← The Joy Reid Show
The Joy Reid Show
America in Panic: Occupied DC & Texas | The Joy Reid Show LIVE! Aug 18, 2025
00:59:06
Loading summary
Transcript76 lines
- [00:05]
Brandon Scott
Okay.
- [00:12]
Joy Reid
Hello, everyone, Good evening and welcome to the Joy Reid Show. Okay, let me start by getting you caught up on some of the news of the day and stories that we've been following here on the podcast. While Donald Trump prepares to sell out Ukraine to Vladimir Putin in hopes of finally snagging a Nobel Peace Prize, European leaders descended on Washington today, flanking Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, who notably did not get a red carpet like Putin got from Trump in Alaska. While Trump also appears to be willing to give Putin the entirety of Eastern Ukraine and Crimea to reward him for his friendship. Now, some cruel AI user made this. We're put up this pretty interesting AI creation. Who made that? That's not nice. Accurate. Yes, nice. Well, you know, meanwhile, the other expansionist nuclear power that's using its military to seize land that isn't theirs has some alarming new reporting. CNN reports that leaked audio reveals that the former head of Israeli military intelligence can be heard saying that the deaths of of tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza are necessary and required for future generations. Here's the quote from that recording which CNN obtained. Quote. For everything that happened on October 7, for every one person on October 7, 50 Palestinians must die, said Israeli Defense Forces Major General Aharon Haleva in the recordings released by Israel's Channel 12 news on Friday. It doesn't matter now if they are children, unquote. The fact that there are already 50,000 dead in Gaza is necessary and required for future generations, Haleva said in the recordings. It's unclear when he was speaking, but the number killed in Gaza surpassed 50,000 back in March. And while the media generally presents these as two very different stories, I'll also note that Israel's parliament, the Knesset last week passed a non binding resolution calling for the full annexation of the occupied west bank, which they keep calling Judea and Samaria, as if we are in Bible times. So, yes, these are two nuclear powers seeking to annex countries that are not their own and using war and violence to do it. And don't let any media tell you otherwise. They are the same story. Meanwhile, allow me to paraphrase Kanye west back when he was an eccentric but authentic hip hop icon. Donald Trump does not care about black people. He also doesn't care about crime or police officers. If he did care about crime victims or cops, he wouldn't have pardoned 1600 violent insurrectionists who ransacked the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, including people with histories of spousal abuse and child sex predators who beat, tased and tried to kill police officers so that he could stay in the White House after losing the election to Joe Biden in 2020. If he cared about crime victims, he'd get his Attorney General, Pam Bondi, to release the Epstein files and get justice for the likely hundreds of victims, all young women and girls who were raped by Jeffrey Epstein. And his so called Justice Department wouldn't have sent the woman who trafficked children to Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell, to a comfy club Fed. They would have left her in maximum security where she belongs. And Trump, who is himself a felon, wouldn't have rewarded the former U.S. attorney who gave Epstein his own sweetheart, who gave Epstein his sweetheart work release deal in Florida with a job in his first administration. If Trump actually cared about the safety of black communities or crime or gun violence that affects those communities, he wouldn't have bragged that he, quote, did nothing on guns when he was president the first time. And he would try to adopt some of the best practices that we've seen in multiple cities with black mayors where crime and gun violence have dropped by 20 and 30%. Cities like Birmingham and Chicago and Los Angeles and Baltimore. And let's just be clear, if violence was down by even 5% in any of these cities, people who study this stuff would be amazed. But these 20 and 30% declines have attracted little notice from the media. And the thing that you need to understand about crime is that it tends to depend on affinity, meaning that the vast majority of crimes are committed by people within the same racial, ethnic and neighborhood groups. So most white people who are killed are killed by other white people, and most black people who are killed are killed by someone else who is black, with the exception of police involved killings, which are often cross racial. Same goes for robberies, rapes, et cetera. But to be clear, if Trump actually cared about public safety in black communities, which is a real issue, black grandmothers and elders who really are wanting to feel safer in their neighborhoods and, and not worry about robberies or carjackings or purse snatchings, he would do the things that would actually decrease those incidences. But no one seriously believes that the way to solve those issues is with armed National Guardsmen trucked in from red states with M16 slung over their shoulders, occupying neighborhoods and menacing black and brown communities alongside masked, maybe federal agents, maybe proud boys, because all that does is create fear. But isn't that the point? Joining me now is the Mayor of Baltimore, Brandon Scott, whose city and leadership are a frequent target of the MAGA. Right, Mr. Mayor, thank you. So much for being here.
- [05:49]
Brandon Scott
Thank you for having me. Good to be here.
- [05:51]
Joy Reid
Thank you. So Donald Trump has effectively occupied Washington, D.C. supposedly to fight crime because of a single carjacking, even though crime is not up in the District. But I think in our communities, in black communities, in the wards where those, you know, National Guardsmen actually aren't going, there are issues with crime. People do feel not necessarily safe all the time. You've managed to address that in Baltimore. Talk about some of the things that actually work and what Trump could be emulating if he really did care about crime.
