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00:00Sharpton about Jesse Jackson. There's so many stories I've read, we've all read,
00:05but hearing your personal reaction to it and really his stories throughout the day has been,
00:10it's really reminded me of so many aspects of Reverend Jackson's legacy. I mean, not just his
00:16organizing and tireless fighting for civil rights, but really all of it. So it was a really beautiful
00:21conversation. Thank you, Jen. I mean, we're so lucky that we get to work with Rev Al, you know,
00:27and, and it's always, whenever I talk to him, it's just a reminder that our history, it's like a
00:32living, breathing thing that is with us always. And, you know, Reverend Jackson and Reverend Al
00:38just represent that so much for us. And I'm so grateful. No doubt about it. Well, have a good
00:43night. I'll see you soon. See ya. Okay. Sometimes we have a guest on the show who is relevant to
00:51the
00:51news in a thousand different ways in the news that's happening this very day. And tonight is
00:57definitely one of those nights because Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett is going to join
01:00me live in just a moment. She is of course running in a hotly contested primary in Texas
01:06to be the democratic nominee for Senate. And today is the first day of early voting in Texas for that
01:13race. If you were in Texas, today's the first day. Now, both she and her democratic primary rival,
01:17James Tallarico are nipping at the heels of their would be Republican opponents in the polls.
01:22So uncomfortably that a lot of people are paying attention to this race from the
01:26Republican side. And now James Tallarico is also at the center of a new censorship controversy
01:33after CBS pulled his interview on Stephen Colbert's show just before it was supposed to air.
01:39The network, and this part is just something laughable is one way to describe it, is somehow
01:45trying to shift the blame for that decision to Congresswoman Crockett herself. And let's just say
01:50I'm very much looking forward to getting her reaction to that, as I'm sure you are.
01:53Congressman Crockett will also be joining me from Ohio, where she and other members of the House
01:58Oversight Committee are going to be deposing disgraced billionaire Les Wexner, who is a central
02:03figure in the Epstein files. And that's set to take place tomorrow. So yes, there is a ton,
02:09a load of stuff to talk to the congresswoman about. Before we get there, I just want to start tonight
02:15with the Trump administration's attempts to silence and intimidate their critics. Because every day,
02:22and today was certainly one of those days, we get more and more evidence that those efforts
02:27are backfiring spectacularly. They're trying really hard. It's not really working. I mean,
02:33take for example, the fact that today was the arraignment in the criminal trial of independent
02:37journalist Georgia Ford, who the Trump administration charged for covering a protest that took place in a
02:43Minneapolis church. And you probably saw her last night, right in this hour, talking about that.
02:48It's clear that the arrest was intended, of course, to intimidate journalists like Georgia Ford in an
02:53effort to prevent her from doing her job, in an effort to silence her reporting and her voice, to scare
02:59her. But instead, all this trial has done is draw more attention to Georgia Ford and to her excellent
03:04reporting. And she is using this moment and all of that increased attention to call out attacks on the free
03:11press.
03:13The attack on the press did not start or end with my arrest. Mario Guevara, an independent journalist
03:22covering ICE arrests in Atlanta, was held in jail for more than 100 days, then deported, despite the fact that
03:30his attorneys say he has a legal work visa to be here in America. Just a few weeks ago, all
03:38of our colleagues,
03:39Janice Shortle, an anchor with the NBC affiliate here in Minneapolis, was sprayed with chemical agents
03:44while covering the protest following the fatal shooting of Alex Preddy. The attack on the press
03:51did not start with my arrest. So if you stand for truth, I need you to stand up today.
04:04That does not appear to be a woman who is being silenced by the Trump administration. Remember,
04:09she was arrested in her home at night with her kids there. And that was her after that. OK,
04:16she was also arrested, as you know, alongside CNN anchor Don Lemon, who you can see there,
04:21you all know, who is facing similar charges after covering that same protest. And it was clear,
04:26of course, that the Trump administration wanted to turn Lemon into some kind of evil national media
04:32villain and silence his criticism of this administration. But that hasn't happened either.
