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Early Start with Rahel Solomon

Civil Rights Leader Jesse Jackson Dead At Age 84. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired February 17, 2026 - 05:30   ET

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

[05:30:00]

ANTJUAN SEAWRIGHT, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST (via telephone): You can be a Democrat and also not compromise on your values as a Christian. And I think that's also a reminder for those of us who are still around and still in this fight for the same principle. You can be a Democrat and not compromise on your values or your spiritual beliefs.

And that's one thing that's very important to me and it certainly has been important to my family, and I think it will continue to be a large part of the African American community.

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN ANCHOR: Hmm.

Antjuan Seawright, we're going to take a quick break, but we appreciate you being with us. Please don't go far.

We going to continue, of course, to follow this breaking news of the passing of civil rights leader Jesse Jackson. We'll be right back.

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[05:35:03]

SOLOMON: We continue to follow breaking news this morning. Civil rights leader Jesse Jackson has passed away at the age of 84.

He rose to prominence in the 1960s as a protege of Martin Luther King Jr. Jackson ran for president twice in 1984 and 1988, and launched the national Rainbow Coalition, which helped pave the way for a more progressive Democratic Party. He was known for his signature phrase "keep hope alive," a rallying cry for social justice in the post-civil rights era.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson dead at 84.

Joining us now this morning is CNN's Jeff Zeleny. Jeff, you have interviewed Jesse Jackson many times. What more can you share with us about what he was like, and what are your thoughts this morning?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF U.S. NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Rahel, certainly a towering figure from the 20th century. I mean, Jesse Jackson literally was the bridge from Martin Luther King to America seeing the first Black president in Barack Obama being elected onto present day here.

And I am recalling just now, you know, spending so many years in Chicago -- I worked at the Chicago Tribune at the time and later The New York Times covering the rise of Sen. Obama, but Rev. Jackson was far more significant well before that era. I mean, thinking back to his presidential campaigns in 1984 and 1988 he literally changed how Democratic presidents were elected.

Barack Obama would not have been elected, I can say with pretty confidence, without Jesse Jackson, and not just because of America seeing an African American politician but because of the way Jesse Jackson changed the party rules when he ran.

The Democratic Party used to be a -- they used to pick their presidents in smoke-filled back rooms if you will. But when Jesse Jackson ran it really changed in '84 and then again in '88 as a delegate system fighting for every vote across the country. And that's the rules that the Obama campaign back in 2007-2008 really used to defeat Hillary Clinton back in that epic primary campaign.

So the link between Jesse Jackson and Barack Obama is one of the most interesting of the 20th century of American politics.

So they were not close at all. There was a rivalry. There was a bit of jealousy. Jesse Jackson long thought that Barack Obama didn't respect him, at least opening as much. But the two men in recent years did reconcile and had a strong relationship.

But it's one of the reasons Barack Obama came to Chicago because Jesse Jackson was leading the way in Chicago through the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, et cetera.

So the bottom line, a towering figure in the 20th century of American public life and politics. Obviously never reached his goal of becoming president but without him running for president it's very unlikely that America would have elected its first Black president in Barack Obama.

SOLOMON: Yeah, that is a really fascinating point there, Jeff, and we're appreciative to have you this morning.

Talk to us a little bit about how Jesse Jackson through his -- through his runs for president (audio gap) and through the Rainbow Coalition, how he reshaped (audio gap) perhaps that (audio gap).

ZELENY: Well look, I mean, Jesse Jackson was ahead of his time in terms of really building a broad-based diverse Democratic Party. He was the first Democratic presidential candidate to support gay rights, for example. He really had a -- I mean, his Chicago organization, the Rainbow PUSH Coalition -- it represented the -- you know, the facets of the rainbow. I mean, he quite literally expanded the tent of the Democratic Party.

