Live coverage of the president ial and Vice President ial the bates on cspan debates on cspan. On your screen is Cornell William brooks of has been the president and ceo of the naacp. Hes joining us on newsmakers from baltimore, the organizations hometown. Jesse holland is a race and ethnicity reporter. He has been with us for and making her first appearance is kimbriel kelly. In 2013 she and her colleagues served received a Pulitzer Prize for their reporting on a police killing. Good to have you with us. Lot inyou have seen a the last couple years around the black lives movement. Where does the naacp play in in terms of relevancy in your opinion . The end of the lacey p is at the heart of relevance in 2016 america. Are an organization that is over 100rs old years old. Whenever there is a crisis of civil rights we are on the ground. The naacp represents your parents and your grandparents and children and grandchildren. Least 70,000 college students, hundreds of college chapters. Units in high schools were represented in every state of the country, hundreds and hundreds of small towns, we are where the crises happen in civil rights, so in terms of relevance, we are the organization that governors call, that mayors call when there is a crisis in their midst. We are not only the First Responders of civil rights, that is to say an organization that people call when it is a challenge, but we are the primary care physicians of civil rights. That is to say we are on the ground in the state legislature in corporate offices when the cameras are present and when the cameras are not present. We are at the heart of civil rights in america in 2016. Jesse it is interesting that you said the naacp is who governors call and mayors call, but is the naacp the organization that the people on the street call first . We see a lot of people from black lives matter and Justice League out there immediately on the streets. Where does the naacp sit in when it comes to the young people out on the streets . We have seen a lot of protests and movements from you people people that did not seem to be led by the naacp. They seem to be led by other groups. How are you fitting in where the people are on the streets . Mr. Brooks certainly. The naacp is on the ground and in the streets all across the country. For example, with the tragic death of Michael Brown in ferguson, the naacp was on the ground the day after he was killed. We led a march of 1000 people, mostly grade schoolers, high schoolers, young adults, adolescents in ferguson. We marched from the home of mike brown to the home of the governor, 134 miles. We pressed for and were successful in pushing for the passage of a bill which capped municipal fines, that breaks the election between predatory policing and predatory taxation. The naacp in ferguson was the organization that passed the racial profiling law that made the pattern and practice Investigation Report and settlement possible. When we look across the country, not only are we the organization that stands with the Justice League with black lives matter activists and activists with the aclu or the urban league, we are the organization that works in concert. The point being here is that it is not a matter of which organization is out front on every march, but it is a matter of who gets the work done. Also, in atlanta, only a few weeks ago, we had thousands of people on the ground in the streets shutting down a major highway, lifting up the notion of the idea that black lives matter. The naacp stood sidebyside with black lives matter activists. The point is that it is not a matter of who is first portals of who is first or last, but rather who is standing against injustice in any way. It is not only was prominent in front of the camera. It is about who is prominent and persistent and who ultimately prevails in the state legislature in congress in terms of passing legislation to bring about serious reform. That is the question that people ask. We dont have to be pitted against one another. We dont have to compete for prominence. We have to ultimately cooperate and collaborate together to bring about reform. Kimbriell let me just ask very quickly, has the naacp in the past leveraged your own Financial Resources to align yourself with some of the activism of black lives matter . Have you done that in a past, and do you see yourself doing that in the future . Mr. Brooks we have done that in the past. We have worked with black lives matter activists. In addition to that, we have led lent our staffers to work with and alongside blm and other young activists across the country. The point being here is we are not an organization of infinite resources, but the modest resources we have, we give and share generously all across the country because at the end of the day, the naacp relative to black lives matter with the urban league, we are a Sister Organization in a common struggle for justice. I would simply note this. What our activists were in a post retirement age, 80 years, that is how old our commitment is to young people, our students are on the front lines across the country come on university campuses, university of missouri, yale university, oklahoma university. We are on the front lines. The point being here is not only do we collaborate in terms of lending support in terms of staffing, but our people stand sidebyside. Think about this. Only a few weeks ago in roanoke, virginia, we had a group of high schoolers, adolescents who sat in the office of congressman goodlatte to move forward Voting Rights in this country. Myself and the College Division director were arrested with young people. There is no millennial or generations when it comes to social justice. We are all together. We have to be in it together. Jesse the reason why some people would say groups like black lives matters and Justice League exist is because going back to trayvon martin, we have seen these publicized shootings of africanamerican men and women, not just shootings, death at the hands of police, and it does not seem to stop. How do you as a leader of a Civil Rights Organization, what can you tell people to say this is how we are going to get this to stop . Because we have seen it over and over for the last four or five years, but it does not seem to stop. How do you as the head of the naacp look at your constituents and say, this is how were going to get this to stop . Mr. Brooks we have to be very honest with people. The naacp, being in business