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PoliticsNation with Al Sharpton - Season 15 - Episode 01
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00:00Good evening and welcome to Politics Nation, tonight's lead blowback.
00:18The Trump administration's refusal to cooperate with state and local leaders in investigating
00:25the killing of a U.S. citizen by an ICE agent is prompting widespread demonstrations this
00:32weekend as tens of thousands of Americans take to the streets to voice anger and frustration
00:39over the death of Renee Good. The White House is confronting widespread internal dissent
00:45against its immigration enforcement tactics, even as it threatens military action against Iran
00:52for cracking down violently on massive demonstrations against the Islamic regime.
00:58In the coming week, we could see the movement from one of the other four, two co-equal branches
01:05of government as the Supreme Court may issue a ruling on tariffs, the crown jewel of Trump's
01:13policy agenda. The High Court could potentially deliver a stunning rebuke to a president who
01:19just days ago, his powers on the world stage said he was only limited by his own morality.
01:29We start tonight with the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus. Joining me here on set,
01:35chairlady herself, New York Congresswoman Yvette Clark. Thank you for being here tonight.
01:40Happy New Year, Rev. It's great to be with you.
01:42Now, Congresswoman, I wanted to start with your thoughts on this unfolding in Minneapolis
01:48after the killing of a 37-year-old American mother, Renee Good, this past Wednesday. This is a city
01:55that has experienced the murder of George Floyd. This is a state where Somali residents have been
02:02targeted for immigration enforcement, supposedly over fraud allegations that only relate to a small
02:09number of people in communities that is 90 percent U.S. citizens, according to U.S. citizens. What's
02:18your thought about all this? Yeah, you know, it's unfortunate that Minnesota and Minneapolis in
02:23particular is being targeted in this way by this administration, but it has been demonstrated by
02:29this administration that they're going to go full force into what they consider to be blue states, blue cities,
02:36to be extremely disruptive, to press on with their anti-immigrant agenda. And unfortunately,
02:44it's turned deadly, deadly in Minnesota. Now, three of your colleagues from Minnesota,
02:49Congresswoman Ilian Omar, Kelly Morrison and Angie Craig were blocked from entering an ICE facility
02:58yesterday to check on detainees. In court proceedings, we learned Homeland Security
03:05Secretary, Secretary Christie Norm had quietly ordered last week that lawmakers must seek a four weeks
03:13advance notice to conduct oversight. Is this legal? Is this a legal order? I mean, what can Congress do
03:21about these restrictions that the administration is seeking to place on you now and in the future?
03:28Well, it's illegal. First of all, you know, the courts have already ruled that members of Congress must be
03:35able to do their job unfettered. And our policies indicate that we actually have the authority to show
03:42up at any detention center unannounced and be afforded a tour and whatever information we need to conduct our
03:51oversight. So, you know, these folks continue to make things up as they go along. They will lie. They will
03:58impose all manner of obstacles to have their way. And that's all that Kristi Noem is doing, because she has
04:05no authorization and certainly no legal leg to stand on. Now, a top Trump economic advisor told CNBC Friday the
04:15White House is ready to deploy alternative measures if the Supreme Court strikes down his tariff policy, which we
04:24mentioned at the top could happen as early as Wednesday. There's widespread bipartisan concern
04:31about Trump's trade wars on Capitol Hill. Do you think Congress has the will to act on this and claw
04:39back
04:40some of its authority should the high court give lawmakers an opening here? Absolutely. I mean, listen,
04:47the affordability crisis that we're facing here are in large part due to the tariff regime that Donald
04:54Trump has pursued. There's no doubt about it. We're all living hand to mouth in the United States of
05:01America. I look at the people working hard each and every day in my district, and not only are they
05:07dealing with high groceries, the cost of rent. Now you add to that the Affordable Care Act and their access
05:14to health care. And it's a it's a trifecta. And so, you know, whatever we can do as members of
05:20Congress,
05:21whatever we can pursue to ease that burden, to take the lid off the pressure cooker on Americans,
05:27we have to pursue that with all vigor. I must ask you about the escalating situation in Iran,
05:34uh, anti-regime protests there have intensified over the weekend. Uh, the New York Times cites human rights
05:41groups who are reportedly as many as 500 protest related deaths, although those figures have not been
05:49independently confirmed. The Trump administration is reportedly examining options for a military strike,
05:56even as it is still dealing with the fallout, uh, of the operation to Alza Maduro from Venezuela,
06:04eight days ago. Americans are being urged by the State Department to leave for their own safety,
06:10even though the president has claimed the U.S. is in charge. What, what is your assessment of the
06:17president's foreign policies positions, uh, at this moment, given the threats to Iran he's made and
06:24the actions he's done in Venezuela? They're both illegal and unconstitutional, full stop. No war should
06:32be waged in the United States with United States, uh, military, uh, without the explicit authorization of
06:40the United States Congress, full stop. And what we're seeing is this massive overreach, uh, unjustified
06:48to the Congress. We're not being kept into the loop with respect to, um, you know, what, uh, the,
06:56the intent of the administration is. And beyond that, they lie, you know, we're not even given,
07:03uh, the truth about why they are pursuing, uh, these military, uh, measures on behalf of the American
07:14people. They owe it to us, uh, to, to start there. Let me ask you this. I know I said
07:19last question,
07:20but I have one last as chairperson of the Congressional black caucus. We're in a midterm
07:26election year. Uh, and I know the caucus will be out rallying people and getting people out to vote.