And our great colleague and friend Abby Phillip has a fantastic book on Jesse Jackson, "The Fight for Black Political Power," and she writes in this book just about how ahead of his time he was at the moment in the '84 campaign, the '88 campaign. But he built this coalition that truly is the -- still the Democratic Party's coalition of today. The working class vote -- the white, working class vote. African American voters. Again, supporting gay rights, et cetera. And it's been tested, there's no doubt.

[05:40:00]

But when you look at the Bernie Sanders modern day presidential campaigns if you will, when you look at the -- we've talked about the Obama campaign -- but Jesse Jackson was doing that a few decades before, really building this modern coalition if you will.

And everything from talking to voters in America's urban core to appealing to white farmers in Iowa. That was one of the key constituencies for Jesse Jackson in his 1988 presidential campaign. When you look at historic photographs from the 20th century of American history some of them certainly will be Jesse Jackson running for president surrounded by hundreds and hundreds of white farmers who were supporting him because he was supporting them.

So he certainly had a message of economic -- an economic message that reached well beyond what many people were saying at the time. So he shaped the modern message of the modern Democratic Party, there is no doubt.

And he also intersected with Donald Trump. So that is a key part of his legacy also. The two knew each other well and spent time in Atlantic City together. There are some historic photos of them as well.

So Jesse Jackson, in his long 84 years, a towering figure certainly in American politics but just also in American history as a bridge from Martin Luther King, who he studied alongside --

SOLOMON: Um-hum.

ZELENY: -- to present day, Rahel.

SOLOMON: And Jeff, before I let you go, I mean, you know, it was interesting in Abby's piece there the mention that at times, you know, some thought maybe Jesse Jackson was a bit too ambitious or maybe thought that he was a bit too brash.

How do you think he would want to be remembered?

ZELENY: Oh, he was ambitious and he was brash. There's no doubt about it. And he -- you know, at the time, was criticized by some in Dr. King's inner circle for taking too much credit for suggesting he was closer to Dr. King than he might have been, particularly on the night of his assassination.

But Jesse Jackson knew how to find the spotlight, and he used that certainly for his own purposes but also to grow his message, his party. So Jesse Jackson was a very early adaptor to finding the light. I mean, we see it in modern day examples. Donald Trump, for example. President Trump knows how to find the spotlight when he was running for president. Jesse Jackson was doing that long, long, long before.

He was a showboat, there's no doubt about it, but he absolutely was also a visionary and again, a towering figure of American 20th century life.

SOLOMON: Hmm.

That's our Jeff Zeleny. Jeff Zeleny, we appreciate you hopping on this morning. Thank you.

ZELENY: Thank you.

SOLOMON: Let's go now to Richard Johnson, senior lecturer on U.S. politics at the Queen Mary University of London. Richard, we appreciate you being with us this morning as we continue to follow this breaking news.

Your first reaction as someone who studies and understands deeply U.S. politics.

RICHARD JOHNSON, SENIOR LECTURER ON U.S. POLITICS, QUEEN MARY UNIVERSITY OF LONDON: This is one of the great multigenerational figures of American politics and, indeed, world politics.

I mean, it's difficult to know where to begin with Jesse Jackson. Many of the contours of his political engagement are well known. But let me just give you an example that I think is probably less well known but may be of interest, particularly to an international audience because Jesse Jackson was not just a great figure in American politics but in world politics and a humanitarian.

In 1990, Saddam Hussein in the leadup to the Gulf War, took a number of British national hostage in Baghdad and brought them into his palace to use them as human shields to protect him from any potential bombings from coalition forces. And one of these individuals was just a 5-year-old boy.

And Jesse Jackson took it upon himself to negotiate liberation of these innocent British nationals. And Jackson was able to do that because he was seen as someone who was -- spoke beyond national politics but could speak to a deeper human condition and to human rights.

And so it's just one small example of what he did but it's going to be really difficult to pack in, in a short while, the ability to appreciate it. I think even just looking at a small example gives you a window into the bigger man.

SOLOMON: Hmm.

And you told our producers that you've met and you've interviewed people who have worked with Jesse Jackson.

What stood out to you based on those conversations and people who, you know, had personal experience with him?

