Transcripts For MSNBCW Melissa Harris-Perry 20150208

Good morning. Officials remain skeptical. Friday the terror group said 26 years old aid worker Kayla Mueller was buried in the rubble of a building hit by a jordanian aircraft. Mueller, who had been working for two aid groups was kidnapped in 2013. Her identity had been kept private for over a year while negotiations worked behind the scenes to have her released. Usual Officials Say they have no information to confirm the isis claim. We do not at the present have any evidence to krobcorroborate the claims. The statements in part this news leaves us concerned. Yet we are still hope up that kayla is still alive. Shes the last american hostage known to be held. Just three days before they said she was killed this happened. Two days before the video was released prompting a swift response. Jordan executed two of its prisoners. By thursday, jordan had launched an extension i was air attack on targets in syria and iraq. The same air campaign that isis claims Kayla Mueller, but a jordanian spokesman said isis is being illogical and theyre lying. The u. S. Military said no jordanian or american air strikes happened near there. Just another ordeal isis said it kill the two men, one of home was a journalist to plead for the release of the other hostage after japan refused to pay 200 million in random the same amount the Prime Minister had pledged in nonmilitary aid to countries involved in the fight against isis. The countrys Immediate Reaction of horror and grief quickly turned to outrage when japans Prime Minister learned of the hostages death. He vowed to quote, make the terrorists, it prompting some to question whether these could be a watershed moment for japan. Joining me now ayman mohyeldin, and author of going to tehran nina who is associate professor of international affairs, and clarence lausanne. A ayman, im wonders if the responsible z spobs are presidely what they meant to do. Theres no do you. Particular in the case of jordan the king came until pressure and there were a lot of questions whether jordan was going to back down or double down if you will in the wake of this tragedy. It seems by the government says they are repeating very clearly their message this is a fight against them it is a mortgage at threat to jordan and jordanians. I think if there was any doubt within the kingdom about the resolve of the king in the past id say 72 hours, that has been made clear that the country is still very much committed to these Coalition Air strikes. Hillary, we have seen months years really but certainly recent months of the horrors coming out of isis, particularly with the use of video and social media, we have literally seen it why this moment provoking this kind of response . The strategy that the Islamic State has had is extraordinarily effective. Keep in mind when they first took mosul intoic in june they had about 6,000 foot soldiers. Today they have over 50,000. The support for isis or the Islamic State, though at this point jordanians want revenge, is still very deep there are 2,000 jordanians fighting with the Islamic State. If they attack them theyre going to be weak and to get them to overreach. So for the United States to be seen as the cool inhue mail bomber murderer and for jordan too, to overreach. Show its population for this king, for all that he says hes just an american lackey taking orders from the United States. I think in short it were there will be support for the king but in the long term thats a very shortterm proposition. The concern in jordan for american policy American Foreign policy what it does in libya, syria, iraq afghanistan, palestine is a tool that the islami state uses for recruitment. I think for me cleanly, clarence in japan this leader had already begun to talk about removing some of the aspects of the kind of pacifist tradition that is connected in their current constitution. That said the idea these are horrible killings but also relatively individualated yes having an enormous effect on global strategy. The strategy of isis is to provoke. Its working dramatically. Theyre bringing in countries that historically have been somewhat on the sidelines. Japan is really a case in point. Last year even before these murders, president abe had already talk about reinterpreting article 9, the part of the japanese constitution that says bakley it will not go to war. War is outlawed. Even as we were sort of engaging in this moment the japan case and the idea that its substantiated in their current modern constitution its not entirely about sort of japan having made this choice. Its a post world war ii imposed sort of position at least initially. The u. S. Basically wrote that constitution, but the japanese people have embraced it now you have several generations that see as their ethos that theyre a peaceful country that they dont engage in war. At abe last year teased the population, there was lots of resistance. I lived in japan last year spent a lot of time with human Lights Organization and they were extremely upset that even this kind of interpretation that abe was putting out to the public was taking the countries in wrong direction. He now sees with these two killings, this is an opportunity to reintroduce that discussion and to move towards even changing the constitution which is a difficult process. Part of what i am sbempting here, and i might have this totally wrong, so i want you to correct me if i am theres a kind of masculinist ethic Foreign Policy work here. If i publicly harm the people who you are meant to be protecting then i can provoke this particular response. Right . Not your soldiers but an aid worker, a journalist right . These folks who are vulnerable, therefore you have to enyou said with air strikes and changing your constitutions, and i wonder are we allows and i mean in the broadest sense, allowing isis to draw us down a path that based on almost a kind of position rather than a National Interest position. I think you are absolutely correct, it does. These people claiming numerous times, that theyre not afraid of death. A lot of people do subscribe to that propaganda formula. For them its even a greater message that the west or western countries or other cunning like the west can only respond . One way. They can bomb but we can tear care of their aid workers their journalists. We actually broughton the scope of people we consider enemies, once they serve the western interests and work for that system, then everybody is an enemy, and go find with that kind of propaganda. That is very, very difficult. There was no Islamic State before we invaded iraq destroyed the political order there. The precursor to the Islamic State was al qaeda in iraq which did not exist in contrast to Vice President cheneys claims. That was created as a response toed u. S. Invasion. What we minimize in looking at the islami state, because we hate their tactics, is they have emerged as the strongest most formitt and sunni organizations to protect sunnis and resist arrest. Thats where i want to go after the break, which is to ask this question about american culpability f. The president got into some trouble in talking about this earlier in the week. One other story. Brian williams is stepping away temporarily from nbc nightly news. In a statement, williams says it has become apparent quote, i am presently too much a part of the news surrounding questions about his version of events while covering the iraq war invasion in 2003. Lester hold will fill in for williams. Coming up an invitation from the speaker and impact on potential nukes deal. Plus the president has real talk on religion. We see faith driving us to do right, but we also see faith being twisted. And distorted. Used as a wedge, or worse, sometimes used as a weapon. Horace dodge launched their first car in 1914. But they were not only business partners, they were brothers. Competitive. Stubborn. And always pushing each other, the way only brothers can. One hundred years later, their spirit lives on. Ring ring progresso i cant believe im eating bacon and rich creamy cheese before my sisters wedding well its only 100 calories, so youll be ready for that dress uhhuh. You dont love the dress . I love my sister. 40 flavors. 