07:34What are the priorities of the caucus this year? Legislatively, even though at this point, uh,
07:41the Democrats and minority, what can be done? What will be the themes? What are those around the
07:48country, black and white should be looking for when, uh, the congressional black caucus in 2020?
07:54Reverend our North star is voting rights, voting rights. And we are looking at decision day coming
08:01down at any point in time with the Supreme court that focuses on, uh, section two of the voting
08:09rights act. We have to be prepared. We have to educate people across this nation, what the demise
08:15of the voting rights act means in a democracy. Cause section two, this is not just about the,
08:21uh, the, uh, congressional district of Cleo fields, one of your colleagues in Louisiana. This is about
08:27the entire bill could be absolutely nullified. Absolutely. We, we talked about the affordable
08:34care act, healthcare people are seeing their, their, their premium spike, uh, right. As we speak,
08:41we need the Senate to act on this immediately. And so we're applying pressure and we're asking all of
08:47our people to do so. And then, and tied to that is the affordability crisis. Our people are really
08:53suffering under the weight. Energy costs have gone up. Grocery costs have gone up. You know,
09:00shelter housing has been astronomical. You add that to healthcare. And again, you know,
09:07the focus on what we need to do to navigate the American people, particularly black communities
09:14that have been the brunt of anti-blackness coming out of this administration from historic, uh, uh,
09:22erasure of, of our presence and our, uh, prominence in civil society. Uh, it, it, you add that to
09:32what has happened in terms of the job market and, uh, the, the shedding of jobs and, and, and black
09:38women in particular being targeted in this space. Uh, there's a lot of work that we see before us.
09:45You, you talked about legislative. We can start with making sure that this affordable care act
09:52passes the Senate and becomes law of the land. Uh, and you know, we, we have a president who will
09:59push back against that, but we have to make sure that we have a veto proof majority in both,
10:04both houses. All right. We thank you for being with us here in studio. Congresswoman
10:09Evette Clark of New York of Brooklyn, New York, who is the chair of the congressional black caucus.
10:16Let's turn back to Minneapolis. Joining me now is civil rights attorney. I say the attorney general
10:24of black America, Benjamin Crump, uh, attorney Crump, uh, in my capacity as president of national
10:31action network, we've spent a lot of time together in Minneapolis to seek justice in the aftermath of
10:38George Floyd's killing, uh, in Minneapolis just six years ago. In fact, I spent a, uh, half hour last
10:46night talking with attorney Nakeema, uh, uh, Armstrong and today, some other colleagues saying
10:52to the grassroots leaders there who are on the ground before George Floyd and after I apologize.
10:59We've not been more respectful of them on the ground now. So they're there that a movement never
11:05stopped. Uh, what has been your reaction to ISIS killing of Renee good day on Wednesday and everything
11:13that's followed. Well, Reverend Al, I certainly remember our efforts in George Floyd to try to
11:21prevent the government from shooting citizens, uh, taking the lives of citizens unnecessarily.