[05:45:00]

JOHNSON: Yeah. So one of the people that I interviewed -- this was my PhD research when I was a student at Oxford University, and I wrote my PhD about Black candidates who stood for office in context when most of their voters were not African American. And so this was about a politics of African American candidates who were coalition builders and often were electoral pioneers -- the first Black candidates in the particular contests that they ran.

Of course, Jesse Jackson, with his presidential campaigns in 1984 and 1988, were absolutely pioneering in that respect. And in interviewed, for example, the late Steve Cobble who was Jesse Jackson's key organizers and voter registrars for the '84 and '88 campaigns.

And what stands out to me about Jackson is this is -- you know, he's the model here of a candidate who cares deeply about the Black freedom struggle and about civil rights and doesn't blanche on that but also understands about creating a politics where you reach out to people beyond the Black community where you can find common cause.

And Jackson was brilliant at bringing together, of course, people from different racial and ethnic minority communities but also made serious appeals to the white working class and wanted to appeal to all Americans who felt that they were on the rougher edges of society or where the labor market was shutting them out and not giving them fair or equal opportunity. And that kind of politics I think is a -- an extremely powerful politics that particularly, of course, as a Democrat as Jesse Jackson was, can be very electrically potent.

And people sometimes forget actually how well Jesse Jackson did in his presidential campaigns, particularly in 1988. I mean, he was the runner-up to Michael Dukakis --

SOLOMON: Um-hum.

JOHNSON: -- in that election at a time when, you know -- obviously we have a president now who didn't have prior political office, but it is still very unusual for someone without prior political office to run for president and do so well, and Jesse Jackson is an example of that.

SOLOMON: Um-hum, um-hum.

Richard Johnson, we appreciate you being with us this morning and reminding us of just not his impact domestically in the U.S. but also how that stretched beyond U.S. borders. That's Richard Johnson in London. Thank you.

We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back.

JOHNSON: My pleasure.

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[05:52:28]

SOLOMON: Back now to our breaking news. Civil rights leader Jesse Jackson has died at the age of 84. In a statement, the Rainbow PUSH Coalition says that he passed away this morning surrounded by his family. The coalition says that Jackson had been hospitalized in recent months and had been under observation for progressive supranuclear palsy.

Jackson rose to prominence as a protege of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. He ran for president twice in the 1980s and launched the national Rainbow Coalition, which helped paved the way for a more progressive Democratic Party.

I want to read for you part of the statement posted by the family this morning. It says that "It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of civil rights leader and founder of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, the Honorable Reverend Jesse Louis Jackson, Sr. He died peacefully on Tuesday morning surrounded by his family. His unwavering commitment to justice, equality, and human rights helped shape a global movement for freedom and dignity. A tireless change agent, he elevated the voices of the voiceless -- from his presidential campaigns in the 1980s to mobilizing millions to register for vote -- leaving an indelible mark on history."

Let's bring in now CNN legal analyst Joey Jackson. Joey, good to have you, unfortunately, under these circumstances.

We've talked a lot this morning about the impact, the life, the professional work of Jesse Jackson, but talk to me a little bit about the family he leaves behind.

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY, FORMER PROSECUTOR: Yeah, good to be with you, Rahel. Obviously, not, as you noted, under these circumstances.

You know, I just think first and foremost and just giving praise to him it's not lost on me that I'm not here talking to you without the work that he's done and the work that he did.

When you look at someone like him and you look at the words diversity, equity and inclusion -- words that unfortunately in today's politics have taken on a whole different meaning -- that's precisely what he stood for. And if you look at what he's done in terms of his legacy -- you mentioned his family -- a beautiful family that he does have -- wow.

Just an iconic person who has really dedicated and did dedicate his life so that people like me and people who look like me could have opportunity and who could grow and advance. And that's what he was all about.

You know, looking at -- I remember as a younger man his speech in 1984 at the convention -- again, about unity. His speech in 1988 about common ground. Just a person who brought people together.