100 calories or less. I have the flu with a runny nose. [coughs] with a ru better take something. Theraflu severe cold wont treat your runny nose. Really . Alkaseltzer severe cold and flu relieves your worst flu symptoms plus runny nose. [breath of relief] oh, what a relief it is. Mommy hey how much money do you have in your pocket right now . I have 40 21. Could something that small make an impact on something as big as your retirement . I dont think so. Well if you start putting that towards your retirement every week and let it grow over time, for twenty to thirty years that retirement challenge might not seem so big after all. I want my yoga pants to smell like i sweat money. I want to smell the way champagne tastes. I love champagne. Infuse your laundry with. Up to 12 weeks of luxurious longlasting scents. Unstopables in wash scent booster. Stouffers mac and cheese with real aged cheddar now in a convenient cup. New Stouffers Mac cups. Made for you to love. I dont know what. Thursday at the National Prayer breakfast, president obama condemned the atrocities and spoke of reconciling realities, the good done by faith communities versus the terror and sectarian violence. Then the president said something that is rarely publicly acknowledged by public officials. He pointed out that it is an unflattering historical reality for many world faith traditions, including christianity. Humanity has been grappling with these questions throughout human history. And lest we get on our high horse and think this is unique to some other place, remember during the crusades and inquisitions people committed terrible deeds in the name of christ. So people had all kinds of patently ahis historical emotions, but it did feel connected to the point you were making about our Foreign Policy, that if we always are just standing back as were the good guys and everybody else is the bad guys we might end up in worse situations. And everybody has their critique, which is incredibly important that he did it but to me its almost the opposite. The White Christians of the time we are not the oppressed of their era, in terms of slavery, or in serum of south africa whereas here what the Islamic State is trying to represent, as much as we hate it and the people who are drawn to it are in fact the people who are oppressed oppressed, whether marginalized or theyve had their entire families wiped out. I only want to push back just a bill. Bill moyer draws our attention to the lynching of jessie washington in texas in 1916 and he writes about the fiery cage and the lynching tree the way in which right through in our own country, a black man was burned to death while people watched. I get that these people are not oppressed you but postconfederates also thought of themself as they had lost a war, had a government imposed upon them and were taking it out on these folks. I feel like is there something valuable about pausing and actually engaging our history as we move forward in our Foreign Policy . I think there certainly it. During slavery and post slavery, you have these across ygts and very little responsible to the federal government. This also fits into this discourse that obama is not actually a christian, too align aligned with folks outside of the u. S. He has a muslim father, so it makes it difficult to inject what is a needed discussion where you put on the table we have to have empathy, have to put ourselves in the positions of people who are marginalized around the world and how that drives people to extremism, then that gets exploited by groups like isis. At the same time we denounce atrocities atrocities, so the very fact that you have a massive recruitment effort that is working suggests to me okay yes its a horror but clearly other peopler not seeing it as a horror. This is a i just want to show that image of the jess write washington lynches. Again, this is 1916 but part of whats important to me if you can take your eyes from the charred body but to see the faces of the people there who are watching it. This is the piece that connects back to the isis moment that people are watching it and theyre not experiences horror in that moment. Theyre not experiencing horror, because for them these are the enemies being prosecuted, as hillary pointed out, that was done to them. In the 200s the same thing was done to them. Their civilians were killed. They had people who were doctors who were killed, so their basically paying the same bill that was given to them by the west psychologically, they are not, but the larger problem is its wonderful that that sparked debate or that conversation is now a conversation 689 he was trying to provide context. Whats very dangerous is contextually nothing is being understood. Suddenly were talking to him, as you said not being a christian, but we have to remember that every conversation that talks about us versus them mentality, religious or not, it always sparks violence. I think thats what he was bringing to everybodys attention, but were so polarized were unwilling to see that and all we see is hes against christianity. Hes not. Hes just saying that anything that incites violence religious our not, is a problem. And yet he is a president who not a history teacher. No i was going to say a president who has engaged in violence. Because hes a president. One could argue whether hes violent or not, but hes a president , who stands at the representative of American Foreign policy. So for people around the world who see us as aggressors and say ayman, part of what im wondering is how a moment like that is received. For journalists, as we put that moment out there and then theres an internal debate is it received as hes trying to connectionualize it, or is it received as hes weak . I think those words already lost on a lot of people in the middle east. What will resonate loudly are American Drones being carried out on a daily basis. Thats a message geared toward an american audience understandably so but at the end of the day, the point a lot of us are trying you cannot remove Foreign Policy from the long history of problems that have led to this point. Does that mean the United States is single handedly responsible . Absolutely not, but you cant convince a person in yemen that connectionualizing the speech at the National Prayer breakfast will make them somehow more understanding and more appreciative of what the president is trying to do. Herein lies a fundamental problem that has plagued the United States for many years. The difference between the values it tries to espouse and the actions it carries out. These things are not lost on ordinary people in the middle east. They do not need to be scholars or intellectuals to understand this very basic premise that the accidents of incidents continue to create ripple effects. Stick with us. Much more. Up next there is news this morning on the escalating conflict between ukraine and russia. Secretary of state john kerry weighs in when we come back. Plus my one on one interview with attorney general eric holder. Please, please, please, please, please. [ male announcer ] the wish we wish above all. Is health. So we quit selling cigarettes in our cvs pharmacies. Expanded minuteclinic for walkin medical care. And created programs that encourage people to take their medications regularly. Introducing cvs health. A new purpose. A new promise. To help all those wishes come true. Cvs health. Because health is everything. The exhilaration of a new engine. 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Know where you stand with pnc total insight. A new investing and Banking Experience with personalized guidance and online tools. Visit a branch, call or go online today. [coughing] dave, im sorry to interrupt. I gotta take a sick day tomorrow. Dads dont take sick days, dads take nyquil. The nighttime, sniffling sneezing, coughing aching, fever, best sleep with a cold medicine. [ female announcer ] we help make secure financial tomorrows a reality for over 19 million people. [ alex ] transamerica helped provide a lifetime of retirement income. So i can focus on what matters most. [ female announcer ] everyone has a moment when tomorrow becomes real. Transamerica. At kraft we start with eggs oil, and our own crafted vinegar. All expertly blended to make our mayo. So you can take whatever youre making from good to amazing. Get inspired at kraftrecipes. Com fighting still rages between Ukrainian Government forces and russianbacked separatists. Ukraines president pourthe leaders plan to meet in minsk on thursday. More than 220 civilians have been killed in just the last three weeks. The u. S. Has been sending ukraine body armor and other supplies. Now officials are debating whether to help arm ukraine with lethal weapons. Saturday Vice President joe biden spoke at the Munich Security Conference but did not address weapons deliveries. We will continue to provide ukraine with Security Assistance not to encourage war, but to allow ukraine to defend itself. In the most recent news it is secretary of state john kerry who sat down with an exclusive interview with chuck todd. He said this how soon will the suns by providing more Security Assistance heavier artillery, to ukraine . I have no doubt that additional assistance of economic kind and other kind will be going to ukraine, and we do so understanding that there is no military solution. The solution is a political diplomatic one, but president putin has got to make the decision to take an offramp and we have to make it clear to him that we are absolutely committed to the sovereignty and integrity of ukraine, no matter what. Nina . Okay. Well, im glad they are going to be committed to make it absolutely clear to president putin that they are committed, as if they havent done it in a year. How is it going to happen . It certainly will not happen to by supplying lethal arms to ukraine. I dont know if were planning to talk about but thats why the french and germans