11:29And what this really tells us in this latest tragedy is that we have more work to do. We're going
11:36to need
11:36you and national action network to work with the grassroots activists to raise awareness about
11:43how these tragedies continue to happen over and over again to American citizens. And so when I
11:51think about the tragedy, Reverend Al, I think not only about the killing itself, but the aftermath, how
11:58we must have a fair and impartial investigation into what happened and not have the leaders of our
12:07national government can making a conclusion before there's ever a fair and impartial investigation.
12:14She was an American citizen. She certainly has a right to her constitutional guarantees of due process
12:22of the law. And that starts with saying, let's have the state officials like Keith Ellis,
12:28uh, Ellison, the attorney general working with the federal government to have an impartial investigation.
12:35And I think that is what is most needed. And Rev, I think the other thing we need our faith
12:42leaders
12:44to pray that we can come together instead of making this something where we draw a line in the sand
12:52and
12:53we keep yelling and arguing, we need people to say we're all Americans. And this was an American life.
12:59No, we definitely need unity on that. That's why I was glad to talk with attorney Armstrong and others yesterday
13:06at the day. Uh, and faith leaders also need to be working with grassroots leaders. But, uh, attorney Trump,
13:13Crump, I wanted to just ask you, uh, this, you just mentioned the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis,
13:18the subject of multiple parallel investigations at federal state and local levels. Minnesota attorney general,
13:26Keith Ellison, who was on our show yesterday was appointed to lead the investigation at the time
13:33that, uh, this ice situation is much different, uh, as the federal government,
13:39Donald Trump's DOJ and FBI are shutting Minnesota officials out of the investigation.
13:47What do you make of that contrast? And what are the consequences if they stick to this position?
13:53Because what is interesting to me is Trump, I'm sorry, Trump was president at the time of George
14:00Floyd. And they didn't take that position yet. They're taking it now. Yeah. Yeah. You know, it's
14:07sad because what you want most is to build trust and trust comes with transparency. And so to have the
14:16state officials and the local officials, whether it's the Minneapolis police department,
14:21and certainly the attorney general, Keith Ellison's office conducting parallel investigations in
14:28conjunction with the federal government, it will make the citizens accept the conclusion of the
14:35investigation more openly versus if they think it was rigged, if they think that it was whitewashed,
14:44where you only had the federal government who essentially are passing judgment on themselves.
14:52And so that's, what's at stake. It's about due process. It's about trying to uphold the
14:58constitutional guarantees to all citizens. And I would note, Reverend Al, you know, I don't take it
15:05for granted at all. Your leadership and the civil rights community in the killing of George Floyd,
15:11talking with the governor, talking with the federal government, saying that we need impartiality,
15:17and that we needed Keith Ellison to lead this investigation. They can learn a lot from what we
15:23did with George Floyd and his tragic killing of Renee Good. Thousands of demonstrators have taken
15:31to the streets of Minneapolis and other U.S. citizens over the weekend to express outrage over ISIS
15:37killing of Rene Good and their aggressive raids around the country. Let me play some of what we've
15:45been seeing there for our viewers. I just am so horrified by what ISIS is doing here. What they're
15:55doing here is unconstitutional. It's un-American. And Minnesotans want nothing of it. There are times
16:05where people need to stand up together and say there is something morally wrong. I think being
16:11a nation of law and being a city that has always been a citadel to welcome people from everywhere,
16:17and we're stronger because of that. These are values. It's not politics.
16:24As I mentioned earlier, this scale of demonstration in Minneapolis is not new, as many also showed up to
16:31protests against George Floyd's killing. Many of those grassroots activists still on the ground
16:36never stopped. What do you make of these demonstrations now, Attorney General Crump?
16:44You know, Reb, they are necessary because there's this rush to judgment over the killing of this
16:54American citizen. And just like with George Floyd, there are so many parallels. You remember,
16:59Reverend Al, before you and I got involved that they had a police report that said he died of natural
17:06causes. And it wasn't until we said, no, no, we have to have greater scrutiny on this.
17:13And I just listened to those activists say, this is unconstitutional. But they said something even more,
17:20I think, profound. They said, this is un-American. And that's what it is, Reverend Al,
17:25to kill our fellow American citizens and say that you can just move on. There's nothing to see here.
17:32We can never normalize this. And so now more than ever, Reverend, we need you in the faith community
17:39to pray not only for calm, but to pray for the better angels of America to present themselves.
