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Remembering Rev Jesse Jackson; Karen Gray Houston Remembers Jessie Jackson. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired February 17, 2026 - 06:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[06:30:00]

MARC MORIAL, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL URBAN LEAGUE: And when he did it, many people thought that his candidacy was simply going to be symbolic. But it was extremely impactful in the way in which he talked about this rainbow coalition, the way in which he reached out to many locked out and left out communities. And he, in effect, created a vision, which in those days was really lacking from a lot of the Democratic establishment. It was, I think, based on Franklin Roosevelt. It was based on Kennedy, Johnson and King. And he brought that into the Democratic Party.

Now, after his 1988 race, and during the '84 race, and I happened to have been privileged to have been a Jackson delegate in both '84 and '88, he launched an effort to change the way Democratic nominees were chosen to get away from the winner take all system to more of a proportional representation system. So, his impact on the Democratic Party, many of your guests have said that he paved the way for Barack Obama. He not only paved the way for Barack Obama, he paved the way for Bill Clinton, and later for Barack Obama in the way in which he energized African American voters and many other locked out and left out voters, Latinos, LGBTQ communities, to say that they deserve a seat at the big table within the Democratic Party. And that was not the case in those days.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: And as we know, you know, he ran for president twice. He was the most successful black presidential candidate at the time. And he got millions of black Americans to register to vote. He was able to galvanize so many Americans, those who felt left out of the political system.

Talk to us a little bit more about his model of activism and how it is still effective in today's political climate.

MORIAL: Well, what he did is he approached the presidential campaign in 1984 and in '88 from an expansion of the electorate approach, which is, we need to go after those that have not registered or those that have registered and are disaffected. And in doing so, he expanded the base of the Democratic Party in those days. I think modern candidates and modern Democrats and those running for public office should take a lesson from what he did. And that is, you can't simply just run to those that you know are going to vote, but you've got to run to the disaffected, to the locked out and the left out. And he had that profound effect because it was central to his '84 and '88 campaign. I had the pleasure of traveling with Reverend Jackson in 1983 on a

southern voter crusade. And that crusade was a crusade prior to his candidacy to register African Americans, particularly in the south, to vote when it was difficult. We didn't have motor voter. You didn't have mail in voter registration. You had to go to the courthouse. You had to go to the city hall in order to register people to vote. So, it took a tremendous amount of work.

And Reverend Jackson painstakingly laid the groundwork for his candidacy. But that groundwork benefited many others. Remember, the 1986 cycle? The Democrats took control of the Senate after having lost it six years earlier under Reagan. Reverend Jackson's foundational efforts in his '84 campaign, I think, contributed greatly to that.

So, he took civil rights and brought it into politics. And he demonstrated to a generation of us, because he was an inspiration to me, that you could bring a message of inclusion, a message of hope, a message of thoughtful and forward-leaning public policy to the elected sphere.

BROWN: What unfinished work would Reverend Jackson say remains today?

MORIAL: I think he made a reference of our backs being against the wall. And I think he would certainly understand that this new fight is as difficult, as dramatic and as important as the old fight. I think he would counsel, as many have, that it is really a great betrayal of the civil rights progress, the American Constitution and the birthright of every American to see the attacks on equal opportunity, to see the militarization of our cities and the brutality being carried out in the name of, quote, "immigration enforcement," to see the way that major corporations and law firms and universities are being coerced into stepping away from things and values that they know are important. I think it would tell us that this fight continues and that we must continue to work very hard.

You know, I think he would be -- he was, I know, distressed at what we see in America today.

[06:35:02]

But he was a man who, notwithstanding all of those challenges, always preached the gospel of hope and positivity and saw this great vision of an America together. We talk about it, and I talk about it, and many talk about it as this multiracial American democracy. I think Jesse Jackson really put the blueprint together for that very early on. And it now falls to so many of us and to so many in this generation to continue that very positive vision about what the future of this country needs to be about.