are shuttling between moscow and kiev and their home countries and talking to john kerry, precisely because this is not a winning scenario, this is the worthcase scenario they can have. The germanings article in in the provision of weapons to ukraine and supporting that saying well were going to have to do what we have to do here. They say theyre going to do what they have to do but Angela Merkel just said there is no even not evening an indication that if ukraine has better weapons its actually going to win war, because putins weapons will still be better. Thats why diplomacy is the most important route they can take but i really wish that john kerry, after a year of talking to his russian counterparts and around the world, have stronger language more refined language how it is exactly theyre going to make it clear. I guess my other question is why would putin take the offramp . Just to step back put myself in that situation, im vladimir putin, what is my incentive to get out . The only thing we no that actually works with putin, and i think at large with other countries is if you rebuild the relationship, talk to them take their interests seriously, seriously look at a way to go being a neutral ukraine. To say Security Assistance to ukraine, no its war assistance. What would be real Security Assistance is if we could rebuild the situation with russia have a much more security architect terr that included russia that would help ukraine and help but is putin interested in that . The thing is for a number of years putin has felt disrespected. The u. S. And eus role is part of whats created this mess. In 2013 the European Union with the backing of the u. S. Put this proposal before the former president , which was to woo ukraine away. Ukraine is the last apple on the tree from the old soviet union. Virtually every single war saw pact country is a neighbor of nato. Russia did this russia presented a counteroffer when the president backed out, and thats what led to the demonstrations in the streets. And since that point, then youve had, within ukraine which has already been divided between the a person pardon of ukraine, which is very nationalistic and eastern part of ukraine, which has historically been prorussian, all of that gets set in motion by the machinations coming from the eu and then on the question of disrespect just this week we hear our government has apparently been watching television and diagnosing vladimir putin. Thats why when you ask what does he want . Weve been talking about sanctions on this program and 78 others. They do work to a degree. For example, that john kerr the jung rating really bit very, very hard. Now theres all the swiss codes, bank codes is going to be even harder. One of the reasons that putin is willing to sit down is because, you know we saw that many, many times. The economic squeeze. Exactly. He always looks for an opportunity to look good. So for him now its an opportunity. Hes going to save europe from war. Hes going to somehow alleviate a bit of a crisis. And keep his last apple. Right, hes going to bring everybody into the conversation. Sorry. Im going to let you back as soon as we dumb back. The reason why israeli Prime Minister speak toss congress when that appears or if it happens, many members will not be there to listen. Later. When we come back. If you take multiple medications, a dry mouth can be a common side effect. Thats why theres biotene. It comes in oral rinse spray or gel so theres moisturizing relief for everyone. Biotene, for people who suffer from a dry mouth. The schelp then the spill. Now the scrub and the second guess. Finally, the rewash. Or you can make it easy and do the pop with tide pods. The first 3 in 1 laundry pack. It cleans, brightens, and removes stains in one step. Tide pods one step to an amazing clean. Vice President Joe Biden is the latest in a growing list of democrats who plan to skip israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus address to a joint meeting of Congress Next month. House speaker John Boehners decision to invite the Prime Minister without informing the Obama Administration angered the white house, which called the move a breach in protocol. The speech scheduled for march 3rd is a mere three weeks before the deadline on negotiations for a nuclear deal with iran. Joining me now from washington nbc News White House correspondent Kristin Welker. What is the reaction in washington right snow. Reporter this is becoming a firestorm. The list of democrats who say theyre not going to attend the speech is growing. On the list it includeses congressman john lewis, butterfield congressman, and grill grijalva. And some democrats say theres concern their remarks could undermine the deal getting done and as you pointed out, Administration Officials continue to fume about this. President obama says hes not going to meet with the Prime Minister citing the fact that the israeli elections are just a few weeksal and Vice President biden now saying he will not attend the Prime Ministers speech. There are broader concerns here as well melissa, how will it impact the United States relationship, of course a key ally, and how does it impact president obamas relationship with Prime Minister netanyahu. There are some rumblings, some speculation that the Prime Minister might back out at the last machineinute. Thank you to nbcs Kristin Welker in washington, d. C. Ayman, this is a political moss. Clearly theres a partisan divide, but this is also for folks who are not aware, this Prime Minister is running for reelection, and, you know this is in part a question of the politics of the visuals and his pourerful relationship with the u. S. As well. Theres so many occurrence happening here. One of the most important that should not be lost is the big difference between israel and the United States when it comes to the iran question. Im sure you can speak more to that but this is now a major difference between these two countries for the most part have been locked shoulder to shoulder on many issues. On this issue we now see a wide schism, and we see it manifesting itself in these ugly politicians where you have a Prime Minister being invited here, speak to congress violating the protocols of whats been the norm and more importantly the back lash its created that i think will exacerbate itself for some time. Hillary, how important is this . It shows how close we are to peace with iran which would be as revolutionary and beneficial to the United States as when we recognize normalized relations with china in the 1970s. Because president obama has shown the occurrence going to tehran, showing the courage, gone forward and got us close to a deal that courage has got keen people in congress and here its not been mentioned much, but especially in the black caucus when we listed the people who werent going, thats cbc. They had the courage to come out first when nobody would back the president , they came out and said, whats going on here is the president is doing something right and we need to defend him against a clear, blatant partisan attack. The israelis fed right into it and went right to the republicans and made it a partisan game. I think they will really suffer. Were looking at fundamental change, and if president obama can see this through, he will have a legacy of peace and stability that will be quite remarkable. I would agree with all of that. The other point i would raise republicans should also boycott this speech. This really sets a dangerous precedent. For the House Speaker to invite can you imagine the labour party in england asks the president to invite the president to make a speech without david cameron. Is it a challenge to the notion that the president of the United States is in fact the head of the u. S. Absolutely. Absolutely. The republicans seem to have forgotten this is actually the president of the United States area of expertise. For nettenia howard whos getting much its creating an issue in which it actually harms israel Foreign Policy. To say very briefly, i think asking a world leader to come lobby in congress on behalf of a policy is very bad optics for the United States in terms of its standing in the global affairs. It exposes this is supposed to be partisanship is always supposed to stop at the waters edge. Sometimes to bad effect we rally around the flag but typically thats what we do. And Speaker Boehner made it clear he invited him because he as a certain expertise, and theres nothing wrong with that but to do it in a public joint address to congress is not the same. King abdullah of jordan was just here he wall street speaking to members of congress and senior members of the senate about the challenges his country faces. He was not asked to come and address the joint session of congress in an open speech. So there is an optics here i think should not be lost. Theres a reason he was invited to address in a open forum. Is there like a serious 2016 domestic politics going on here the notion theres been a long history relationship between the Democratic Party that may bet fractured and rep further . I would hate to think thats part of whats going going on is an attempt to shift that but it feels hard not to think that is part of whats going on. I think its even a bigger picture, and thats that we saw, i think, a very important, very smart move by president obama, by the Democratic Party that frankly i havent seen in six years, which was to lead the ajenta, to take charge. They came out hitting in after the loss in the med term what they have done in immigration, a whole range of things its become part and parcel. Let the president lead let him succeed, and then the chips will fall where they may, and i think the democrats are now quite confident, as they havent been in a few years, that this will come to fruition on a range of issues and help surgeon the democrats. Thank you to all of you. Still to come this morning is my extensive interview with the u. S. Attorney general eric holder. But first a trip down the memory lane of pointergate. Pocket right now . I have 40 21. Could something that small make an impact on something as big as your retirement . I dont think so. 