WEBVTT - Katie’s One-on-One with Rep. Jasmine Crockett 0:00:03.000 --> 0:00:06.800 Who will become the Democratic nominee for president will be 0:00:06.960 --> 0:00:10.319 someone that has been out there and has shown that 0:00:10.400 --> 0:00:13.920 they won't allow themselves to be punched in the face 0:00:14.040 --> 0:00:15.080 and just say thank you. 0:00:15.880 --> 0:00:18.040 They will punch back. I think that that's what's going 0:00:18.120 --> 0:00:19.680 to happen. Hi. 0:00:19.720 --> 0:00:27.400 Everyone, I'm Kitty Kuric and this is next question. Texas 0:00:27.440 --> 0:00:31.200 Representative Jasmine Crockett has only been in Congress since twenty 0:00:31.280 --> 0:00:34.200 twenty three, but she's quickly become one of the most 0:00:34.240 --> 0:00:38.160 talked about Democrats in the country. She got into politics 0:00:38.240 --> 0:00:42.320 to help change an unfair criminal justice system she witnessed 0:00:42.440 --> 0:00:46.320 as a public defender. Now she's using her growing national 0:00:46.360 --> 0:00:51.479 platform to challenge the status quo and at times punch back, 0:00:51.920 --> 0:00:55.720 as we saw during her now famous encounter with Marjorie 0:00:55.720 --> 0:01:00.360 Taylor Green. But as you'll hear, her backstory is just 0:01:00.440 --> 0:01:06.520 as fascinating as her current one. Congresswoman, thank you so 0:01:06.600 --> 0:01:07.520 much for being here. 0:01:07.959 --> 0:01:09.360 Absolutely, it's my pleasure. 0:01:09.800 --> 0:01:12.360 We have so much to talk about, so much going 0:01:12.440 --> 0:01:16.199 on in this crazy world of ours, but I wanted 0:01:16.200 --> 0:01:18.199 to start by talking about your background. 0:01:18.640 --> 0:01:20.120 Yeah. May I call you Jasmine? 0:01:20.200 --> 0:01:25.120 Yes, absolutely, because I really enjoyed reading about you. I'm 0:01:25.160 --> 0:01:29.240 always interested in what has shaped people and how they 0:01:29.240 --> 0:01:32.480 have become the person they are. And I know you 0:01:32.520 --> 0:01:34.520 grew up in Saint Louis and your dad was a 0:01:34.560 --> 0:01:37.919 Baptist preacher. Tell us a little bit about your early 0:01:38.000 --> 0:01:40.080 years and your childhood. 0:01:40.560 --> 0:01:43.880 Yeah, so growing up in Saint Louis, it was a 0:01:43.920 --> 0:01:47.000 pretty simple life. I mean, you know, definitely compared to 0:01:47.040 --> 0:01:49.559 being in New York right now, right Like, there wasn't 0:01:49.560 --> 0:01:53.120 this crazy hustle and bustle. But I had two college 0:01:53.240 --> 0:01:58.360 educated parents. My mom actually is near genius as far 0:01:58.400 --> 0:02:02.160 as I'm concerned. She graduated high school at the age 0:02:02.160 --> 0:02:06.120 of sixteen, skipping ahead and became the salutatorian of the 0:02:06.120 --> 0:02:08.920 class she skipped into. And then she got a full 0:02:09.000 --> 0:02:12.239 ride to go to WashU and was done with undergrad 0:02:12.240 --> 0:02:15.480 at the age of nineteen. The reason that I say 0:02:15.520 --> 0:02:18.560 all that is that my parents were really big into education, 0:02:19.560 --> 0:02:22.080 and so I remember I was going to public school, 0:02:22.880 --> 0:02:25.200 great public school in my opinion, I mean, it laid 0:02:25.200 --> 0:02:27.400 the foundation for me to be where I am now. 0:02:27.880 --> 0:02:30.799 But my grades were too good and so my mom 0:02:30.960 --> 0:02:34.120 was like, it's not it's not Jane enough, right, And 0:02:34.160 --> 0:02:35.079 I was like, what is this? 0:02:35.240 --> 0:02:37.280 You know why are you guys not proud of me? Right? 0:02:37.360 --> 0:02:40.120 Like any other parent is happy because you're top of 0:02:40.160 --> 0:02:42.320 the class. And for them, it was like, no, it's 0:02:42.360 --> 0:02:45.160 just not enough. And so they ended up putting me 0:02:45.200 --> 0:02:46.000 in private school. 