- [06:24]
Brandon Scott
Yeah, I think that. Listen, Joy, we have to understand that this is a complicated issue, that there is not one solution or one cause of gun violence. And we know that folks want to paint it as this simple thing, it's just simply not that. Because if zero tolerance and policing while black and over policing communities and the super predator narrative was the way to make cities safer, then after the 1990s, every city would be safe. Right. But we know that that didn't work. It failed here in Baltimore. So much so that we ended up being sued and we're in a consent decree for police reform. But, but what we have to do is understand that first this is a public health issue. And here in Baltimore, we no longer put the full and sole weight of dealing with gun violence on the backs of our police officers, who have a big part to do in reducing it. But they're not the only ones. We have a comprehensive violence prevention plan here in Baltimore that includes a multitude of strategies, including public health based ones to deal with them. And I'll start with one that's been very successful because as of you and I are talking right now through the 18th of August, 2020 25, Baltimore has the fewest murders through this date on record. That's over 50 years, which is historic reduction, continuation of now three years of a historic reduction and it's still not enough for us because we still have far too many people lose their life and one life is one too many. But this is how we've gotten here thus far through our group violence reduction strategy, where we actually identified through data, right? Not just guessing, not just saying, oh, this is where the black people live, this is where the poor people live, this is where the brown people live, right? But data to see who were the most likely people to be the victim of perpetrator and gun violence through this focus, deterrence, caring and stick approach. And we first go to them through our community partners and more voice partners. They actually get a letter directly from Me, Joy, that says, we know who you are.
- [08:24]
Joy Reid
We.
- [08:25]
Brandon Scott
We know what you do. We want you to stay alive. The only way you're going to do that is if you change what you do. We'll help. You need housing, help, education, whatever it is. But if you don't, then we will remove you via law enforcement. And we started in our western police district, and in that district, our historically most violent, we saw a 30% reduction. And then we're now systematically moving that throughout this, throughout the city of Baltimore. We're in five out of our nine police districts, and that's a partnership between my office, my police department, our state's Attorney here in Baltimore City, our Attorney General of Maryland, who have to prosecute the cases that we make with the police department. And when you look at those folks that did take us up on, those that help, most of them have not been revictivized. Over 90% of them have not been re victimized. Over 90% of them have not recidivated. We're going to do that. And then we're also pouring and growing our community violence intervention ecosystem, where we pay people who used to be involved in their life to prevent things from happening ahead of time through safe streets, supporting programs like We Are Us, things like ROCA that we continue to support. And we're also focusing our police department on the things that matter. My police department in Baltimore, at my direction Last year, see 2,500 illegal guns. Most of them came from states not known as the state of Maryland. Most of them came from states that just happen to have be red states or have Republican leadership in them. But that doesn't matter to me. We're focused on them, removing them, going after whoever's using them and who's bringing them into our communities and holding them accountable by handing them over to the state's attorney. And at the same time, we're making historic investments into education, growing our recognition and parks department by 40%, making sure that we have the true, balanced approach to dealing with something that we have, quite frankly, been struggling to deal with in this country for a long time. And even with having the lowest amount of violence that Baltimore seeing in my lifetime, I'm not satisfied.
- [10:26]
Joy Reid
And this, I mean, these all sound like approaches that, number one, humanize the people that you're dealing with, right? Whether it's the victims, the grandma that wants to get to, you know, her church group, you know, unmolested, and also the grandkid who's out there, you know, maybe bored, maybe with no money and looking for something to do and some trouble to get into. It's like you're humanizing both sides. That just seems so rational. And I wonder if you've ever, if you've had any contact from the Justice Department to say, hey, you know, someone in our office would like to try to reduce crime, or our goal is to reduce crime. Talk to us about some of the things you're doing. Is anybody reached out to you to ask you to tell up to tell them what you're doing?
- [11:08]
Brandon Scott
Not the higher ups. And I want to be very clear about this. I just announced a few weeks ago the expansion of the group Violence Reduction strategy into another police district. And our local federal partners, our local special agent in charge for FBI was standing right there. They are partners that we work beside each and every day. And I think this is the most frustrating part for me operationally from what's happening. Because what's happening is the President is taking FBI, dea, ATF agents off of their work that they do every day to go after folks who are trafficking guns, trafficking drugs, carrying out violence in communities to just go walk around D.C. if they really want to use those folks to help and bolster what they would have done is said, okay, we're going to do what has happened under presidents Republican and Democrat for many, many years, right? Send more agents to these cities, allow those agents to work under their special agent in charge. They work with those police departments in those communities every day, doing what FBI and DEA and FDA ATF agents do, build cases to make sure that they are going after the bigger fish, that they're helping in every single way. And that's not happening. It was bad enough that they were being taken off those cases to deal with this immigration and immigration quotas, but now you have them being taken off to just roam around D.C. right. That's not what they signed up to do. And it really is putting the strain on some of the relationships because we have had great working relationships here in Baltimore with our federal partners, no matter who has been the President of the United States. And we want to keep them going. And we don't want our agents taken off of their work for cases when people that we absolutely need to hold accountable and remove to go and just look like a military dictatorship, show of force. That doesn't work for the American people.
- [13:01]
Joy Reid
Have you ever known agents or instructed your police to wear masks when they're doing their jobs?
- [13:07]
Brandon Scott
Absolutely not. Only during COVID Yeah, right. On the pandemic, when everyone, which MAGA.
- [13:12]
Joy Reid
People oppose, by the way, they don't.
- [13:14]
Brandon Scott
Want people to wear masks when it, when it, when it really mattered to make sure that my officers weren't out there dying because they're interacting with people. We did that, but no, we wouldn't. Like you don't do that. And in fact, through our evolution, right through, we are a much different police department here in Baltimore than we were in 2015 after the, the death of great Fred Gray and definitely before that, when I was a young man. It's different for me for many reasons. One, I grew up here, right? I was born in 1984. So when you grew up in the 80s, 90s and 2000, we bore the brunt of all of it. I've been set down myself all in handcuffs just because I was come. I was coming home from college one time, and just because I met the description of someone that committed a robbery when I was two and a half hours away, right? When you understand it that way and you seen it, and you know, also for me now spending 18 years in city hall and the data bears it out. When you look at Baltimore's lowest years of homicides, right, whether it be 2011 or whether it be last year in 2024, and you compare the number of arrests that we made that year with the fewest amount of homicides versus the number of arrests that they made, for example, in 2003, where we had almost 100,000 arrests, but we had close to 300 homicides. It doesn't add up because it's never been about how many. It's about who you arrest. It's who you arrest and for what. Are those the people carrying out violence? Are they the ones using guns? Are they the ones running these organizations that are disrupting communities? Those are the people that you need to focus on and removing them. And you cannot. And we should not go back to the days where you just outside and I saw a video where a young man was sitting on his porch in D.C. smoking a cigarette, and he told him he couldn't do it. The last time I checked, he was in the United States of America. And even though I don't want anyone to smoke cigarettes, people can do that if they choose, especially on their own porch.
