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First of All with Victor Blackwell

In This Moment, We Need To Talk; Utah Gov: Kirk Killing A "Watershed Moment" For America; Charlie Kirk's Murder Puts Renewed Focus On Political Violence. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired September 13, 2025 - 08:00   ET

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

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[08:00:38]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Well, first of all, we need to talk. In the aftermath of a horrific act of violence, the conversations we have with one another, they're important. The big story this week is an act of political violence that shocked so many people, the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

Political violence is wrong, period. No one should die because of their opinion, period. You can disagree with what Charlie Kirk said during his life. No one should celebrate his death, period. No complexity there.

Political leaders are now vowing to continue sharing and promoting his views. Now, Kirk is being lauded for encouraging conversations. He's being held up as an example of how to engage in political discourse. The progressive New York Times opinion writer Ezra Klein says that "Charlie Kirk was practicing politics the right way." Conservative House Speaker Mike Johnson this week put it this way.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REP. MIKE PENCE (R) HOUSE SPEAKER: He never shied away from debate, but he did it in the right spirit. And I think that's what we've got to get back to. You know, it wasn't personal.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: So on this show, I focus on the impact that big stories have on communities of color, right. And the perspective from communities of color on those stories. And through that lens, there's part of the conversation that we have not had on air. Many of the arguments that Kirk made in those conversations were hurtful to people of color, black people in particular. So we'll try to unpack that and have that conversation here as we talk about how to move forward.

But this morning, we also want to know more about his alleged killer. Tyler Robinson, 22 years old, grew up in a suburban community in Utah, had no party affiliation, didn't vote in the two most recent elections. But Utah's governor says he quickly grew more radical.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GOV. SPENCER COX (R) UTAH: What stands out is that nothing stands out the way you would normally expect. You know, this is a good family, normal childhood, all of those things that you would hope would never leave -- to lead to something like this. And sadly, it did.

So there's so much we still don't know. But certainly, there was a radicalization that happened in a fairly short amount of time. And again, that's not to sometimes when we talk about people getting radicalized, that's to blame others instead of the person. And I don't want to take away that agency. This person made a terrible decision and will pay the price for that.

But I do think it is important and instructive that we try to do as much as possible to learn the types of influences that would lead someone to make just such an awful, evil decision.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: Tyler Robinson is being held without bail, is expected to make his first court appearance on Tuesday. We have a lot to talk about.

Joining us this morning, the former District Attorney for DeKalb County, Georgia, Robert James; Conservative commentator and Republican Georgia election board member Janelle King; and Renee Hall, she's the president of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, or Noble.

Thank you so much, all of you, for being with me. And let me start with you, Robert. What are you expecting as potentially additional charges, and do you see federal charges on the way?

ROBERT JAMES, FORMER DEKALB COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: Well, federal charges are possible, but typically when you have a murder case, it's prosecuted by the local DA. That's the low-hanging fruit. The state legislature has passed statutes. Anytime the federal government gets involved, there has to be jurisdiction. So they don't automatically have jurisdiction when a crime is committed. So it's going to have to come under some sort of crime that, you know, engages interstate commerce that gives the federal government a stake in the claim.

BLACKWELL: Do you think this is ripe for a death penalty case?

JAMES: I would not be surprised if the local prosecutor's office sought the death penalty. I would not be. But I think you really sort of have to reserve your opinion on that until you hear more facts. You know, whether this individual was mentally ill, you know, what was going on in his head, what was his motivation?

You know, clearly it's a murder if it's proven right? But when you start getting into death penalty, you start looking at the circumstances around the murder and why the murder took place.

BLACKWELL: And so many of those questions, obviously, at this point in the investigation do not have answers. And sources say that Robinson is not speaking with investigators. Let me come to you because this was an assassination at an outdoor venue.

[08:05:10]

We remember last July the attempt on the life of President Trump at an outdoor venue. As former law enforcement, former chief as well, are these places that these rallies can happen in the future? How does you secure these moving forward?