0:02:46.120 --> 0:02:47.160 So I ended school. 0:02:47.320 --> 0:02:49.799 I ended up going to Catholic school. It was interesting 0:02:49.840 --> 0:02:54.440 because I was just here for the Lion of Lenox 0:02:54.480 --> 0:02:57.600 Avenue's funeral and we were. 0:02:57.560 --> 0:02:59.600 At a Catholic. 0:03:00.680 --> 0:03:03.440 And I was like, oh goodness, it's back to being 0:03:03.639 --> 0:03:07.320 like that Catholic school girl because there was lots of 0:03:07.360 --> 0:03:11.840 kneeling and standing and all the things. But anyway, so yeah, 0:03:11.840 --> 0:03:14.919 so they put me in a Catholic middle school, and 0:03:14.960 --> 0:03:17.760 then my parents decided that it would be great if 0:03:17.800 --> 0:03:21.520 I went to a Catholic all girl high school. And 0:03:22.040 --> 0:03:24.000 I was at that age where like, you just don't 0:03:24.040 --> 0:03:27.519 want me to have a life, and so I ended 0:03:27.600 --> 0:03:31.400 up at Rosetti. Kane went there for a little bit, 0:03:31.440 --> 0:03:34.560 but then my parents divorced. So they divorced right before 0:03:34.560 --> 0:03:36.920 I turned sixteen, so it was about fifteen years old. 0:03:37.600 --> 0:03:41.720 And it was that hard for you. It wasn't at 0:03:41.720 --> 0:03:42.320 the time. 0:03:42.520 --> 0:03:44.760 At the time of the divorce, it was a bit 0:03:44.800 --> 0:03:47.960 of a relief because my parents just weren't getting along. 0:03:48.040 --> 0:03:53.640 It wasn't anything too extraordinary, but growing up where they 0:03:53.680 --> 0:03:56.800 seemingly had always loved each other and then kind of 0:03:56.800 --> 0:03:59.760 getting into this kind of cold space. I just wanted 0:03:59.760 --> 0:04:02.720 them to be happy, and I think because I was 0:04:03.160 --> 0:04:06.680 almost sixteen, it was like, all right, whatever, I'm almost 0:04:06.680 --> 0:04:10.600 out the house myself, you know. So they divorced, and 0:04:10.920 --> 0:04:14.120 the concern was that my mom was not going to 0:04:14.200 --> 0:04:17.280 necessarily they weren't going to necessarily be able to. 0:04:17.240 --> 0:04:19.880 Afford for me to go to my school anymore. 0:04:20.640 --> 0:04:23.080 And so at that point in time, my mom actually 0:04:23.080 --> 0:04:25.240 applied me to a school they cost a lot more money, 0:04:25.400 --> 0:04:29.039 because that's what makes sense. But she applied me to 0:04:29.080 --> 0:04:31.760 a country day school and they gave me a scholarship. 0:04:32.320 --> 0:04:34.599 And so while you know that school costs a lot 0:04:34.600 --> 0:04:38.400 of money, I was on a scholarship able to attend 0:04:38.440 --> 0:04:42.279 school there. And so, despite what some may think, I 0:04:42.320 --> 0:04:46.200 was a private school kid really from junior high through college, 0:04:46.320 --> 0:04:49.000 because even when I was to Rhodes, it was another 0:04:49.040 --> 0:04:50.000 private institution. 0:04:50.600 --> 0:04:53.400 That's where you went to college in Memphis and Memphis. Yeah, 0:04:53.440 --> 0:04:56.360 and throughout your childhood, you were super close to your grandmother, 0:04:56.400 --> 0:04:59.040 who you called, oh my Annie, yes, and that sounds 0:04:59.080 --> 0:05:01.640 like it was an incredible formative relationship. 0:05:01.839 --> 0:05:04.560 Oh man, I miss her every day. 0:05:05.680 --> 0:05:09.600 She truly was my biggest fan, and I don't think 0:05:09.600 --> 0:05:13.479 there ever will be anyone that will fangirl out over 0:05:13.600 --> 0:05:14.440 me as much. 0:05:14.600 --> 0:05:17.280 And that was way before any viral moment. 0:05:18.200 --> 0:05:21.880 My grandmother kept me from six weeks of age. My 0:05:21.960 --> 0:05:24.960 mom went back to work after I was about six 0:05:25.000 --> 0:05:28.600 weeks old, and my grandmother kept myself and all my cousins. 