BREAKING: MAJOR UDPATE on statehood for DC

You're watching the Legal Breakdown. We. have a bit of a different episode today. As many of you know, Eleanor Holmes. Norton, who was the DC delegate to. Congress from Washington, D.C., will no. longer be representing the capital in. Congress. And so, running to take her. place, we have Kina Zaleski. Kina, thank. you so much for joining us. We have a. few questions Glenn and I are going to. kind of alternate here and ask, but I. wanted to start off. by asking about the $1.776 billion. slush fund that obviously has a lot to. do with Washington, D.C., considering.

these 1,500 pardoned insurrectionists. are those who would be eligible to. collect from this fund. Glenn and I have. discussed the fact that we now have a. temporary restraining order on this. issue. But more broadly, can I have your. reaction to the fact that while Donald. Trump is supposed to be delivering on. his promises of making things more. affordable for Americans, that instead. his priority is making sure that these. 1,500 insurrectionists can become. millionaires? >> Yes. So, first let me say, Brian and. Glenn, thank you so much for having me. on the show. I'm really delighted to be. here. Um.

everything that Trump does. is an affront to those of us who live in. Washington, D.C. We're on the front. lines and we feel that all the pain that. the nation feels, we feel it 10 times. worse. So, this slush fund is a perfect. example. It's our city that was attacked. on January 6th. It's our police officers. who were wounded and who rose bravely to. uh the challenge on that day. I mean, of. course it's it's a it's an assault on.

the whole nation, but this is our city. And for him to take that enormous amount. of money and and dedicate it to. criminals, while meanwhile he lies about. the crime rate in this city. But he's a. criminal and he defends and funds. criminals. And. uh and to and to also use that fund or. that that initiative to insulate himself. and his family from prosecution for.

obvious wrongdoing. Like. every single move, it offends the. nation, but it offends the 700,000 of us. in DC all in in even more acute ways. >> Kenny, it's great to see you. Full. disclosure, I've been at some of Kenny's. uh campaign events recently and I am a. big supporter. Um you know, I care deeply about the. District of Columbia. I worked there for. decades, particularly in the violent. crime arena. And so, you know, I have a. certain relationship with DC that.

continues to this day. Um here's what I. want to ask you, Kenny. You know, people. have different views of Washington, DC. You know, some people will Well, it's. the city of politics. And I hesitate to. bring this up, but back in the early. '90s, we were attacking the murder. problem, the violent crime problem. And. you know, we know that it used to be. referred to as the murder capital of the. world. I am pleased to say that is no. longer the case. I like to think myself. and the the police officers, the. detectives who fought against the.

violent crime uh epidemic for decades. has made DC a much safer place. You have. a particular view of Washington, DC and. you used a term to describe it that I. found really compelling. Can you Can you. tell us what that is? >> Yes, and thank you, Glenn, for. everything. It's great to see you again, as always. Um so, I have lived in this city for 30. years, and I've been a candidate for. this delegate seat for 9 months. And it. has been very important to me to be able.

to articulate what is it that unites. this whole city. It's easy to say what. divides us. But I was determined to. figure out what binds us and bonds us. across all eight wards. And here's what. I think. New York is the city of money. LA is the city of fame. But DC is the city of service. And it's not just federal service, although that's a huge part of it. It's. community service. It's neighborhood.

service. It's service to one another. And that's the thing I find in every. neighborhood in every ward in this city. People across DC just have like a higher. set point in our DNA for the the. idea that we belong to something larger. than ourselves. And that it's our job to. serve one another in whatever form that. takes, whatever sector that takes, whatever activities that takes. But. but we serve in this city. And the.

reason I think that's important is for. two reasons. One, we are up against some very serious odds. that. Trump and the MAGA Republicans have. launched an assault on our autonomy and. our economy. So if we're going to win, if we're going to be able to beat these. very difficult odds, we have to know our. shared strength and we have to draw on. it. So knowing what we have in common is. critical. And the other reason it's so. important that we understand and.