BROWN: Marc Morial, thank you so much and sharing -- for sharing your thoughts and honoring Reverend Jackson this morning.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:40:32]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JESSE JACKSON, CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER: If blacks vote in great numbers, progressive whites win. It's the only way progressive whites win. If blacks vote in great numbers, Hispanics win. When blacks, Hispanics and progressive whites vote, women win. When women win, children win. When women and children win, workers win. We must all come up together. We must come up together.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Civil rights leader Jesse Jackson, you heard him there, talking about the Rainbow Coalition more than 40 years ago. His family just announced this morning he has died at the age of 84. We are following the latest on how the world is responding to his death throughout the morning.

Well, good morning, everyone. I'm Pamela Brown, in for Audie Cornish. Thank you so much for joining us this morning.

It is 6:40 here on the East Coast. And here's some other headlines we're following right now.

Investigators have cleared Nancy Guthrie's family members in her disappearance. The Pima County Sheriff's Department put out a statement saying the 84-year-old missing woman's children and their spouses are not suspects. They are still trying to determine a motive for her abduction.

Well, talks underway right now between the U.S. and Iran about the future of Iran's nuclear program. President Trump said he would be indirectly involved in the talks. The U.S. is already shifting significant military and naval assets to the Middle East in anticipation of a long military campaign against Iran if diplomatic talks fail.

And tragedy in Rhode Island. Two people are dead, three others critically injured after a shooting at a youth hockey rink. The suspected gunman is also dead. Police are calling this a targeted incident involving a family dispute.

And back now to our breaking news.

The Reverend Jesse Jackson, who was a protege of Martin Luther King Jr., has died at the age of 84 after fighting progressive supranuclear palsy. He is survived by his wife, Jacqueline, their children, grandchildren and extended family.

And this morning we are hearing from people who were close with Reverend Jesse Jackson. Reverend Al Sharpton wrote this on social media. "My mentor, Reverend Jesse Jackson, has passed. I just prayed with his family by phone. He was a consequential and transformative leader who changed this nation and the world. He shaped public policy and changed laws. He kept the dream alive and taught young children from broken homes, like me, that we don't have broken spirits. He told us we were somebody and made us believe. I will always cherish him taking me under his wing and I will forever try to do my part to keep hope alive."

Reverend Jackson spent his life fighting for voting rights, economic equity and being a voice for the voiceless. Now, at a time when we are revisiting many of those issues, it raised broader questions about where we are as a country.

I want to bring our group chat back in.

One through line here we've been talking about is how Reverend Jackson's legacy is enduring, right? I mean he had a major impact on American politics, particularly for the Democratic Party, over decades.

And, Chuck, he was able to reach voters, those who felt like they weren't having their voices heard, in a way we hadn't seen before him. Tell us about that.

CHUCK ROCHA, PRESIDENT, SOLIDARITY STRATEGIES: It -- he was really special. And me and Jeff were talking before that -- that not everybody's like Jesse, right? And not everybody can be -- have the "it" factor. I think about it this morning in my great state of Texas, where I was born and raised, that this morning they're going to start early voting. In about an hour and a half in Texas, the first voting starts.

And I bring that up because all of those politicians, and many of them that I worked for there, all wish that they could break through like a Jesse Jackson did. Now, I get it. There was not the internet then. But Jesse had something and he understood the power of media on getting and reaching those workers in those little factory towns, to Jeff's point about that farmer on the factory. I remember my grandparents, who grew up on a farm in east Texas, getting up every morning and listening to the farm and ranch show on the TV. Back then there was a way that we would get our information. And Jesse knew that civil rights and being a civil rights leader was more than just about having a speech. It was about knowing the reporters, building the relationship and getting your message to them.

BROWN: He was really ahead of his time at that point.

Jeff.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: I mean, he was. He was a communicator who knew where the camera was. And he was a showman in many respects. And that comes as a compliment and as a criticism by some of his rivals at the time.

[06:45:02]

But when you think about his presidential candidacies, no one took him very seriously. The Democratic Party did not in 1984. By 1988, they absolutely did. He won 7 million votes that year. It was quite extraordinary. Obviously, Michael Dukakis went on to become the nominee.

But Jesse Jackson did more outside of politics as well. He changed corporate America. He was as comfortable going into a boardroom, you know, sort of cajoling corporate America and pushing them to diversify their ranks, and others. And he used the pressure of his platform.

