The Beat With Ari Melber 6PM - MSNBC NEWS today 8/28/2024

Superstar prosecutor kamla Harris made history when she was elected California's first African-American female district attorney to be a prosecutor is to really be engaged in one of the most noblest professions that anyone could do Harris was then sworn in by the first woman to serve as California's US senator Diane Feinstein neither knew then Harris would later become the state's first black woman Senator or the first such Presidential nominee IA Harris do solemnly swear do solemnly swear [Applause] congratulations you can hear the excitement in that room but Harris was joining a conventional even conservative arm of local government I will tell you traditionally prosecutors are the first line that push for arrests plea deals and heavier prison terms it is thought that it's up to other people the defense lawyers the trial judges or the appeals judges to push back sometimes and that's largely true regardless of who is a prosecutor on your screen we're showing you just a few of the top federal prosecutors in the country they're all known for being tough but these assumptions about what prosecutors should do or only do are increasingly controversial there's a new wave of prosecutors especially in the last 10 or 15 years who argue their role is not just to push the hardest and see what sticks but to balance calls to be tough with judgment about what is fair Humane and effective not just being punitive for its own sake and that balance by the way is linked to racial Justice because when people talk about prosecutors just being as tough as possible in the abstract what we actually see is those who face the toughest law enforcement are black brown or poor in America and we've reported on all the facts on that for you for years now Harris navigated both camps in her work she did not Embrace a full full Progressive reform agenda in office I'll show you examples she resisted efforts to provide independent prosecutors in police brutality cases or to overturn some alleged wrongful convictions she also backed even harsher punishment in certain areas like a new law in California to jail parents if students miss school accounts of her record emphasized that she was trying to be incremental not crusading from the outside with easy talk but trying to reform the system from within and others you may have heard viewed her time in da and AG that record as very far from being a progressive prosecutor Harris did however Embrace many smart on crime reforms and she was explicit about as I mentioned balancing being tough in some cases while also trying to root out police brutality and racial discrimination and she explained that back then it is a myth to say that African-Americans don't want law enforcement we do what we don't want is racial profiling what we don't want is excessive force but we do want law enforcement so let's define it in the way that works for us that's the record that was back then not talking about National political office or politics that's from back then so there's Nuance to this which is why it's our special report right now if you want to look at the evidence and the details and the history it's there and there's a difference between being tough on murder crimes and tough on drug use Harris was actually an early leader on reforming new diversion programs to try to help deal with America's long running problem about non-violent drug users and her office had good low rates for re offense Harris advocated treating personal drug use as more of a public health issue than another chance to lock up people for years and she explained that on a panel this was back in 2008 as da that whole war on drug was a complete failure it was a failure and um and and that's evidenced by The increased prison population in this country we have to have a drug policy that says that we have got to treat that issue as a substance abuse is she has a public health issue as much as anything that's how she broke it down and again it's interesting to see it then some of those positions have gotten more support in the recent years but that was back then now now then Harris entered National politics and she emphasized those reform efforts more than what I'm calling the tough on crime part of her record and that's pretty standard by the way politicians emphasizing the more popular thing in their history rather than tough or debatable calls some of which might not age well but as part of our report here I want you to keep in mind something we kind of know I bet you know it in the back of your head the environment around what we think is good Justice Fair Justice has been shifting after Decades of both parties talking about being tough on crime with Democrats demanding more prison more capital punishment and a larger War on Drugs against that long running backdrop the BLM movement grew and scrutiny on brutality and discrimination grew and shifting politics emerged about prosecutors with Democrats even competing over reform to that end when Harris was running in the last presidential primary season we had actually spoke to her at a Justice Conference which in a sign of an effort towards reform conversations was held in a former prison and she then rebuked our us prison system as a failure if we want Healthy Communities if we want to be true to the values of redemption we have to a agree that the the incarceration system of America is one of the greatest failures of public policy in our country the goal should be Healthy Communities because healthy communities are safe communities that's what she was saying in that election cycle and that emphasis put Harris at home with most Dems and really more balanced than most other politicians consider as I mentioned the top Democrats backed very harsh policies in Clinton's 94 crime bill that includes three strikes and you're out and those harsh drug penalties those are some of the very crackdowns the party is now pushing to roll back and yet the people who supported that as you see on your screen included not only President Clinton but one of the party's top figures on the Judiciary Committee at the time Joe Biden so for legal liberals concerns about Harris's da record are as a factual matter they are smaller than the politician she just