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First of All with Victor Blackwell

Man Suffered Brain Injury And Severe Bruising After ICE Arrest In Virginia; Newly-Appointed Mississippi Judge Reacts To Backlash Over Muslim Faith; First Trailer Drops For New Sequel Series "A Different World"; LAPD Officer Charged With Illegally Recording Coworkers Files Civil Lawsuit Against Department. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired August 22, 2026 - 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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[08:00:37]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: First of all, the Pentagon risks doing the legacy of Doris Miller and his family wrong. And that's a shame. There is no doubt that he deserves as many of the highest honors as the military can give him.

This is a Navy sailor who went from mess attendant, one of the only jobs open to black men in the Navy during World War II, to war hero. He helped his wounded commanding officer during the attack on Pearl Harbor. Then with no training, he took control of anti-aircraft guns and shot down a Japanese warplane. He was the first black man to earn the Navy Cross, 1942.

That's the Navy's highest medal. Yet there is doubt about how and if the military will honor him now.

You see, in 2020, the Navy announced that Miller would be the first black American to have an aircraft carrier named after him. That carrier is under construction. The honor had previously been only for former presidents. But now we're learning there may be a change of plans.

According to reporting, first on CNN, the U.S. Navy is now considering renaming the aircraft carrier that would have been called the USS Doris Miller. And sources say it could be renamed to honor President Donald Trump.

There has never been aircraft carrier named after a sitting president. And by the way, Miller's family says they had no idea any of these discussions were happening.

We're going to speak live to one of his relatives in a moment and to a former secretary of the Navy. So what happens to Doris Miller's honor?

One source says the Navy is looking to rename a different warship after him. And the Navy is recommending him for the highest military award, the Medal of Honor. Now, the Medal of Honor is an award that Miller's family has been pushing for years. Our show covered it back in 2024.

And according to the office of Maryland Representative Kweisi Mfume, Congress has introduced a resolution every year since 2015 to posthumously award the medal to Dorie Miller. It has not been awarded yet. Here to share his reaction, Thomas Bledsoe, Doris Miller's great nephew. And also with us, Carlos Del Toro, the former Secretary of the Navy during the Biden administration. Gentlemen, welcome to you.

And Thomas, let me start with you. Welcome back. I should say to you, I know your family prioritizes the Medal of Honor, and I want to talk about that in a moment. But first, I watched that whole 2020 ceremony from Pearl Harbor. You were there. Your family was there.

One member of your family called this an historic memorial. What's your reaction to the potential reversal of that memorial?

THOMAS BLEDSOE, GREAT NEPHEW OF DORIS MILLER: One of the reactions that I had with the potential reversal of the memorial is really sadness and went through the spectrum of emotions in regards to it, because we look at that day as a day that was celebratory, but then also a day in which Doris Miller was recognized in a great capacity.

And to hear individuals who not only serve in the Navy, but individuals who are working on the ship, their stories and what it meant to them touched our hearts, and again, to hear conversations that the name may be changed. It's something that we hope will not come to fruition, as we really hope that the Navy and our president will continue to keep forward with the naming of the ship to be Doris Miller.

BLACKWELL: Thomas, at this event, this was held on Dr. King Day in 2020, there was no shortage of leaning into civil rights and progress and justice. They talked about Dorie Miller being the son of a sharecropper, the descendant of slaves. Here's some of the speech from the then acting Secretary of the Navy.

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THOMAS MODLY, FORMER U.S. ACTING SECRETARY OF THE NAVY: With this naming, we honor all of our enlisted personnel and all who served in that capacity throughout the history of our Navy and Marine Corps. They are the backbone of our naval force, the steel spine of our ships.

[08:05:05]

And perhaps most importantly, they are the faces of our great and diverse country.

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BLACKWELL: I want to play another element because that was the wrong one. Play the other side. From the Secretary of the Navy, please.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MODLY: It is an honor that he, his family, and all those who struggle for civil rights within our Navy and our nation duly deserve. And it is an honor I am extremely privileged to have the opportunity and authority to bestow.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: The struggle for civil rights. The first aircraft carrier to be named for a black man in this country. In that context, what do you think of the message that this reversal might send?