- [15:06]
Joy Reid
You talked about growing up here and talk about just from the standpoint of just a young black man in the community. I mean, we. What are they supposed to do in the summer? I mean, this administration has cut summer jobs, they've cut job corps, they're cutting out black unemployment. Black unemployment is growing and skyrocketing. The kind of jobs that a young black man might be able to get in the summer. They're saying, we don't even want you there. What are people supposed to do? And doesn't joblessness, boredom and being broke, doesn't that increase crime?
- [15:36]
Brandon Scott
I think that folks have to understand the connection to all of these things, right? For us, when people ask me what is the cause, we have to be reminded that things that are happening today, many of the decisions that impact that happen before, right where I'm sitting to you, talking to you in the birthplace of racial red line. It was passed first in the office that signed first in the office that I sit in each and every day, that I swore in a young man to be a part of my youth commission. Today, just today, right? When you think about that in Baltimore, when you think about the failed highway that they destroyed, a middle class black neighborhood in West Baltimore to connect Interstate 70 to I95, that I don't have to tell you as a Marylander, do not connect today, right? That they did not build the highway and destroyed that neighborhood. When you think about the deindustrialization, when General Motors and the steel, all of those things that left and what backfill that was drugs just came flowing into the neighborhoods and we know they didn't walk in here, that's another discussion for another day and time. And when you have all of that and you don't have to, you have the purposeful disinvestment into education into those neighborhoods, you get what we saw for a long time and that's why we have to balance that out. That's part of why this year we had 8,500 youth jobs, summer jobs for our young people here in Baltimore. That's why we've been focused on building a more equitable Baltimore. That's why one of my biggest things right now to do outside of violence is to continue to lower the vacant housing in Baltimore. Because we know how much of an impact that has had on the city and we have to make sure that we're focusing on all that helping small businesses grow. I am proud that in my first term we saw our lowest unemployment ever in the city of Baltimore, despite still coming out of a pandemic. And we have to be very mindful of what's happening now for many different reasons. Because when folks lifelines are being cut from underneath for them and people are hungry, they will go to, everyone's going to go to at lengths that they need to, to if they feel they need to, to provide for their families. Which is why we need to be providing things like job corps, more education, not less of that. Not just here in Baltimore, but around the country to lift up those folks. And I in particular hope that some of the President's supporters in the rural south and Midwest hear that, because this is going to impact them just as greatly, if not much more.
- [17:57]
Joy Reid
I will tell you, Mayor Scott, that when I covered the Freddie Gray uprisings, you know, the Pennon north area, they were just festooned with troops from all over the country. They had literal military tanks there and you could walk blocks away and there was nary a police officer because they were all concentrated in that one area. Meaning if you wanted to do crime, it was the best time of your life because you could just go a few blocks away and there was no police to be found. And so all of this show of force did nothing at the time. But what I also noticed was it looked a lot like the wire. You saw people coming out of boarded up homes. And you just know this is somebody that does not have hope, job or opportunity. And there are no buses that go there. So to your point, if you address the social cohesion issues, you start to address the issues because people are needy and hungry, they're going to do what they have to do to survive. So I appreciate it.
- [18:48]
Brandon Scott
It's not going to and it's not. And I think that folks have to know that things that have been developing for literally decades, if not. And when you think about that, with, with racial realigning in Baltimore, like 80 years of it, it's not going to go away at night, right? Vacants aren't going to go away. And that's why we've unveiled this $3 billion, 15 year plan between myself, the governor, GBC and Bill, because we are, we're down from 16. We were at 16,000 vacant properties in December of 2000 when I was a sophomore, sophomore, junior in high school. And we were the same way when I took office in December of 2020. Right. But now we're down to less than 12,000. We're at 12,000 and decreasing. And we have to continuously do that and invest in those neighborhoods strategically so that we can deal with it over time, making sure that we're maintaining our culture and our legacy residents while lifting up and inviting other folks to come in as well. And doing it also as we expand this work and this partnership that we have between our police community, the legal folks, in dealing with gun violence in our city. And that's how we'll maintain it over.
- [19:55]
Joy Reid
Time, I will argue one of the best mayors in the United States of America, Mayor Brandon Scott, a man of the people who is doing big things, great things for the great city of Baltimore, one of my absolute favorite cities. And I know the right don't like you, but they want it to be one way, but it's the other way. You are doing great work, my friend. Thank you very much. Much appreciated.
- [20:15]
Brandon Scott
Thank you.
- [20:16]
Vinton Jones
Thank you.