celebrate that we're the city of service. is that the rest of the country. desperately needs this. They need what. we have to give. So someday soon, God. willing, Trump will be gone and the Democrats. will take back power. And we will have. to as a nation. revisit what is important to us. What. are our values? What do we fight and die. for? And I think DC has a huge amount to. offer that conversation. Cuz we.

understand service. We know what. government can do, what it should do, what it must never do. We that's in our. in our bones and in our DNA. And that's. a it's a gift and it's a contribution. that the rest of the country needs. And. we in DC are happy to offer it, happy to. contribute, and that's where we're going. to have to go as a country. >> Can you Can you talk a little bit about. your stance on statehood for DC? >> So, it is a national. embarrassment that 700,000 of us.

in DC don't have the same rights as. every other American. To us, it's so. obvious, I'm not sure if people all over. the country really even understand. We have one representative in Congress, but she cannot vote on the House floor. We have zero representatives in the. Senate. So, we don't get to participate. in American democracy the way every. other American can. Now, at the same time, we pay more per capita.

in federal taxes than any state in the. country. We pay more in absolute number in. absolute dollars than something like 13. or 15 states. We fight in every war, our citizens die. in every war, we serve this country, and. we don't have the same rights as. everybody else. People seem to think. like, "Oh, yeah, wasn't that like I. don't know. didn't it come down from Mount Sinai or.

at least the Constitution that if you. live in DC, you can't vote." You know, it's just like some kind of deal we. struck at some point, and that is just. not true. The Constitution does require. a a federal district, but that can be. just the Capitol, the White House, the. Supreme Court, and a couple of museums. Uh it does not have to include the. 700,000 of us. It doesn't have to. exclude us as citizens. We ought to be a. state. We ought to have the same rights. as everybody else. This is a.

250-year-old. mistake, and we've got to fix it. >> And just as a a follow-up to that if I. can, Glenn, uh. if Democrats are able to come together. to A, garner a majority, and B, eliminate the filibuster, is that. something that you will dedicate. um your service to pursuing? >> Yes, but let me just let me be clear. We. had the trifecta not too long ago. We. had a Democratic House, we had a. Democratic Senate, and we had a. Democratic White House. And we didn't.

make any progress on DC statehood. So, I. want to be clear that the first. frontier in this fight is with our own. Democratic Party. We have to elevate. this issue among our own friends and. allies in the Democratic Party, which. they should be delighted to do because. we would get two new Democratic. senators. But they haven't in the past. prioritized us, and so in my what I hope. will be my first term as DC delegate in.

the next 2 years while Trump is still in. the White House, we need to lay that. groundwork inside our own party. Then, we need to pick off the Republicans. either to beat the filibuster, or if. there's a carve out from the filibuster, then that's how we'll get all the way. uh to to you know, a grand bargain. uh to make this possible. But I just. want to be clear that it's it's a. multi-step fight, and we need the. Democrats nationwide to join our fight. and not leave us stranded and abandoned.

>> Okay, so let me kind of uh follow up on. that as well. I've heard you talk about. how, you know, one of your goals is to. get to Congress and build coalitions, you know, build support so that, you. know, there will be people there helping. you fight the battles that that need to. be fought on behalf of the District of. Columbia residents. And I know I've. called you a triple threat because you. have significant government experience, you were counsel to Janet Reno when she. was the Attorney General, you led the.

strategy team at Microsoft, and you. built a really important nonprofit to. help underprivileged girls, I think. Was. it Was it. >> Uh no, boys and. >> underprivileged students, low-income. students get to college. I mean, when I. see candidates who have significant. experience in the public sector, in the. private sector, and in the nonprofit. sector, I call those people a a triple. threat because you're going to need all. those skills to help you build. coalitions in Congress. So, listen, Eleanor Holmes Norton has been the. delegate from DC for more than 30 years,

I believe, and I know she she did her. best, but look at where we are on. statehood. You know, what is your What. is your goal? What is your approach to. to the power that you do have not to. vote in Congress, but to build those. coalitions? >> Yes. Well, first let me say I prefer not. to call it a triple threat. I prefer to. call it like a tri-sector athlete uh or. something a little more positive, but I. totally agree with you that our leaders. that today's leaders must be tri-sector.