BLEDSOE: You know, the message this reversal may send is one that I believe is impactful to a lot of individuals. When it comes to Doris Miller and his story and his heroism, it really speaks to how we as a country can be united as one. And when Doris took the steps that he took, it wasn't about his place in society. It was about saving his other brothers and sisters in this moments of early morning.

And so, for the conversation of a reversal, for someone who has done so much for our country and did the above and beyond moment, it's one that would rock a lot of our society. We've had calls from people local, national and international about this potential change, and we've had a lot of support. And I know this means a lot, not only to the family, but to others.

Doris story speaks to the hearts of Americans. Doris's story speaks to the heart of humans. And with that in mind, it's important to make sure that we can continue moving forward with naming the ship after him.

BLACKWELL: Mr. Secretary, this would have been the first aircraft carrier named for an enlisted sailor. And so the reversal in that context, and potentially for a sitting president. What's your view?

CARLOS DEL TORO, FORMER U.S. SECRETARY OF NAVY: Well, Victor, first of all, thank you for having me. It's great to be here from Athens, Greece the bedrock of democracy and Western civilization. You know, Victor, ironically, then Assistant acting Secretary of the Navy, Tom Modly, who's actually a Naval Academy classmate of mine, I think he made a very brave and courageous decision to honor not just African Americans serving in our Navy, not just to honor Dorie Miller, but to honor the memory of all Americans and the attacks on Pearl Harbor that took place on that fateful day. And Dorie Miller certainly set the example of courageousness on that day in the most bravest of ways. And so he deserves to have that ship named after him.

And there's another tradition in our Navy, Victor, quite frankly, that we should abide by, is that traditionally, secretaries of the navies and even acting secretaries of the navies, as there is now, should honor the decisions that were made by those that were their predecessors. I certainly honored the choices that were made by my predecessor.

So the renaming of this ship I find to be totally unnecessary. If they want to name an aircraft carrier after Donald Trump, well, then they should look at CVN84 and beyond as a choice to name an aircraft carrier. But to dishonor Dorie Miller and his memory and the service of all African Americans on all Americans would be an immense injustice to all of us, I believe.

BLACKWELL: Do you think there's some special significance of this being named after a sitting president the first time this would have happened?

DEL TORO: Well, I just don't think why it's that necessary. I mean, he already has an entire, accordingly, an entire class of battleships that are to be named after him, the Trump class of battleships. So I don't see the emergent need to name an aircraft carrier now while he's still a sitting president. It's never done before and it really isn't necessary.

BLACKWELL: Thomas Bledsoe, former Secretary Carlos Del Toro, thank you for being with me. And again, as part of CNN's reporting is that the Navy is now recommending him for the Medal of Honor, the highest decoration for military valor. Final award of that is up to Congress and approval from President Trump. Thank you both.

So a man was severely injured, but he has no memory of what happened. He says he was tased during his ICE arrest but woke up in a hospital looking like this. And no one is telling him how he got hurt. The Department of Homeland Security is responding now. We'll get reaction from his attorney, next.

Plus, my conversation with the cast of "A Different World." The first trailer just dropped for the sequel. They call it a continuation, premiering soon.

[08:10:00]

And the returning cast is singing the praises for the up and coming stars making their debut.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's interesting because they are reflective of where we were. A different world was the biggest thing for us. The most, certainly the most exposure. And we were all together, experiencing it together. And they are doing that as well.

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BLACKWELL: There's a man in Virginia who says ICE agents arrested him and left him with brutal injuries. But he says he has no memory of what happened to him between the confrontation and waking up in the hospital. Now, I'm going to warn you that the pictures that I'm about to show, they are disturbing.

This is Jose Mejia Hernandez. He's 45 years old. He was arrested by ICE agents in Arlington. His attorney says that the arrest left him looking like this and with a traumatic brain injury. Multiple stitches, severe pain, and he's being forced to spend hours in government offices just to get the ankle monitor taken off so that he can undergo treatment like an MRI test.

