The international standoff over its Nuclear Program in order to lift crippling u. S. Led sanctions. The Un Security Council has approved a resolution to destroy syrias chemical weapons stockpile. The measure came out of a u. S. Russian agreement earlier this month after the white house threatened to launch solitary strikes on syria but later open the door to a diplomatic solution. Bowing to russian concerns, the measure does not authorize autonomy automatic military strikes if syria fails to comply, saying that follows her would be needed. After the vote, secretary general ban kimoon welcomed the measures approval. Im pleased the Security Council has found a unity toward the most significant use of chemical weapons in decades. I welcome the commitment to safeguard and destroyed syria plus chemical weapons stockle. United nations stands ready to support this plan in every way possible. Under the resolution, syria will be forced to destroy its chemical production sites in november followed by its entire stockpile by the middle of next year. Secretary of state john kerry said the u. S. Will still see to hold the alassad regime accountable for last months chemical attack in ghouta. Onsite inspections of the places these weapons are stored will begin by november. And under the terms of this agreement, those weapons will be removed and destroyed by the middle of next year. Our aim was also to hold the assad regime publicly accountable for its horrific use of chemical weapons against its own people on august 21. This resolution makes clear that those responsible for this heinous act must be held accountable. As the measure was approved, the u. N. Also announced plans for a longdelayed International Syria peace conference in geneva next month. Eaking to italian television, the syrian president said he will comply with the u. N. s requirements. We joined the International Agreement for preventing the use and deployment of chemical apons before the resolution came to light. The main part of the Russian Initiative based on our will to do so. So it is not about the resolution, it is about in 2003, we had proposal to the United NationsSecurity Council to get rid of those weapons in the middle east, to have a chemicalfree weapons out in the middle east. Of course we have to comply. Our history is to comply with every treaty we find. The latest violent incidents in syria, at least 60 people were killed sunday when an airstrike hit high school in the rubble controlled city of raqqa. Most of the victims were students. Bombings targeting mostly shiite neighborhoods today has left 34 people dead and over 151 dead. At least 40 people were killed in iraq sunday when a suicide bomber struck a shiite funeral south of baghdad. The violence brings iraqs death toll this month to over 800. This follows more than 800 killed last month and over 1000 killed in july. Verse 6000 people have been killed in iraq since the start of the year. At least 40 people died in pakistan sunday when a car bomb hit a busy market in the city of peshawar. Another 100 people were winded. It was the third major attack in freshwater over the past week following the Church Bombing that killed 80 and another blast on a broad bus on a bus. 50 students were killed when at rule college was attacked. Gunmen believed to be from the islamic rebel group opened fire. The group attack on the highway attack killed at least 142 people. The latest disclosures from the leaks of Edward Snowden show the nsa is mapping out the social Media Connections of an unknown number of american targets. Using phone metadata an online created, the nsa has intricate graphs showing individuals social networking an extensive personal information including whereabouts, religious or political activity, and private behavior. The mapping has been in effect when the nsa lifted restrictions that are the targeting of americans. The nsa says the aim is to uncover ties between americans and foreign terrorist suspects. The piece disclosing this was in the new york times. Department is filing suit against North Carolina today over the states new voting law. The lawsuit will challenge provisions forcing voters to present a government issued photo id at the polls, shrinking early voting by we, eliminating sameday registration, and limiting provisional ballots cast outside of voters home precinct. The North Carolina measure was one of the first set of voting restrictions passed by state since the u. S. Supreme court struck down the key provision of the Voting Rights act in june. Attorney general eric holder is expected to also seek a new ruling that would force North Carolina to receive preclearance for changes to its voting laws. Those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. We are on the road in new orleans, louisiana, broadcasting from Public Television station wlae. Louisiana is the world prison capital with more people behind bars per capita than any other state, and in the carson range cursor ration rate 13 times that of china. The state also ranks among the highest in the country in terms of the number of people per capita who are exonerated after serving years in prison for crimes they did not commit. Today we look at the case of one of those men. Inry james served 30 years Louisiana State penitentiary known as angola prison. He had been sentenced to life in prison without parole in 1982 after he was convicted of raping on neighbor, largely based her eyewitness testimony. Henry james had been to the victims house several times out her husband work on a scar, and she did not originally named him as her attacker. At the trial, the prosecution never told the jury that serology testing, blood testing, from the rape kit excluded henry james as the perpetrator. James his own defense attorney failed to free his client even as james maintained