athletes. They must have experience in. all three sectors because our problems. today are so complicated that no one. sector is going to solve them. The. government is not going to fix our. problems, and neither is the business. sector, and neither is the nonprofit. sector all alone. But, the answers, the. innovations will come from the seams um. uh between those sectors, across those. sectors. And if you have worked in. senior levels in all of them, then you. understand the vocabulary, you. understand the metrics, you understand. the diff- the different kinds of.

innovation, and that's what That's what. voters should demand of their leaders. today in every office. So, uh I am delighted to bring those skills. and that background to these very. complicated problems that we have here. in DC. Now, to your point about how are. we going to maneuver toward statehood? How are we going to build the right. coalition? So, I think it's three. things, three steps along the way. First, we have to mobilize and really galvanize. and focus the um.

commitment to DC statehood here in DC. Everybody says they want it, but even we. aren't conditioned really to fight for. it every day. I mean, this is a civil. rights struggle. And you don't win civil. rights struggles like part-time, on the. weekends, when somebody else brings it. up. Like we need everyone in DC needs to. be a soldier for this cause. We need to. tell our colleagues and our cousins who. live in states around this country that. this is our number one concern. So, that's step one.

Number two, we have to elevate this. issue in our own Democratic Party, as we. were just talking about. We They have to. put this at the top of the list, not. just somewhere on the list. Uh, and then. the third step is to approach the. Republicans. And people ask me all the. time, "Well, how are you going to. convince all the Republicans to make us. a state?" It's like, we don't need to. convince all the Republicans. We will. never do that. We just need a few. Once. we have our own party behind us, lockstep, uh, we just need enough to.

beat the filibuster, or we need to carve. out to the filibuster. And that will be. a retail enterprise. You know, we It's. not a mass market persuasion of of. Republican leaders who will never accept. two new Democratic senators without a. fight. But But we need uh, just enough. of them uh, and we need to know what. their interests are and what they're. willing to negotiate on, so that we can. get done what we need done. >> You know, as Donald Trump continues to. uh, embark on these vanity projects for.

himself, uh, can I just have your. general reaction to to all of where he's. put his attention? All of it is in your. backyard in Washington, D.C., but we've. seen so much attention paid to the. ballroom, to uh, the reflecting pool and. the Rose Garden and the walkway, and. obviously his jet. And so, it's it's. again, all of these vanity projects, put. his name on the Kennedy Center, putting. his frankly name wherever he can get it, trying to build an arch. Um just your.

general reaction to the fact that this. is where his priority lies uh in the. face of people having so much difficulty. affording everyday life. >> I mean, it's so shameful. It's such a. travesty. It's a It's a crime. It's. [snorts] And. And And And I feel sorry for the people. who voted for him when they if they. believed that he was going to help their. pocketbooks. If they trusted that he. cared about their cost of living, their.

quality of life. Because he's screwed. them more than anybody. The rest of us. knew he would never deliver on it. But. the people who trusted him, it it's it's. such a deep crime and sin against the. people that he swore to represent. And. people are really suffering. Now, people. are really struggling. And for him to. take the American people's money and. spend it on, as you said, vanity.

projects to himself, putting his name on everything, protecting criminals, insulating himself. and his family from legitimate. prosecution. I mean, he just In addition. to that very long list of things, he's. now putting like 12 new statues of. slaveholders. right in our Freedom Plaza. Like every. opportunity he has to insult us, to.

demean us, to. uh to wield his power over us in such a. petty and painful way, that's what he. does. So, I mean, this slush fund you. mentioned at the top. is like graft and corruption at its. core. And the statues in Freedom Plaza are. like. just emotionally and historically. painful. But it's it we run the whole.

gamut of of offense and insult, right? From the from the. the worst things you can do to the most. superficial things you can do, and it. all is painful to us. It's all an. affront to democracy. It's an affront to. our dignity, all of us as Americans. It's I just can't wait to be past this. moment in American history. >> You know, Kiani, on a brighter note, can. I ask you about a really important and. exciting endorsement you just got? So, I. owe to a large degree, I owe my career.

with the Department of Justice as a. federal prosecutor to the man who. decided to take a chance on an old. gutter kid from Jersey and an old army. prosecutor and make him a federal. prosecutor at the Department of Justice, and that man is Eric Holder. People may. not know, certainly before he was Barack. Obama's attorney general, he was a judge. in local court in Washington, D.C., albeit a presidentially appointed judge. And then he became the United States.