- [20:17]
Joy Reid
Thank you very much. All right, everyone. That is the mayor who is doing the things. These are the things that Donald Trump says he wants. He's actually doing it the way it should be done. And by the way, one of the things that I got to tell y' all that you constantly do hear from the maga, right, in addition to to barking about crime or immigrants or the border or yelling at Mayor Scott, is this really open religiosity. But it's a particular kind of religiosity that purports to be Christian, but it's really about control. Well, that's not what this country's supposed to be about. But not everyone is backing down or backing away from the fight. There are people who are standing up to this, which is why I am really excited to report that this episode of the Joy Reid show is being brought to you by, by the Freedom From Religion Foundation. And let's be clear what we are seeing happening in our public schools and in our libraries where books are being banned and teachers and librarians are being intimidated. It's not about religion. It's about power. Christian nationalists are pushing ten commandments in classrooms, replacing counselors with school chaplains, and using taxpayer funded vouchers to bankroll religious education. This is not protecting faith, it's weaponizing. Weaponizing it against the Constitution and against Americans. That is why the Freedom from Religion foundation is stepping up. FFRF defends the wall between church and state, in courtrooms, in classrooms, and in Congress. And if you want to support the fight, you can go to FFRF US School or just text my first name, Joy to 5 11, 511 to stand up for real freedom. So just text Joy, that's my name to 5 11, 511. Because once you let religion make the rules in schools, it's only a matter of time before it's making them everywhere else. Go to FFRF US School or text JOY to 511-511 and message and data rates may apply. Okay, so let's get back to the show. Now, if you've been listening to the Joy Reid show, you know that we've been literally cheerleading for the Texit Democrats who left the state rather than allow Governor Greg Abbott to sell out the 4.3 million black Texans and 9.7 million Latino Texans by shrinking the number of members of Congress representing them by five. With four of the seats coming out of the two Texas counties with the largest black populations, Dallas county and Harris county, where Houston is all at the behest of Donald Trump, the changes would put Representatives Jasmine, Crockett and Cane shaking Representative Al Green seats in jeopardy while also forcing multiple Latino members to battle it out for a single seat. It is open and brazen racist gerrymandering. But today, a group of Texas Democrats decided to end their protest and go back home. Yeah, you heard me right. They went home so that the Republicans could make quorum and vote through the racist maps. It is utter, rather contemptible capitulation. But joining me now are three of the Texit Dems who refused to bow before Trump and Abbott. Representative Jolanda Jones, who you have become very familiar with on this podcast because she brought the maps with her. Representative Aisha Davis, who you will also remember from this podcast as one of the stalwart Texit Dems who are staying out of Texas, and State Representative Vinton Jones, who is also a key member of the Texas Black Caucus, who are also fighting against these maps. I want to thank you all for being here.
- [24:01]
Vinton Jones
You hear me?
- [24:02]
Joy Reid
I can hear you. Is that Representative Jones? Yes. We have two representatives. Let's start with Representative Vinton Jones. Talk to me about why these other members went home, went back to Texas, and what was their explanation for why they did that?
- [24:20]
Vinton Jones
Well, I think that there were a number of reasons we were able to successfully end the first special session. And what was becoming clear and just being honest with you, was that quorum was going to be reestablished. And for me personally, the reason why I returned to Austin, and even though I wasn't in the group that restored Quorum, I came back because there were several administrative procedures that were going to take place that if Republicans had two thirds of the vote, could change a number of procedures, including the removal of members. So I thought that once Quorum was restored, it was important to be able to return back and to make sure that we continue the fight that's going to be needed on the floor to continue to protect our communities at this time.
- [25:18]
Joy Reid
The point is, is that quorum would not have been restored if Democrats didn't go back. So Quorum being restored is because Democrats decided to go back, right?
- [25:28]
Vinton Jones
That is correct. There was definitely individuals who returned and therefore ended the ability to have a actual quorum break.
- [25:39]
Joy Reid
Did any of the black Democrats decide to break to restore quorum?
- [25:45]
Vinton Jones
I didn't see the role sheet after today, but there was a number of members that joined together. And, and I want to make this very clear. I don't want to place judgment on any one of those members. I think that decisions had to be made, particularly when it comes to the fines that were being assessed and some of the challenges that are coming. But I think it's very important that now being here, getting ready for this next round of this fight, which is the legal battle that needs to take place to continue to fight against these racist gerrymandered maps, which will impact three congressional districts, 30, 30, 33 and 32. So Mark Vesey's, Julie Johnson's and Jasmine Crockett.
- [26:33]
Joy Reid
But there is no way to fight it. If they have quorum, they have the votes. And so what I guess I don't understand, and we are being joined by Representative Jalanda Jones as well, is what's the point of coming back if when you come back, they automatically get quorum and they are able to pass their mask? And I see that Representative Jalanda Jones is joining us shortly. That's my question. I think that is what confuses me, is that if the Democrats had held out, you know, it's hard to call it a success, that the first joint, this first special session was thwarted, but there'll just be another one. I don't understand the strategy.
- [27:11]
Vinton Jones
Absolutely. And so there have been several strategies that we engaged in when we started this process. One, to be able to really sound the alarm with what was going on because no one was talking about this issue. And so throughout that process, we've seen and you've talked about a lot on the show about the progress that have been made in other states. And so now we still need to be able to continue that work. And I think many of us wanted to continue that work on the quorum break. But what became obvious to me was when we were having quorum was the need to be able to get back and making sure that we defend our communities, because these are the times when Republicans jump in and try to change the goalposts once again.
- [27:56]
Joy Reid
So I think, respectfully, how do you defend your communities? You do not have the votes to prevent these racist maps from going through. These racist maps are going to go through no matter what valiant defense Democrats wage on the floor. And I'm not putting this on you because it seems to me that other caucuses made the decision to come back in. They made the decision to allow Texas Republicans to have a quorum and therefore are complicit, in my view, in passing those maps. Because it doesn't matter what you all say on the floor, they're going to pass the maps.
- [28:32]
Vinton Jones
Absolutely. And I do not disagree with you. I think that there are were a lot of challenges and I definitely have agreed with my colleague Jalanda Jones and many other members in the Black Caucus because we know that voting rights is the most significant issue in the black community. It is what people have given blood, sweat, tears and their life for. So this wasn't something that was taken as an easy decision. And that's why it was so important that during this process, I was not the one to restore quorum, but was made the needed decision to be able to get back to defend whatever that needed to be defended. Because our Republicans have just continued to be ruthless on our community. So that's where we are now, I.