04:38I mean, according to The Washington Post, since Lemon's arrest, he has gained nearly a half a million
04:42followers across Instagram and YouTube and seen a 73 percent increase in substack viewers. It's not
04:50exactly what they intended, I don't think. We're seeing the same thing with Democratic lawmakers Trump
04:55has tried to target. Trump's Justice Department and Department of Defense have both targeted Senator
05:00Mark Kelly over his appearance in a social media video, reminding service members that they should
05:04not follow illegal orders. And it was clear that retribution campaign, which they have been tireless
05:10about, was meant to silence Senator Kelly's criticism and limit his influence. But it has done the
05:17opposite. The Arizona Republic reports that amid the controversy, Mark Kelly's campaign has set new
05:22fundraising records as donations pour in supporting his message. And all of a sudden he is being talked
05:28about as a 2028 candidate. He even said yesterday that he is seriously considering it. So there's that.
05:34See, every time Trump tries to silence his opponents, he just ends up elevating their voices,
05:38drawing more attention to the critical messages that inspired Trump's outrage.
05:44All of which leads me to the Trump administration's latest censorship face plant. Yesterday,
05:50Democratic Texas Senate candidate James Tallarico was supposed to appear on the late show with Stephen
05:55Colbert. Instead, this happened. Okay, a couple of things here. First of all, eagle-eyed viewers probably
06:00noticed that it was not a picture of James Tallarico over Stephen Colbert's shoulder. That was on purpose.
06:04Now, the reason that CBS pulled Colbert's interview with James Tallarico was because of a new
06:10kind of made up rule by Donald Trump's FCC chair, Brendan Carr. Last month, Carr ended the FCC's
06:16longstanding policy of exempting talk shows and late night comedy shows from an equal time rule,
06:22an exemption that dates back to none other than this guy, Arnold Schwarzenegger, appearing on The
06:27Tonight Show with Jay Leno back in 2006 when he was running for governor of California. Since then,
06:32it's pretty much been in place, both parties. Now, Carr's new policy might sound wonky or technical or
06:37kind of random, but it's actually pretty simple when you consider the source here. Brendan Carr is the
06:43same Trump official who attempted to get late night comedian and Trump critic Jimmy Kimmel pulled from
06:48the air with mob-like intimidation tactics. And Reuters is now reporting that Brendan Carr has launched an
06:54investigation into The View over its decision to host the same Texas Democratic candidate. So it's not a
07:01surprise that Brendan Carr's new rule would be designed to intimidate talk shows and late night
07:05comedy shows out of featuring political guests. Now, CBS released a statement today saying, quote,
07:10the late show was not prohibited by CBS from broadcasting the interview with Rep James Tallarico.
07:16The show was provided legal guidance that the broadcast could trigger the FCC equal time rule
07:21for two other candidates, including Rep Jasmine Crockett, and presented options for how the equal time
07:26for other candidates could be fulfilled. As I mentioned, I'm going to ask Jasmine Crockett
07:30about how the network invoked her there in just a second. But the truth is that CBS could have chosen
07:35to challenge Brendan Carr's bogus interpretation of the equal time rule, and it sure seems like they chose
07:41not to. And again, that's not that surprising when you consider the source. Because CBS is part of
07:46Paramount Skydance, the company led by David Ellison, who, along with his father Larry Ellison,
07:51has been cozying up to Trump in what appears to be an effort to curry favor with this administration.
07:57And just this week, CBS's parent company reopened talks to acquire Warner Brothers, which owns CNN,
08:03in a deal that would require approval from the Trump administration. And David Ellison has already
08:08made a number of decisions at CBS that seem tailored to appease Trump. That began last year with the
08:14abrupt cancellation of Stephen Colbert's late night show, which is set to broadcast its final episode in
08:19May. Larry Ellison reportedly also talked to the White House about which of Trump's least favorite
08:24anchors they would fire from CNN if Paramount were to acquire the network, according to people familiar
08:29with the matter. They also put opinion writer and right wing apologist Barry Weiss in charge of CBS
08:34News, which has led to a wave of high profile resignations from a number of respected longtime
08:40journalists. I mean, just this week, Anderson Cooper announced he is departing from his role as an
08:45anchor on the flagship program, 60 Minutes. That's the same 60 Minutes, which under this new leadership,
08:51delayed the release of an expose on Trump's policy of sending immigrants to an El Salvador mega prison.
08:56A decision that sparked a ton of backlash. Meanwhile, the network has decided to retain a controversial
09:03health expert who was brought in by the new leadership, despite the fact that he is now under fire for
09:08his
09:09ties and gross emails with Jeffrey Epstein. He recently apologized for those ties and isn't accused of
09:15criminal wrongdoing. But others have faced consequences for just associating with Epstein.