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Do you remember the time of mayor of minneapolis posed with a community organize during a get out the vote drive, then accused of throwing gang signs . Thats right, im talking about pointergate. The racially tinged politically motivated completely madeup scandal. During the late up mayor betsy hodges joined a get out the vote drive, organized by the Community Group neighborhoods organizing for change. During an awkward moment seen here she employed with navel gordon, who does have a serving probation. Local news state kstp grew attention to the photo. One person interviewed saying the mayor was legitimizing Gang Activity by flashing a known gang sign. The police union chief add the fuel to the fire. This is something that could incite Gang Violence in the city and for as critical as she can be with the cops is she going to support gangs in the city or cops . Local media was quick to point out the underlying story line. Recent tension between the mayor and the Police Department. You see in an open her posted on her website, she talked about plans to improve the department saying that some officers abuse the trust afforded to them and take advantage of their roles to do harm rather than prevent it. In the meantime, twitter had a heyday posting photos of famous faces, all throws those alleged gang signs. We spoke with Novell Gordon and asked him i was blessed to be in the mayors presence. I offered to take her out and canvass and show her house neighborhoods for change do work. Just pointing. The point of mayor hodges herself. She said she was just pointing. That in fact she points a lot. But we never had a chance to talk to her ourselves until now. Mayor betsy hodges joins me live from minneapolis, next. [ all cheering ] thats why shakira uses. Crest 3d white with whitelock technology, removing up to ninety percent of surface stains and locking out future stains. So your smile always steals the show. 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Turn around every now and then i get a little bit hungry and theres nothing good around turn around, barry i finally found the right snack [ female announcer ] fiber one. Betsy hodges has now been the mayor of minneapolis for a little more than a year. While the pointergate fire democrat storm brought her national attention, shes focused on substantive local issues. Mayor hodges joins mess from minneapolis, minnesota. Its so nice to have you here. You know few issues have captured the attention of the American Public more than recent months than the Community Issues with local police. How are you addressing that issue in your city . Minneapolis like every other city in this country has been grappling with these issues. What we have in our city though, is a chief and mayor, both who are committed to Strong Community placing, doing whats needed to make sure we are working together on behalf of Public Safety. We invited the chief invited the department of justice in to do a review. They have recommended an Early Intervention system for example, to maybe sure that issues get caught before they become problems. The community and the union and i and the chief are all working together to make Something Like that real, and well el be implementing body cameras as well. Minneapolis is a place where we can look at numbers, for example, africanamericans are 11. 5 times more likely to be arrested for Marijuana Possession 8. 9 times more likely to be arrested for disorderly conduct, but then you also said in this recent open letter that you want to make sure that the criteria we use to hire new officers and form Community Service officers cadet and Police Recruit classes reflects the communitys deeply held values around Public Safety and respect among others. Talk to me how that works. What does that look like on the ground . One of the best perhaps we have in minneapolis, to make sure were continuing to hire officers who represent the community is our Community Service over program. We pay folks to go through school so theyre prepared and we give them a job at the same time. Thats the best ladder into the Police Department we have to minority communities, for lowincome folks, and were having a lot of success, especially at a time were hiring a lot given all the retirements that are happening. For folks who dont know minneapolis, they may not know that its an increasingly diverse city and that the nonwhite population in minneapolis has really grown over the past decade. Your letter is a stunning document from a mayor, in that you said very clearly, my vision for minneapolis is of a city where every harmful gap in outcomes that are is eliminated. Every one of them. That is a very bold vision. What actions do you propose to move toward that goal . Minneapolis does have some of the largest gaps between white people and people of color in the country on pretty much any measure that you care to name. So if you come into my office you will see three questions on my whiteboard that dont get erased. One is how to continue to run the city well. One is how does it move the dial on growth . And how does it move the dial on equity in everything i do gets filtered through those questions. Growth and equity in the city of minneapolis are incredibly intertwined, that if we are leaving genius on the table, if we are not training all of our kids for the jobs of the future then we are going to hold ourselves back as a city and our brightest future. Youre right, you know were going to be a majority minority before folks know it. We need to make sure that everybody can continue to our growth and prosperity everybody can benefit from it. Im looking at our earlier children. I have a cradle to k said the recommendations thats out in the community for feedback how we want to make sure that earliest gap of Brain Development between the ages of 0 and 3, how we close that for, you know for children of color, and white children. Anything from that to we just got a bloomberg innovation grant, so that we can bloomberg philanthropy innovation grant, so we can examine are we provides service equitably across the entire city . Anything from that to my brothers keeper. I was an early adopter of the president s program, to really pull together folks in the community to talk about how we are serving boys and young men of color, and making sure they get the best possible outcome so they can contribute as well. Mayor betsy hodges a real pleasure to finally get to talk with you. You probably cant see me through the camera lens, but im pointing at you. Thanks for having me on. Its great to be here. Before we go to break we want to note the passing of a Legendary College basketball coach. Dean smith, who coached the university of North Carolina Basketball Team for 36 years, died last night. During they are tenure from 1961 to 1997 he led the tarmeals for 11 appearances in the final four. Smith also helped to diversify the Basketball Team. In 1967 he became one of the First Southern College Coaches to offer a scholarship to a black player. Smith went on to coach several hall of fame players, including michael jordan. Dean smith was 83. Coming up next my one on one interview with attorney general eric holder. I have the worst cold with this runny nose. I better take something. Dayquill cold and flu doesnt treat your runny nose. Seriously . Alkaseltzer plus cold and cough fights your worst cold symptoms plus your runny nose. Oh, what a relief it is. Can this decadent, fruit topped pastry. With indulgent streusel crumble, be from. Fiber one. Fiber one streusel. 