0:05:29.000 --> 0:05:30.920 So even though I was an only child, I grew 0:05:31.000 --> 0:05:36.040 up with my cousins. And my grandparents were originally from Arkansas, 0:05:36.120 --> 0:05:38.600 so even though I was in Saint Louis, I had 0:05:38.640 --> 0:05:42.800 a pretty country upbringing. When I would get to my 0:05:42.880 --> 0:05:48.039 granny's house, my poppa he worked for Pepsi Cola really 0:05:48.120 --> 0:05:50.720 his entire career. This was back when people would get 0:05:50.760 --> 0:05:54.440 a job and they would stay with it, and by 0:05:54.480 --> 0:05:57.200 the time he retired, they were shutting down the plant 0:05:57.200 --> 0:06:00.200 that he worked at, and it wasn't that far from 0:06:00.320 --> 0:06:04.920 their house. And my bike used to stay at my grandparents' 0:06:04.920 --> 0:06:07.840 house because my Papa would ride bikes with me, and 0:06:07.920 --> 0:06:11.040 so we would ride down to where the plant used 0:06:11.040 --> 0:06:13.240 to be located, and they allowed him. 0:06:13.279 --> 0:06:15.599 They still owned the land, so they allowed him to 0:06:15.680 --> 0:06:16.560 do some farming. 0:06:17.160 --> 0:06:19.559 So I guess this was probably the first urban farm 0:06:19.640 --> 0:06:23.359 that I became familiar with. And so my grandmother was 0:06:23.400 --> 0:06:26.119 a cook, and she had been like a cleaning lady 0:06:26.120 --> 0:06:29.279 as well. She used to cook and clean when I 0:06:29.360 --> 0:06:32.840 was super small for some very wealthy families in Saint Louis. 0:06:33.680 --> 0:06:36.839 But my papa would like grow all kinds of food 0:06:37.000 --> 0:06:39.680 and then bring it in and my granny would cook it. 0:06:39.760 --> 0:06:42.440 So here it is, we're like they were inner cities 0:06:42.440 --> 0:06:44.960 Saint Louis, but it was a little bit of their 0:06:45.080 --> 0:06:48.480 Arkansas roots. And my papa every once in a while 0:06:48.560 --> 0:06:51.599 would load us up in his van and take us fishing. 0:06:52.360 --> 0:06:54.640 So for me, like a real man has to know 0:06:54.680 --> 0:06:58.719 how to fish, because that's what you know, my papa 0:06:59.720 --> 0:07:01.440 did with me as a little girl. 0:07:01.640 --> 0:07:03.800 Sounds like they both had a huge influence on you. 0:07:03.920 --> 0:07:05.600 Oh yeah, both of your grandparents. 0:07:05.680 --> 0:07:10.200 Yeah, they were truly my biggest fans. And I remember 0:07:11.440 --> 0:07:15.760 when my grandmother died. My grandfather had actually been in 0:07:15.840 --> 0:07:18.640 the hospital and one of my cousins called me at 0:07:18.680 --> 0:07:21.120 six am. And anybody that knows anything about me, they 0:07:21.160 --> 0:07:24.040 know that I'm not a morning person. So if you're 0:07:24.080 --> 0:07:27.680 calling me at an extraordinary hour, there's something that's going on. 0:07:28.360 --> 0:07:31.480 And so I was concerned that something had happened to 0:07:31.520 --> 0:07:34.720 my grandfather because he was in the hospital. And I 0:07:34.760 --> 0:07:37.320 remember I was actually trying to lose weight at the time, 0:07:37.360 --> 0:07:39.480 you know how we go through those phases, And so 0:07:39.560 --> 0:07:43.840 I was actually up walking a trail, Katie trail in Dallas, 0:07:44.280 --> 0:07:46.600 and my cousin called and so I said, what happened 0:07:46.640 --> 0:07:50.640 to Papa? And she said, Noah's granny And I said, 0:07:50.920 --> 0:07:55.240 what about her? And the day that my grandfather was 0:07:55.280 --> 0:07:58.520 being discharged, they could not get a hold of my grandmother, 0:07:59.320 --> 0:08:02.600 and it was because she actually just randomly passed away. 0:08:02.720 --> 0:08:05.200 So I was pretty devastated. 