RENNE HALL, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL ORGANIZATION OF BLACK LAW ENFORCEMENT EXECUTIVES: Well, that's a great question, Victor, and I think first we need to start with the fact that political violence cannot be the language of disagreement when we look at where these places are held. Charlie Kirk was not an elected official. He was an individual who was a voice in the community. So the security around those venues were different than if it were a congressman or a president of the United States.

So what we have to focus on is what is the climate at the time of the individuals who are speaking or who are going to be present at these locations. There needs to be a security assessment done around those particular individuals. Usually, that happens if that is an elected official, because he was not -- those security measures were not in place, and it was basic for a college campus. And this is why the individual had the opportunity to commit this heinous act.

BLACKWELL: And Janelle, talk to me about climate. You, as I said, Georgia Elections Board 2024, you all tried to make some changes to rules before the election. What was that like? Did you receive threats? As a conservative black woman, I imagine that you are. You stand out. Talk to me about the reality.

JANELLE KING (R) GEORGIA ELECTION BOARD MEMBER: Yes, you know, it's really hard watching this, you know, if you know Charlie, that he is someone who push values. And the thing about it is us being a conservative voice in this world, unfortunately, it feels like death threats just comes with the territory.

I've gotten them. My friends have gotten them. I'm pretty sure by the end of the day, I may have more. The fact of the matter is, we've gotten to a point where we're beyond red or blue. This is not about Republican or Democrat. This, in my opinion, is about emotional maturity or the lack thereof.

If you can't look at someone, disagree with them, and still be able to have a conversation, still be able to operate with common decency, then that's a bigger problem. And one of the things that I like to point out is that being a person of faith is something that Charlie always talked about. You've had conversations. I know my husband and I have had conversations about what happens if this was to happen to one of us.

The fact of the matter is, we do rely on our faith. We do understand that in this world. There will be challenges, there will be tribulations, but you have to fight. And we know that God has overcome it all. And so we know that this is not our final resting place. And we take

joy and comfort in knowing that Charlie, along with others, will be with Christ.

BLACKWELL: Robert, I want you to listen to a friend, personal friend of Charlie Kirk, but also the FBI director. And we expect a certain decorum from those in law enforcement and the Department of Justice. Let's listen to what he said at the end of the news conference to.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KASH PATEL, FBI DIRECTOR: To my friend Charlie Kirk. Rest now, brother. We have the watch, and I'll see you in Valhalla.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: From the perspective of running the investigation if this becomes a federal case, and of course, he was there for the announcement of an arrest, does that give you pause to hear such a personal statement?

JAMES: Well, you have to be careful, right, when you're running an investigation of the law enforcement office. Anybody in law enforcement will tell you that, right? Impartiality is very important when you're looking at facts and determining who did what and what the motivation was, and that sort of thing. So you never want to put yourself in a position where, you know, lawyers get involved, right? And then you open yourself up to cross-examination in a courtroom about, you know, your perception or perspective. And it happens in high-profile homicide cases all the time.

You know, particularly like, for instance, you know, I've prosecuted cases where police officers were killed, right? And the same police department investigated those cases. And it's always a question when the officers are on the stand, right, whether or not, you know, their opinions are slanted or motivated by the grief or anger of what happened. And so it's the same type of scenario here. So you have to be careful.

BLACKWELL: Janelle, you just spoke so personally about Charlie Kirk. I wanted to get into this element of several conservatives now holding him up as the example of the way that political discourse should happen in this country. And so let me play a bit of the Charlie Kirk show, and then we'll talk.

[08:10:10]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHARLIE KIRK, AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE POLITICAL ACTIVIST: If I see a black pilot, I'm going to be like, boy, I hope he's qualified. Happening all the time in urban America, prowling blacks go around for fun, to go target white people. That's a fact. It's happening more and more.

If we would have said that Joy Reid and Michelle Obama and Sheila Jackson Lee, and Katanji Brown Jackson were affirmative action picks, we would have been called the racist. But now they're coming out and they're saying it for us. You do not have the brain processing power to otherwise be taken really seriously. You had to go steal a white person's slot to go be taken somewhat seriously.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: And so, Janelle, I wonder what you say to people who say that, you know, they condemn the shooting, they condemn political violence, and Charlie Kirk is not an example of how political discourse should move forward in this country. What do you say to that?