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Making it more accessible and affordable with walkin medical care, no appointments needed and most insurance accepted. Minuteclinic. Another innovation from cvs health. Because health is everything. Welcome back. Im melissa harryperry. Loretta lynch responded to several days of questions by the Senate Judiciary commit by. Despite some grumblings she is expected to be confirmed within weeks. If she assumes office she will make history as the first africanamerican woman to lead the department of justice. Making history has been a definitive aspect of the tenure of her predecessor, eric holder. The first africanamerican to hold this post. After just more than six years in office hes among the longest serving attorney general in american history. Hes enjoyed and navigated a remarkably unpleasant relationship with congress. I asked him whether the journey has been consequential. It will by up to history to decide it. It was certainly words it. And very grateful for the sacrifices. Men and women did it. In 2011 we celebrated the 50th anniversary of the swearingin of robert kennedy. Thats often thoughts of the golden age for the department. I think modestly 50 years from now people will look back at this Judd Department and say they dealt with a whoa rain. They xwushd when it came to lbgt, they held people accountable, kept the nation safe consistent with our values rejebbed the notion of torture, and i think people will look back at this department of justice and say, you know they did a pretty good job. You once said your worst day in office was when you had to walk through the bloodied aftermath of sandy hook. Children were slaughtered in their classrooms and we have not made any meaningful congress on changing access to guns in this country. Are we a nation of cowards when it comes to guns . I will say this. It was the worst day i had as attorney general. It is i think the single failure that i point to in my time as attorney general. I was not able to along with other members of the administration, convince congress to really follow the will of the American People which is to enact meaningful reasonable gun Safety Measures the gun lobby simply won. I think that members of Congress Need to have more backbone and stand up to what is a distinct minority, even within, for instance the nra and do the kinds of reasonable things that the American People simply want to have happen. When ferguson happened the position that should have been filled by the president s nominee was not filled. Its a civil rights division. He was blocked by the u. S. Senate, some of whom many of us think was highly qualified for the position. I will say that his unsuccessful nomination fight is something that bothered me then and bothers me now. He is a great lawyer who should be serves as the assistant attorney general of the civil rights division. Weft bonita gupta who will step in and do a great job, but he did what a lawyer is supposed to do take on tough cases. The fact he got penalized i think sets a very back precedent. That is something you are welcome to my world, okay . [ laughter ] do you hate them all or just some of them . I dont hate any of them. I understand where some of them are coming from, and i think people have to understand there are a good number of people want been to make progress. Despite the fact ive an interesting relationship with members of congress the reality is we have achieved a great deal. One of the most fascinating parts of watch you has been the relationship you have with president obama, which as far as i can tell tracks most closely with the kennedy brothers. Not that you and president obama are brothers other than in some interesting way, but i wonder if that proximity, that closeness, that deep respect made it harder or easier theres no question we are close personally. Those who have said that because we are close personally that has led to a politicization of the Justice Department thats just fundamentally wrong. He is at base a really good lawyer, who understands the need for an an independent Justice Department. Im sure there will be things that we will talk about that we have not talked about once we leave offices. Im sure hes wondered what the heck was eric doing that for . But he never voiced that to me. Do you say things about race that the president wants to say but cant. No i speak as an individual and i think that thats been a very unfair criticism of him, you know this notion that im show saying things he cant say or wont say. He has said more things i think in a positive way about civil rights than have there been moments when youve had substantive disagreement . Things that you actually goods agreed with him on . And when you did that did you work it out as attorney general and president . Well you know these are not things to be worked out. I have areas of response that are mine. I have to make decisions, and when i make those did i see, 1 3 mine to make. Except when it comes to matters of national security. He obviously has the last call. When it comes to Law Enforcement matters, those are decisions that an independent attorney general has to make. When i made the decision not to defend the constitutionality of doma, i went to tell him that almost as a courtesy. He independently had said he had done his own research. Hes a constitutional lawyer and thought the decision we made was in fact the correct one. Are you still optimistic about the possibility of perfecting the union . I am. I think thats the beauty of this country. We in fits and starts. Sometimes a couple steps forward, then a couple steps back but we are always focused on making things better. Sometimes it takes too long but how can i be anything but optimistic . Its been a rough six years. But im 64 years old. I grew up at a time when my late sisterinlaw had to have federal troops to enroll in her state university. Now her brotherinlaw since as the attorney general of the United States, serving in the administration of the first africanamerican president. Things are difficult. Things are hard but way earsier than they were in 63 when vivian had to deal with George Wallace and go back beyond that. When i think about the things my parents had to deal with my father, while in uniform, while in uniform and serving this country in world war ii was told he couldnt eat in certain places in oklahoma, couldnt do certain things while at ft. Bragg and to think what africanamericans had to deal with through slavery, through segregation. We have made remarkable progress. Were not at the place where we need to be. Simply saying we made progress is not enough. Progress is simply an indication of how you are doing. There are goals that i think we ultimately have to meet but im optimistic over time my kids will live in an american thats more just and more equal than i am in now. 64 is still quite young. What is next for eric holder . We certainly go to take a bit of rest. These are stressful jobs. I want to take some time off, but im committed to the work. Im not exactly sure what form that will take. I talked about the possibility of getting some kind of justice and reconciliation effort to kind of follow what ive been doing, trying to reconcile Law Enforcement and the communities serve. So something along those likes. I think thats what will animate me . Much more from my interview with attorney general eric to come. We talk Voting Rights the Supreme Court, and exactly what they thinks about the nerdland nickname the duck. First a report on while millions of americans cannot vote. Getting your vegetables every day . When i can. [ bop ] [ male announcer ] couldve had a v8. Two full servings of vegetables for only 50 delicious calories. How much money do you have in your pocket right now . I have 40 21. Could something that small make an impact on something as big as your retirement . I dont think so. Well if you start putting that towards your retirement every week and let it grow over time, for twenty to thirty years that retirement challenge might not seem so big after all. There comes a time in everyones life when you want more. Like a new meticulously engineered german sedan. Finely crafted. Exactingly precise. Desire for such things often outpaces ones means. Until now. Hey matt, new jetta . Yeah. Introducing lots of new. The new Volkswagen Jetta. Isnt it time for german engineering . Turn around every now and then i get a little bit hungry and theres nothing good around turn around, barry i finally found the right snack [ female announcer ] fiber one. Push your enterprise and you can move the world. But to get from the old way to the new youll need the right it infrastructure. From a partner who knows how to make your enterprise more agile, borderless and secure. Hp helps business move on all the possibilities of today. And stay ready for everything that is still to come. If theres been one issue at the forefront during thinks time in office, it is to vote. Votes has faced more restrictions than in the last several years. 36. 3 of eligible americans voted in the 2014 midterm elections. It was the lowest voter turnout since the 1942 federal election but according to the senting project, approximately 5. 