0:08:05.360 --> 0:08:09.520 And at that time I had been practicing law for 0:08:09.560 --> 0:08:12.679 some time, but my grandma was like she had been saying, 0:08:13.160 --> 0:08:15.160 I want to come see you in court, you know, 0:08:15.640 --> 0:08:19.800 And so we had made plans for the summer because 0:08:20.480 --> 0:08:24.040 normally during the summertime is when we would really try 0:08:24.120 --> 0:08:25.080 a lot of cases. 0:08:25.760 --> 0:08:29.040 And so she ended up dying in that spring before 0:08:29.560 --> 0:08:30.520 she could come. 0:08:30.560 --> 0:08:33.360 And I remember being at the funeral and so many 0:08:33.360 --> 0:08:35.680 people saying all she could talk about was she couldn't 0:08:35.679 --> 0:08:38.160 wait to see her She's called me Jazzy bou couldn't 0:08:38.200 --> 0:08:41.240 wait to see her Jazzy Boo in court. So again, 0:08:41.960 --> 0:08:45.560 an original fan who truly felt like I could do 0:08:45.640 --> 0:08:49.880 no wrong. And I can only imagine what she think 0:08:49.920 --> 0:08:53.040 of me now. I'm sure she'd be very proud. And 0:08:53.080 --> 0:08:55.679 it sounds like you were so lucky to have such 0:08:56.480 --> 0:09:00.720 loving grandparents and parents, because honestly, it make all the 0:09:00.760 --> 0:09:05.760 difference in terms of giving you this strong foundation confidence, 0:09:06.559 --> 0:09:10.480 kind of feeling comfortable in your own skin. I feel 0:09:10.880 --> 0:09:14.760 so bad when I meet people who weren't lucky enough 0:09:15.200 --> 0:09:18.520 to have that kind of love growing up. You know, 0:09:18.600 --> 0:09:21.240 you talk about your law career, Jasmine, but you came 0:09:21.960 --> 0:09:26.240 to law kind of I guess in a circumlocucious route. 0:09:26.320 --> 0:09:29.360 I like that word, and it's because you found it 0:09:29.440 --> 0:09:32.560 a little bit later, because initially, I know, when you 0:09:32.640 --> 0:09:36.120 went to Rose College you were interested first in being 0:09:36.120 --> 0:09:41.080 an anesthesiologist, which made me laugh, not because there's anything 0:09:41.120 --> 0:09:44.520 funny about being an anesthesiologist, but your reason was you 0:09:44.520 --> 0:09:46.920 didn't want to talk to people. And I thought, wait 0:09:46.920 --> 0:09:49.600 a second, Jasmine Crockett doesn't want to talk to people. 0:09:50.120 --> 0:09:52.240 That sounded so out of character to me. 0:09:52.559 --> 0:09:55.040 Yeah, No, did not want to talk to people. I 0:09:55.040 --> 0:09:56.880 thought it would be great just put people to sleep 0:09:56.920 --> 0:09:59.560 and I have to talk to them. So that was 0:09:59.600 --> 0:10:03.400 really for it. I mean, math and science nerd. I 0:10:03.440 --> 0:10:06.160 mean that's why, you know, when it comes down to it, 0:10:06.200 --> 0:10:09.000 when I'm in committee hearings, I always want to have 0:10:09.080 --> 0:10:12.520 my data in my facts because that's just how my 0:10:12.600 --> 0:10:16.240 brain works, right. But I did not want to talk 0:10:16.320 --> 0:10:20.560 to people, and now I can't stop. I would like 0:10:20.679 --> 0:10:25.080 to to a certain extent. We get asked to kind 0:10:25.080 --> 0:10:28.760 of do speaking engagements a lot, and I'm like, I'm 0:10:28.840 --> 0:10:31.440 really okay, like I don't have to guys. 0:10:32.000 --> 0:10:35.760 But but were you shy or introverted at some point? No, no, 0:10:36.040 --> 0:10:36.880 just not interested. 0:10:37.040 --> 0:10:38.040 No, yeah no. 0:10:38.160 --> 0:10:41.320 I was like, I've got my friends, I'm fine, and 0:10:41.800 --> 0:10:43.640 you know, I just want to do the work and 0:10:43.679 --> 0:10:44.160 go home. 0:10:44.880 --> 0:10:45.320 That was. 0:10:46.920 --> 0:10:49.760 My attitude about it. So I think it is kind 0:10:49.800 --> 0:10:53.360 of odd that I am in this type of profession. 