[05:55:05]

A person who lived, as you noted, really as a protege of Dr. Martin Luther King -- someone who is, you know, iconic, who we have a holiday after, and just a great person who did so much and meant so much.

And so as I sit here talking to you before pivoting to my experiences with his family, you know, I have to say that, you know, what is a life? I think a life is what you do for others. How you elevate others. How you motivate others. How you inspire others. And what kind of life did you lead such that you live a life where you make it better for others. And he checks all those boxes.

And I'm just, you know, so grateful for everything he did, especially now, Rahel, when, you know, we're in different political times. But if he were elected, he'd be the unifier in chief. Now we don't so much have that, you know.

But just in terms of family, I remember working with Santita at another network some years ago. Just a tremendous individual, an inspirational person. That's his daughter, of course. And just a person full of so much hope, so my glee, and brought so much happiness. Just very kind, you know.

You don't ever remember, as they say, potentially what a person said to you, but you just remember how they made you feel. And she was always warm and welcoming and, you know, just certainly like her dad, just uplighting and just a good spirit and good soul.

And then I became, you know, friendly with his son, Jesse Jackson Jr., and he's just a good man. You know, he's been through a lot. He was in Congress. He's running again for Congress.

No person goes through life unblemished. No person goes through life where they don't have adversity. He certainly -- his son, Jesse Jackson Jr., has been through diversity -- been through some adversity. But, you know, he's always been on the comeback and a person who is dedicated, as his dad is, to making things happen.

And so I enjoy my discussions with him. He has a radio show. I enjoy being on his radio show and just talking about so many issues. And I just think when you have an iconic leader who leaves behind a family -- and there are other members of his family. Those are the two I interact -- you know, interacted with. And Jesse Jackson Jr. is someone who, you know, I interacted with as recently as a couple of weeks ago.

And so, yeah, I mean, we're here at this moment but I think while it's a sad day it's certainly a day of celebration for all he did -- his dad -- and all he meant, and all he was, and the opportunities that he provided for all of us.

And again, I have to give him, you know, so much praise for that. Because, you know, 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.

SOLOMON: Yeah, Joey, it's interesting. As we've been talking to different people who have interviewed him, people who know people that he knows -- you know, people who know his son, his daughter -- you know, it's hard to really sort of wrap your arms around the full life that he lived in 84 years -- and yet, we must.

How do you think he would best want to be remembered having done so much? And it's interesting because my guest in the last block was visiting from -- joining us from London and he made the point that, you know, beyond his impact domestically within the U.S. he also had quite an impact overseas as well.

JACKSON: Without question.

You know, first to the question of how he'd want to be remembered. You know, I believe he'd want to be remembered as a person who as a great unifier. A person who spoke and gave voice to the voiceless.

A person who recognized that it's not -- it's not your wealth that makes you who you are, it's not your social status that makes you who you are, you know. It's your individual light; it's your soul that makes you who you are.

And, you know, him talking about keeping hope alive and I am somebody. You know, everyone has value and everyone has worth, and I think that especially in today's day and age we have to recognize that, right?

It's important to be good to people. It's important to be inclusive. It's important to have people understand that they matter. It's important to uplift others. It's important to know that you have somebody who has your back just not because you have zeroes in your bank accounts, not because you have the best education, not because you have the best home, the best boat, the best car, but because you have a good heart and a good soul.

And so I think he would want to be remembered, you for, for just being a person who could uplift others, inspire others, unify others, and make them feel like they matter.

[06:00:00]

SOLOMON: Um-hum.

JACKSON: Because everybody really does matter.

And yes, Rahel, he was an international figure and that's so important in today's day and age. What a blessing and what a national treasure.

SOLOMON: Joey Jackson in New York. Joey, thank you.

JACKSON: Thanks, Rahel.

SOLOMON: All right.

Thank you for being with us. I'm Rahel Solomon in New York. But stay with CNN for our breaking coverage of the death of Jesse Jackson, which continues after this.