KING: Yes, you know, I think, unlike most people, I've seen the full extent of those conversations, and I understand where he was coming from a different perspective. However, what I think we have to point out is that this is not about individual perspective. This is about having a perspective overall, regardless -- irregardless of whether or not you agree or disagree with what he's saying, it's the fact that you can agree and disagree with what he's saying.

So at the end of it all, I think that what we're propping up is that he's someone who encouraged you to have your perspective, even if there's disagreement there. So we have to continue to do that. I want to hear more from people who don't agree or do not share the same views that I share. I like having those conversations. I feel like that's what makes America.

So I think what we need to make clear is that what we're propping up as conservatives is that there needs to be more healthy discourse in this country.

BLACKWELL: Renee, Senator Ruben Gallego was supposed to have a town hall, but he canceled it out of an abundance of caution. You speak with law enforcement executives across the country, help us understand the climate right now, the intensity across the U.S.

HALL: So when you look across the country at this level of violence, what we recognize is that this murder is not about Charlie Kirk. This is what happens when divisiveness and hate is left unchecked. And so what we are in law enforcement, working to do in communities, and especially in communities of color where we see that Charlie Kirk really spoke against on a number of occasions, is that we're trying to speak to our communities and calm the community, calm the conversation, because we're not getting that from the highest level in this office.

And so we know that there are some conversations that need to be had, some really tough conversations about hate-fueled violence in this country, about individuals having their own opinion. I agree with Janelle 100 percent. We should be able to agree without disagree -- being disagreeable. But we also need to understand that there are consequences to hate speech.

There's consequences for individuals to continue to push a narrative that promotes violence in this country. BLACKWELL: And I want to make sure, because people are going to hear

you say that there are consequences to hate speech. I want to give you an opportunity to separate those consequences from what happened to Charlie Kirk last week. You're not drawing a connection between those two.

HALL: I am not drawing a connection between violence, the level of violence. But individuals feel very passionate about that, and no one should lose their life because of this. But when we continue as a country to push this hate-fueled speech and this rhetoric, we're seeing the violence happen regardless to whether you're red and blue. And what are we going to do about it in black communities?

We recognize that historically, church bombings, the assassination of our political leaders in black communities, that should not be a blueprint. It should be a warning that we need to do something different in this country.

BLACKWELL: All right, everybody, stay with me. We've got more to talk about later in the show.

President Trump says he's putting his plans for Chicago to the side, and now he has his sights set on Memphis. The president also says that the city's mayor is happy about his plan to crack down on crime with the National Guard. Is that true? We'll ask Mayor Paul Young live next.

Plus perspective on a community's decision to hold events celebrating their Mexican culture this weekend despite the fear of ICE raids.

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[08:19:48]

BLACKWELL: Never mind Chicago. President Trump says he has picked a new next city for his crime crackdown.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: And so we're going to Memphis. I'm just announcing that now. And we'll straighten that out.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: National Guard.

TRUMP: The National Guard and anybody else we need. And by the way, we'll bring in the military too, if we need it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[08:20:05]

BLACKWELL: Joining us now is the mayor of Memphis, Paul Young. Mr. Mayor, thank you for your time here. Let me start with just some clarity on when specifically and how you learned that National Guard troops are coming to Memphis. MAYOR PAUL YOUNG (D) MEMPHIS: Yes, I learned earlier this week that it

was under consideration. I think Monday afternoon I got a call from the governor's office, and they informed me of the dialogue that was underway. Certainly, there were a couple of conversations that were happening all week trying to look at the form of how the support would come to the city, because the dialogue that I had been having was around how we can get more federal resources for FBI, DEA, ATF. And while those things are still under consideration, I learned that the National Guard is a part of what they are exploring as well.

And as you know, the authority to call the National Guard lies with the governor and the president. And so as mayor, my goal is to make sure that if they are indeed coming, that we have an opportunity to drive some of the decisions around how they engage in our community.