17:49And I think one thing, and I said it on the show last night, we dealt with five going on
17:55six years
17:56ago with a black man in Minneapolis, a knee on the neck. Now it's a white woman. This could be
18:02a victimized, make a victim of anybody if we don't stop this and all law enforcement accountable.
18:10As we did, all of us working together with George Floyd, I think Ellison did prove the case in court.
18:19Those policemen are in jail tonight. Minneapolis became the latest mobilization focal point for ICE
18:27after senior Trump officials became fixated on targeting the Somali community there in recent weeks
18:34after accusations of alleged welfare fraud there. As we said before, Somalis in Minnesota are
18:41overwhelmingly legal US citizens. So do you think this operation is more about years of long political
18:49grudges that Trump holds over George Floyd protests that occurred just before the 2020 election,
18:56which he lost? Yeah. You know, wherever I think it's multi-layered, I think this attack on Somalia and
19:04many other actions of this administration, it seems to have an undercurrent of anti-blackness,
19:12anti-brown citizens that is almost an assault. It's an attack on every level. You look at Florida with the
19:22attack on black culture and talking about you can't teach black history. And we're seeing it everywhere.
19:29When you think about in Altadena where the wildfires, the fact that FEMA is not building the infrastructure
19:37back in that black community. So we have to have people speak truth to power. Now is the time for
19:45real
19:46leadership, principal leadership to speak up and speak truth to power and let citizens know what this is.
19:54This is not leadership. This is about trying to use the political will as a weapon against people who
20:06dare criticize you. And that is, as the protester said, that is un-American. And so thank you forever now
20:14for using your platform for using your platform to speak truth to power. We need it now more than ever.
20:21Andy Crump, one brief final point from you. Over your long distinguished career, you've been involved in
20:29many civil rights struggles. From your perspective, are we now in a civil rights emergency? And where does the
20:37country go from here? No, absolutely, Reverend Al. We are in a crisis situation when you think about
20:46how the elasticity of the U.S. Constitution is being stretched in proportions that if we're not careful,
20:56they will never be able to regain their former constraints of saying that the Constitution is about
21:04making sure all Americans have an equal opportunity that the constitutional protections of life,
21:10liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and that it doesn't just become something that the constitutional
21:17rights are only given to a privileged few. That's what's in jeopardy now. And that's why the Supreme
21:25Court, the United States Congress, all have to do their jobs to do what our founders envisioned,
21:32that we have three branches of government, and that we will never have what we see in Russia and China,
21:41where a dictator is just having their will bestowed upon the people. The people are the power in America,
21:50not dictators. Thank you, the civil rights attorney. I call him the Attorney General of Black America,
21:58Benjamin Crump. Thank you for being with us. Coming up, we'll have a live report from Minneapolis as
22:05communities come together this evening to focus on healing and justice. We'll be right back.
22:16Welcome back to Politics Nation. We've been following protests across the U.S. all weekend.
22:23We want to get right out to Minneapolis, where MX Now reporter Alex Tabat is on the ground. Alex, while
22:33we've been following these protests,
22:35we know the community is now focusing, coming together at this time, healing. Tell us where you are and what's
22:43going on.
22:45Well, Rev, we're here at the site where Renee Good was shot and killed on Wednesday morning. As you can
22:53see,
22:53there's a vigil with flowers and candles. Every day we come back, it grows larger and larger. Every day we
23:02come back,
23:02there is a constant presence of dozens and dozens, if not hundreds of people. Now, what is new at this
23:10vigil is across the street, there is a digital billboard that reads, Arrest and Charge Jonathan
23:17Ross. That is the ICE agent who shot and killed Good on Wednesday morning, who has still not seen any
23:24charges by the FBI in their ongoing investigation. As you can hear, there's music being played. There
23:35are community members here banding together through creativity, through musical expression.
23:43And what's really been so impressive about this vigil and this site, I'm so sorry, is how constant
23:51the presence of people here has been. We've been here at 2 a.m. We've been here, oh, I'm so
23:56sorry,
23:57at 6 a.m. We have been here at all hours of the day, and there is a constant, constant
24:03community
24:03presence here of people to support and commemorate the life of Renee Good. One of those people we've seen
24:10here is this artist, Naval, who has made this painting of Renee Good. Naval? Yes. Why is this
24:21form of expression so important to you right now? Why are you making this painting and why are you here
24:27today? I'm here today to be with community and love so that we are shown a unity, that we are
24:33here
24:33caring for one another. This is how you show up. This is how you love on your community and through
24:37art,
24:37this is how I express this. So for anybody, any artist, any, anyway, how you interpret,
24:43we got drummers, we've got performing artists. I mean, this is how you show up. We all need to be
24:47here. We need to be in seats. This is how you show love. This is how you care. This is
24:51how you
24:51continue to keep this woman's spirit alive. And Naval, you're from the Twin Cities area.