85 were not permitted to vote because they were previously convicted of felonies. In fact in 12 states a fully served sentence does not guarantee that a person with a felony will have their rites restored. Zach roth spoke with an iowa woman at the center of an aclu lawsuit here is that msnbc original report. In 2013 kellry griffin, a state athome mom from montrose went to vote. A survivor of domestic abuse, she suffered from drug addiction, and in 2008, she was convicted of a drugrelated crime and given five years probation. Now she was tornadoing around. Voting was a rite of passage. I felt god, i mean it was its one of the steps to being back into society, to fulfilling that i am just like everybody else. I mean i have overcome a lot. She even took her kids to the polls to teach them about the democratic process. They were running around the billing, it was very chaotic, but still important. Not long afterwards griffin got a phone call from an agent with iowas division of criminal vaccination. He was parked outside her house, and he said he wanted to verify the sick on her Voter Registration form. I was worked that i had done something wrong. I was scared that i didnt know what was going to happen next. What did happen next . I was arrested. Griffin had been charged with illegal voting part of an Aggressive Campaign by iowas then secretary of state, republican matt shultz to raise concern about fraud. Schultz, who didnt return our call for comment, wasted no time blasting a press release. I dont know why one would want to spent some 200,000 to stop someone from voting especially the small number they went after. When griffin began her probation, she was told by her lawyer once she completed it her right to vote would be restored. That was accurate at the time but in 2011 republican Governor Terry bran stat took office requiring a lengthy process to regain the franchise. I thought someone in the department of corrections should have made that clear. Griffin testified she wasnt aware of the rule change. Last year a jury acquitted her. I was happy i wasnt going to leave my children. I didnt know how not only i would handle that but how my children could handle not having a mother. Griffin would get to stay with her kids but she was still disenfranchised. Now shes the plaintiff . A lawsuit brought by the aclu that aims to restore her Voting Rights as well as thousands of other iowaen convicted of felonies part of a movement to challenge the laws which bar nearly 6 million americans from casting a ballot. In florida, nearly 1 in 4 africanamericans are denied a voice because of mast mistake. Rita bettis is a lauren with the iowa chapter. I do think its inherently striking to folks when they first learn about this. Everyone assumes when you completed your sentence, you paid your debt to society, youve rebuilt your life you should be able to have a say in whos on your kids school board. So i think felony disenfranchisement doesnt make sense, we are starting to see pushback. Why shouldnt we be able to vote whos on the schooled boor or who is the president of the United States or who is our governor . I believe we have as much right as anybody else. Msnbcs zach roth joins me now. She almost went to jail for voting . Thats right. One thing that shows is remember, this was part of a push for a strict voter i. D. Law in iowa. This is part of an effort by republicans to gin of fear about illegal voting. The other issue is the confusion issue. When you have this system where the law is going to change depends on who is on office you will have people who think they can vote when theyre not allowed to. Youll also have people who think they cant vote when actually they can, so that will lead to a reduction of people who vote. Even if you dont have felon disenfranchisement, just because people know it exists some places they may not even try to vote. This really raises pretty fundamental questions about our democracy. First of all, just because of the scale of the issue, nearly 6 million americans who cant vote and within specific demographic groups but the other issue is just on principle, you know we talk a lot about voter i. D. Laws as bad as they are, as discriminatory as they are, they are essentially procedural. Everybody in theory has to get an i. D. And show it with this thats a whole chat of people youre saying because of something theyve done that they now cant change they have put themselves beyond the bounds of our democratic process. And we know given the size of that scope, you say 1 in 4 in florida will actually impact election outcomes. Thank you for doing that reporting and keeping this issue on the table. More of my interviewer with attorney general eric holder starting with the ongoing assault weve seen during his tenure. Next. Expected wait time 55 minutes. Your call is important to us. Thank you for your patience. Waiter vo in the nation, we know how it feels when you arent treated like a priority. We do things differently. Well take care of it. Vo we put members first. Join the nation. Thank you. Nationwide is on your side winter is hard on your face. The start of sneeze season. And the windblown watery eyes. Thats why puffs plus lotion is gentle on sensitive skin. So you can always put your best face forward. A face in need deserves puffs indeed. And try puffs softpack today. Your moms got your back. Your friends have your back. Your dogs definitely got your back. But whos got your back when you need legal help . We do. Were legalzoom, and over the last 10 years, weve helped millions of people protect their families and run their businesses. We have the right people onhand to answer your questions backed by a trusted network of attorneys. So visit us today for legal help you can count on. Legalzoom. Legal help is here. The world is filled with air. But for people with copd sometimes breathing air can be difficult. If you have copd, ask your doctor about oncedaily anoro ellipta. It helps people with copd breathe better for a full 24hours. Anoro ellipta is the first fdaapproved product containing two longacting bronchodilators in one inhaler. 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In my interview this week with eric holder i asked him to weighing in on policing in america, his visit to ferguson and whether he thinks the right to vote in this country is in danger. I think it is under threat. The attempt by various states i think by specious grounds, to get people to get i. D. S, restrictions of a most basic right is something to be cognizant of and its something weve fought again, and this is the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights act. The notion of having these kinds of battles 50 years after Lyndon Johnson signed the crown jewel of the Civil Rights Movement is extremely worry sms to me. The Supreme Court has been busy dismantling a lot of the accomplishments of the Civil Rights Movement and man, theres something about watching that happen during the presidency of the first africanamerican president , during the leadership of the department of justice by the first africanamerican attorney general. In the end, when you walk away as youre preparing to walk away, did you shore it up . Or do you feel like its actually weakened after these six years . I certainly think there are new challenges that we have to face as a result of some i think wrongly decided, fangly wrongly decided Supreme Court decisions, especially if you look at what the Supreme Court did to the Voting Rights act, but by gutting one section of the Voting Rights act, we regrouped and said okay well use section 2 to try to bring cases. We have been very aggressive in bringing civil rights cases. What we have to deal with in the 21st century is what people had to deal with in the 20th century century. Were in a far better position now, to deal with these issues than we were back then . There have certainly been hits that the Civil Rights Movement has taken, but nothing that i think can ultimately cant be overcome. As bad as the relationship is with congress its nothing compared to the relationship that many communities of color have with Police Departments. Is that fixable . Yeah i think it is. I was in oakland over the last few days as part of the last stop i made on a tour a Building Community trust tour to try to work in ways we can bring together people in Law Enforcement and the communities they serve. Those relationships have certainly been frayed in a number of places but i am confident, optimistic that those relationships can be made better. I was in oak lend yesterday, San Francisco yesterday, and talked to young people who said you know we want to work with the police, we want to know who they are, we want them to know who we are, and i think thats been one of the values of this tour bringing people together from Law Enforcement from the community, faith leaders to talk to one another. Its hard to demon ice somebody you know. Theres been a barrier for whatever reason thats existed, i think we can lower, bring people together. Im confident over time things long in the making there are historical issues we have to deal with but i think we can make things better. Theres also a contemporary one, we saw postferguson, or in the context of ferguson where there was riot gear and armored vehicles, and tear gas. Does that need to change . No question about that. I mean the appearance of military vehicles on