BLACKWELL: Did you have hard confirmation before the president announced it on the morning show yesterday?

YOUNG: No, that was the confirmation.

BLACKWELL: That was the confirmation you learned on Fox News. So, in the day since that announcement, have you had conversations with the administration? Have you had conversations with the governor's office about how many, when, where they'll be, what they'll do? Any more details?

YOUNG: No, those are the details that I believe we'll be talking about next week. Those are certainly the questions that I'm concerned about. They're the concerns of our community. We want to make sure that as these individuals come into our city and in our community, that they are able to engage in a way that is not threatening and that they are supportive to our law enforcement efforts.

We certainly understand the fears that are in our community. The last time the National Guard was in Memphis was 1968, at MLK's assassination, after MLK's assassination. And so we don't want to invoke those same images here.

BLACKWELL: I want to play for you Attorney General Pam Bondi on Tuesday, President Trump on Friday, and get your reaction and response.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAM BONDI, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: Chicago should begging Donald Trump for help to keep Chicago safe, yet they aren't. So we're going to go into a city, who wants us there.

TRUMP: Memphis is --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's the next city.

TRUMP: -- deeply troubled. And the mayor is happy. He's a Democrat mayor. The mayor is happy. And the governor of Tennessee. The governor is happy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: Memphis is a city that wants us there. The mayor is happy. What's your reaction to those characterizations?

YOUNG: Well, I'm certainly not happy about the National Guard. I am looking forward to trying to find ways to invest in the things that we're already doing to address crime in our city. We've seen significant reductions over the past two years since we've been in office, and we want to continue that work. We want more investment in the violence interrupters and the individuals that are out working to intervene and prevent crime before it takes place. We want more support for law enforcement in terms of investigations.

So those are the things that we do want. With regards to the National Guard, it is something that we don't have a choice in, and we're going to do all that we can to make sure that it has limited impact on our community.

BLACKWELL: So let me try to get some specificity here. You say you're not happy. I watched a news conference where you said you didn't ask for the National Guard. Do you not want the National Guard in Memphis? I mean, are you saying clearly, I don't want them here?

YOUNG: Yes, I mean, I think that statement has been clear. But at the end of the day, my goal is to make sure that if they are coming here, which we now know they are, that we are able to drive how they engage in our city.

BLACKWELL: And so what would be if you could draw the plan for the National Guard troops coming to Memphis, what specifically would you have them do? If you're asked by the governor or the president.

YOUNG: Support major events, traffic. And, you know, we have the Memphis Grizzlies, the Memphis Tigers, big events with a lot of people helping to support our law enforcement in that way. Helping law enforcement, whether it's being a part of our downtown command center, where we have cameras, and helping law enforcement review those cameras and call for backup when they see things happening. Those are the types of activities that I think would be helpful beautification in our neighborhoods and communities.

[08:25:09]

We know that blight is a significant contributor to crime, and if we are able to have support in addressing those things, then it could be beneficial to our community.

BLACKWELL: Memphis Mayor Paul Young, thank you.

YOUNG: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: All right. Coming up, reaction to that interview with my guests here at the desk. Plus, the President argues that cashless bail is to blame for crime making headlines in Memphis and Charlotte, and other places. We'll get into that next.

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[08:30:03]

BLACKWELL: So minutes ago, the mayor of Memphis told me he is, in fact not happy that President Trump says he plans to send the National Guard to Memphis to fight crime. Renee, Janelle and Robert are back.

Chief Hall, which I should have been calling you from the beginning of the show. Former Dallas Police Chief, the mayor says that this is not the way to fight crime. Who's right here?

HALL: From the perspective of law enforcement, as the president of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, crime should never be a partisan speaking point. When you look at Memphis has seen some reductions, some, you know, extremely low numbers compared to the previous years.

What is working? And if the president is truly interested in focusing on reducing crime, then there is a partnership between the mayor, the chief of police, the city of Memphis, to examine what's working. Is it education, is it jobs, is it training, is it a community effort alongside of the individuals who live there?