his alibince and three witnesses supported his testimony that he had been asleep at home at the time of the crime. After all of his appeals had been exhausted, henry james, still in prison, turned to the Innocence Project for help. He asked them to get the dna evidence gathered in the rape kit the first, it had to be found. Searchedirector through the old evidence stored in the Jefferson Parish crime led to no avail. About a year later, he accidentally stumbled upon a slide with a sample of the attackers blood while looking for evidence in a different case. The blood tests proved henry james was innocent, and october 2011, he was exonerated and released from prison. Henry james joins us now here in the new orleans studios here in new orleans Public Television. Were also joined by emily maw, director of the Innocence Project of new orleans. We welcome you both to democracy now henry james, how did it feel to be free when you are released in 2011 after 30 years in prison for a crime you didnt commit . It was aike wonderful feeling, and the would prevail, come out one day. I kept on fighting and never gave up hope. I wasttlefield innocent. Go back to the early 1980s and tell us what happened. How did you end up in jail . Prison ip in mean, i ended up in jail because officers put some things in place put me on the crime. In all the time i would tell them i was in a crime. They picked me up off my job telling the irate that lady that i raped that lady. I didnt know who they were talking about. Me, they were interrogating [indiscernible] be theey remembered person it was, i medially cooperated. I let them know more about my relationship with those people. Our relationship, like you said, was the fact i was just trying to get my car fixed. Just trying to be sociable toward them. In the course of me being sociable toward them i got this charge, i think it was because of the accident, all right . When we got in the accident, i think the officer interrogate this guy and wanted to know who the other guy was. I left the scene of the accident. I think when i left the scene of the accident, and by him being charged with dwi and the accident never was mentioned. So im thinking that the way this thing rolled out is that with him being charged with dwi and me leaving the scene the question came up, who was the guy who left the scene . I think when the officers learned who left the scene of the accident and learned it was me, i think in some type of way the ladys husband and the officers worked out a deal to say that it was me or story to come out, ok, this is henry james, this is the guy who is with you . Ok. Im thinking from that part, the officer then, you know, convinced him some type of way that if you would go along with the story, this particular story , that if they go along with that, the accident would go away and the damage would go. I know he didnt have insurance. I know he didnt have money to pay for the damage. Such to say he was charged with dwi in the accident was never mentioned . So him and the law, dallas or had to make some kind of deal. Then you had the fact that the , hecer that was in charged knew me. Officer worked with the ladies husband ladys husband and coach tim and a lot of things and maybe made some promises. As a result of that, it led to me. Do with the person is, why did you wait to come to me up . One of the interesting things about henrys case, the woman was hardly raped, no question about that, but when she initially reported to the police that she had been attacked, she said a man came into her house and attacked her. The interesting thing is, in respect a significant amount of that day watching football with her husband. I think it was a sunday, right . They have been driving around. First they worked on the car, then they went to a bar and were watching some football. What henry is referring to is henry in the womans husband got into an accident because, frankly, they it had too much to drink and the husband was driving the car and then left the scene of the accident. The husband was ultimately put in the drunk tank. Back afterthen went the victim and initially did not give them any leads on who was or didnt know what was, she just said a man had raped her. They went back and potentially suggested henrys name or maybe just showed her a book full of photographs in which henrys picture was there. It is a little unclear from the paperwork how that happened, but i think henry is saying he is in suspicion because he been at the scene of the accident that that was somehow used against him. Right. So you go to trial and there was a blood test that was done. How do they have the blood of the attacker . It was semen. Oh, semen. It was from the rape kit. I agreed to give them that evidence because they tell me if routinely in rape cases, the police, when theyre examining the victim, will get a rape kit which is any semen the attacker left and pubic hairs anything really that gives them forensic clues as to who could have been the person who committed the crime. So this rape hit excluded you . I mean, the test excluded you. ,he semen test did not match but this was not raised in court . No. I didnt know anything about it. What happened there was there is secreted status and on secreta status. If you leave saliva or semen somewhere, your blood type will be seen in the saliva or semen. If not, you can only find it through the blood. The initial testing that was done in henrys case, here is a sick reader and they did not find any sick reader activity in the semen. Raised byrobably henry or was raised by henrys trial lawyer at trial, but in the worst possible way. The prosecution gave that to the defense. That wasnt withheld. Henrys disastrous lawyer answer the report into evidence without explaining to the jury what it meant, was that it was very