for well over a century, we are well aware of the lines that led to the creation in the last we are well aware of the act of violence called lynching. That led to the creation in the last century before the decade after decade after decade, and we brought into an end. We buy into and through federal legislation, state legislation, vigorous Law Enforcement. Here we are in this century with violence called police misconduct. The naacp is taking a multilevel approach. Number one, we are pushing for federal legislation. We have mobilized and continued to mobilize people for the support and passage of the legislation. The passage of the Law Enforcement trust and integrity act. What are we pushing for here . Body cameras, a National Standard for excessive use of force, a retooling, a change in the model and modality of policing. We have seen over the last several years 1000 people die at the hands of police year in and year out. We have seen a young black man be 21 more times more likely to lose his life at the hands of police that his white counterparts. We know that there is a serious problem, but we also know all across the country, there are Police Departments that are getting it right or coming closer to getting it right. We push for state legislation, federal legislation. We push for the preserve and protect our lives pledge. We asked both president ial candidates to push for the legislation i just spoke of, to push for the reporting of data. That is to say you cannot solve a problem unless you are able to measure the problem. We have also asked residential candidates to push for civilian review boards. The point being is we know what works because we have brought on the number of place involved shootings. We know we have been able to tune things around. The point is we have to push forward these reforms at the federal level and the state level, and we know that they work because our places in the country where they have worked. The point being here is we cannot conclude that not having solved the problem in a few years that we are not able to solve the problem. I want to emphasize here. We may not have confidence in our politicians, but we at the naacp, being in business for 100 years have confidence in our capacity, we have confidence in the capacity of our young people to bring about reform in voting, activism in the streets, through civil disobedience, legislative advocacy. We have the tools at our disposal. We can get up done, and we can get it done in our time. We are possessed with the fierce urgency of now. I believe we can get it done. Our history suggests we can get it done. We dont need to conclude on the basis of the difficulties that we face the moment that we cannot get into. Get it done. Kimbriell you mentioned consent degrees which are a tool of the apartment justice to reform Police Departments, and we know the Justice Department over the last 20 years has investigated dozens of Police Departments across the country for use of excessive force. However, we know there are 18,000 Police Departments in the country, and the Justice Department cannot be everywhere. They have acknowledged their limited resources financially, their staff. In terms of the naacp, what do you see as a limitation in trying to address the civil rights issues today and Going Forward into the next few years . Mr. Brooks our limitations are these. We have nearly all volunteer army of nearly half a million. While we are in a great many places, we are not everywhere. While we are the largest Civil Rights Organization in the country, we are not as large as the problem. That being said, acknowledging our limitations, we acknowledge our resources. Our resources are these. We have a strong history. We have imagination and creativity of our activists, and also, we have the determination and the will of this present moment. What we are seeing across this country is generally unprecedented. We see thousands of activists in the streets. We are in the midst of a postmillenium civil rights movement. I would say this if looking back on history, if we do not underestimate the capacity of change in this country during the era of Martin Luther king or rosa parks, let us not underestimate our capacity for change in the present moment. The point being we have to raise money, resources, the will to bring about change in police and policing culture in this country, but it can be done. The country is not nearly where it should be, but it is certainly not where it was. While we may be resourceconstrained, the fact of the matter is our people have done a whole lot more with a whole lot less, so we refuse to be discouraged and disheartened, even with the present circumstances. Jesse you brought up the president ial campaign earlier, but first, did you get a response from any of the president ial candidates to the pledges you asked them . Second, where does the naacp stand as far as this years president ial election goes because it has been a long conversation around the country a lot of conversation around the country about Voting Rights . There has been a long conversation recently about how the political candidates relate to the Africanamerican Community. Where as far as Voting Rights goes . Have you heard anything from the political candidates back on the pledges you mentioned . Where does the Africanamerican Community stand as far as this Years Campaign goes . Is there anything we need to hear from the political candidates this year that i have not talked about . That they have not talked about . Mr. Brooks certainly. Lets talk about the pledge. Our pledge to protect and preserve our lives, we crafted this pledge with five key elements. We reached out to both president ial candidates from the major parties. Secretary clinton came to our convention, addressed the pledge at length and in detail. We have not heard from mr. Trump whatsoever. He declined our invitation to come to our convention. He declined the invitation of the association of black journalists. He declined the invitation of the urban league and a number of groups. We have not heard in depth and detail with respect of his plans in terms of criminal justice reforms, whether it be policing, sentencing, any of the challenges that face us in the realm of the injustice in the criminal justice system. In terms of the plants, we continue to press forward with it and seek that all candidates, we seek their commitment to bring about those reforms and bring about those reforms and