And it can never be performative. And it feels as if to the mayor, to the police chief, that this is performative in order to drive down crime. Is it anecdotal or is it empirical data? Because what happens is you're saturating an area with individuals who are from the National Guard who have completely different day jobs.

These individuals have no training as it relates to crime fighting. They are not familiar with the community. What does that look like for the community? And are we really talking about crime reductions or just performative measures for the camera.

BLACKWELL: Robert, the chief points out that there has been a reduction, but reduction from the highest violent crime rate in the country of cities with 250,000 more residents in 2024. So they're coming from a very high place of violent crime and dropping down, the mayor says 13 percent in overall crime.

Is this harder to fight rhetorically than D.C. was or Chicago was, considering the situation that Memphis facing?

JAMES: No, I don't think so. It just -- so one has to ask the question, right? How do you reduce crime? Right. You can't prosecute it away, you can't police it away. It's. It's multidisciplinary. It's multifaceted. You know, you've got issues of poverty, you've got issues of education, you've got issues of population density. Right.

And so, you know, it's oversimplified and kind of naive if you think that I'm just going to come in with a big stick and say, be good, right? And then the prosecutor's office is going to put everybody in jail and all of a sudden, nobody's going to commit crime anymore.

You know, we've been fighting crime in this country. There's been a war on crime for the last 40, 50 years, and crime hasn't gone down, it's gone up. You know, recently, you know, we've got, we've had some falls, but that approach just doesn't work.

I was a prosecutor for 17 years. Right. And you can prosecute crime as aggressively as you want, but ultimately, if you don't address those other issues of poverty, education, population density, so forth and so on, you're going to have high crime.In most of your cities that look like that have high crime.

BLACKWELL: Well, the president blames, in part, cashless bail. Here's what he said about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: The Democrats don't want it. Look, almost every city that's in trouble is run by Democrats. Cashless bail is a disaster. When they came out with that, and I think it started in New York, I have to tell you. But when they came out with, somebody kills somebody and the judge says, all right, come back to trial in 10 years and, you know, go out, and then he goes out and kill somebody else. Cashless bail has to be ended immediately.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: I'm a stay with you, former prosecutor.

JAMES: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: What do you say?

JAMES: He's wrong. He's absolutely wrong. I spent most of my -- I've spent 26 years in the criminal justice system. 17 as a prosecutor, the last several as a criminal defense lawyer. And what I can tell you is if a wealthy person's son gets arrested with a poor person's son committing the same crime, right?

Both of these young men have the same demographic, same education level. One just has a rich daddy, the other one has a poor daddy. One's going to sit in jail, right? Even though he's presumed innocent, he's going to sit in jail not because he hasn't received a bond or bail, but because he can't make it. And the other one's going to be out immediately, right?

So it's not about, you know, whether it increases crime or anything like that. It's about human rights and our jails not being a debtors prison.

BLACKWELL: Janelle, Brennan Center for Justice studied 33 jurisdictions between 2015 and 2021. They found that, quote, no statistically significant relationship between bail reform and crime rates. In other words, there's no reason to believe that bail reform has led to increased crime. Direct quote from that.

[08:35:02]

And it also is, as Robert pointed out, many opponents of cash bail say basic fairness. KING: Yes. So I can only speak to a conversation that I had with a

police officer who said to me that the cashless bail has posed a problem. And the reason why is because they find themselves rearresting people over and over again, which also leads to putting them in a position where they are concerned for their own safety.

Because when you have to arrest these people and then next thing you know, you're riding around and you see that same person right back on the street, it does pose a threat in some cases. So that's the conversation I have heard.

Not only that, but I think that what we're dealing with right now is that we have reduced consequences down to absolutely nothing to a certain degree. I mean, we have people who get arrested and it means nothing to them. You have the men in Chicago who are now posting TikTok videos saying things like, I hope they do bring the National Guard. We're going to fight back.

No one cares. Or no one has any type of respect for police or law enforcement anymore. So what we were doing is just not working. So we're at a position now where, unfortunately we have to do something else and we have to do it more aggressively and then see what happens.