09:20I mean, given all of that, it's no wonder that CBS made the decision to bow to Trump's FCC and
09:25basically
09:26blocked Stephen Colbert from airing his interview with a Texas Democratic candidate. But here's the thing.
09:33Like so many of Trump's censorship efforts, this one is also backfiring spectacularly. I mean, Stephen
09:42Colbert decided to post his entire interview with James Tallarico online, where it has been viewed
09:49millions of times across different platforms. So instead of just letting a normal candidate interview
09:54take place on a late night show, millions of people are now tuning in to hear this message.
10:01I don't think I'm fairly certain Trump and Brendan Carr really didn't intend to help broadcast that
10:07message widely across the Internet. Right. Millions of people have seen it because here's the thing.
10:13Tallarico is right. Trump is worried about Democrats flipping Texas. Recent polling from the University
10:17of Houston shows both James Tallarico and Jasmine Crockett within the margin of error against the two most
10:22likely Republican opponents in that race. And Trump is so freaked out by the situation in Texas that he is
10:30uncharacteristically pretty silent ish about it, refusing to endorse a Republican candidate in the
10:34primary campaign, choosing instead to keep his powder dry and leave his options open.
10:42I just haven't made a decision on that race yet. It's got a ways to go. And I have it.
10:46He's a good
10:46man. John is a good. I like all three of them, actually. I like all three. Those are the toughest
10:52races.
10:54He likes them all. How hard to choose. Why would he endorse a candidate now when early voting in Texas
11:01has already begun? Trump is kind of scared. It seems he is scared of the Democratic candidates in
11:08Texas, scared enough that he doesn't want to insert himself in the race and back a single candidate who
11:13might go on to lose the general election. And Trump has every reason to be scared of either Democrat in
11:18that race. I mean, James Tallarico has exhibited an ease in weaving faith and morality into his
11:23message that's really broken through, attempting to appeal to a coalition much broader than Democrats
11:28in a state where you typically need Republicans and independents to win. And as I mentioned before,
11:33and at the top of the show, Congressman Jasmine Crockett has been holding this administration's feet
11:37to the fire at every single chance she gets. She's held them accountable on their treatment of
11:43children who are imprisoned inside a Texas detention center. She's held them accountable on their botched
11:47release of the Epstein files, including in a hearing with Pam Bondi just last week.
11:54You're spending more taxpayer resources arresting journalists than you are prosecuting pedophiles
11:58and creeps. I completely don't get how it is that you're sitting at the top of DOJ because you don't
12:04seem to be good at your job. There we go. Certainly not holding back. Jasmine Crockett has even
12:10introduced a bill to rein in Trump's FCC and stop it from censoring critics to push a political
12:15agenda. All of which makes it incredibly ironic that CBS is citing Congresswoman Crockett as part
12:22of their decision to bend to Trump's agenda and censor her opponent. And I'm very eager to hear
12:27what she has to say about all of it. Joining me now is Democratic Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett of
12:31Texas. She is, of course, a candidate for U.S. Senate. There are so many things to talk to you
12:36about,
12:37and I'm so grateful you're here. Let me just start with some of the news from today, which I just
12:43outlined. I mean, in CBS's statement on what happened with Colbert's show last night, they
12:49name checked you. I mean, they said this. The show was provided legal guidance that the broadcast could
12:53trigger the FCC equal time rule for two other candidates, including Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett.
13:00What do you make of that explanation? We actually received a phone call, and that was a little bit
13:08earlier today. And in that call, they explained that they actually told CBS that they could go ahead
13:16and move forward with the interview of James Tallarico. They just needed to offer me equal time.
13:22I did not get a request from the Colbert show to go on. As you know, I've been on Colbert
13:27multiple times.
13:29And and frankly, and, you know, if we would have gotten an offer, that would have been great. But
13:34we're in the middle of early voting. So I'm kind of focused on being in Texas at this moment.
13:40And, you know, I don't know what to believe. That's for sure. But I got that phone call as I
13:46was out
13:46talking to voters. That's it. So there's so many things to talk to you about again. But they called you
13:51today,
13:52but they decided not to air the interview last night. You've been on Colbert a number of times,
13:58as you just said. Did you have any issue when they were going to air the interview last night
14:02when they promoted it or when it was supposed to air or did anyone from your campaign?
14:07No, we didn't have an issue. I mean, we've never run into an issue with Colbert. And
14:12even as you talked about the view, you know, supposedly this FCC complaint came about because
14:18I had more time than Mr. Tallarico when I went on there after I declared my candidacy.