unlikely that henry couldve left that semen. It was in the record, but no one ever got an explanation of what it was, of why it was very important in henrys case. Later on,tent, then, henrys case was very, very difficult because evercore looking into said, well, this report was in the record. This report was in the record but no one explained to the jury what it meant. Thele at explanation to well, maybe there wasnt enough to detect the right kind of blood secretor stas. Reviewing courts did not give it any credence and tell we were able to do the dna testing that completely excluded him and show that report had been accurate, laternt him, and was confirmed that henry was not the perpetrator of the crime. Were going to take a break and then come back to this discussion with henry james, who was exonerated in 2011 after 30 years in angola prison. Emily maw, also with us, director of the Innocence Project of new orleans. Ay wh us. [music break] this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. We broadcasting from new orleans herec television wlae louisiana. Were joined by henry james, who was exonerated in 2011 after 30 years in angola prison. Emily maw is director the Innocence Project of new orleans. How did you survive all of those decades in jail . Did you give up hope . Your sentenced to life in prison with blac without provision. What happened at the and that ultimately freed you . How can they freak me . God for dna. That is what freed me. I cared a lot on my shoulder in prison because i felt like estes wasnt served to me. Im still feeling today like i am falling short even though i am free. I got four children that have never been talked about. In courtr witnesses that was looked over in trial by jury that was not my pers. The and the fact that officers frame to me then the fact that officers framed me. The lady said the officers report saying he got on the scene two minutes after it happened. Ok, but i got a problem with the officer saying he transport the victim from the residence to the hospital. And then in the report it is showing that after they get to the hospital, and the question was raised to 10 sir, was he able to come up with a suspect . The one officer tried to say yes. How they were le to come up with a suspect. They said after talking to the witness, were able to come up with a photograph. Was transferred from the residence to the hospital. After they got to the hospital, one officer gave another officer and put it inf me a known sex offender book. I had never been charged with sex offense. Wouldnt that be like leading the witness . Where did the picture come from the residence and the hospital . Emily maw . One of the things interesting about henrys case is this idea that an eyewitness identification is all you need, really, even if theres physical evidence that contradicts eyewitness identification i think a lot of what henry is feeling is what people who get misidentified feel. Even if this is an innocent mistake, how did this happen . How did this woman get my picture and identify me when i didnt do it . There was the semen test and the dna test. Thats right. In 1982 when henry went to trial, there was no such thing as dna testing. Serology testing, which is blood typing, was the kind of thing you would do. And with that you can exclude people by the blood type. But only in broad group terms. You could never say, this is the profile of the perpetrator and that is not henry jamess profile and away with dna you can. When dna was available, even though there was what we would consider an exclusion by blood typing, serology testing, even at the time of trial, the much more specific less dispute will dna exclusion that came along 30 years later when we were ultimately able to find the had left, the rapist we are able to test it and show conclusively the eyewitness so the lab director looked for months. Two full days is what happened. With the das office, who fully cooperated and felt this was important case. And you look . Book looked through every at they had. So nice a month, you have the search, but it was many months it was a couple of months. I cant remember exactly. It was a chunk of time later. The lab director was good enough to remember the case number when he was searching for Something Else and he mutely called everybody and said, that piece of evidence we looked for for two days, we found it. Everybody agreed in middle east should be turned over. James, you were exonerated. Louisiana is some two dozen states that gives money for those who have been exonerated. Held in prison wrongly accused. For 30 years you were held. What, 25 thousand years for every year until 10 years . There is a cap at in years. Get 200 50,000. Do you get it all at once . Yes. Or they give it to yearly . Looks they give it to me yearly. Oxo 25,000 a year. And i did 30 years. This, they should be giving you 750,000 dollars but louisiana captive. Can you sue . I wish i could. I wish i could. But im not legally inclined. I have no one to try to pursue the issue. And most Wrongful Conviction cases, theres not a civil suit. People are so insulated from the suit, and what you have to prove is not what usually happened that almost nobody a very small proportion of people wrongly convicted recover in a civil suit. Can you describe, henry james, what angola is like . It is referred to often as the plantation prison. What you do every day . Field. Rked in the in the fields of the prison, doing what . , slavetype stuff. Cropping the fields. I picked cotton. You are picking cotton . I picked cotton, pulled cotton. We chopped ditches. Chopped the levy. Picked tomatoes, okra. I picked cabbage, greens. Pulled potatoes. I did this until my hands were cold in the wintertime. My hands would not move. I had to stay out there and that cold, you understand . Or go to the