Attorney for the District of Columbia, and his first batch of hires included. this old Jersey guy, and I never looked. back. I spent my entire career there, and I got that shot courtesy of Eric. Holder. He really knows he knows D.C. in. unique and intimate ways. Can you. explain, you know, can you explain that. explain how important it is to have Eric. Holder's endorsement for your candidacy? >> Yes. So, as you said, Eric was the U.S. Attorney General and also the D.C. U.S.

Attorney, and before that a Superior. Court judge. And he's lived here for. like many decades. If anybody knows the. complex, unusual, unique interplay. between Washington, D.C. and the federal. government. It's Eric. He is He is the. nexus between local and national in this. city. So, for him to look across the. candidates in this race and choose me.

is a deep honor and a deep privilege. And. And I And what he said in his. endorsement was, "This is not a time for. regular politicians. The stakes are too. high for C. We need to choose someone. who is a proven national fighter on the. national stage, and that person is Kenny. as Lesney." And I'm so grateful to him. for that endorsement, for that. confidence, for that support. Um.

And I think the voters of D.C. are. paying attention. And. you know, some of my opponents. are saying, "Well, this is a civil. rights seat, and therefore only they can. fill the seat, and. I agree we have a big uh role to play in. the civil rights movement. And I so. appreciate that Eric. says that I'm the right person to lead. that fight. Oh, one other key thing.

In addition to the many things that Eric. has done in the past, right now. he is running, along with Barack Obama, the National Democratic Redistricting. Committee. So, he is in charge for the. entire nation of correcting the systemic. and structural. assault that the Republicans are waging. against the Democrats. And he is in. charge of fixing the maps. and the redistricting.

strategy so that we can have free and. fair votes, one person, one vote, as we. should have. So, Eric and I have agreed. to work together closely to elevate D.C. statehood as part of that national. strategy. So, the. the Democrats are rightfully and. righteously indignant and protesting. about voter suppression, voter. intimidation, redistricting, all the. unfair things that are going on to. suppress our vote, right? We in DC don't even have a vote to.

suppress. We don't even have. you know, the status to be intimidated. We can't be redistricted out of our vote. cuz our district doesn't have a vote. So, we need to be ground zero for this. problem. We need to be the first issue, not a not a footnote. We need to be the. first issue in the in the voting rights. fight, in the civil rights fight. And. Eric is leading that charge along with. Barack Obama, who by the way was a law. school classmate of mine, and I couldn't. be more eager to work with them.

to to prioritize and centralize DC. statehood in this effort. >> For folks who are looking to help your. campaign, where can they go? >> Well, thank you. And. my website is www.kinneyfordc.com, k i n n e y f o r d c.com. We just have 18 days to go. The primary. is June 16th. I would love. support in any form, financial support,

door knocking, spread the word, tell. everyone you know in DC how high stakes. this election is. It's the first time in. 36 years that Eleanor Holmes Norton's. name is not on the ballot. And it's the. highest stakes we've faced in decades. We are under attack, our autonomy and. our economy. And I'm the only one in the. race who has deep national political. relationships and deep national business. relationships. And we're going to need. both to succeed, to beat our odds, and.

to win this fight. So, I would love. support from anyone and everyone. this. fight matters. D.C. matters. Please take note of our. plight and our opportunity. And let's get our A team in place on. June 16th so that we can defend D.C.'s. rights and advance our interests. >> Excellent. We're going to put a link to. your website right here on the screen. and also in the post description. Thank. you so much for taking the time, Glenn.

Thank you for joining me here and and. uh uh best of luck in the campaign. trail. >> I'm so glad to be with you both. Thanks. for everything.