0:10:53.400 --> 0:10:57.240 And even when I was practicing law, I actually really 0:10:57.280 --> 0:10:58.000 really loved it. 0:10:58.040 --> 0:11:01.200 And I mean I would, you know, talk to clients 0:11:01.280 --> 0:11:01.840 one on one. 0:11:02.640 --> 0:11:06.080 Fine, But I actually really love jury trial, which is 0:11:06.120 --> 0:11:08.240 really weird because I'm walking in and it's a bunch 0:11:08.240 --> 0:11:12.360 of strangers, and we've got to somehow get them down 0:11:12.440 --> 0:11:15.160 to who actually is going to be on the jury. 0:11:15.320 --> 0:11:19.040 And then convincing a bunch of strangers to like believe 0:11:19.080 --> 0:11:22.360 me and take my side. I like the challenge of it. 0:11:22.960 --> 0:11:26.480 But again, it was as I was speaking. I was speaking, 0:11:26.520 --> 0:11:28.760 and I was just kind of giving them facts and 0:11:28.840 --> 0:11:32.600 kind of walking them through a story versus kind of 0:11:32.679 --> 0:11:35.800 what I do a lot of now, which is just 0:11:35.920 --> 0:11:40.200 kind of pumping people up. But I think, honestly, the 0:11:40.240 --> 0:11:42.400 reason that I get requested to speak a lot is 0:11:42.440 --> 0:11:46.040 because I do actually stick to as many facts as possible. 0:11:46.520 --> 0:11:48.920 But you also, I think speak your mind, which we'll 0:11:48.920 --> 0:11:51.800 talk about in a moment, because I want to talk 0:11:51.840 --> 0:11:54.720 about how you became a lawyer, and it was very 0:11:55.480 --> 0:11:58.720 difficult circumstances that kind of opened your eyes. You're at 0:11:58.800 --> 0:12:03.080 Rose College and mem this soon and you are really 0:12:03.160 --> 0:12:06.840 the victim of I guess you would even call it 0:12:06.880 --> 0:12:10.040 hate crimes. Tell us what happened at Rhodes and then 0:12:10.400 --> 0:12:13.600 how that led you to a path of wanting to 0:12:13.640 --> 0:12:14.920 pursue being a lawyer. 0:12:15.240 --> 0:12:18.280 Yeah, so you know again, I mean grew up in 0:12:18.280 --> 0:12:21.360 Saint Louis, Saint Louis is a pretty segregated place, to 0:12:21.440 --> 0:12:25.920 be perfectly honest, and you know, going to the private schools, 0:12:26.520 --> 0:12:28.920 it was nothing for me to be potentially the only 0:12:28.960 --> 0:12:31.720 black person in my class, right like in a specific class, 0:12:32.520 --> 0:12:37.840 so definitely was not necessarily in a super black environment. 0:12:37.880 --> 0:12:41.360 When I went to Rhodes, there were eighteen black students 0:12:41.440 --> 0:12:44.720 in my freshman class, that is, that's it. And by 0:12:44.760 --> 0:12:48.040 the time I graduated, we were down to ten, and 0:12:48.080 --> 0:12:50.880 we were actually one of the larger classes. The senior 0:12:50.920 --> 0:12:53.920 class at that time had three or four African Americans. 0:12:54.480 --> 0:12:57.760 But I didn't feel a certain way because I had 0:12:57.800 --> 0:13:01.559 gone to these private schools where the numbers were few anyway, 0:13:02.600 --> 0:13:06.280 But it's interesting that I never felt racism until I 0:13:06.320 --> 0:13:10.800 got to a very black city, Memphis and on campus 0:13:10.880 --> 0:13:13.800 in my little bubble. And it's interesting because it's in 0:13:13.840 --> 0:13:17.880 North Memphis, which is very black, and they decided to 0:13:17.920 --> 0:13:21.000 target myself as well as a number of other black students. 0:13:21.520 --> 0:13:23.320 If you had a car, it was keyed with the 0:13:23.400 --> 0:13:23.800 N word. 0:13:24.760 --> 0:13:26.280 And in our on. 0:13:26.320 --> 0:13:30.280 Campus mailboxes they put these Jack the Rippers type style 0:13:30.520 --> 0:13:33.760 type letters, right so where they would cut letters from 0:13:33.880 --> 0:13:36.840 magazines and that kind of stuff. And they were making 0:13:36.920 --> 0:13:39.160 up sentences and none of it said that I was 0:13:39.160 --> 0:13:41.480 a child of God. I can tell you that, just 0:13:41.679 --> 0:13:46.719 really ugly stuff. But I felt very vulnerable because you're 0:13:46.880 --> 0:13:50.920 on campus mailbox. It's not something that is publicly known. 