And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. President Donald Trumps failure to condemn the white supremacist and neonazis in charlottesville led steven cohen to introduce articles of impeachment against the president. He joins us now for what could be a historic piece of legislation, an honor, sir, to have you back on this program. Its an honor to be on it, thank you. Let me start by saying something to you is that articles of impeachment is serious business. I dont know if theres anything more serious when it comes to the presidency, and you must have thought a lot about that before you introduced or even started to talk about this legislation. Im a student of history. And i know about Andrew Johnson and of course all of us watched bill clinton and that bizarre effort by the republicans to get him for lying about an affair, and but people may age, we lived through watergate too. Uhhuh. So its a serious thing, but when you have a president who violates his oath of office to take care of the laws or administrate properly and that hes not abusing his office and i had does it, you have to be cautious and coming up with the right language and you want to do the right thing, but i cant after charlottesville and seeing the and this is i dont think going to be part of our impeachment article because while it was disdainful and despicable and disheartening to see his response and equivocate on in a zis and klansmen and protesters, thats what drove me over the line. I just thought, this man is not looking out for me or my constituents. Im jewish, my constituents are predominantly African American and there were enemies of both of us. And the enemies and nazis are not wild about blacks either, the klans arent wild about jews. Were in the same boat of hate. What has he done, what do you think is impeachable . Well, the first thing would be obstruction of justice and the firing of james comey. Right. James comey was an fbi director, doing a good job, trump claimed he fired him because what have he did with Hillary Clinton and the campaign, what he did with Hillary Clinton and the campaign was wrong. I condemned it. I thought he should maybe resign. And i think it interfered with the result of the election. But i think james comey did it out of a sense of rectitude, i think he has a high degree of rectitude, and hes a brilliant man and wellrespected. He later admitted to lester holt that he fired him because he thought the guy was interfered with him and russia, and he couldnt take it anymore. So thats part of it. And i think that the facts will be produced by mueller, but i think that was obstruction of justice. Then you get the clause where there are civil suits brought for him getting money without going to congress to ask from foreign governments. Hes got trump tower, hes got trump world tower, hes got the trump hotel, and hes got usa disand chinese and turks and hes almost like little bit like Blazing Saddles and getting all the bad actors together at the same time and getting him to come into his hotel and business established to pay him money. Youre not supposed to do that. Theres a clause on domestic issues too. And youre not supposed to get more money than you get a salary as your job. And hes getting money at maralago and at these different trump golf courses and every chance he can. So thats another. And then what hes done to question the rule of law in this comments and actions about the jew dish area of socalled judges and the judge out here which shows a pattern dealing with the hispanic judge who couldnt treat him right on this days that should have been dismissed that he settled for 25 million. There are going to be democrats who shy away from this, some have because they think even nancy pelosi hasnt wrapped herself around this because strategically, its a bad decision that it might backfire on you all, the Democratic Party that is, come november of next year, certainly come the 2020 elections, this might backfire. And all its going to do is serve to anger his base, his supporters. I understand that. And i appreciate i have the highest regard for nancy pelosi. Shes a great woman, great person. And i think when mueller has his report whenever it is, therell be more facts out there, and i think even some of the trump people will say hey, im not for this. You know. The connections with russia are too much, but at the same time, i think, how can i be angry at republicans for not coming on board and saying theyre for impeachment which they have primary base thats protrump. And itd be difficult for them to do it. If i cant do it with a district thats for impeachment. So it was a combination of things, and when i called nancy, i said nancy, i know, and i held off, i did something called new concept which i created with 31 others a resolution of no confidence as kind of impeachment light. I said nancy, i cant do it anymore. When he couldnt condemn the neonazis. It may be a move and maybe i shouldnt go out to the subway gate, but i did it. And im going to do it and im going to have fellows with me and were going to show a lot of democrats that theres somebody out there that thinks like they do and