hands on legal material to study. But then I actually had to
34:43petition the court for a law book. And I explained to the Supreme Court that my lawyers weren't coming
34:48to see me and that they didn't have any legal material for me to study law. But one of the
34:59biggest problems that I had when I was trying to find out what was going on and happened in my case,
35:04is I would write letters to the clerk of court, the same clerk of court that I ran
35:08for, and God blessed me to be elected. And they would not give me my documents. And then when I
35:14started helping other people, they wouldn't give me their documents. And as you know, Louisiana is the
35:21incarceration capital of the world. And most of the people come from New Orleans. And we have the highest
35:27exoneration rate pro capital in the United States, in the state also. But we couldn't get our records.
35:36So when I got out of prison, I learned that the reason why we couldn't get our records is because
35:42the clerk of court, they didn't really know their job. And so I said to myself back then, in 2011,
35:50that I was going to prove myself. So I actually went to Tulane University. I got my paralegal certificate.
35:58My associate's degree and bachelor's degree in paralegal studies. And at age 57, I enrolled in law
36:04school. I was accepted Lewis and Clark. And at the age of 60, I got my GED. I returned home in 2023 to
36:14continue to help people in prison to try to get access to their documents. And then I learned that
36:20the position was open and I started immediately running to actually become the elected official
36:27of the New Orleans Criminal District Court.
36:29And you won. And you won. Now, you will have a long transition period,
36:36almost six months until you start in May of 2026 in the office. You call this your dream job,
36:43beyond your responsibility of reviewing court files. What are you looking forward to do?
36:50So immediately, I'm going to make sure that the files are actually scanned. First, I have to locate
36:56the files because as soon as I started running, we learned that our criminal records was actually
37:03being thrown in the landfills. And there's a consequence of that. The people that are still
37:08in prison, they're going to die in prison because they can't get their records. So immediately,
37:12I'm going to locate what records are still available, what evidence is still available,
37:17and make sure that they are properly preserved, so that they too don't wind up
37:21being discarded. And then I'm going to start scanning the records to make sure that they
37:25become available, just in case something actually happened to the record. Because
37:30New Orleans is prone to flooding a lot. And so, and without our records, we are dying in prison.
37:36We can't prove our innocence. And so immediately, I'm going to locate the records, locate the evidence,
37:42and make sure that they're properly preserved. Now, before we go, I'm out of time, but I want to ask
37:47you this. The prison where you spent 28 years behind bars was in the news earlier this week
37:53for hosting his first ever father-daughter dance. What do you want people watching to know about the
38:02inmates there? Well, so a lot of the people that's in prison, some of us was in prison for crimes we
38:09didn't commit, and we need help. In Louisiana, we're not entitled to a lawyer. And then there's a lot of
38:15people that need legal help, and we're hoping that we could get that help, that we have the
38:24Innocent Project. And also, what I want to know is that people go to prison at a young age, and they
38:30could actually change their fathers. And what you're just showing on a video is showing that those
38:38individuals want to be fathers to their children. But it's very difficult to do that behind bars.
38:44And what Louisiana should do is not make incarceration the number one thing. Make that,
38:52allow that to be the last result if we have to imprison somebody. Because a lot of people are
38:57innocent. They're young. They make mistakes. Some of them are on drugs. But they shouldn't have to spend
39:03the rest of their life in prison. Especially those that really didn't do the crime. Calvin Duncan,
39:09many thanks for you being on. Good luck in your new job. Again, the book is The Jailhouse Lawyer.
39:17Up next, my final thoughts. Stay with us.
39:19Tomorrow is December 1st, which means in 30 days, the enhanced tax credit as part of the Affordable
39:33Care Act, known as Obamacare, will expire. If it is not renewed, 30 days, people will see the premiums go
39:44through the roof. And even though we may have enjoyed our families and friends over the holiday,
39:50many of them will be in a place that their health care will be beyond their reach for millions of
39:59Americans. We must demand, we must call, email the members of Congress and the Senate to put pressure
40:08on the White House to extend the enhanced tax credits and save the Affordable Care Act for people that
40:18need it. The president said he was going to announce an alternative plan. He's delayed it.
40:23We cannot stand for a delay and run out the clock. That does it for me. Thanks for watching. I'll see you
40:30back here next weekend at 5 p.m. Eastern. The weekend primetime starts right here on MS Now at the top of the hour.
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