14:24So, you know, listen, I will tell you that I have no love for Barry Weiss. I have no love
14:29for
14:29Brendan Carr whatsoever. But I do think that, as you also mentioned, Kimmel, it is important that
14:36we resist in this moment. And so there were a number of options that could be put on the table.
14:41And frankly, you know, the late show decided that this was the option. And I think that it was a
14:47good
14:47strategy. I mean, look at what happened when they tried to censor Seacott. We found out that you could
14:53get a lot more views. So I think it probably gave my opponent the abuse he was looking for. So
14:59I think
14:59it's probably better that he didn't get on and that they went straight to streaming because
15:05we know that when we resist and when we know that it seems like they're trying to change the rules
15:12and bend to the knee of or bend the knee to this president, that it backfires in historic fashion.
15:21Spectacularly over and over again. And you have been no stranger to them going after you as well.
15:27I know. Let me ask you about something. And I mentioned this a little bit in the opening.
15:31Trump was asked about the Republican candidates in the Texas race on Air Force One last night.
15:36And he kind of said, I like them all and refused to really endorse any of them. What did you
15:42make
15:42of that? Why do you think that is? I love it. There's a couple of things about this, right?
15:50A lot of people are like, there's no way Texas can do this. And I'm here to tell you that
15:55even on day
15:56one of early voting, we are exploding with participation right now. And we just had two
16:01special elections, one that swung 30 points, another one that swung 17 points. We are really
16:07ready to do this in Texas. And frankly, right now, I will tell you what the insiders tell me.
16:12They tell me that he really doesn't like John Cornyn. So he just doesn't want to endorse him.
16:16We know that the Republicans have already spent $50 million trying to boost
16:21Senator Cornyn in this primary, yet he is still trailing Ken Paxton, who only raised $1 million
16:27last quarter. We also know that supposedly his chief of staff does not like Ken Paxton.
16:33So there's that. And then Wesley Hunt doesn't really have a shot. So he doesn't really know
16:39what to do. There are people that are pulling at him in different ways, trying to tell him what's
16:42most strategic to do. But there was a poll that actually dropped today that had me ahead of all
16:47three of them. So whichever way they decide to go, we're ready to win this thing.
16:51I'm sure Donald Trump loves Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett, who may be the Democratic nominee,
16:57calling out his fearful strategy right now. You are most known, you are known to so many people
17:03watching right now and so many people out there for a range of viral moments. I played kind of one
17:08of
17:08them from last week, but you've had so many of them humorous jabs at Republicans on the Hill. But
17:12you're, of course, much more than that, as everybody is. But as everybody who's an elected
17:18office is, often people are caricatured. What else do you wish more Texans knew about you?
17:23Yeah. So first of all, I wish they knew that I actually started my political and legal career
17:28in rural East Texas and that I served on the Agriculture Committee last cycle. So I'm that girl
17:34that actually can go into rural Texas, even though I represent the Dallas area. And I've been talking to
17:39our Texas farmers and ranchers way before I was looking at running for the US Senate.
17:43I understand the challenges that are facing all Texans, whether you're talking about our
17:47farmers and ranchers that are currently filing record bankruptcies, or whether you're talking
17:51about that mother who may be sitting at home wondering whether or not she's going to have
17:54enough money to pay for health care and food on our table. We are leading an uninsured in the
17:59country. We have been leading an uninsured for a very long time. But as someone who lived in rural
18:04East Texas, I know what it is to have to go to Shreveport or go to Dallas so that I
18:09can actually
18:10see a health care professional because there's not one that's there. Listen, the challenges the
18:14Texans are facing, especially as it relates to affordability with us being one of the top
18:19exporting states in the entire country, they are real. And so we've got to rein in this out of control
18:25administration. We've got to make sure that we're getting these tariffs under control. We've got
18:30to start to grow our economy instead of continuing to shrink it. We've got to make sure that housing
18:35is a real dream that can be realized by all Texans. And so we've got to make sure that these
18:41terrible
18:41policies around immigration that are impacting us everywhere. The final point that I'll say because
18:46I know you're ready to move on. But today was a really emotional day for me as I walked into
18:52a
18:53building and there was another business that was there and a doctor came out at her facility and she said
18:59to me, I just want to tell you this story about someone that works in my office.
19:03She said your security detail came in to do advanced work and she went and hit
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