some democrats that realize that our constitution, democracy is at risk. Needs to be addressed and might give republicans more backbone down the line to support it as well. They have to support it for it to pass. And im hoping that this gives them some backbone. There are safety concerns that you or your staff have for you when youre pushing something that could be seen as a troubling moment given what we saw in charlottesville. My staff has had that concern. Ive seen some responses that have suggested that theres a bullet with my name on it. I should be careful when i go out. Roger stone even said those people who are, big trump supporter, those people do so at the peril of their own lives. I thought about it and we had Police Protection at one point. We probably will have it again at certain times. A lot of these people that are big trump people are big on the Second Amendment. You know, and trump didnt take any concerns from the campaign and he said maybe some of those Second Amendment people will help me with hillary. Hes not one to hold back unlawful conduct for somebody who claims hes for law and order. Hes for his law and his order. Whats your sense of when you will get to the point of introducing these articles of impeachment . Probably very soon. We go back in session next monday. It was a suggestion by one of my colleagues that we wait until he does something really, really boneheaded and stupid again, and that could happen any minute. So were kind of wait for donald to be donald. While hes going down to Hurricane Harvey and hurricane irma, wasnt necessarily the right time. It was a little bit of a kumbaya moment, not much. And then he met with chuck and nancy and kind of had a deal on the debt ceiling, and then the threemonth extension. Looked like leopard dont change their spots. You know when people show you who they are, believe them. And there was a tweet i saw the other day. And that said daca, and showed and, you know, shes shown people who he is. Hes the seven deadly sins incarnate, pride, anger, gluttony, greed, lust, envy. Yeah. Hes all of them. There used to be moderate republicans, and those persons are nonexistent for the most part these days. Everybody seems to be on one side or the other and at the polars. So where and how did you get the support and do you think that the evidence can be, will be Strong Enough to convince either republicans that something has to be done . Muellers evidence will be what does that. I have to admit, my resolution will not be what gets them on the train. Right. Its going to have to be some strong evidence, whether its the smoking gun that mueller brings forth. I think it can happen. The sad thing is there are four committees in congress that have jurisdiction. House and Senate Judiciary and house and senate intel. All the house judiciary which is the committee that would bring impeachment charges are doing work on this case. On this sue. And russia, our chairman has said, oh, well these other three committees are doing it. And the fbi is doing it and muellers doing it, so were not doing anything. Well, i think were being derelict in our responsibility as a Judiciary Committee to not looked into firing of the fbi director and other things. And weve had resolutions of inquiry that have been presented in our committee that republicans have hijacked and turned them into resolutions to go to the general sessions to ask about Hillary Clinton and the Clinton Foundation and all kind of other things. I mean, theyre more interested in a person whos a private citizen who doesnt have any influence over Foreign Affairs or Domestic Affairs than they are the president of the United States of america. Yeah. I mean, theyre just Hillary Clintons their jones. Theyve got to somehow get off of it. Yeah. I would assume that a congressman, even his district you dont want to be which one assumes doesnt like donald trump, i would assume that you would still though want to check in with your own district to see whether or not they want to be the district that is represented by the guy who introduced impeachment articles. How did that you have conversation and did you have that conversation . In town hall meetings, weve had two town halls. One, about 700 people came out to east high school, and another at the college of art and we packed the college. And then through social media. Im real active on twitter and facebook. My district wants him impeached and my district is really proud of the work that im doing, and when i go to the memphis ucla game, people are just thrilled. They say, had one guy i do a 360 and walk around the stadium. One guy went, im not going to vote for you. Walked on. So many other people came up, keep doing what youre doing. We need you to do what youre doing. Were proud of you. Get him. Get him. Its strong in our district, its strong among democrats. Do you know do you have do you know, do you have any sense right now of what kind of support youre going to have . How deep is your support going to run inside your own party when you introduce these articles . Ill admit if i can get to double digits, ill billion pleased. I know for a fact that Louise Gutierrez