I personally feel 100 percent confident that we are going to see a reduction in crime because we are already seeing it. And not only that, I think people are just going to feel safe.

BLACKWELL: All right, we got to wrap it there. Renee Hall, Janelle King, Robert James, thank you all. Disproportionate danger of women of color facing during pregnancy is an important issue. This morning we're introducing a champion for change who is doing something about it. That's next.

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[08:41:22]

BLACKWELL: All this week, CNN is highlighting people who are quietly working behind the scenes finding new ways to make life better for others. And that's what Myla Flores is doing for pregnant women in New York, specifically in the Bronx, where maternal mortality rates are significantly higher than the national average.

CNN's Abby Phillips shows how Myla is working to change that by providing holistic support to women in her community.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Part of like my anxiety when I was pregnant was that there was no birth center that was close by.

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN ANCHOR: I didn't realize how much support I would need with breastfeeding after.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's nice having a space to be able to let go. MYLA FLORES, FOUNDER, THE BIRTHING PLACE FOUNDATION: One of the things

I noticed about being a doula in the Bronx was that people didn't have access to the kind of care that they wanted.

PHILLIP (voice-over): Myla Flores journey to becoming a doula started when she was just 12 years old. Her teenage sister was pregnant and they were so close. She was there for every spirit step of the way.

FLORES: I was involved in the pregnancy, the labor. I had no idea at the time that great care was rare.

PHILLIP: Myla saw firsthand the disparities that play out all across the country. In the Bronx, the maternal mortality rates are significantly higher than they are in the rest of the United States. And so she started the birthing place.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When I started coming here, it felt like I was getting personalized care and it was more like holistic.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I felt really grateful for the services here because it made accessible.

FLORES: We're creating a mini version of a birth center. So our clinic offers all of the services just short of being able to catch babies and have people stay for a period after they've given birth. So I just place my palms here.

Hold that for the whole length of the contraction.

PHILLIP: When you train doulas to provide culturally responsive care, how does that change the experience of childbirth for your community?

FLORES: It really helps people feel more seen and heard and connected.

PHILLIP: This is like a workout.

FLORES: There's statistics that show that culturally aligned care, as well as access to midwives and doulas, help reduce mortalities and morbidities and unnecessary interventions.

It feels good. Even not pregnant, right?

PHILLIP: It feels so good. I'm inspired by the work that Myla is doing because having a doula changed my childbirth experience.

When I was pregnant with my daughter, that was the first time I learned that many black and brown women were choosing that option to find safer, more supported birth options.

STEPHANIE VIDAL, NEW MOM: I think that women in the Bronx don't get the care that they deserve because it's expected that you will just take what you get, and that's it. You have no options.

FLORES: Hi.

VIDAL: Going to the birthing place for my prenatal care, I felt like I was being seen by people who look like me.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm just going to check your blood pressure real quick.

VIDAL: OK. Everybody needs a Myla. She's family forever.

PHILLIP (voice-over): They're also taking this wraparound care into the community using the womb bus.

FLORES: We're going to go in there and get some stairs. We're able to have outreach opportunities where the doulas in the community can connect with the people seeking a range of support.

[08:45:06]

PHILLIP: You have big dreams for a birth center. What does a birth center look like for the birthing place?

FLORES: I want families to step into our future birth center and feel a sense of home comfort. No judgment. All people deserve access to this kind of care.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: For more, tune in to the Champions for Change one hour special hosted by Dr. Sanjay Gupta. It's tonight at 10:00 p.m. Eastern.

So there's a lot of concern in Latino communities right now. But in East Chicago, people are still making art. Coming up, why a group of dancers felt it was still important to celebrate their Mexican culture this weekend, even when many other communities have canceled their events because of immigration crackdown fears.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:50:24]

BLACKWELL: National Hispanic Heritage Month kicks off on Monday and this week in East Chicago. There are two parades and festival happening to celebrate Mexican Independence Day. There's a lot to celebrate, but there's also a lot of fear in Latino and immigrant communities. But while other places are canceling or postponing their gatherings, events in East Chicago are still going forward.