0:13:51.679 --> 0:13:54.440 So this meant it was someone who absolutely knew me, 0:13:54.760 --> 0:13:59.040 knew my friends. And then again, who would know who 0:13:59.120 --> 0:13:59.839 drives what car? 0:14:00.400 --> 0:14:04.080 What ear was this? Jasmine? I was in my junior 0:14:05.480 --> 0:14:06.439 but what year night? 0:14:06.600 --> 0:14:10.400 It was twenty oh I graduated three, so this was 0:14:10.880 --> 0:14:15.120 one ish maybe a one o twoish. So it was 0:14:15.240 --> 0:14:19.200 just the first time that I felt racism. I'd heard 0:14:19.240 --> 0:14:23.640 about racism, but I didn't really understand it because I 0:14:23.720 --> 0:14:28.000 was always in environments in which I would be one 0:14:28.040 --> 0:14:31.480 of a few. But I mean it didn't matter, like 0:14:31.560 --> 0:14:36.280 my friends were my friends, and you know, whatever sounds terrifying, 0:14:36.440 --> 0:14:39.440 it was. It was awful. It was truly awful. 0:14:39.560 --> 0:14:43.200 And Johnny Cochrane, who I knew very well, really yes, 0:14:43.400 --> 0:14:49.880 because I covered the OJ trial and also Reginald Denny. Anyway, 0:14:50.000 --> 0:14:54.760 Johnny and I became very close friends, and his law 0:14:54.800 --> 0:14:58.920 firm came to represent you, all right, and that's when 0:14:58.920 --> 0:15:01.640 you met someone. I'm wondering if I know the person 0:15:01.680 --> 0:15:03.360 you met from Johnny's law firm. 0:15:03.480 --> 0:15:06.160 And it's crazy because I've told this story a million 0:15:06.160 --> 0:15:09.280 times and I do not remember the lawyer's name, even 0:15:09.360 --> 0:15:10.800 though she was so influential. 0:15:10.880 --> 0:15:12.480 I hope one day she reaches out. 0:15:12.640 --> 0:15:14.800 Well, you know what, I can probably find that out. 0:15:14.840 --> 0:15:19.040 I know Dale Cochran, Johnny's wife, and I'll ask her 0:15:19.080 --> 0:15:21.120 for you. Yeah, yes, I think I know who it 0:15:21.200 --> 0:15:24.880 is too. But anyway, one of Johnny's associates or lawyers, 0:15:25.440 --> 0:15:27.800 maybe she was a partner at that time, came to 0:15:27.880 --> 0:15:30.960 Memphis and helped you all. 0:15:31.040 --> 0:15:31.800 I think she was. 0:15:32.280 --> 0:15:34.840 So they had a Memphis office at the time, so 0:15:34.840 --> 0:15:37.360 I think she was out of the Memphis office. But 0:15:37.760 --> 0:15:39.200 they had a team of them, and I don't know 0:15:39.240 --> 0:15:43.280 who all was assigned to who, but the attorney assigned 0:15:43.320 --> 0:15:44.720 to me, And I can. 0:15:44.640 --> 0:15:45.800 See her good enough. 0:15:45.840 --> 0:15:52.280 She was tall, bright skinned black woman and she wasn't 0:15:52.680 --> 0:15:57.320 too old at the time, and she was assigned to me. 0:15:57.600 --> 0:16:00.600 And they were trying to do the investigation. And this 0:16:00.720 --> 0:16:02.360 was a part of the school saying, hey, we're going 0:16:02.400 --> 0:16:05.600 to bring in somebody independently to try to figure out, 0:16:05.760 --> 0:16:06.800 you know, what happened. 0:16:06.960 --> 0:16:09.040 And they never figured out what happened. 