24:57Twin Cities. The Trump administration has only double and tripled down on their immigration
25:02raids despite the tragic killing of this 37-year-old woman. How are these ICE raids impacting your
25:11community right now? It is, um, we're numb. We're shot. This is hurting us. This is hindering us. It's
25:16not helping anybody. You are, you are killing people mentally. You are hurting people. This is not
25:22doing anything. This is not helping anything. You are stripping families away. You are hurting
25:28children. You are hurting families. You're advising them. It's not okay. Naval, thank you so much for
25:33your time. I really appreciate it. And Rev, all of this happened. This tragedy unfolded
25:39less than half a mile from where George Floyd was shot and killed and murdered just five years,
25:47or not shot, not shot and killed. I'm sorry, murdered, uh, five years ago. Rev? Yeah, the knee on the
25:53neck
25:53is the cause of death. I understand it's about seven blocks from where George Floyd was killed
25:59with the knee on the neck. I know the area, as you know, very well. MSNOW reporter Alex
26:06Tibet in Minneapolis. Thank you for your reporting. Coming up, a test of Trump's power could be coming
26:14from the Supreme Court as early as this week. We'll get you ready with our political panel next.
26:25Welcome back to Politics Nation on MSNOW. Right now, across the nation, Americans are
26:32taking to the streets to express their outrage and concern over the ice shooting in Minneapolis.
26:40That left a woman dead. The Trump administration is responding to the backlash by refusing to cooperate
26:48with local authorities on a thorough investigation and sending even more federal agents into a
26:56community whose leaders have called on them to leave. Joining me now is Republican strategist Jennifer
27:03for Horn and Kimberly Atkins Starr, a columnist for the Boston Globe. Uh, Kimberly, I'd like to start
27:12with you. The Trump administration seems to be headed for a showdown over whether this ICE agent will be
27:19investigated and held accountable. Is there any parallel for the way the Trump administration has
27:27handled this so far? And is it sustainable legally? Like I just said, talking with attorney Benjamin
27:34Crump, the Trump administration didn't even take that position in George Floyd. As you know,
27:40I was at the forefront of that. Can this be sustained now and why now?
27:46Yeah. So to answer your first question, Rev, I have not, uh, in my recent history, uh, known anything like
27:55this, a full, uh, attempt to obstruct an investigation involving, uh, an ICE agent, a federal agent, uh,
28:03in a fatal shooting like we saw, let alone, and it's more than that. It's an effort to completely
28:09control the narrative and declare the agent to be innocent and acting in self-defense before
28:14an investigation even began. It was before that they'd barely taken Renee Cook's body from the scene,
28:21when, uh, this messaging started coming from federal officials. One crucial difference here,
28:27between this case and that of George Floyd's murder was that involved a local police officer.
28:34So that investigation started and ended, uh, at the local level, the local and state officials had
28:41priority. And if you recall, uh, Derek Chauvin was prosecuted in state court and convicted in this
28:47case because it is a federal agent, the federal government has a much broader role and they're
28:53trying to big foot, uh, local and state investigations while local and state officials
28:59still have the right to conduct a parallel investigation here. They're just making it
29:04very difficult for them to do so. And they had agreed to this the first day or so, and then
29:09all of a
29:10sudden it went, uh, or Sunder. Uh, Jennifer, a poll from APNORC in December before this incident even
29:19occurred showed president Trump's disapproval on immigration had risen to over 60%. Can the
29:27administration resist a mass movement against them? If that's what's developing, especially when they're
29:35criticizing, uh, uh, uh, trying to criticize the repression of these mass demonstrations in other
29:43countries like Iran, while you're dealing with these issues here at home? Right. Right. Well, first,
29:49Reverend, Reverend, if I may very quickly say, I'm no longer a Republican. I just want to make that
29:54clear to everyone. I'm an independent. I left the party several years ago. Um, and, um, I'm not at all
29:59surprised by that number. That's 60%. Uh, you know, what we've seen coming out of this administration,
30:04uh, under ice, uh, is worse than circumstances that our country has responded to, uh, very
30:11aggressively in the past in other countries. This is the, this is a path toward authoritarianism.