But I'm thinking back to the night of November 5, 2008, in Grant Park in Chicago. Barack Obama had just been elected as the first American president. And the image right there, the tensions between Reverend Jackson and Senator Obama at the time were well-known. Jesse Jackson had to apologize for some comments he made about Senator Obama throughout the campaign.

But the tear coming down his eye, look at this image that was on CNN at the time. I was standing about, I don't know, probably 10 or 15 feet away in the press pack there. I with "The New York Times" at the time. And Jesse Jackson, at this moment, he was not on stage. He was watching from the crowd. But this was an absolute full circle moment in terms of something that he had campaigned and tried to do. Of course, he wanted to be the first black president, the president, period, but he paved the way because he changed how Democrats elected presidents. Took things out of smoke-filled back rooms to delegates and they chose the president.

But Bernie Sanders, I mean, to Chuck's point earlier, he was a Jesse Jackson delegate.

ROCHA: That's right.

ZELENY: And Bernie Sanders' message of economic populism certainly also resonated. It's something that Donald Trump used to get elected himself.

ASHLEY DAVIS, FORMER HOMELAND SECURITY OFFICIAL: Yes. But -- and going back to just this communication, if you think about Jesse Jackson, you think about RFK, you think about Obama, and maybe Trump. I mean, those are the modern-day people that are able to move -- start a movement. I mean what other -- my old boss was not known for his communication, George Bush, as you all know. But he is part of that movement that was actually able to resonate with individuals and make them feel that there's hope in this country.

ROCHA: I want to pull on one thread that Jeff talked about, which was him demanding from corporate America, when it was highly unpopular, to make sure there were black people in the boardrooms, in the c-suites and in there.

ZELENY: Right.

ROCHA: It bleeds over into modern politics. There wouldn't be -- we heard from my good friend Antoine earlier, or a Chuck Rocha. Now the Democratic Party, because of Jesse Jackson's demands representation of these communities in their strategies. Jesse Jackson may have been the last presidential campaign that had a lot of senior black officials around him. Modern Democratic politics don't even have as much representation and voice from the community as a Jesse Jackson. BROWN: All right, group chat, stay with us. More to discuss.

Our breaking news coverage continues after the break. Civil rights activist and pioneer, the Reverend Jesse Jackson, has passed away at the age of 84.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:52:38]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: We stand on the shoulders of so many. And it's not lost on me that but for his fights and but for his voting advocacy and but for his efforts for inclusion and but for his taking on corporate America and institutions of higher learning, you know, that I'm not here having the wonderful ability to speak to you on this great network.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: And back to our breaking news this morning, civil rights icon, the Reverend Jesse Jackson has died at the age of 84. His family was at his side.

Jackson was a protege of Dr. Martin Luther King Junior. And throughout his life, he pushed for civil rights and urged the country to remember the poor, the forgotten and those in need. He also ran for the Democratic nomination for president in 1984 and then again in 1988.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REV. JESSE JACKSON, CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER: In the end, faith will not disappoint. You must not surrender. You may or may not get there, but just know that you are qualified and you hold on and hold out. We must never surrender. America will get better and better, Keep hope alive. Keep hope alive. Keep hope alive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Joining us now is Karen Gray Houston. She is a veteran journalist, civil rights historian and the niece of Fred Gray, the legendary attorney who represented Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Junior. She is also the author of the book, "Daughter of the Boycott."

Thank you so much for coming on, Karen.

You are so uniquely positioned to put into context just how critical Reverend Jackson was to the civil rights movement alongside figures like Martin Luther King Junior. Tell us about that.

KAREN GRAY HOUSTON, AUTHOR, "DAUGHTER OF THE BOYCOTT": Good morning, Pamela. I'm so sorry to hear the news about Jesse Jackson. And I want to offer my condolences to his family. You know, Jesse was like a -- he was a one-of-a-kind leader. There was

never anybody like him. I mean, you know, we used to say, here's a guy who's become famous without a resume or a real job. You know, he started out, he was so young, and he -- a lot of people criticized him for being -- you know, he's young. He was very brash. And some people thought he was a little bit too big for his britches because he always was jockeying to be seen close to Dr. Martin Luther King.