replaced it wouldn't make much sense to be mad at her for incremental reform say for not full-blown Progressive reform of harsh laws when the literal recent alternative was according to those critiques worse politicians who were all in on the crime Bill like Biden and Clinton again I'm just telling you the history now politically you have election analysts who say Harris has a strength here that she can now run on being a prosecutor and as kamla the cop which quote doesn't sound so bad in 2024 now everything I've just told you is about her service as da substantively that is part of why she she has so much experience politically it may help her draw on both the tough and reformer experience and fact again both parties have tapped prosecutors as promising leaders and candidates for many decades we could show you other prosecutors turned Democratic candidates like Amy gloer or Senator Blumenthal nothing unusual about this same playbook for Harris and there are few signs that party liberals even if they would want more reform that the party's Liberals are going to suddenly hold kamla Harris to a higher standard than all those other prosecutors who've run as Democrats now that's the da history there's more in 2011 Harris went on to be the top law enforcement official in California she won the AG race and then oversaw these policies targeting criminal organizations her tenure saw a drop in violent crime but her new role also gave her experience farther from just individual trials and local crime it added a whole bunch of other topics and challenges and she embraced some of them using that post to back equal rights for samesex couples to adopt and famously instructing State clerks to issue those same-sex marriage licenses this is you you must start the marriages immediately now as I mentioned at the top of this report people often lump all of Harris's legal work together but it's a little more more complicated or at least there were phases she served for over a decade as a Prosecuting lawyer inside the DA's office as you see on your screen then she Rose to be da herself then she was Attorney General of all of California now that we should mention is more government experience than many national candidates have had when they approach the White House it's more time in government than Carter or Obama had when they first ran for president or then say JD Vance right now if we're talking about experience or what type of candidate you're looking at and who's on a fast track now the AG portfolio was also wider as I mentioned than the DA's office that's why KL Harris took on that key National role battling Banks over mortgage abuse after the financial crisis it's why she clashed with billionaire Banker Jamie Diamond she recounted this in her book how he was yelling about his shareholders and she yelled back basically quote I gave it right back your shareholders my shareholders are the homeowners of California you come and see them you talk to them about who got robbed she told them she played hard ball it may or may not have won when you're in the middle of a legal case you got a lot of lawyers you got a lot of negotiation but you don't know who's going to back down on that one as you see on your screen the banks back down big time she won $18 billion in settlements for people who were harmed by All That Wall Street Mal feance it's the kind of victory that that matters for people even if it is far a field from some of the debates and attacks you might have heard on her record as a prosecutor and it also quiet certain debates about whether you were tough enough on the banks or smart on crime or all these other things when it works it works and she emphasized that at the time as a result of 13 months of intense discussions sometimes battle we have delivered to California a billion in relief for California's homeowners that's what the history shows KLA Harris was a public service lawyer and then she was the da herself and then she was the attorney general and across that time while a lot of other people were talking about this stuff or doing politics about this stuff or critiquing others about this stuff she was actually doing this stuff if you look at the whole record as I showed you some of it might not have aged as well some of it was certainly tough on crime even though that might for some people in the general election be a good political thing that's up to you as a voter but she was doing it the whole time and so now as we gear up for the general election that really officially kicks off next week it seems her role across all those phases of her Public Service career is something that she and her allies think she can stand on now we're going to get a special perspective from a Democrat who who also went from prosecutor to politics breaking barriers as a former prosecutor who became mayor of Chicago Lori lighfoot my exclusive guest when we're back together in 90 seconds when you host your bathroom can feel like a revolving door keep things fresh with the breeze small spaces it's an outlet free air freshener that fights odors for 45 days so even after every flush you know your bathroom smells amazing hi glad everyone's here let's get started um when they want to squeeze up let me share my screen okay um sorry about that I'm excited to share their they want a squeeze up deliciously squeeze up Alison introducing Allison's black sasis she thinks her flaky gray patches are all people see otla is the number one prescribed pill to treat black psoriasis over here otla can help you get clearer skin and reduce itching and flaking with no routine blood required doctors have been prescribing otla for over a decade otla is also approved to treat psoriatic arthritis don't use otla if you're allergic to it serious allergic reactions can happen otla may cause severe diarrhea nausea or vomiting some people taking o Tesla had depression suicidal thoughts or weight l L upper respiratory tract infection and headache may occur with clear skin girls day out is a good day out live in the moment ask your doctor about OT Tesla KL Harris has experienced as a prosecutor back in the spotlight and we're joined by a federal prosecutor who went on to her own political career as the former mayor of Chicago Lori Li foot welcome it's my pleasure