30:18And what the biggest, um, I guess a problem for the Trump administration is that the people see it,
30:24they know it, they get it. Um, you know, one of the things that I just am shocked by
30:30is that the, the immediate response by JD Vance and Kristi Noem and the administration in general,
30:36after this happened, uh, in Minnesota, that the ice agent who killed this woman
30:43filmed himself doing it on his own phone. And then they released that thinking somehow it was going to
30:52show, you know, that show that he was in the right in doing so. An agent of the United States
30:58government never dropped the phone, was never in a, never in a position where he behaved in any way
31:03like he was in danger, shot her three times and then called her an effing bitch as she tried to
31:10drive
31:11away. That's it. That's 60% stays that low in the coming months. I'll be shocked.
31:17No. And, and we had the, a gun in one hand and the phone filming himself with the other.
31:23Right. Like with others, like, like some idiot teenager on TikTok thinking he's cool filming
31:31himself doing something. The most grotesque action that I can imagine our government partaking in
31:38and then filming himself doing it at the same time.
31:43Kimberly, switching topics. Uh, the Supreme Court is expected to issue its next set
31:49of rulings on Wednesday. What should we be watching for particularly on tariffs and maybe voting rights?
31:57Yeah. So the Supreme Court never announces ahead of time what rulings are coming. So I always start
32:03with that caveat, but we have been waiting for the tariffs ruling, uh, for a couple of reasons. It was
32:09argued on an expedited schedule, uh, because it's clear with every ticking day, uh, the amount of
32:15money that is involved in this grows by leaps and bounds. So the justices are aware of the need to
32:21rule
32:21on this urgently. And that's why some people thought it might come Friday. And now we're waiting to see
32:26if it comes on Wednesday. It could also be really significant because it seems based on the argument that
32:31this is the first time that the Supreme Court on its regular docket will really, uh, could really
32:37deliver a blow to Donald Trump's attempt to expand the executive and really act, uh, very much like a
32:45king and imposing his own policy. Despite what the law and constitution say, he's acting under an
32:51emergency law called the, uh, International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which really meant that if there
32:58is some sort of fiscal crisis, it gives the president some limited powers to act unilaterally,
33:03but he's imposing tariffs in a way that's really intended for Congress to do. And it's really clear
33:08from the language of the act that that's where that power lies. So people are really expecting that to
33:15be a major loss. And the money here is, uh, is huge. We are talking billions upon billions of dollars
33:22in tariffs revenue, but leaving these tariffs in place costs the American household is expected to
33:28cost in this year alone over a thousand dollars per household. So it's important for, it's not just
33:33about international tariffs. It's about kitchen table issues for the American people. So it's a hugely
33:39important case. Now, Jennifer, a ruling against President Trump on a key pillar of his foreign
33:46government and domestic policy like tariffs would be a major blow to a president who has claimed in
33:53the past few days to have powers only limited quote, by his own morality, at least when it comes to
34:02global
34:02affairs. He said that could a ruling against Trump pierce some of the aura of invincibility around him,
34:09especially to his supporters. Or is it another setback he can easily shrug off?