american streets to deal with a civil disturbance was, from my perspective very troubling. You can use an Armored Police vehicle in new york city if youre dealing with a hostage crisis that perhaps is terrorism related. On the other hand to deal with a street issue we saw in ferguson the appearance of that military equipment i think exacerbated the problem. That a ugh when the streets first exploded after the killing of Michael Brown and the response of the Ferguson Police you were with the president , you were together in the vineyard. Can you take us into the conversations you were having about how to respond . On the one hand being so powerful, yet being so powerless . It was an interesting conversation that went on over a few days. I sat with the president at the place where he was staying. We tried to determine how is it that we might have a positive impact lessen the street unrest that was going on . And we we started to lock on the possibility of me going out there. And we understood this was a highrisk thing. If the attorney general of the United States had gone out there, and if things had not changed or if things had gotten worse, that would have been seen not only as a personal failure on my part but a failure by the Obama Administration but the president ultimately decided it was worst the risk that he thought i had a certainly kroeblt, the administration had a certainly credibility, and if we did it right we could have a positive impact. I think that was actually what was borne out. You know all things were not cured, but i think we put a certain damper that people felt. There are ongoing issues. I will never forget the day i spent there interacting with the citizens of ferguson and the consistency and the concerns that they expressed and their real desire for change and for a desire to be treated simply as american citizens. That has stayed with me. My hope is on my watch, ill get to announce what the department intends to do. We know we call you the duck . The duck . The duck. So in nerdland you have a placid and even way of presenting but you are just working for justice underneath. Would you quack for us . Im not sure im going to do that, but i like the analogy. You do like the analogy. Yeah. I was born and raised in new york city in the 50s and 60s, and for an africanamerican guy, the thing was to be cool youve got to be cool you know things dont bother you. On the surface i like to think thats the way i appear to be but youre absolutely right, those duck feet are moving as fast as they can underneath and things are going as fast as they can behind the scenes and i may have been cool in congressional hearings on the outside, but i was pissed off a lot of the times, too, and i was trying to rein in those feelings and make sure i was cool on the outside. Its been a real pleasure. Thank you. Thank you for having me. Youll be able to seen even more of my interview tomorrow on the website for essence magazine essence. Com. Dont miss what the attorney general said about the women who have influenced him, and what it meant for him to lose his mother. Thats the time we turn to the popular culture. The grammys are happening tonight. I thought we would ask one far from simple question who owns hiphop . Thats next. Its a fact. Kind of like shopping hungry equals overshopping. They say after seeing a magician make his assistant disappear mr. Clean came up with a product that makes dirt virtually disappear. He called it the magic eraser. It cleans like magic. Even baked on dirt disappears right before your eyes. Mr. Cleans magic eraser. Whats that thing . I moved our old Security System out here to see if it could monitor the front yard. Why dont you switch to xfinity home . I get live video monitoring and 24 7 professional monitoring that i can arm and disarm from anywhere. Hear ye the awkward teenage one has arrived dont be old fashioned. Xfinity customers add xfinity home for 29. 95 a month for 12 months. Plus for a limited time, get a Free Security camera call 1800 xfinity or visit comcast. Com xfinityhome. Ring ring progresso i cant believe im eating bacon and rich creamy cheese before my sisters wedding well its only 100 calories, so youll be ready for that dress uhhuh. You dont love the dress . I love my sister. 40 flavors. 100 calories or less. At ally bank no branches equals great rates. Its a fact. Kind of like mute buttons equal danger. That sound good . Not being on this phone call sounds good. Its not muted. Was that you jason . It was geoffrey it was jason. It couldve been brenda. Okay. If youre looking for a drinking game, you can recycle the same one last year. Take a shot anytime during the shor show when you see someone mention these three words, white cultural appropriation. It was the frayed when hiphop duel mclemore and ryan lewis walked away for the best rap album. For the joint effort the heist. And beat out albums after the awards mclemore posted this text that he originally sent to Kendrick Lamar about the critically acclaimed album. You got robbed. I wanted you to win. You should have. Its weird and sucks that i robbed you. Now theres not likely ton any such conciliatory texts sent to any other nominees if this great white hope wins the category. Iggy azalea who is poised tonight to be the first solo female artist to win for best rap album will happily accepted whatever the grammys will give her. She told billingboard. A grammy is a grammy baby. No says whats it for . No this grammy doesnt count. Any grammy is equally good. Any grammy youve got, send it my way, i will not complain. But for some music fans there is plenty to complain about in the grammys this year particularly in this moment when activists have been articulating the clear mantra that black lives matter. Rewarding an artist whose performance of hiphop is a performance of blackness has left many questions whether the grammys recognize how much black artists matter to hiphop. Theres more of that with my table, when we come back. Ble way to get your fiber. Try phillips fiber good gummies. Theyre delicious. And a good source of fiber to help support regularity. Mmmm these are good the tasty side of fiber. From phillips. How much money do you have in your pocket right now . I have 40 21. Could something that small make an impact on something as big as your retirement . I dont think so. Well if you start putting that towards your retirement every week and let it grow over time, for twenty to thirty years that retirement challenge might not seem so big after all. Goodnight mom. Goodnight. Its a long day, goodnight mom. Goodnight honey. And sometimes an even longer night. Helping with homework before doing your own. Goodnight mom. And you may think no one notices. But she does. 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New Stouffers Mac cups. Made for you to love. The nomination for tonights grammys has sparked as much debate about race and music as the Oscar Nominations did about race and film except with the grammys, that conversation is about who got left out, and who was excluded. First there is the best rap nomination of iggy azalea that has put her in the position to claim a historic first for a solo female rapper. That has eluded past nominees lie missiony elliott, eve and nicki minaj. Then there are two of the grammys biggest prizes for best new artist and record of the year. Both category in which iggy is nominated. In both categories all of the nominees are white. Its a first for the best new artist since nominees of colors were last excluded from the category in 1995. Joins me is michael skulnick and political director for russell simmons, sgloond and humanitarian rap artist tourre cohost of the cycle and jay key cho, coauthor of bad rap. When i started thinking about the question i started thinking about the multinational corporations and their shareholders. I mean all of that sure. Going back to the 70s it is a multiracial coalition, mostly black and brown, but there were also white people there at the beginning making some significant innovations. We were talking about ra ramone so i dont want to say like well, you know only black and brown people can be part of this. Black and brown people remain dominant in this space creatively aesthetic and culturally. So the question is fraught, all questions on mhp are all complex and fraught, and thank god for that but i go to questlove talking about it. It achieved that at least aesthetically and somewhat economically. In doing that, did you not think we would sweep up some folks and some white people would say i want to be a part of that . I want to play in that sandbox. With you may see ig in azalea as the fulfillment of hiphop, the Global Reality in this this australian kid connects with this music . Part of what i want to know, part of why i wanted you at my table, jessica, is what is at stake in part of it is about the music, but it seems like its always been more about the music. Hiphop is a culture, it transcends cultural barriers. Ive been blessed to travel across the world and seen great gra fitter mc and knowledge. Iggy, i look at her as a