Im a im erin burnett. The president launching an initiative, one very personal to him, about young men as color. The president actually talked about growing up without a father figure. I didnt have a dad in the house. And i was angry about it, even though i didnt necessarily realize it at the time. I made bad choices. I got high without always thinking about the harm it could do. I didnt always take school as seriously as i should have. I made excuses. After i was finished the guy sitting next to me said, are you talking about you . I said, yeah. And the point was i could see myself in these young men. And the only difference is that i grew up in an environment that was a little bit more forgiving. The new initiative that the president is launching is called my brothers keeper. Founations and businesses that now pledge to donate 200 million over five years to aid young men of color. Much more on that amount of money and whether its significant or not with tavis smily in a few minutes. But don lemon was in the room as the president spoke. Don, what more did the president say . He usually doesnt get so personal. Hes rather insulated and rather removed. This was a very different man we saw today. Hes been criticized at times and it was a very different man we saw today. Very emotional man. He was very candid. And many said, you know what, its about time. Today, quite frankly, many will say that barack obama became the black president today. He became a president who is africanamerican, obviously, but he became the person that many people wanted him to be. Many of those who criticized him. What they wanted to hear from him. They wanted him to say so much for so long about how to help young men of color. He was a person to do it and today he did it. And as i stood here not too long ago with Magic Johnson, the famous Magic Johnson he put it into perspective. He said it felt like we were in church today. It did. You knew sitting in that room or standing in that room that history was being made. That there was something that was going to be different about this particular initiative, not only from the president , but from the people who were sitting in the room. Trayvon martins family, among them. And jordan davis family, as well. And, don, before you go, interesting. Back in 2012, black enterprise magazine interviewed the president. At that time he said, im not the president of black america. Im the president of the United States of america. Do you think that because hes finishing out his second term, he finally feels that he can embrace that and do you think, what do you think about the fact that at that time he was so hesitant to be defined that way . I think that he can embrace it. And i think that, you know, that was the moment in the skin he was living in. That he felt that i must be the president of all of america. And he is. But he can be the president of black america and be the president of all america. He can be the president of White America and be the president of all america. Because at certain points in certain times, people need to be helped. Some of us need help at any particular time. Like the Banking Industry needed help at a particular time. That didnt make him the president of the Banking Industry. Like the Auto Industry needed help at some point, that didnt make him the president of the Auto Industry. But people evolve and the president has evolved, i believe, and now he feels a certain freedom now that he is in his second term and hes thinking about legacy here. Don lemon, thank you very much. Don will have a special program at 11 00 p. M. Eastern. My brothers keeper a special on this initiative. The president s Initiative Comes two years ago to the week that Trayvon Martin, black 17yearold teen was gunned down by george zimmerman. A number of parallels were drawn today between that case and another unarmed black teen jordan davis who was shot and killed for playing his music too loud by a white man. The president addressed both cases today and both boys by name. Aftermath of the Trayvon Martin verdict and controversy that it sparked, i spoke about the need to bolster and reinforce our young men. And give them the sense that their country cares about them and values them and is willing to invest in them. Im grateful that trayvons parents, sabrina and tracy are here along with jordan davis parents, lucy and ron. All right. Weve been covering the davis case very closely on the show and joining me now is jordans mom. You were referred to by name as we just heard there. What was it like in that room . There was electricity and people were so excited and so encouraged and just hanging on every word. Looking for something positive and hopeful. And i think they really received that today. And, lucy, did you get a chance to talk to the president . How did you end up in that room . Did you talk to him personally about your son . No, we have not. But we know that hes aware of our case, our trial and our son. And let me ask you, you know, youve talked about your son. I mean, i know you had home schooled him. You spent a lot of time working with him and you said, look, he went through a tough time. He struggled in school and moved to be with his dad as he was going through that tough time. Do you think the initiative you heard about today would have helped him . Absolutely. How could it not . Any initiative, any funding, any help given to help young black males, not just black males, but all young men of color to help them become as successful as they could possibly be, help them to really find their hopes and their dreams help them to become all that theyre dustined to be. How could you not be encouraged by that. And i think i was able to do that with jordan personally by home schooling him but so excited about the initiative for other men of color. I wanted to play for you Something Else the president said today in that room with you. This was a moment the entire country now remembers. This was the president when he said that the unforgettable words about Trayvon Martin. But, obviously, this is a tragedy. I can only imagine what these parents are going through. If i had a son, hed look like trayvon. And, you know, i think theyre right to expect that all of us as americans are going to take this with the seriousness that it deserves and that were going to get to the bottom of exactly what happened. Do you feel, lucy, you know, don was talking a moment ago who was there in the room talking about a frustration among many in the Africanamerican Community that the president hadnt directly addressed some of these issues in a front and center way until now. Did you share that frustration . Do you think things have changed . I definitely would not say that it had not been anything he had considered before. I think that president obama has always been very candid in letting the country know that he is the president for all citizens. Not just black and not just white but i think in light of everything that has really particularly been happening with young men of color and particularly within the last few years. I think that he has found that, you know, its time now that he bring this to the forefront, bring this to light and these are initiatives and things that have to be spoken about and have to be dealt with. Now, lucy, i know earlier this week the ant at 13 i le whole streets were prohibited to me and ways of speaking, laughing and walking made me a target because within the relative piece of America Great violence, institutional, interpersonal, marks the black experien experien experience. I think these talks that we have with our sons, how to address the police, how not to be intimidating to white people. You have lost your son. Did you ever think, did you ever have to have these conversations with him . Ive had many conversations with jordan at many