So for artist life this week, I spoke with a mother who's taken part with her 5-year-old and 13-year-old daughters. They're in a traditional dance troupe. And she says many other dancers have asked, why are they dancing? Why celebrate Mexican culture? Here's what she says.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARIANA SALAZAR, BALLET FOLKIORICO YOLOTZIN: My name is Mariana Salazar and I am a member of Ballet Folklorico Yolotzin of East Chicago, Indiana. In these dances, you see a lot of states of Mexico being represented, from their outfits to the colors that they use to the rebozos to the hairstyles.

It's more than just being on stage. It is about honoring who we are and honoring our ancestors and honoring our heritage. And I could tell you that for my children, watching their grandparents, watching them dance is amazing.

To be honest, everybody's scared. We're being discriminated against. There's a lot of misleading stereotypes about us. We're being misunderstood. A lot of events were canceled. We are proud to say that we will be marching in two parades this weekend. We can't just start canceling things. We can't just give in to fear.

We have to continue and we have to show the world that we're here, that we matter and that our culture is beautiful. We have to stand up for ourselves and we have to keep celebrating our culture.

Especially right now, no fight was ever won by just standing still. We have to keep marching. We have to keep our voices up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: So that group is participating in the parade in Hammond, Indiana, today and at noon tomorrow in East Chicago, Indiana. They're also performing Sunday evening at the East Chicago Marina. For more info, check out their Facebook page.

All right, coming up, black pilots are rare. So are pilots from Tuskegee and a Tuskegee air woman even more so. But coming up, you'll meet one of the first pilots to complete training with the legendary program in decades.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:57:18]

BLACKWELL: Quick history lesson for you. Next week marks the 85th anniversary of the Selective Service and Training Service Act. The name is boring, but stick with me. That act required all men between 21 and 35 to register for the draft. And this time America really did all men, no matter their race.

One year later, in 1941, the first aviation cadets were trained at Tuskegee. They're the origin of the Tuskegee Airmen, the first Black military pilots. 80 years later, there are a new group of Tuskegee Airmen and the first Tuskegee airwoman pilot Kembriah Parker. She now has a private pilot's license after the HBCU relaunched their four year aviation science degree program.

I spoke to Cambria about being part of this Full circle moment in history.

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KEMBRIAH PARKER, NEWEST "TUSKEGEE AIRWOMAN": Inside of the museum, there's, like, a big P51 Mustang just hanging from the building. And I thought the plan was very nice. And then I went inside of the gift shop and bought my own personal P51 Mustang that you had to build together. So I knew already then building the pieces of the plane, I wanted to do something with engineering, aerospace. And then this opportunity came along with this aviation science program.

You know, I am a female, so Tuskegee airwoman. You know, that has a nice little ring to it. You know, when you -- when people say Tuskegee Airmen, they always say airmen. You just never really always hear air woman. So Tuskegee airwoman.

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BLACKWELL: And this is why telling the full story of America in our museums across the country is so important. The president of Tuskegee credits Alabama's Republican Senator Katie Britt for securing $6.7 million to fund the relaunch of the school's aviation program.

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DR. MARK A. BROWN, PRESIDENT AND CEO, TUSKEGEE UNIVERSITY: We break barriers, right? I mean, we. I don't need to remind everyone that the Tuskegee Airmen begin with an experiment. Could people of color fly complex airplanes? It turns out that not only could they fly but they would fly them over European skies, defend the nation well, and break all of those barriers.

So when I hear that Kembriah and I see her around the campus knowing that she did that, it seems altogether appropriate that we are still breaking barriers. And it starts, by the way, with inspiration, right? Inspiring people to the art of the possible.

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BLACKWELL: Kembriah says her hope now is to either fly for UPS or commercial carrier. 46 students are currently in the program. 10 flew this summer. Seven of those, 10 have their licenses like Cambria.

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The other 3 are getting their licenses in just a few days. So Kembriah Parker and the new Tuskegee Airmen and women --