But as we've seen before, the Department of Homeland Security is telling a much different story. A spokesperson told us in a statement. Allegations that he was unconscious and woke up in a hospital bed are false. According to officers, they rendered aid, then asked the individual who was responsive if he was OK after evading arrest and followed their training.

DHS says that Mejia Hernandez first entered the U.S. illegally from Mexico in 2006, illegally reentered in 2008, and was convicted in 2020 of public intoxication. Carlos Jurado is with us now. He's the attorney for Jose Mejia Hernandez. Thank you for being with me.

This is bizarre, and I just want to first understand. Tell me the severity of the injuries, because he looks like he's in a lot of pain.

CARLOS JURADO, ATTORNEY FOR JOSE MEJIA HERNANDEZ: Yes, they're pretty severe. And actually, the pictures don't do it justice. When you see him up close, you just see the brutality in which he was beaten that day. I mean, there was even pieces of his arms, of his hands that were missing, and I'm talking about skin missing, that in fact, yesterday we found out, because of the depth of that, of those injuries, they're becoming pretty infected and needs treatment for that.

BLACKWELL: And so this is the -- he doesn't remember what happened. From what I understand, he was walking toward a bus stop, approached by ICE agents and tell us what he knows of the story from there.

JURADO: Yes, so what he knows is he crossed a major street. As soon as he crossed that street, there was a -- a truck that approached him very quickly. And out of that truck, two or more men jumped out. And he says he panicked. As normal human beings do. If you see someone coming at you violently, you're going to panic and you're going to react.

And so he turned around to run, and he was hit with a taser. And that's the last thing that he remembers until hours later, he woke up in a hospital room.

BLACKWELL: And so he woke up in the hospital room. Were there ICE agents there? Were doctors able to tell him anything?

JURADO: So that's the troubling part of the story, is that yes, there were ICE agents there, but they were bedside, like right next to his bed. And so from what he could tell the medical staff at that hospital, they were very reluctant to speak to him. And he didn't really know what the severity of his injuries were until he got up, went to the mirror, looked at his face and saw how bad it was. Returns asked the ICE agents what had happened to him.

They said they had no idea. They were just assigned bedside to him. And the medical staff also didn't know what was going on with him, what happened, how he got there. It was just a big mystery for everyone.

BLACKWELL: And so let me read more of this statement from DHS to us. On August 11, 2026, ICE arrested Jose Mejia Hernandez, a criminal illegal alien from Mexico. During the arrest, he attempted to flee from the scene, requiring ICE to use necessary force to gain control of the situation. He was taken into custody and later to a hospital out of precaution.

There are no details that explain a scuffle, a fight, and our experience as a show team communicating with DHS, when they believe that their officers or their agents are in danger, they will say it. As we saw with Rene Good and Alex Pretti, they make allegations. In this statement there is no allegation that he was some threat to ICE officers.

And so what are you doing to try to get that part of the story? Is there any body worn camera? Any surveillance that's available?

JURADO: That's overheaded at this point. You know, it's been a little bit over a week since this happened, since I became aware of the situation.

[08:20:02]

So the first thing here was, let's get him the proper medical care and let's see if he can heal a little bit so that we can have a complete conversation with him as to what has gone on and let's see if he recalls anything. But again, as to the statement, look, this is typical. This is typical of the way that they respond. This is not our first case where ICE has used this type of brutality against our clients.

And they'll come out and they'll make allegations that are unfounded. And I want to be very clear as to the force that was used. Our client, Mr. Mejia, he is 4 foot 11, 125 pounds. This man is not a Division 1 athlete. He's a very mild manner man. So if they're -- if they want to claim that he posed a threat to them, I don't know what officers were out there trying to take this man down.

BLACKWELL: Yes. And they have not claimed in this statement that he was a threat to them. Attorney Carlos Jurado, thank you so much. And we're of course going to follow this story until we get an answer about what happened to your client.