- [29:17]
Joy Reid
Believe we do have. State Representative Jalanda Jones, you've had a challenge getting you into this call, onto this program, but we've got you here now. Representative, talk to me about your view here, because it seems to me that by returning, some of your Democratic colleagues made the decision for you all that this vote and these maps will pass.
- [29:39]
Jalanda Jones
Be clear, there is no fighting to do. And here's what's funny. This is modern day slave patrols. One thing I want to say, it is 2025. It is not 1825, right? The people went on the House floor. We still have a colleague right now from the Black Caucus who refuses. She's a lawyer, Nicole Collier. She refuses to sign the permission slip. We have to ask we grown ass people, okay to be able to leave the House floor and then be okay with the police following us everywhere to ensure that we come back when they want to drag us back onto the plantation to vote. Even if we vote against these eight and we have 62, which is exactly Stevie Wonder, Helen Keller Gray Charles could see this. And so why people are surprised, people are talking about, can we shake our detail? We are an unlawfully. We are unlawfully being detained. This is America. I was born in the United States of America. I was not born on a plantation. I have the right to travel. That is my constitutional right to protest the First Amendment. That is my constitutional right. I have a right to walk a vote if I want to. That is my constitutional right. You're trying to take my rights away from me right here because some people decided they wanted to go. I'm from the hood. If I know there's some people waiting to jump me down the street and there's 25 of them and wanted me, why on earth would I walk there? Why would I be walk to a lamb to slaughter? It doesn't make any sense to me.
- [31:15]
Joy Reid
Let me bring in the state Representative, Aisha Davis. We've gotten Representative Davis on as well, your view as well. Because to me, it does seem that some of your colleagues sold y' all out in the sense that. And I'm not talking about Representative Benton Jones, who you said you are not going back for quorum, but it didn't. It doesn't matter now. Those who chose to go back, and I saw the New York Times piece this morning in which the Democrats who decided to go back were sort of trying to portray this as a victory, that they're going back because they won. The messaging. It doesn't make sense to me. Does it make sense to you?
- [31:46]
Aisha Davis
You know, everybody doesn't see the negative consequences to this map the way I do, the way Representative Jones does. Everybody doesn't have black representation in their area, and everybody's not worried about black representation, even some Democrats. So, you know, some people went back because they felt like it was the best thing for themselves, for their constituents. But as for me and my constituents, making sure that that map doesn't pass, using every tool in the toolbox is what's more important to me. I absolutely refuse to be one of the people who allow for this to move forward. So I am going to continue to do whatever I can to stay away from that sham process. But as for my district and as for my constituents, and as for my congressional member, Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett, we're going to fight and do everything we can against those maps. And going back and allowing this to be rushed was not an option.
- [32:44]
Joy Reid
No, please, go ahead. Jelan.
- [32:45]
Jalanda Jones
Joy, let me tell you something. There's literally a 5:00pm redistricting committee meeting. Okay? The fix was. It's at 5:00 clock today. They gonna have it. So they trying to move this process, they trying to put us back on the plantation. They're trying to take us back to when we didn't have any voting rights. Right. I'm not, I promise you, I'm not stupid like that. And anybody who thought. And anybody who thought if we went back, they would be fair and they would consider our needs. I mean, you haven't been paying attention. So I can't control my colleagues. And it's even interesting because we have colleagues who don't have melanin like us who are like, oh, there. No one's saying anything about us coming back. And here's what I will say. Whoever said that, and I'm not going to call the person's name out. That person's constituents are not like my constituents. My constituents said, stay gone. And then they asked me, well, does that mean you're not a good Democrat? Let me be clear. If you're trying to force me to be with people who literally are ignoring my black and brown and poor constituents, I'm going to be with my constituents a thousand times out of a thousand. So if you're going to make me pick, let me be clear. I'm going to be team my constituents, not team Democrats. If the Democrats are not fighting for my constituents and if the Democrats don't understand that my constituents have demanded that I stay, then, I mean, I'm sorry, it's crystal clear that I'm standing 10 toes down with my constituents. So I'm an undisclosed location and I don't know how long I'm going to be here. And, you know, it's crazy that people are talking about, how do I shake my security detail? Are you serious? Do I need to, like, can I? I'm trying to find a window. We are grown adults. We are elected. We are upstanding citizens, and people are trying to escape. This is like, if I weren't living this, I would not believe it would be possible in these United States of America.
- [35:00]
Joy Reid
Hand to hand, same. And I will ask you to Representative Vincent Jones, because here's my challenge. I loved it when Representative Al Green, he called himself a liberated Democrat. That's what I'm calling myself now. I'm calling myself. I'm saying there are Democrats and there are liberated Democrats because liberated Democrats are not afraid to call racism racism. They're not timid about saying that a map that is racist is racist, that gerrymandering is not political. It's racist. And talking about the thing that the national Democratic Party seems very loath to talk about, which is us, which is black people and which is our disrepresentation. And I feel like the black Caucus, the Texas Black Caucus, was not well served by the other caucuses, let's just put it that way, because it seems to me that the drive to go back didn't emerge from your caucus. So when people from these other caucuses explained why they wanted to go back, what was their explanation?
- [35:58]
Vinton Jones
You know, I think you'd have to talk to a lot of them about their explanations for wanting to join back in the ranks of what was going on with these racist maps.
- [36:12]
Joy Reid
But what is the fight going to look like? Because you're saying there's going to be a fight, but a fight about what? It's over the maps.