0:16:09.200 --> 0:16:11.240 I was going to say, they never found out who 0:16:11.280 --> 0:16:12.680 did this. They never found out. 0:16:14.200 --> 0:16:17.160 And it's funny because I'm thinking, I feel like she 0:16:17.240 --> 0:16:19.440 had like a Nicole or a Michelle, like a. 0:16:19.960 --> 0:16:20.480 Name like that. 0:16:20.640 --> 0:16:23.920 But anyway, she graduated from University of Houston School of Law, 0:16:24.800 --> 0:16:32.480 and you know, being with people in this moment, I thought, Man, 0:16:32.520 --> 0:16:34.800 this is the work that I need to be doing, 0:16:35.360 --> 0:16:39.520 is to be that person that can be helpful even 0:16:39.640 --> 0:16:42.440 if you're not solving it, just knowing that you're not 0:16:42.520 --> 0:16:45.240 alone and that there's somebody that you can turn to. 0:16:46.240 --> 0:16:47.920 So I tell people all the time that God has 0:16:47.920 --> 0:16:51.840 to yell at me to move me. And so you know, 0:16:51.920 --> 0:16:55.120 I ended up having this incident and meeting that attorney. 0:16:55.600 --> 0:17:01.120 In addition to I have been recruited to do mock 0:17:01.200 --> 0:17:06.880 trial after doing a play a musical on campus, and 0:17:07.400 --> 0:17:10.480 so my mockschow coach was like, hey, you really should 0:17:10.480 --> 0:17:13.040 consider a law school. I become an All American and 0:17:13.119 --> 0:17:16.280 mock trial as well the one year that I did it, 0:17:16.520 --> 0:17:19.280 and so you know, it was just a culmination. Everything 0:17:19.359 --> 0:17:21.680 was pointing that way. And then when I applied to 0:17:21.760 --> 0:17:23.600 law school, I got a full ride to go to 0:17:23.640 --> 0:17:24.800 Texas Southern and so. 0:17:25.480 --> 0:17:27.120 And then you're transferred, right, and then I. 0:17:27.080 --> 0:17:29.960 Transferred yep, and so I was like, all right, this 0:17:30.080 --> 0:17:33.240 is clearly what God wants me to do, because everything 0:17:33.400 --> 0:17:34.720 was leading me down that path. 0:17:41.600 --> 0:17:44.520 Hi everyone, it's Katie Couric. You know I'm always on 0:17:44.560 --> 0:17:48.560 the go between running my media company, hosting my podcast, 0:17:48.920 --> 0:17:51.639 and of course covering the news. And I know that 0:17:51.760 --> 0:17:54.280 to keep doing what I love, I need to start 0:17:54.320 --> 0:17:58.160 caring for what gets me there, my feet. That's why 0:17:58.240 --> 0:18:01.800 I decided to try the Good Feet stores personalized arch 0:18:01.880 --> 0:18:05.040 support system. I met with a Good Feet arch support 0:18:05.119 --> 0:18:09.000 specialist and after a personalized fitting, I left the store 0:18:09.040 --> 0:18:12.920 with my three step system designed to improve comfort, balance 0:18:13.040 --> 0:18:17.400 and support. My feet. Means and back are thanking me already. 0:18:17.960 --> 0:18:21.479 Visit goodfeet dot com to learn more, find the nearest store, 0:18:21.960 --> 0:18:34.720 or book your own free personalized fitting. When you became 0:18:34.760 --> 0:18:39.080 a public defender, Jasmine, I know that really opened your 0:18:39.080 --> 0:18:43.280 eyes about the criminal justice system and how it treats 0:18:43.359 --> 0:18:47.320 some people versus others. And you worked you represented such 0:18:47.359 --> 0:18:50.800 a cross section of people. What impact did that have 0:18:50.920 --> 0:18:51.280 on you? 0:18:52.960 --> 0:18:57.320 It truly led me down the political path being a 0:18:57.320 --> 0:18:58.280 public defender. 0:18:58.920 --> 0:19:01.960 You know there's one case that I always looked. 0:19:02.040 --> 0:19:04.399 There's a number of cases, but there was one case 0:19:04.440 --> 0:19:07.280 that in my mind, was the catalyst for me deciding 0:19:07.320 --> 0:19:11.400 to get into politics. And I represented a seventeen year 0:19:11.400 --> 0:19:15.320 old kid who had stolen candy out of the concession 0:19:15.359 --> 0:19:19.920 stand at his high school. And in Texas, it can 0:19:20.000 --> 0:19:24.000 technically be a felony, and it just depends on who's 0:19:24.040 --> 0:19:26.679 prosecuting the case. The prosecutor at the time decided to 0:19:27.359 --> 0:19:30.280 prosecute this