dungeon. What is the dungeon . If you do not cooperate with authority, doing the fieldwork, they would lock you up. In solitary confinement. What is the dungeon like . Had you ever been there . Ive been there. You stay there for whatever violation until you go to court. When you stay in there, they dont really clean up like theyre supposed to. You stay there and for the length of time into you go to court. When you go toourt, whatever was reported against you, it youre subject to 10 days. You lose your store privilege. Were you injured while working the fields picking cotton and other crops . Was a injured . There, ie sick out must say. A few take sick. They would send out a sick truck to see you. If they come to see you, you probably pay for that. You havepay r them to come out and see you and you also have to pay for any type of medical treatment. Were you injured at all in prison . Yes. I got a dislocated shoulder. I fell. I stayed in the dungeon after i fell, they locked me up and made it look like something it wasnt , a fight. I went to the dungeon. They put me back in the cell. For 30 days, i stayed back there. I tried to get a sick call. Sick call, then people will come out and come with attitude toward you. They will leave your cell for an for any excuse. Anyway, they didnt want to hear my complaint. I stay there for nearly 30 days. Adidnt know that i had dislocated shoulder until i got out. When youre able to get out of the dungeon, youre able to make phone calls. When i got out, i made some phone calls to friends on the outside. They called and complained complained about my shoulder. That is how it got medical help. You learn to read and write in prison . Yes. How did that change you . It change me to be a better person. I was ignorant. Im a going in prison and practically educating myself and learning from other guys experience, other guys that have been there and experienced the same thing i had experienced i had a chance to go to the library. I had people there to help me understand. You had four children. You came out of prison 30 years later. When i left, they were babies. What was that like . Because my absence affected my family. Im still trying right now to work they are in their 30s right now. Yes, maam. They were babies when i left. It affected me. Howdy repair that family relationship . How do you repair the family relationship . I guess getting treatment. I just try to be there for them the best i could. I tried to continually show them love and support them the best way i could. How typical is henry jamess case . 30 years in prison. He was sentenced to life without parole until you found this slide, the dna test that freed him. Henry jamess case is, unfortunately, atypical. Everybody louisiana who is convicted of murder or rape gets sentenced to life without parole. There is no other sentence for those crimes. What is atypical about henrys case is they found the evidence. Many places, as in evidence storage and preservation practices are atrocious will stop people lose evidence all the time in cases where dna testing could prove their innocence. While we have managed to free people with dna testing in our office, the vast majority of people whose guilt could be confirmed or whose instance could be proven by dna testing will never get the opportunity to do that week was the state authorities have simply lost the evidence because nobody invests in practices that promote orderly evidence storage which means 30 years later you could find a slide. Tragically, his case is atypical. The slide was found by accident. Yes. The search of been done and it wasnt found. Theyre working on a totally different case, the lab director finds the slide. Looking in a different area, thats right. Obviously, most people, their story ends when nobody finds the slide, as happened originally in henrys case. And goode grace of god work by the Crime Lab Director in looking out for and by henry james. How did you find the Innocence Project . I mean, you are in jail forever then. I picked up a newspaper ad. I see nothing called we get magazines. In other words, that give legal on thend address outside. Me andd of mine came to can be the tell me i should write these people. From your injury that has made it difficult for you to , yougetting out of prison went to the Social Security office . Yes. What happened . I wasnt disabled and some other issues. They rewarded me from the ti i time from the the time i applied until about they rewarded me from the first time i applied until early this yea early last year Something Like over 1000. You do know about that . Yeah, they did. What happened was, the Social Security office tooit to another level. They were saying indirectly that i wasnt eligible because i have been awarded by the state. Because youre getting money from the state, you werent eligible for Social Security. Because the state not really not eligible, because the jury ruled in my favor. In so many words they were saying the kind of award i got from the state, that is why it would make me not qualify. Of the reparations you got from the state would disqualify you for getting for right now. Aid for being disabled and not able work. Ride, right. Can be awarded for being incarcerated wrongly, or for tting hurt while youre incarcerated, but not both. I got people working on. What is a fee like to walk out . Looks wonderful. Wonderful. I just thank god. You brought me through it. I tried to be example for others. I took what i was extracting ensured it with other people. I try to give them some hope. I took what i was experiencing and tried to share with others. I try to give them some hope. I feel like going home was the thing. We can sit there and tell each other what we want to do, but if you dont walk toward it and tried to get with somebody on the outside that