- [36:19]
Vinton Jones
The maps. But there also is a challenge that happens on the floor, but also in the courts that also is going to take place as well. So I think it's very important, and we're using this opportunity and time to get ready for those upcoming battles. Because what's clear is, is that once we have this quorum that has been established, we have to be back and fight this. You lose, you lose 100% of the battles you don't show up to.
- [36:45]
Joy Reid
But respectfully, though, respectfully, you're not going to win. So, first of all, the maps are going to pass. Let's just be clear. We know that the history of the United States Supreme Court is that they are fine. John Roberts has no problem with political gerrymandering. Your party, writ large, has been calling it political gerrymandering on their website. They've said it's political gerrymandering. It's really been three Democrats who have said otherwise. I would say four. Representative Aisha Davis, who has said that. Representative Jasmine. Congressional Representative Jasmine Crockett, who has said that. Congressional Representative Al Green, who has said that. And the lady who was sitting on the screen with you, Representative Jalanda Jones, who's not just said it, but brought maps to demonstrate it and who has spoken about the Supreme Court. She's the only one, to be honest, that I've spoken with, that has gone specifically into what the Supreme Court case will look like. So to me, the Democrats aren't even prepared to fight the Supreme Court case, should it get there, because they don't even know that it's racist gerrymandering. Are you all not now fighting with two hands tied behind your back and already on your knees?
- [37:54]
Jalanda Jones
Absolutely.
- [37:54]
Vinton Jones
Well, so this. First and foremost, I think that there have been more people that have been specifically calling these rap, these maps racist, including myself.
- [38:01]
Joy Reid
Who, again, Representative Jones. Dude.
- [38:05]
Vinton Jones
Respectfully, no, ma'. Am. No. I released a press release as early as July 7th that talked about these having a racist nature of these maps.
- [38:15]
Joy Reid
Because what I mean, I mean, it's been African American Democrats who said it, not the others, is what I got you.
- [38:21]
Vinton Jones
And so I think that with that being said, I think that there's been a lot of fights. And I think that at every level of government, black people have to continue to fight for their representation. Because again, I have remembered countless conversations that my black colleagues have had regarding the needs of black communities, the focus on black communities and how important voting rights is to our community, and to make sure that we get this right, because our communities are suffering. We now are about to lose two black seats because of this process. So it is significant that we continue to fight. But again, when we look at what's happening within the black community, there needs to be more representation around our issues. We continue to lose voice and continue to lose representation. And there is a need to stand up and fight. And that is what all of us, in our own ways, have been able to bring to this conversation. I'm very proud of, of my colleague Jalanda Jones and other colleagues that continue these, these needed conversations because this is the only way we're going to be able to crack this nut is making sure that we are coming in and coming hard with what this issue is and calling something racist, if it is racist, and making sure that we continue to stay on that point whether it makes our colleagues uncomfortable or not.
- [39:32]
Joy Reid
Last one, Representative Jones. Last one.
- [39:34]
Jalanda Jones
May I say this really quick, please, Respectfully, as a lawyer. Right. Let me say this. If we would have held out, we wouldn't have this fight. We wouldn't be losing two seats like guaran damp had we held out. So there is nothing to fight. The Democratic Party has already hurt us from a trial perspective. They have. And to this day, we have Anglo colleagues who will not say the maps are racist. If I am the Republican lawyer, the first thing I'm going to do is I'm going to pull every interview that every Democrat did and I'm going to go get a white Democrat or a Democrat. That said it's a power grab, It's a political gerrymandering. It's Donald Trump trying to get five seats. And I'm going to put them on the witness stand and I'm going to say, isn't it true that you did an interview on cnn? And they're going to say, yes. And then I'm going to play the interview on cnn, right? And they're going to say what they're going to say. And I'm going to say, isn't it true that this was a political gerrymandering? And they're going to say, yeah. And if they come back and say, oh, it's racist. He's going to say, if it was racist, then why didn't you say racist then? So now you just trying to lie for this court case. Right. So should I believe you. Were you lying then or where you're lying now? So you literally have killed this case. If we don't go back from a legal perspective, we still, in the 2026 elections, we still have two seats in the Houston area, two seats in the Dallas area. And we're not going through all this right? So people can say we needed to come back. As a lawyer, I was like, we do not need to come back. We need to put this off. And at a minimum until December 8th, which I believe is the last time you can file to run for Congress, which is way shorter than a more than year long protest or boycott with the Montgomery bus boycott. And I want to remind people that today, had we held out today, it would have been two whole weeks, right? So all of this. And let me be clear, it's not the white districts where they took out the economic engines, like Love Field in Dallas and like Intercontinental in Houston, okay? The people that are being punished the most, the seats that are being lost the most, are black seats. And what I don't understand is black people are the most loyal people who vote for Democrats. And I'm asking for all Democrats to stand up for black people because we literally have been thrown under the bus.
- [42:15]
Joy Reid
And.
- [42:15]
Jalanda Jones
And I'm finally going to say this. We got dragged into this particular fight when they made quorum. Not through any fight of my own. And I'm not participating in this. And I damn sure I'm not coming back to Austin to have the police on me. Because as black people, we know the history of this country has been when they couldn't keep us on the plantations, when we got freed, they then created the police to drag us back into indentured servitude. We or sharecropping or whatever. And they've always used the police to control us. So guess what? I'm not a field Negro. I'm not a house Negro. I'm a free Negro. Or else I'm gonna die trying to be free.
- [42:59]
Joy Reid
State Representative Jelana Jones, State Representative Vinton Jones, two of the stalwarts who have fought this fight. We will thank State Representative Aisha Davis, who was also here. We had some WI FI issues, but she was here. And I wanna make sure that she was here and standing to account. Thank you all for fighting the good fight. We appreciate you. And I wish that your colleagues had stood with you. Thank you all very much.