So there is a new data point on the rise of open Islamophobia here in the US. A newly appointed judge is facing threats and calls to be removed from office because she is Muslim. She'll join us live next.

And later I'll speak to the LAPD officer who blew the whistle on alleged racism in the department and now he is facing charges.

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[08:26:05]

BLACKWELL: The appointment of a municipal court judge usually isn't newsworthy. A new one was just named in the town of Benoit, population fewer than 400, according to the Associated Press. This new judge has a background in immigration law. She was admitted to the state bar there in Mississippi in 2017.

She's a graduate of Mississippi College School of Law, now called Mississippi Christian University. She's an American citizen. Her name is Assma Ali, and she is Muslim. And despite all that I just listed off, it's that last detail, her faith, that is leading the calls for Judge Ali to be removed from her new job.

Among her critics, Republican Mississippi lawmakers. State Senator Michael McClendon has called out Judge Ali directly in multiple recent posts, including one demanding the town of Benoit, quote, call a special meeting and take every lawful step necessary to remove her from the municipal bench.

I believe in God we trust, not Muhammad. He also announced he'd be introducing a bill in the state legislature called the "Don't Sharia Mississippi Act." Among the proposals, a courtroom head covering ban. We reached out to State Senator McClendon to invite him on the show to explain his proposed law and to address his attacks on Judge Ali. We didn't hear back.

This is coming in an environment where Islamophobic rhetoric seems like a part of normal discourse now. Here's just one example from Fox News this week.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know a lot of people, particularly on Twitter, particularly some of these young men, are saying the Muslim problem, the Islamic takeover, that's a problem for Europe. It's not happening here. It happens very quickly. If you get your first Muslim senator with this El-Sayed, that's not going to look good for the United States. It is a slippery slope.

LAURA INGRAHAM, FOX NEWS HOST: Secular Muslims have done great things in our country, but this seems like a very different path we're going on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Yes. Back at Benoit in the case of Judge Ali, city leaders there have put out a statement in support of her saying that being Muslim is not a lawful basis for denying or terminating the appointment. Based on such, she meets the qualifications to serve as a municipal court judge in the state of Mississippi and for the city of Benoit or any other city in Mississippi for that matter.

And we are pleased to have her. Judge Assma Ali is with us now for her first television interview. Thank you for being with me. I've read part of what State Senator McClendon has posted online.

He's posted several times about you. There are officials in other states posting about you, posting your picture. What has that meant for you personally? JUDGE ASSMA ALI, APPOINTED MUNICIPAL COURT JUDGE IN BENOIT, MISSISSIPPI: Well, good morning, Victor, and thank you for having me. I honestly just want to focus on the positive. As an American, I'm just ready to uphold my oath and to serve the individuals of Benoit and to do what I was appointed to do. I don't allow negativity to affect me in any way. You know, I'm just ready to serve and to uphold my oath.

BLACKWELL: Mississippi state officials and some of the other officials outside of the state who are targeting you, they say that this is part of their fight to keep Sharia law out of public life.

What do you say to those who cite your appointment? And again, you're a municipal court judge in Benoit, 300 and some population. What do you say to those who say that this is some creep of some sort into public life in the US?

ALI: Of course. Of course. And honestly, I can get it. Sometimes what's new can be scary.

[08:30:00]

But as a municipal court judge, we don't make laws. That's left to Congress and the legislators. As a municipal court judge, I will enforce the law of the U.S. constitution and only the U.S. constitution. There's no place for Sharia law in the U.S. constitution. And for anyone that has any fear, rest assured, I am only going to enforce the U.S. constitution as it is the oath that I took about 10 years ago when I was sworn in as an attorney and recently when I was appointed as a municipal judge.

And honestly, as an American, that is the only oath that I have ever taken and I will stand by it.

BLACKWELL: This is one of the social media posts from State Senator Michael McClendon. Set religion completely aside for a moment. The very next sentence, Mississippi's newest hijab wearing Muslim judge, Assma Ali. I don't know when he set it aside in that post. He goes on, as I said to write, I believe in God we trust, not Muhammad. Did you expect this reaction?