and gwen moore are on board, al greens on board. Theres a few other folks that have said theyre definitely going to be on board. Some of them are 95 . I think theyll be there. Im trying to work mostly on Judiciary Committee and get some of those folks. I know therell be some brushback, i dont think john conyers is in favor of it, hes like my political father which makes it difficult. John lewis isnt there because he doesnt recognize him as being president. John lewis is strong. If we can get to ten, weapon dont want it just to be me and we know we have at least three or four others for sure and probably going to have seven or eight, maybe ten. We shall see what happens. Steve cohen, congressman, thanks for your time. For my of conversation with congressman cohen, go to pbs. Org tavissmiley. Coming up next, ta mee ka martin green. Stay with us. Best known for her role as shah that williams on the walking dead, she will don a uniform to play michael bern m. That was right . Yeah. In the new series star trek discovery. Before our conversation, a clip from star trek discovery. 10 15. Warning, proximity alert. Scanning for data base recognition. I cannot be confirmed. Cling on. The United Federation of as we say in any neighborhood, thats high cotton. Thabs high cotton. The star trek franchise. Whos running things . When i was wrapping up on walking dead what a wrapup that was. Thank you. That was already happening. When i knew that the network and the producing team and the writers were going to go boldly and have a black woman be at the helm. I was very, very moved by that. I would love to hear what their argument, explanation was to why they thought that a sister should lead the enterprise. Its a bold move, and i love it. I love it. But what did they say to you . Did you look at them sideways like what you talking about, willis . What are you talking about willis . When i heard that they were that that was their plan, my i hornsly thought, really . Really . Really . Its your plan, but are you going to, you know and then i found out, no, no, no, theyre very adamant about this. This is the vision. And then you know, i was floored by that. And i feel that for everyone involved, everyone that was in that decision, decisionmaking room, i i think it was important for them to uphold the legacy of star trek by going further. And i think thats exactly what were doing with having me at the helm. And i think it also extends beyond me and its really important to say as well that we have the first asian female captain. And then we have the first female captain with a female first officer. Yeah. Weve never seen that before either. And then the first openly gay officer as well. And so, i feel that they just decided these are people that love this franchise, love the cannon, the universe, love what it all represents, and they said okay, how are wee going to step in . How are we going to step into this endowment and make it our own and how are we going to go further . I think thats what every star trek should be doing. Sure, sure. Is going further than the last. And theres always the risk that when one is that bold, when one is that visionary, and that inclusive, and all the adjectives and adverbs we could put on that, when one is all of that, that means you run the risk of pushback. So have you gotten any of that yet . Yeah. Read any of that online or ignoring that stuff . No, i. We have gotten that. Weve gotten the backlash, the negative response from that. We have people who say that they are true trek fans who are upset about the diversity. Ive heard lots of things, its like check box diversity. And so its empty because of that, ive heard all of these things. And you know, ive been saying it a lot lately, its surprising on one hand because of the universe that has always been star trek and every has boldly gone nap surpriseds me, but on the other hand, i am a black woman in america, and im in tune with the times and i was also born in the south and raised in the south. So it doesnt surprise me in that way. I will say though that i think the people that sort of nay sayers, i think theyre small in number to be honest because i have gotten an overwhelmingly positive response as well. We all have a lot of love, a lot of passion and a lot of support. And so i think that while they sort of made their voices loud for a little while, theyre not the majority. Yeah. They never are. Right . They almost never are. They never really are. Yeah. Which is important to know and important to say i think as well. Another thing ive learned, the nay sayers are small, but vocal. But then something happens when they see the product. Yeah. And if the talent is undeniable. Uhhuh. And if the work is that good. And they get in line like everybody else. And already known for that. For that indwizability. I think that, and ive been saying that a lot as well. I encourage these people who have their issues with it and their inner resistance to it to just give it a shot. And join us hopefully it cant be denied and its able to shape you in positive ways. And so i always sort of try to end on that. I always try to say, i get what youre saying, i get where youre coming from. And thats unfortunate, but just join us. And see what happens. I wonder if theres any intimidation in taking on this role. And i ask that because i was talking to jj abrams is a friend of mine. I was going to have this conversation not too long ago. Hes done this at least three times now. Hes got the next star wars reboot again. But jj has helmed star wars, star trek, mission impossible. Right. This guy jj. Three times. Three times hes taken these franchises in his hands, but thats a lot of responsibility when you again are taking on the role of being the cure rater and being the protector of a franchise. So is there any intimidation in this for you . You know, i you like intimidation. Bring it on, bring it on. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, i certainly hope that i respond well under pressure. Yeah. But yeah, yes, i can you know know what id like to say, oh no, no, no, im just so excited and so blessed and, you know, i took it and i said lets go. And i had my moments where i was like under the weight of it. Right, because its been coming in ways. And ive been working so hard. You know, i rolled right from walking dead and they waited for you. Yeah. The white folk really did want you. They had to wait until you cleared walking dead. To start the process. Oh man. And i didnt even thats a lot of love. Yeah, it is. I appreciate that. And i really do. And i just, like i said, coming in waves and you know, i already knew how important it was, i knew what an institution it was and a film and tv history. Yeah. It keeps, it keeps cascading. It keeps cascading, and i see i see it. I see it in front of me. I hear about it the. I read about it. Just how important it is. Yeah. To so many people. Yeah. And how important its been for such a long time. As a daughter of the south, how i think i can use a word with you, how blessed do you feel you can. Ill say it again then, how blessed to you feel to have been connected to these two major i mean walking dead right. Its a goliath. You go from walking dead to star trek theres like this globe, this halo. Praise the lord, i am, yeah, i feel like i am in the middle of his divine plan. I really do. And i, i didnt know what walking dead was going to be. I didnt know i was going to be on the show for as long as i was. I didnt know i was going to love those people as much as i do. I didnt know, i didnt know, and then that was unfolding, and then to go from that, right as that door was closing, star trek door opened. And i didnt know that would happen. To go from that franchise to a franchise even bigger that its even more beloved if i can say, with another group of people that are amazing, and stellar and passionate and kind and all of these things. Its, i cant really some things cant be vocalized. Say that. Say it. Just take it. Oh, man. Ill take it. Before i let grow, let me circle back to walking dead, because i intimated, thats a high quality show. Yes. That is how you close a show. Tell me about the experience and the clothes. Oh my goodness. Well i knew that it was coming and i knew that it would be in a sort of sack official way that was all that our amazing producer told me we were in a lot of talks leading up to it. When i read that finale script, i cried tears of joy. I really did because i just i felt so humbled and grateful to have been given such a poem, thats what it was to me. And then, you know, being a walker is not something that you want to do, i never really wanted to be a walker, but i felt that, you know, being able to be that and have people root for a walker like never before, and kevin wagner went all out with my with the makeup as well and made it him and the rest of the special guys made it a really good time. Even though it was bitter sweet and sad, we had fun getting ready for it. And i just um i cannot be more grateful and more full of love from those people and from that experience. I call them my post graduate degree. There you go. The walking dead, for sure. I hope this wont sound paternalistic no, please. But you use the word grateful. We are grateful and proud, proud that you get to represent us, and its a beautiful thing to see you go from walking dead to the enterprise. Yeah. So all the best to you. That means a lot coming from you. Because i love you and what you do. I love you for loving me. I love your talent. I love your gift. The new face of star trek discovery. So im sure well all be checking that ou good to have you on the program. Thats our show tonight, thanks for watching and as always, keep the faith. For more information on todays show, visit tavis smiley at pbs. Org. Hi, im tavis smiley, join me next time for a conversation about political organizing on the socalled religious left, thats next time, see you then. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Today on americas test kitchen, bryan cooks sweet and tangy grilled countrystyle pork ribs, adam reviews laundry stain removers, and dan uncovers the secrets to making perfect savory corn muffins, right here on americas test kitchen. Americas test kitchen is brought to you by dcs. 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