kid, who was stolen less than twenty dollars 0:19:30.359 --> 0:19:33.280 worth of candy for a state jail felony where he 0:19:33.320 --> 0:19:36.600 was facing up to two years in prison, and I 0:19:36.760 --> 0:19:40.240 just was like, this isn't right. I mean, like my 0:19:40.359 --> 0:19:43.879 mind was like, this doesn't make sense. But I didn't 0:19:43.920 --> 0:19:49.119 represent the kid initially, he had a different attorney, and 0:19:49.160 --> 0:19:52.400 then he ended up with a probation violation and that's 0:19:52.440 --> 0:19:54.520 when I ended up being assigned to him. And I 0:19:54.560 --> 0:19:57.240 was so frustrated because it was the type of case 0:19:57.240 --> 0:19:59.000 that I felt like, should just go to a jury trial, 0:19:59.040 --> 0:20:01.680 because no jury, I think that a seventeen year old 0:20:01.720 --> 0:20:04.800 kid should go to prison. But he ended up on 0:20:05.119 --> 0:20:10.080 a probation violation because his mom was struggling and working 0:20:10.119 --> 0:20:12.040 and wasn't able to go to school and pick him 0:20:12.119 --> 0:20:14.679 up and take him to go see his po in 0:20:14.680 --> 0:20:18.280 the middle of the day. And so we had technical violations. 0:20:18.359 --> 0:20:21.800 He didn't commit any new crimes, he didn't have dirty ways, 0:20:22.240 --> 0:20:26.439 he had technical violations for not showing up to his 0:20:26.920 --> 0:20:31.359 probation officer. In the judge gave maximum sentence, and I 0:20:31.520 --> 0:20:36.040 just was like, this just cannot be right. And it's 0:20:36.080 --> 0:20:39.200 funny because I've told that story a number of times 0:20:39.240 --> 0:20:43.159 and I'm sure the MAGA world would think that this 0:20:43.320 --> 0:20:46.239 was a black kid, but this wasn't. This was a 0:20:46.320 --> 0:20:52.200 young white male. And for me, justice has truly always 0:20:52.280 --> 0:20:57.000 been a blind thing. I ultimately got into politics because 0:20:57.000 --> 0:21:01.120 of an injustice that was served upon someone who literally 0:21:01.920 --> 0:21:04.560 was more so service in justice because he was poor. 0:21:05.359 --> 0:21:06.960 And I think that. 0:21:07.520 --> 0:21:12.720 When I reflect on the various injustices that I've experienced 0:21:12.880 --> 0:21:20.080 or seen firsthand, it's really been more socio economic than anything. Obviously, 0:21:20.320 --> 0:21:23.639 our criminal justice system definitely has issues when it comes 0:21:23.680 --> 0:21:24.960 to color as well. 0:21:24.880 --> 0:21:30.760 And there's a lot of overlap between races, so soolic circumstances. 0:21:29.880 --> 0:21:33.960 Absolutely, and I think that there are those that don't 0:21:34.040 --> 0:21:39.480 realize that the socio economics ends up impacting so many people, 0:21:40.240 --> 0:21:43.440 and it does cross the color barriers. But you can 0:21:43.520 --> 0:21:46.919 definitely see kind of the straight line a lot of times, 0:21:46.920 --> 0:21:49.240 whether we're talking about any. 0:21:49.040 --> 0:21:51.520 People of color. To be perfectly honest. 0:21:51.320 --> 0:21:54.639 When you were serving as a public defender, did you 0:21:54.720 --> 0:21:59.560 also witness people who were being treated differently because of 0:21:59.600 --> 0:22:04.080 their stature, their wealth, or socioeconomic status. 0:22:04.359 --> 0:22:08.080 All of that. I mean, the injustices ran rampant. 0:22:08.160 --> 0:22:10.960 And as someone who's licensed to practice in Texas and 0:22:11.160 --> 0:22:17.280 Arkansas who's done both urban as well as rule, I mean, 0:22:18.119 --> 0:22:21.160 you know, the amount of time that someone would get 0:22:21.560 --> 0:22:24.280 in rural Texas versus the amount of time for the 0:22:24.320 --> 0:22:30.320 same thing in urban Texas just night and day. 0:22:28.720 --> 0:22:28.959