ALI: I did not. But I will not allow it to make me bitter, but rather to make me better. I'm ready to serve and to uphold my oath that I took when I was sworn in as a judge. I've lived all my life in the United States. I was born here and I took one oath and I stand by it.

And as a municipal judge, if I make a decision that the individual disagrees with, we have the appeals court. And that's the great thing about the United States. There's always alternatives and there's always higher courts.

And for me as a municipal judge, I will only adhere to the U.S. constitution, but I will not allow negativity or allow any bitterness to make me -- to allow me to not be positive about it. I want people to judge me for my character, for my integrity. And as a former Rotarian, I'm all about serving. So I'm ready to serve the city of Benoit and I do appreciate them for staying gaming with me and, and I'm ready just to start.

BLACKWELL: Yes, I mean I've read a lot about you this week and you are Mississippi down. I mean from birth to where we are now, through the bar, through college. And so it is awful that this is -- is happening to you. I thank you for talking with me about this.

ALI: Yes, of course.

BLACKWELL: I understand that there have been some unkind things beyond what we've talked about here that's been on social that have been coming your way. So Judge Assma Ali, I thank you for the conversation.

ALI: Thank you, Victor.

BLACKWELL: A trailer for "A Different World" just dropped. I am seated for a new semester, finally at Hillman College. I think you will be too. After checking out this special peek I got to the sitcom sequel and my conversation with some of its new stars.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't want to give too much away, but we are going to cover topics that are, you know, we see in the news and the things that are going around going on in the world around us. So, we're hoping to do justice to that legacy the same way that "A Different World" did when it was first aired.

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[08:38:21]

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Welcome to Hillman, the preeminent HBCU in the country.

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BLACKWELL: Hey, you can call it a comeback, but don't call it a reboot. Decades after "A Different World" wrapped its original run, Hillman College is being reintroduced to a new generation with an upcoming sequel series. I recently got the chance to visit the set, and I spoke with the new students and returning stars.

Here's what they all told me about this new take on a show that inspired so many young people, including me, to go to an HBCU.

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BLACKWELL: It's been almost 40 years.

CREE SUMMER, ACTRESS, "FREDDIE BROOKS": Watch it.

BLACKWELL: That's why I came in really gently on 40. SUMMER: It still hurts.

BLACKWELL: All in 40 years.

JASMINE GUY, ACTRESS: No matter how gently you say. Don't say you weren't born yet.

SUMMER: Yes.

BLACKWELL: No, I was born.

GUY: That's why I draw the line.

BLACKWELL: No, no. I was certainly born. I watched the first run.

As a fan, this feels like it's been a long time coming. How does this feel for you?

SUMMER: We've talked about it and had discussions for years, but it just always seemed like an impossibility. And so I think eventually we all kind of became naysayers about it. We thought, oh, this is never going to happen.

Yes. When it came up this time, I was like, sure. Really?

SUMMER: That's true. Yes.

GUY: Because I was telling Debbie, y'all better hurry up before I turn 70.

SUMMER: Yes. If you don't mind.

GUY: Because I'm having trouble learning my lines now. We've been away for a while, baby, if we have to prove it. But we're having so much fun with each other. And we've been with each other in real life.

[08:40:00]

SUMMER: We hang out on purpose.

GUY: but our characters haven't been together for a while.

BLACKWELL: Where do we find Whitley Gilbert in 2026? Who is she?

GUY: Whitley has become a beauty mogul and she and Dwayne Wayne are still married. They have two older children and a third daughter that's going to Helmley (ph).

BLACKWELL: And where do we find Freddie Brooks in 2026?

SUMMER: Winifred Freddie Brooks is a tenured professor who's been practicing law for three decades, and she is beloved by her students.

That's why everything from your dating apps to your TikTok algorithms are designed to keep us empathetically disconnected.

The creative teams on our show, I know that they watch the show. They either grew up on it or they did their research.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was spending money for a good reason. Hello. Because of me. Now Hillman is trending in a positive way this time.