vanilla ice of this generation. And you have vanilla ice and eminem. So theyre very different. Eminem is a great mc. I dont think as talented as she is as nikki miage or banks, but it just shows how the grammys i mean does the grammys even appreciate the crib biases of black artists can i ask the question, as an emcee, do you think that technically the flow and relationship to beat, i mean, shes good within that. Shes not terrible and what she says is nothing, and i think nixi also has flow technical and some metaphor problems but dont you think shes just technically good even though what shes saying is completely vanilla and nothing . As mc i think iggy is wack. Corny. But the flow i hear different female sometimes when im listening to her, it sounds like im hearing debrack. I here her emulate another but just sorry to cut you off, but technicalitywise, you dont greet she talented . I think shes decent. What youre saying is she has influences from different female artists. Absolutely. That came about aural these year isnt that the same case with a lot of the Young Artists . From kendrick youll hear influences from minaj or tupac. Whats her sound . The issue here is authenticity. Eminem, and iggy as while rappers, m came with his own struggle and drea cosigned him. Do you know what the struggle is . Im not trying to be funny. Part of what happens when we go into this narrow black white divide and gin her as who white girl, and the way her physical package provides that for us . But your very pont you go everywhere, you hear it right . Part of what i dont know whether we know or not, what does it mean as a immigrant. But iggy has never portrayed that. Shes never said she said i want to be an american pop star. Shes become that. The issue of hiphop at its core, yes we have the fat boys will smith and party rap, as real, you know underground heartfelt hiphop, but with iggy is a represent ace of hiphop today, so people will say iggy was hiphop . Let me ask a quick question. Is it now the case that to win a grammy or even be nominated, is it an indication of a lack of alluthenticity authenticity . Does the grammy become the antihiphop award . Please god, never let me win one. The grammys was never historically a barrier of authenticating what hiphop is. They guys gave im not sure if coolio ever won an award, no shot to him, for being nominated. When jazzy jeff and will smith won, some if i could hear jeff now, i would go in a second. Grammys was never really the barrier or barometer of what real hiphop is. The whole voting process of what they go through is basically like youre at a ballot and you basically dont know these artists, and youre voting and the kids say iggy likes this so what might be a better barometer of authenticity, we were looking at rick rubin on genius doing these annotations, you look at rick rubin, he can tell the story about 99 problems, and about 20 minutes and sitting back and its an amazing story. You cant write him out of the history of hiphop, and look at them. Thats the beastie boys he was the fourth member and the beastie boys they called him rick rubin. L. L. Cool j. And some of you are saying no womens names. Absolutely. Were saying where is light and latifah . Its interesting, were having a conversation about women in hip top now, and im the only woman in hiphop at the table. And i say that because iggy i think its nicki minaj, iggy theyre not the only three females. Whose platform they havent been able to speak to a larger audience. I dont think that iggy hasnt worked heart to get to where she is. It takes a level of work ethic, but at the same time her lyrics culturally insensitive. To say youre a runaway slave master. Stay with me. More on this and more on the question at the men who are at the sides of the women in hiphop. More when we come back. Literally. You had to go deep into the cupboard. Embarrassingly deep. Can this mismatched mess be conquered. By a little bit of dish liquid . It can if its dawn ultra. Its more concentrated. Just one bottle has the grease cleaning power of two bottles of this bargain brand. Heres to the overextended family gathering. Dawn, its amazing what a drop can do. Here i am. Rock you like a hurricane. 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If you spend half of your day getting money and the other half of your day counting money, aint got no time in your day to worry about nobody else. Thats about the cleanest response we could find to put on tv. So there is a weird thing that starts happening. On the one hand i dont want to police the racial authenticity boundaries of hiphop, but when i see the black woman caping for the white woman, it does give me a little oh i just have a little emotion about that. Theres a lot of problematic gender problems. Then you add the race piece and it becomes uncomfortable. I dont think that we should have white people i hope are included in the conversation. I thought, you know, iggy when she first came out, i think shes talented. I think she can rhyme. I think shes played her hand terribly wrong. Eminem came to the game and said look im a student. I love this culture. I love the greats. Iggy came to the culture like i dont care about qtip. How could you diss one of the greatest mcs . I get that, but i wonder thats gender. Part of what you have to do to be the female mc is the full aint nobody better than me, aint nobody came before me. Im not sure lauren and missy played that game. I dont know if latifah played that game. She was foundational. She was foundational for females, but not within hiphop. There was a period of time before her that he was able to build on in terms of the jungle brothers and the rest of the native tongues. But it might have to do with her not being from america. It might have to do with her being young, which we quite often align with being dumb. I think that, you know shes not being i think shes benefitting from White Privilege and white supremacy. She acknowledged her privilege. Like, yeah you may have worked hard. Maybe she may not feel like ti has made her, but youre benefitting from a system thats built off racism off classism off sexism. Youre benefitting from these as this blond, white woman. Acknowledge your privilege. Let me just note macklemore and eminem noted their privilege. She doesnt notice her privilege, and were rightly offended by that. Perhaps that comes from her being young and not really understanding the game. Perhaps that camomes from her being from somewhere else. I dont know if you can do hiphop bad by being young. By being young, you quite often say dumb things. Oh i see. Theres a lot of black artists out there that obviously probably doesnt know who qtip is that are probably making a fortune. By no means im giving extra credit to ikggy or trying to defend her. Theres no doubt that she basically doesnt know her history. How can you be authenticated and real and be accepted by the kl culture as a whole if you dont know . They put on the cover of xxl, ti king of the south, cosigned her. Its not just her. Hiphop is crown turf as the savior to white kids. I think this is so important. In a certain way well of course this is where hiphop is. Even just the change in who constituted an idealization of a female body within hiphop shifts to dramatically over the course of its time that to end in this moment with iggy azalea feels like well yep, thats where we were going. Yeah pretty much. When the audience turned from primarily black and brown, right, in the early 90s to primarily white suburban boys the music changed. We went from nationalistic afrocentric to people talking more about drugs. Thats what they wanted. Thats what they understood. When we bring in all the girls who want to listen along eventually youre going to get iggy azalea. I think its important to establish the difference between hiphop culture and the corporate rap. Iggy is a product of the corporate rap. Shes like a pop star. Because of iggy azaleas prif ledge, she can be nominated for best rap album or best pop song or what have you. You just said something that was interesting to me. This idea of, you know okay if this is where corporate rap is thats not where hiphop is. Why police the boundaries . Why worry about who owns hiphop . Wont we just make something new . Isnt that what black and brown communities in the u. S. Who are living on we make something new. We make blues, jazz, hiphop. We made rock and roll. We make it and then it goes. So wont we just make something new . Hiphop is not only a culture, its a way of life but its a spiritual thing. I see young people back home my kindergarteners who i work with theyre rapping, theyre freestyle freestyling. It comes from the soul. Absolutely worth keeping, without a doubt. But were speaking generationally because hiphop is who we are. Our parents would be like were still jazz to this day. Our grandparents would be like, its all about gospel. Perhaps part of our generation will be like well theres this new thing, mom. Parker is 13. She loves iggy azalea. Im trying. Thank you, all. 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