can help us is to just sit there and go on and i. I trying to tell guys worked in the kitchen. James, thank you for spending time with us today. , director ofly maw the Innocence Project of new orleans. Inry james was exonerated 2011 after 30 years in angola prison. When we come back, were going to hear about the case of another man, one of the angola 3 , Herman Wallace. He is dying in prison right now, any day now, of liver cancer. He was in solitary confinement for 42 years. Stay with us. Were broadcasting from louisiana. [music break] this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. We are on the road in new orleans i common louisiana, broadcasting from station wlae. We turn now to look at the case of a man whose bit more than 42 years in solitary confinement in louisiana, believed to be one of the longest serving prisoners who served on death row. For that amount of time. He is dying now of liver cancer. His supporters are pleading for his compassionate release. Im talking about Herman Wallace, a member of the so called angola 3. He unto others were in jail for armed robbery, then accuse to 1972 murder in a prison guard at the Louisiana State and its injury known as angola. The men say they were framed because of their political activism as mbers of one of the first prison chapters of the black Panther Party. Herman wallace is now 71 years old and in the late stages of liver cancer. Robert King Wilkerson was released in 2001 after 29 years in solitary confinement. Albert woodfox, remains imprisoned and says he is been subjected to strip searches and a he searches as often as six times a day. As Herman Wallace faces the end of his life, were joined now by two people. First, i want to turn to a clip from a new film about hermans collaboration with one of our guests. 12 years ago, artist Jackie Summell began writing to Herman Wallace and one day she asked him, what kind of house does a man who has lived in a six foot by nine foot box for over 30 years dream of . Wallace wrote back with a deription and soon after jackie made a commitment to build a house so herman could either live in it upon his release, or so it could serve as a symbol of survival and hope. The two have often spoken by phone in between their visits, though herman is now too weak to speak anymore. The calls are part of the story documented in a new film called, hermans house. On tbs. Premiered in this clip, it was herman who comforts jackie after the Louisiana Court of appeals just turned on his latest appeal. I hear you. Yeah. Thats correct. That was Herman Wallace speaking with our guest today, Jackie Summell. She is the new orleansbased artist behind hermans house. Subject of this new documentary by the same name that premiered on pbs pov the summer. Were also joined by malik rahim , who introduced the angola 3 members to the black Panther Party in prison. He is cofounder of the Common Ground collective, which helped bring thousands of people from all over the world to help rebuild new orleans after hurricane katrina. In 2008, he ran for congress as a green party candidate. We welcome you both to democracy now we did cement a request to interview Herman Wallace after he was removed into the prison thattal, but we were told similar requests have been denied and did not want to make an exception in this case. ,ackie summell, malik rahim welcome to democracy now frome, you just came back seeing henry yesterday. What is his condition . It is an honor to be here. I had an opportunity to visit herman yesterday. Weird days if not hours it is obvious we are days if not hours away from seeing louisiana kill an innocent man. Can he speak . He can speak a few words. Yesterday he asked me to put on his cap. He was cold. His words are few and far between. He sleeps most of the time. His belly is distended. He is incredibly uncomfortable. I think these will be his last few breaths before he joins his ancestors. And passionate release, is that a possibility . Im not sure in the state of louisiana if compassion is part of the vocabulary of those who are in power. I was felt compassionate release are asking for compassionate release was important in terms of a multipronged effort to have herman released. But there is been 42 years of the state continuing to deny herman due process. 42 years in solitary confinement. Is incredible. Longest serving in solitary confinement in the united states. One of the things i think is important to illustrate our that hermans fight has been illustrate the fact he was still employees the use of solitary confinement. There are over 80,000 inmates and any given time, as you said, the highest incarcerate her in the wor, that are in solitary confinement. Minimum of 23 hours a day in a six by nine foot cell. Clip ofted to play a Teenie Verret, the widow of the murdered prison guard. She was just 17 when her husband , brent miller, was stabbed to death in 1972. This is the murder that Herman Wallace was convicted of. This is Teenie Verret from the documentary, in the land of the free. There is not a year that goes by that i dont have to relive this. It just keeps going and going. And these men, i mean, if they did not do this and i believe they didnt they have been living a nightmare for 36 years. That was Teenie Verret saying, if they did not do this, and she doesnt believe that Albert Woodfox and Herman Wallace did this, then they should not be serving these sentences. Their tens of thousands of people who believe they did not do this. I have absolutely no doubt that robert king is out. 29 years just served of solitary confinement for crime he didnt commit. Malik rahim, youre well known in this area. Yes, you ran for congress and helped save new orleans after hurricane katrina. You knew these men in prison. They say they were framed for this murder because of their