- [43:17]
Brandon Scott
Thank you.
- [43:18]
Jalanda Jones
I appreciate it.
- [43:18]
Vinton Jones
Thank you.
- [43:19]
Joy Reid
All right. Thank you very much. Well, there it is, you all. They went back. I don't know what else to say other than that? All right, let's get back to the occupation of Washington, D.C. i want to play you a CBS report on how that occupation is going.
- [43:35]
CBS Reporter
Hey, Gail. Good morning. Another escalation as the governors of West Virginia, Ohio, and South Carolina say they're sending troops to join the military presence that's already on the ground here. The governor of West Virginia is sending three to 400 troops, he says, to help restore cleanliness and safety to the nation's capital. The governor of South Carolina says he wants to support the president's initiative but will pull his troops back. There's a hurricane or some other form of emergency. For now, the Guard members are not carrying firearms. But a White House spokesperson tells CBS News that could change in the coming days. But as of now, the Guard members are also not making arrests. Over the weekend, protesters march peacefully to the White House, they say, to oppose this Trump takeover.
- [44:23]
Joy Reid
Well, let's see how that's going in real life. They say they want to restore cleanliness, they want to restore order, they want to restore safety. Well, take a look at this clip, which was shared with a Washington Post reporter and with the bulwark over the weekend showing a delivery man getting rousted by masked agents. Watch this and tell me if you think that this looks like restoring safety, cleanliness and order to the nation's capital. Why are you guys here?
- [45:13]
Delivery Man
What agency are you guys with? What agency are you guys with? Can you tell us what agency you're with? I'm press. I'm press. What agency are you with? We just want to know what agency you're with. Are you with the Metropolitan Police Department or are you with the federal government?
- [46:09]
Joy Reid
Back the up. Stay on the sidewalk. You can film all you want, but back the upper.
- [46:46]
Delivery Man
Are you guys with Maryland? Do you have Maryland license plates? Are you with ice?
- [47:02]
Joy Reid
And there they go, driving away. Now. You be the judge. Were those feds? Were they proud boys? Were they Oath keepers? How would you even tell? They were wearing masks, refused to identify themselves, and you couldn't hear it. It was very low on the audio. But one of them said, when one of the bystanders said, you're ruining this country, one of the masked men said, the liberals already ruined it. And that's why the person responded, oh, you're telling on yourself, my guy. So these are right wingers wearing masks attacking a delivery driver. And I want to know where that was. That was not in a high crime part of D.C. it was near a very posh restaurant called Le Diplomatic, Le Diplomat that is why I will note that this occupation of DC Is hurting local businesses because honestly, who wants to go and have brunch at Le Diplomat while masked agents are rousting delivery drivers nearby? So you're already starting to see the results in the local economy because they're in the tourist areas, they're in the high trafficked local areas where people eat lunch and dinner. They're not in the most crime ridden areas of D.C. but they're very visible. And yes, those National Guard troops are going to be armed. Let's go ahead and bring in our guest, Greg Jackson. He is the former Deputy Director of the White House Office on Gun Violence Prevention, which President Joe Biden created in 2023. Greg, thank you so much for being here.
- [48:41]
Greg Jackson
Thank you for having me. Appreciate being here.
- [48:43]
Joy Reid
And I don't know if you were able to see that video, but what that showed me is sort of the standard operating procedure of what really is a MAGA Gestapo. These are masked agents who are roaming around the country in blue cities, throwing delivery drivers, restaurant workers, people who work in kitchens, people who work at Home Depot, anybody brown they want to grab, they're grabbing them and throwing them into unmarked vehicles. Is that a legitimate way to reduce crime in your view, as somebody who worked at that Office of Violence Prevention?
- [49:18]
Greg Jackson
Not at all. I mean, we know very clearly from the 90s that we can't incarcerate our way out of this problem. We've seen that movie before. The way that we reduce violence and violent crime is preventing it before it happens. And under the Biden Harris administration, we focused on investing in community violence intervention and hospital based programs in law enforcement, but on strategic things like crime, gun intelligence to make sure we prevent violence before it happens. We also wrote out really extreme and important regulations to make sure that illegal guns and conversion devices aren't just running rampant in our streets. Things like Glock switches and weapons that we know are really designed to cause harm. And so that two pronged approach of investing in prevention and holding the industry accountable is how we prevent violence from happening before it starts.
- [50:02]
Joy Reid
What is the general result in your study of the issue of putting lots of masked men on the streets, including now at this point, National Guard armed troops who hopefully won't be masked, coming from red states where maybe they don't encounter a lot of black people? West Virginia is one of the states that's supplying them. So when you put a lot of armed people on the street, a lot of people carrying M16s mixed in with federalized local troops mixed in with masked people who I don't even know if they're actual real feds. What do you think will be the result of that in terms of the communities that are being policed?
- [50:40]
Greg Jackson
I mean, no one wants to live in a police state. And I know for me, I live in Anacostia, one of the neighborhoods being targeted. Me and my neighbors were out eating oysters last week, you know, just enjoying a good time. Young parents, all of us having a great time. And meanwhile, you have militarized vehicles going up and down the block and asking us if what we're smoking is legal. And I think that's no way that anybody wants to live. All it's going to do is create more violent interactions, more conflicts, and more incarceration, which we know does not save lives. We know that the cities that are most incarcerated still suffer from the most violence. And if incarceration was the way to go, America would also be the safest country in the world. But we know that's not how we address crime. We do it by investing in people preventing violence interactions and really building trust between community, government and law enforcement. And that can't occur when you're bringing in these. These folks who are, who are thinking force first and service second.