[06:55:00]

And -- but, you know, he really just became a mover and a shaker. He -- for him it was all about community empowerment with, you know, the Rainbow Coalition and Operation Breadbasket.

During the -- I remember the -- during the crack epidemic in the '80s, he became a real anti-drug crusader. And you could hear him going out into the communities, you know, chanting with the kids in the streets, you know, "up with hope and down with dope." And he just connected to young people at a time when it was important.

BROWN: Yes, we were just talking about that here, how he was able to connect with people in a way that no one else had really figured out until he did, just his style of communication, reaching out to those who feel like they had been forgotten.

You mentioned the relationship with Dr. King. Bernice King has just tweeted a photo of her father and Reverend Jackson, you see it right here, with the caption, "both now ancestors." I want to play this sound of what Reverend Jackson said about the moment when Martin Luther King Junior was assassinated 40 years later in 2008.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REVEREND JESSE JACKSON, CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER: I said, Doc -- and I said, Doc, to hit him right then (ph). And the bullet knocked him against the door. And there he was on the balcony. I heard someone saying, "get low, get low." And all of us kind of hit the ground because whoever it was did the shooting could have -- could have scattered, could have scattered the shots across the courtyard. I started running toward the steps, and up the steps, because he was on the second level, on the balcony level. And within a minute or so, Dr. Abernathy (ph) said, get back, get back, this is my dearest friend. I remember that very distinctly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Tell us more about how that moment shaped not only Jackson's life, but other leaders in the civil rights movement who carried MLK's mantle after that.

HOUSTON: Well, Jesse wanted to be close to King, and he knew that King had the power to connect with the community. And so, he went out and talked with young people. And they connected with him. Out -- you know what? They connected with him so much then people felt that he was so involved in community and the community leadership that people felt that they could call him Jesse. You know, I mean it wasn't like he was just a Mr. Jackson or -- and he was someone who was called upon to mediate after that. He wasn't just a leader in the United States. He was called on to mediate conflicts in the Middle East.

So, he was just a special person in the civil rights community.

BROWN: Tell us more about what Reverend Jackson meant to you personally. How did he help shape your career?

HOUSTON: Let's -- I'm going to give Jesse Jackson credit for my career. Back in the '70s -- I had a 41-year career as a radio and TV reporter. And that was something that young black people didn't think about doing back in the '50s and the '60s. And I got my start in the '70s. But it was at a time when Jesse Jackson was pressuring media outlets to hire young black people, black men and women, for these jobs that they hadn't had before. And he was threatening boycotts of newspapers and radio and TV stations if they didn't hire black reporters in parity with the community, which meant if your city had a 10 percent black population, that you needed to hire 10 percent of your staff from the black or minority community. And so, I want to give Jesse Jackson credit for 41 years of my career.

BROWN: It is clear he has impacted so many lives, including yours. Karen Gray Houston, thank you so much. And you can check out her book, "Daughter of the Boycott."

As we wrap up, I want to bring in the group chat for our final thoughts.

Jeff.

ZELENY: Look, just a towering figure of American political life, but also corporate America and so much more. I mean Jesse Jackson quite literally was the bridge between Dr. King to Barack Obama, to present day in terms of leading African American politicians. But his impact was on economic justice. That was really the focal point of his -- of his life. And his imprint on the Democratic Party stretches far beyond race. It actually is much more than that. I mean Bernie Sanders was one of the many delegates for Jesse Jackson who went on to shape today's modern party.

[07:00:02]

So, Jesse Jackson, Reverend Jackson, was ahead of his time in terms of building a broad-based coalition that exists still today.

BROWN: Quickly.

ROCHA: A lot of people in modern day Democratic politics owes Jesse Jackson a debt of gratitude because his legacy will live in all of us for a very, very long time.

DAVIS: Yes, and I'm actually waiting to see what happens on Truth Social here shortly because I would think that the president -- or hope that the president will acknowledge his legacy and what he's added to the democratic process.

BROWN: Yes.

All right, thanks to our group chat. And thank you for waking up with us. I'm Pamela Brown. I'll see you back here at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time. The headlines are next.