34:16Well, it's a little bit of both. I mean, it, to his real supporters, to the core of the MAGA
34:20movement, it will mean nothing. And, you know, they, they'll go in and blame the, you know,
34:24Supreme Court for, uh, you know, a political vendetta against the president or something,
34:29in spite of the fact that the majority of the court, you know, are his judges, uh, are, are conservative
34:34Republican judges. Um, but I think that a, uh, a ruling against the president's unlimited power
34:41is something that is desperately needed. Um, and not just because of the impact it will have
34:47in this case, because I do believe it's the correct answer. Um, but to have a human being
34:53sitting in the white house and the oval office who not only believes that he has unlimited power,
34:58but happily openly tells it to the whole world that his, his powers are limited only by his own moral
35:05compass. Um, it, it is a, uh, it is an attack on the constitution. It is attack on the democratic
35:12republic of the United States of America. And it's just another example of just how and why
35:18Donald Trump is so dangerous. All right. Thank you to Jennifer Horn and MS now political contributor,
35:26Kimberly Atkins star. Uh, thank you both coming up. The first black woman ever elected to the Iowa
35:36state center of victory last month, prevented a Republican super majority from retaking power
35:44in her state. We'll be right back. Welcome back to politics nation. New numbers out showed that in
35:552025 Democrats swept both of this, uh, both of the years, crucial governor's races overperformed in how
36:05special elections and according to analysis by bolts, which covers local elections flip
36:1421% of Republican health state legislative seats that were contested in 2025. One of those races
36:22was in Iowa where Democrat Renee Hardman's special election and her win there prevented a Republican
36:32super majority from taking hold in Iowa state Senate. Joining me now is Iowa state representative
36:40elect Renee Hardman, uh, state Senator Hardman, uh, welcome to politics nation and, uh, congratulations on
36:49your win. You were the first black woman elected to the city council back in 2017. And now you made
36:57history
36:58again as the first black woman elected to the state Senate in Iowa. What's your secret?
37:06Well, first of all, thank you, uh, Reverend now for having me. It's a pleasure. Um, I think the secret
37:11is
37:11being about the people, Al. I think that, um, when you go out and you are a public servant, which
37:18I am
37:18people are first and you have to be able to go out there. And my motto has always been to
37:25listen, learn and
37:27lead and listening helps me frame up what I need to do, what decisions I need to make. And so
37:33I think my
37:33constituents or the people that I love to serve will tell you that I'm a person that gets out there,
37:39put boots on the ground. And I do a lot of listening. Now, Kamala Harris, one Polk County,
37:45Iowa with almost 55% of the vote in 2024. So your 71% victory is a 16 point increase
37:54in that margin of
37:56victory on the democratic side. What does that tell you? And how do you see this ahead of the
38:02midterms in November? Um, you know, uh, Reverend now, I hope that it provides a lot of excitement
38:09and momentum for us to get out there and get the job done, run values oriented campaigns,
38:15get out there and talk to the people that you represent. And so we're, we're excited. We're excited.
38:22Um, I did not anticipate this kind of a margin in this race. Everybody was saying 60, 40, but you
38:29know, in a blizzard, Reverend Al, I had, uh, the weather was horrible, but it did not stop me from
38:35every Saturday and every Sunday. Um, and whenever I could to go out there and knock on people's doors
38:41and ask them, what are your concerns? What are your issues? And it's about affordability. It's about how
38:47we can make their lives better, how they can decide that they're going to pay the light bill today.
38:53They're going to buy groceries. So it's all about affordability. Now your, your wind prevented the
38:59GOP from achieving a two thirds majority in the state's upper chamber. That's notable in a state
39:05that has voted Republican in the past three presidential elections. How important is that
39:11for Iowa Democrats? You know, I think that is what helped me prevail, uh, Reverend Al, when I went out
39:17there and I knocked on the doors, I told them about the super majority and what that means and how
39:22important it is for us to fight to preserve, uh, or to prevent that. And so I think that was
39:28a great
39:28motivator. Um, I like to think also a good candidate, but a great motivator for, uh, folks to get out
39:35and
39:35say, no, we're going to have a little bit more balance in a power in that state legislature.
39:41All right. Iowa state Senator elect Renee Hardman, good luck. And thank you for coming
39:47on on the eve before you're swearing in tomorrow. So thank you for being with us. Up next,
39:54a horrific, disturbing arson in Jackson, Mississippi. We'll be right back.
40:11This morning, I was disturbed to learn about a fire at the Beth Israel synagogue in Jackson,
40:19Mississippi, the city's oldest Jewish temple. A suspect has been detained by Jackson PDs of
40:27arson division. Officials have said they are investigating it as a possible hate crime.
40:33Nearly 60 years ago in 1967, the same synagogue's officers were bombed by the Ku Klux Klan along with
40:44the home of the rabbi at the time. Thankfully, no one was hurt either in that incident or in this
40:51weekend's fire, but both are chilling reminders of deep hatreds that continue to look just beneath
40:59the surface in our country. That we all must call out and confront if we want to move forward as
41:09a
41:09nation. That does it for me. Thanks for watching. I'll see you back here next weekend at 5 p.m.
41:15Eastern.
41:15The weekend primetime starts right here on MS now at the top of the hour.
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