make significant progress in the first 100 days. Beyond that, in terms of Voting Rights, when you ask where is the naacp . The naacp is in the courts, streets, and state legislatures. When you look at the recent cases from texas to georgia to North Carolina, in each instance, the naacp has both been in the courts as either lawyers or the client and in the streets as activists and advocates for legislative reform. We are also in the congress in terms of our Washington Bureau passing for a fix to a badly broken Voting Rights act. This is the first president ial election in 50 years without the protection of the Voting Rights act. We have seen in the wake of shelby versus holder this machiavellian frenzy of voter disenfranchisement. We have seen a strong naacp on the winning side. In our North Carolina state conference was a plaintiff in that case where the Fourth Circuit found intentional discrimination, in terms of Voter Suppression, intentional Racial Discrimination in terms of Voter Suppression in the state. We are going to be on the winning side in the state legislature and in the federal congress in terms of pushing for the reform of a budding rights act. Voting rights act. That is to say the passage of the Voting Rights advancement act. The naacp only a few weeks ago, we were arrested in roanoke, virginia, in an act of civil disobedience to get congressman Virgil Goodlatte to free that legislative hostage called the Voting Rights advancement act from the Judiciary Committee in the house. All across the country, whether it be georgia, North Carolina, texas, over and over again, the naacp has been in the lead on this issue with partners. Make no mistake, we stand with partners, but we have to be clear about this. We put our lawyers and bodies on the line. The naacp marched in alabama to washington, d. C. , on what we call americas journey for justice, 1004 miles in the heat of the summer. Why . We were pushing for the reform and the protection of Voting Rights act in terms of the Voting Rights advancement act. There is no organization that has given more sacrifice in terms of securing the franchise. That their question here is, where are we with respect to this president ial campaign . We reached out to both candidates. We have asked them to debate the issues. We have engaged in twitter storms. We have petitioned certainly the debate commissions to put the right questions on the agenda. During the primary season, we pushed for these candidates to debate the issues of not just black america or africanamerican america, but america in terms of our civil rights agenda, and we continue to press the case. As we enter into the final days of the campaign with 70 someodd days left, we will press the candidates again and again. We will call them out for a lack of specifics, for generalities or platitudes when it comes to civil rights in this country. The point being here is we will make it clear. You dont get to the white house unless you travel through the doors of the naacp. More importantly, you dont get to the white house without addressing the nations civil rights agenda. We cannot i have candidates not speaking about the voter rights act, racial profiling, not saying it loud and with clarity that black lives matter. Why . Unless black lives are said to matter, all lives cannot matter. Point being here is the naacp, we are the nations watchdog when it comes to civil rights, and we will do our job in terms of ensuring that these candidates speak to the issues. We can be counted on to do that. Jesse a real quick follow up. You said secretary clinton addressed the pledge. Did she sign it . Mr. Brooks she did not sign it. We are calling on her to sign it. By signing it, that means you will by executive order, by regulation, or by congressional action, legislation, that you will make significant progress within the first 100 days on things like collecting data, establishing civilian review boards, ensuring we have a minimum standard of conduct when it comes to Law Enforcement, that we not fund live with agencies that engage in a enforcement agencies that engage in a pattern, so we dont subsidize discrimination. We defund lawenforcement departments that engage in that conduct. We are asking her to sign it. As importantly, we are asking mr. Trump to take note of it, then sign it, then speak to the nations civil rights agenda in depth and in detail. Kimbriell i just want to pivot to baltimore for a second. There is a lot has happened there recently with the department of justice investigative findings, but as well as the outcomes of the officers who were on trial for the death of freddie gray. What are your thoughts on what that moment meant, before the trial and as a nation what we should take away from that . Secondly, do fcoly, do you feelt officer misconduct and the death of black lives is the most pressing number one civil rights issue . We have about a minute and a half. Mr. Brooks in short, we believe that these officers not being found guilty and charges being dismissed is certainly disappointing, but at the end of the day, to bring about system ic reform, you cannot look to individual verdicts, so we continue to push for systemic reform in baltimore. The number one issue is Voting Rights because if our ability to vote is impaired, our ability to hold Police Department accountable is rendered mute. Let me ask you as we close here since these issues are going and Police Relations with the black community have reached something of a Tipping Point over the past two years, what do you think Barack Obamas legacy as president will be on these issues . Mr. Brooks i believe the president s legacy will be that he spoke candidly to the issues. He had two attorney generals who had been on the forefront, but he leaves a legacy on this issue that needs to be completed. We look forward to a new president , a new congress to take up the mantle and to make it clear to the nation that the notion that black lives matter is a moral premise to the ethical conclusion that all lives matter. Unless we can save the lives of our children is safeguarded in whatever their color, hue, or heritage, is safeguarded in the streets, little can be said about this country. Naacp, we will continue to stand for the nation civil rights agenda, and we will stand with anyone and everyone who was to work with us as we seek to better the country. Cornell brooks, think you for being with cspan on our Newsmakers Program this week. Let me turn