- [51:33]
Joy Reid
And by the way, you know, and I don't mean this to sound facetious, when you were working in the Office of Gun Violence Prevention, how many dishwashers, delivery truck drivers, and people who sell fruit on the side of the road were you dealing with in terms of the violence problem?
- [51:47]
Greg Jackson
Oh, minimum. I mean, we know that, you know, violence right now is being driven by two things. It's unfortunately, you know, older white men that are taking their own lives by suicide in red states. And it's interpersonal violence between younger folks and teens in our inner cities. And we know very clearly who's most at risk and who's most likely to cause harm. And it's those folks who are closest to that moment of crisis and have easy access to a firearm. We know that door JS drivers on scooters are not the folks who are carrying firearms every day or causing any spikes in any type of violent crime in our country. And so, you know, I just think we have to be clear. Their strategy is not about preventing violence. If it was, you know, they wouldn't have done some of these really outrageous things. They shut down the Office of Gun Violence Prevention. They defunded the ATF. They cut $800 million in grants from the Department of Justice to go to community and law enforcement. They shut down The CDC Firearm and Injury Prevention Center. I mean, right now they're actually pushing concealed carry. They're saying, we want to arm more people. And on top of that, his son, Donald Trump Jr. Is on the board of this organization called Grab a Gun, where they're promoting that you can shoot now and pay later. This is about not. This is not about making our community safer. This is about them taking control, redefining what our neighborhoods and cities look like, and then profiting off of the fear that we know will stoke more firearm sales.
- [53:11]
Joy Reid
Right. I mean, when I think about arming a lot more, to be blunt, white men, who, as you point out, statistically are more likely to be mass shooters, they don't want to do anything about guns and easy access to firearms. But the AR15 is the most used mass shooter weapon, and white males are the most likely mass shooters. They don't want to deal with that. They just want to put more guns into more of their hands. But also just blatant harassment of anybody black and anybody brown. If you're sitting on a stoop drinking an open container of beer, if you are a delivery man getting accosted, and now increasingly also by civilians, this sounds like a recipe for trying to create almost like a race war condition where they want to see more violence, not less.
- [53:56]
Greg Jackson
I mean, it's incredible. And what's most frustrating about this time is that we already know what works. Like the things I laid out before has equaled a 31% reduction in homicides across the country. We've seen mass shootings go down by 20% in the last year alone. And this year, gun violence as a whole is down 20%. So we know that when you invest in community, when you invest in at risk youth, when you build out programs, and when you, when you hold the gun industry accountable, we can save lives. But to abandon a strategy that has done tremendous things to reduce violence in almost every major city in the country and to replace it with outside military forces is very clear. It's not about, you know, solving the crime. It's really about taking control and deciding who belongs in what cities and what states and unfortunately, who belongs in this country.
- [54:46]
Joy Reid
Yeah, I can tell you, when I was coming up in Denver, Colorado, we had a, a free swimming pool to go to where you, you know, pay $2 to if you wanted to rent a locker. We had tennis courts in the neighborhood. We had free breakfast and free lunch all summer long. You just went to McGlowen Elementary School and you could eat. We were kept busy and on board. All summer long. And you know what? That also was a crime reduction strategy because, you know, bored kids get into trouble. We weren't getting into trouble because we had something to do, something to eat, and we knew somebody in the neighborhood cared. If they cared about violence and crime, they do that, but they're not doing that. They're doing the opposite. Gregory Jackson, thank you so much. We appreciate your time.
- [55:25]
Greg Jackson
Thank you for having me.
- [55:26]
Joy Reid
Appreciate it. Thank you very much. Well, that's it. Thank you all. You saw it for yourself. You see what they're doing. You see what the purpose is. You know, it's not about reducing crime. It's about actually increasing violence and violent interactions because they want for tv, they want filmed violent interactions of white men, masked, attacking brown and black people. They know that entertains the mega base. They know the MAGA base enjoys those visuals. And they also are increasing violence by increasing the number of guns that are in the community in the hands of the people they prefer. They're not exactly favorable toward people who are black and brown having guns, but they definitely want guns in the hands of their favored communities. And what you're also seeing is that the things that work, things that like Mayor Brandon Scott is doing in Baltimore, they're not even interested in it, even though their own FBI agents and DEA agents and others are participating in that work. But they're pulling them off those details. Hear that again. You heard the mayor say it. They're pulling people off of the details in which they are working with the mayor to reduce gun violence and it's succeeding. But they're saying, nah, come off of there and go walk around DC with your firearm so that you can intimidate black and brown people and you can make brown dishwashers who have the. Who've done the crime of being Latino feel scared so that they can do mass deportation and put people in private prisons where then that private prison makes money incarcerating them. It's a business. It is not a policy, and it is definitely not about crime. Because if it were about crime, our felon in chief would actually do things that work. And again, he'd release the Epstein files. Thank you all for tuning in to the Joy Reid show today. Be sure to hit like and subscribe because we want to make sure that we know that you like what we're doing and we'll try to give you more of it. Thanks to all of our Team TJRS members. We appreciate your subscriptions and your support. Be sure to also subscribe to joyandread.com, which is Joy's house where you can get much more information about the things we're doing today. Thank you to our sponsors. Thank you all for tuning in and we will see you next time on the Joy Reid Show. And by the way, I will note that we will never change our name to Where I get News World now or something like that or put a weird American flag on our logo so you can be sure that we will stay consistent and remain the Joy Reach show. No shade at all. Thank you all for tuning in. See you next time. Bye bye. Thank you all for tuning in. Be sure to like and subscribe Share this this channel make sure that everybody subscribes to the YouTube channel. 70% of people are lurking watching these shows and not subscribing. Why would you do that? So make sure that you like subscribe and throw some comments. And thank you all for joining the Joy Reach. I'll see you on the next one and goodbye for now.