times about understanding the way the world really is. I would have to encourage him that, you know, jordan, you have every right to exist. You have every right to be who you are. You should not have to act differently, you should not have to dress differently and you should not have to pretend to be someone or anybody youre not. Youre valued exactly the way that you are. Dont ever let anyone deter you from being who you believe you can be. So, certainly, weve had many kind of discussions like that. Many kind of discussions where i had to explain to him, you know, there may be certain people in the community or in the world that dont necessarily like you because you are a young, black male. But you hold your head high and know that you have value, no matter what. Lucy, thank you very much. Thank you. Lucy mcbeth, jordan davis mother. Does he think the president s plan to help young men go far enough . The justices like youve never seen them before, ever. New documents released in the Chris Christie scandal. A rabbi now involved. Sorry wer. Did you run into traffic . No, just had to stop by the house to grab a few things. You stopped by the house . Uhhuh. Yea. Alright, whenever you get your stuff, run upstairs, get cleaned up for dinner. You leave the house in good shape . Yea. Yea, of course. [ sportscaster talking on tv ] lastsecond field go yea, sure ya did. [ male announcer ] introducing at t digital life. Personalized Home Security and automation. Get professionally monitored security for just 29. 99 a month. With limited availability in select markets. Witmarge you know, theres in a more enjoyable way to get your fiber. Try phillips fiber good gummies. 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Capella university will help take you further, because our competencybased curriculum is designed for your profession, to move you forward to where you want to be. Your point c. Capella university. Start your journey at capella. Edu. Outfront now a face well known to many of you. Tavis smily host of tavis smily with very strong opinions on the president s program my brothers keeper. Lets start with the amount here. The president said significant initiative. 200 million. Is that a lot . Is that a little . What do you think . Been doing this work for a long time. The kellogg, ive worked with many foundations over the years and i know the good work that they do and my sense is that they would do this work whether president s have stepped up six years in his presidency or not. I know they appreciate and i certainly appreciate having a president ial partner and doing this kind of work. 200 million is a drop in the bucket given what black men are up against. Ill take it any day of the week as opposed to nothing. What do you make of some of the people visibly at this announcement . Mayor rahm emanuel, former chief of the president , you would expect him to be there. Michael bloomberg may be more surprising. I tweeted earlier that emmanuel and bloomberg were so prominently featured because this is the same Michael Bloomberg that didnt put stop and frisk on the books, but aggressively defend stop and frisk. This is the same rahm emanuel in chicago closing down schools. I think the time is out for political correctness. Lets tell the truth. You cant close down schools on the one hand and be my brothers keeper on the other hand. Timeout for political correctness. How about my brothers employer, not my brothers keeper. How about jobs with a living wage. These young men want the same thing every other american wants, a job with a living wage, but no real talk about that. So, theres 6. 7 million young men, according to the census, who are black under the age of 21. As you point out, this program is for men of color, but in terms of black men specifically. 6. 7 million of them and the president spoke about the specific challenges that those men face. Here he is, tavis. As a black student, you are far less likely than a white student to be able to read proficiently by the time youre in fourth grade. By the time you reach high school, youre far more likely to have been suspended or expelled. Theres a higher chance youll end up in the criminal justice system. And a far higher chance that you are the victim of a violent crime. And the worst part is, we become numb to these statistics. Were not surprised by them. We take them as the norm. All right, look, hes right, tavis. But what is this going to do about it. When i read the fact sheet about this thinitiative. They are talking an online portal theyre going to create and a new public website that will assess better statisti stan young men of color. It was unclear to me exactly what theyre going to do to change what he just said. Its unclear to a lot of us, i think, because the deliveerables are not abundantly clear and not easy to follow. Number two, i was trying to suggest, charity is not justice and how do we get at rebelling in and respecting the humanity and dignity of these young men. Number two. Number three, we recited these things time and time again. The value in this country of a black life does not have the same weight as a white life where these black boys are concerned. If the stats that the president cited today, if these were stats concerning white males in america, we would have addressed this issue as a nation long before barack obama a long time ago and, secondly, it couldnt have taken him six years to get to this if these numbers were the same why is he doing it now . Thats a question for the president to answer. A lot of people believe this has something to do with legacy building and im not so put off by that per se because i would rather him do something than not do something. He and the first lady wants to work on these kind of issues. He would be the greatest ambassador these kind of issues could have. But it cant be just about legacy building, but the m humanity and dignity and we have to do more than just try to match foundations with corporations. Thats a good start, but theres a long way to go here. Tavis smily, thank you very much. Really appreciate your perspective. Much more on the president s announcement on the cnn program a don lemon special tonight at 11 00 p. M. Eastern. Ted nugent told me this week hes a changed man. Will the texas candidates governor ever campaign with nugent again . Guess what, we went out today and we got greg abbot to talk. 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Mattress discounters to nbcuniversals coveragens of the biggest loser olympic winter games ever, with the most coverage of the most events on every device. And the most hours of streaming video on the nbc sports live extra app, including the x1 platform from xfinity. Comcast was honored to bring every minute of every medal of nbcuniversals coverage to every screen. So whats next . Rio 2016. Welcome to whats next. Comcast nbcuniversal. The First Time Ever video from inside the Supreme Court while the court was in session. Its impossible for me to say how special this is. Looking at the back of peoples heads. Looks like we are in church. This was part of a planned protest by a Group Promising campaign reform. But we dont know how they got the camera. 2014, no Electronic Devices have ever been permitted but all spectators and members of the media are screened. A protester stands up and escorted out by security. They did this on purpose. Im making this point. Only two known pictures of the court in session, both taken by still cameras smuggled inside the camera. Joining me now cnn legal analyst jeffrey toobin. I am making a big deal of this. I remember sitting in that court, i was a student at the time. An incredible moment, you are never allowed to take anything in to photograph it. A lot of people who say this is completely inappropriate and the justices have kept the cameras out. What do you th