to kimbriell kerry and jesse. I am wondering since you both really spent so much time reporting on the issues that we talked about with mr. Brooks, what is it about the past three to four years where these issues have been so much in the forefront in our society . What has brought them to the forefront . Is there more happening or something about the reporting that has changed . Jesse the first thing we can say is that we know these issues existed before the last half decade, but what is happening is that the technology has changed, where we actually are seeing video of the incidents that people in the black community have been talking about for years. Instead of it being anecdotal evidence, someone said that this happened, we are now seeing it, which is bring the conversation to americas forefront. Before, it was a conversation between the Africanamerican Community and the police or the Africanamerican Community and the courts. The videos we have seen have allowed that conversation to hit the mainstream. Cell phones and social media have changed everything . Kimbriell absolutely. Not only do you have, and i would go a step further and say it provides evidence, if you will, in court for prosecutions. If you have a Police Officer say five or 10 years ago who was prosecuted for some sort of misconduct in the court, you may not have that evidence, and now, you see an increase in the prosecutions and the ability to say that the officer and his testimony may differ than what the evidence shows, and that is something you are seeing that as different as well. What is the Justice Departments agenda on these issues to address them during the waning days of the Obama Administration . Jesse that is an interesting question. We have seen it in baltimore, but the question is, how much further can they take it in the waning days of the administration . Depending on who will become president will set the agenda of the Justice Department for the coming years so it will be interesting to see what general attorney general lynch can do. Can she make any sort of change, impact on these issues that we have been talking about for the last five years or so . Can it be permanent . Kimbriell over the last years we have seen various levels of interest in this kind of work. Earlier, he saw the Justice Department investigating Police Departments. They have the remedies that were not necessarily courtand forced courtenforced. A federal judge has been selected to oversee the implementation of these reforms. That is different in the current administration. That could change in the administrations to come. You could see investigations, but not where the reform has a federal monitor. Are they likely to find money for all of those Police Body Cameras . It is an expensive proposition. Jesse it is hard to say. It depends on congress. The priorities are congress will depend on who is in charge of congress. One thing that is really important as finding that data. That is one thing we do not have from the Police Department. What the data is on how many people have been killed, and how many people have been shot, because they were not required to report it. If there is something that can be done that can help change the couple of issues we have seen is comedate for that data to into the governments we can be analyzed. That is what you spent the on. This is our second year tracking fatal shootings and that is important because there is not accurate accounting of this information. Resources is just one aspect of the body worn cameras. You see time and time again that being able to chronicle and house and archive the data from cameras is going to be a big issue in the future. It is not just getting the funding for these cameras but it is how you warehouse what you find. But the release of the actual film, because that is an issue we are having with a lot of Police Departments where they have these films but they do not want to release it. Then you have to fight with the Police Department to get the data that shows what happens. Them saying take our word for it. 30im going to go over by seconds because i cannot close without talking about the donald Trump Campaign, because we are talking on the week where he made an outreach to the black community. With his speech, what do you have to lose . The wall street journal editorial page said he was right in not going to speak to the naacp because the constituency is not his. It provides video of a stonefaced audience listening to his message. So, im wondering what you think about his campaign and his possibilities for success with the messaging he is taking to the black community. I think there is difference of opinion about the messaging. You hear people saying that messaging is not for black people. The perception that it is that it is aroudnd his strongernts and he has feelings for the black community than those that may exist. It was not just the naacp he turned on, it was the National Association of black journalists. I think people are very clear in terms of what his feelings may be around the black community. It will be interesting to see how penetrative his message is. A few words of his speech is not going to be enough to change the impression that many in the africanamerican committee have of this election. It is commendable that he wants to try, but it is probably going to take a little bit more than just the mentioning of the Africanamerican Community in be speeches for it to effective in bringing more votes into his campaign. We do not know what he is going to do in the future. Plan or will have some an outreach or something more than a few lines in a speech coming from the Trump Campaign but right now it is hard to see those few words changing many peoples minds. Becauseh we could go on theyre so much of talk about including heller Clinton Hillary clinton. Thank you very much, the both of you, for being with us on newsmakers. Thank you. [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2016] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] month we are this showing book tv programs during the week in prime time. Ourk tv on cspan 2 takes Public Affairs programmings and focusing on the leg is Nonfiction Books latest Nonfiction Book releases. The signature programs are indepth with questions from viewers via phone, email and social media. Indepth airs the first sunday of every month. Afterwords is a oneonone conversation with the author of the book and an interviewer with an oos