political organizing. You are involved with the political organizing. Yes. First, i want to say compassionate justice do not exist in louisiana. Based uponnement is what the state calls black pantherism. The black Panther Party was just an organization of blacks who hated white and were bent on killing. And that is what they based their conviction on. Solitary, basically because of the black pantherism. It has been used throughout their years. They said even if they were found innocent, they would still be kept ini solitary because of black panthersm. I want to go to a clip of herman walla and his own words describing the impact of solitary confinement on his body. This is from the film that just premiered this summer on pov called, hermans house. Wallacewas herman describing solitary confinement. Jackie, you spoke a great deal with them about this. The state of louisiana has never relied on lethal injection to kill its incarcerated. Air is a history documented history of neglect, abuse, cruel and unusual punishment and what i would call legal injustice, which is the denial and delaying of due process or our socalled constitutional guarantees. Within that framework, you have men who are spending 40 years in solitary confinement. Somethingou did unbelievable with Herman Wallace. You wrote to him and said he wanted to build a house that he would design . Yeah, it is unusual. The question you put him . I was at stanford university, a full ride was stipend to study art when i met robert king. It was really hard one of the angola 3. Just about two months after he was released. It was really hard for me to contextualize my relative privilege to the situation that herman and albert were still wondering. I knew i had to do something. My greatest tour is my imagination. I asked herman what kind of house he dreams of after spending 30 years in solitary confinement. I did that with the hope this would be the opportunity for him to just use his imagination to get out of that box. I want to play a clip of hermans house or Herman Wallace to scrubs was wouldve details he would like to see in his house. A figment oft just Herman Wallaces imagination, jackie. You are building this house. You are hereby and property for this house as Herman Wallace lays dying in a prison hospital. I made a commitment to herman over 10 years ago that i would build his stream house with the intention that this house is a testament to his imagination, to the tribe of the imagination and to hermans legacy, which will. Utlive his flesh and bones hermans legacy, his commitment to the people, and the story of his injustice. It is important to build his house in the incarceration capital of the world. I want to go to the end of the documentary hermans house. Herman wallace describes a dream. Listen carefully. Herman wallace describing his dream of freedom. Malik rahim, your thoughts as we and today . As, well, we dont know how many minutes are days Herman Wallace has left. I believe this is one of the saddest occasions in my life. It would never been a Common Ground if there wouldnt have been the angola 3. And if there would have been a Common Ground, then over 200,000 people that we serve indirect service, what would have happened to them . You cannot say that justice prevails when you have under the spurs conditions i mean, going through the brutal summers locked in those cells. In the coldest winters locked in the cells. Compassionave enough to help save this city that have literally forgotten him. I mean, a Common Ground never would have been sent out the way it was. By angola 3ht up supporters, scott crowe. It never wouldve happened without the angola 3. This is the reward he gets for saving the city in this area, is to die in a prison cell. You it is something know, it leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. Malik rahim and Jackie Summell, thank you for being with us. Malik rahim new Herman Wallace in jail and ended up running for congress on the green party ticket. Jackie summell is old and the house that herman has dreamed of. Hermans house. That does it for our broadcast. A special thanks to democracy now is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. Email your comments to outreach democracynow. Org or mail them to democracy now p. O. Box 693 tavis good evening. From los angeles, i am tavis smiley. Tonight, a conversation with one of this countrys most beloved comics, bob newhart. After seven nominations, he won his first award. Album and the button down mind of bob newhart is still the bestselling comedy album of all time. Other sitcoms are judged by that standard. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Tavis his Television Career goes back more than five decades with the bob newhart show and of course, newhart. He got eminem and nations but no statue. His guest star role in the big bang. Resulted in his first emmy win, long overdue. And a standing ovation from the emmy audience. Take a look. Thank you. I am going to need a little more time because this is my seventh shot at this. . Avis what took so long ago there were always better people in the category then me. Tavis i think the voters tend , somee some sort of bias sort of issue with comedians. I think of Jerry Seinfeld who, unless im wrong, never 11. I think of bob newhart, bill cosby. A lot of comedic giants that somehow never graced that stage in that capacity. Maybe they dont see you guys is acting, maybe you are just seen as bob newhart. We took the persona of the standup world and transferred it. If i can exclude myself, in the case of bill and jerry, they just made it look too easy. What do you make of the fact that there might be some disrespect ofnt the craft. That it isnt as easy as it looks. I think that is part of it. I not classically trained like bill and jerry. I never studied acting