BLACKWELL: Talk to me about Deborah.

MALEAH JOI MOON, ACTRESS, "DEBORAH WAYNE": Deborah Wayne is the youngest child of Dwayne Wayne and Whitley Gilbert. I describe her as like a beautiful mixture and like the splitting image between both of her parents. So we have Whitley's fabulousness and her, like, lovable sense of over the top and like, grandeur and things like that. But then we also have Dwayne Wayne's heart and his groundedness.

CORNELL YOUNG IV, ACTOR, "SHAQUILLE JOHNSON: My bad for missing camp last week.

Coach Shaquille Johnson. He's young, 18, son of Ryan Johnson. He is at an age where him and his father are starting to butt heads a little more because he's becoming a man and, you know, only one lion can lead. You know what I mean?

BLACKWELL: And Rashida Duvall.

ALIJAH KAI, ACTRESS, "RASHIDA DUVALL: Rasheeda Duvall is a know it all. OK.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mom, this is my roommate, Rasheeda.

GUY: And where are you from?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Compton.

GUY: Watch her.

KAI: She's strong witted. She has some goofiness to her. She's a nerd. Very unexperienced when it comes to the love, but she's more than willing to try.

BLACKWELL: There is an expectation of what this new series will be. Does that create pressure? Does that create excitement?

YOUNG: Come on, Warren.

MOON: I think it's a little bit of both. The need to strive for excellence like the original show did, but also the excitement of being able to bring our flavor to it as, like, contemporary people on. The show is so beautiful and it's a wonderful, wonderful legacy to be a part of.

BLACKWELL: Is this a sequel or is it a reboot?

YOUNG: It's a continuation.

KAI: Yes.

MOON: Yes. YOUNG: It's a continuation. You know, just like life, everything evolves and so we just see an evolution.

KAI: They're so talented. I am certain that America's going to fall in love with them just like they did us.

BLACKWELL: How's it feel to have Ms. Allen back as part of this iteration of the story of Hillman?

GUY: Yes, she has to be. That's my mom. I was going to say she has to be.

BLACKWELL: I mean, would you have done it without her?

GUY: No.

SUMMER: No.

What Debbie Allen brought, she's so smart. And what Felicia Pride is bringing as well is we sock it to you with the political truth, but then we catch you with humor, and it's that incredible balance that different world always have.

In a world lacking love, who have we become?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sociopaths.

SUMMER: Oof. Oof. Well, Mr. Rodale is not wrong. Love is the heartbeat of liberation.

FELICIA PRIDE, "A DIFFERENT WORLD" EXECUTIVEZ PRODUCER, SHOWRUNNER, WRITER: We felt like, as a team, we couldn't have -- we couldn't redo or continue a different world without having a political and social lens. We called it consciousness. What does it mean to live in this current political climate? It's also micro.

What does it mean to live with a learning disability? What does it mean to be able to navigate the world in a particular skin? But then we also have the universal things that we loved about the original show as well, the themes of belonging and becoming and love and friendship and sisterhood and brotherhood.

BLACKWELL: I know I felt something coming into the pit. Right. And I only saw it on television.

SUMMER: Yes.

BLACKWELL: What did you feel when you came into this version of this space?

GUY: I mean, look at it. We couldn't believe our eyes.

SUMMER: I mean, it's so hip.

GUY: It's so glorious. SUMMER: Yes. One thing I loved about "A Different World," past and present, is that at home, as a black person, you get to see yourself. And that is so important. It's so important that we are represented. And it's so important to see a reflection of yourself, because when you see a reflection of yourself, you get electrified and you realize what you have the potential and possibility to do. You go, that's me. I'm going to college.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Man, that was fun. All right, so there's actually so much more we talked about, but because we only have so much time on TV, I didn't fit it all there. So I'm about to post a longer edit on my socials. Go to Instagram first, because that's what'll show up first.

Check it out. Let me know what you think. The premiere is nearly a month away.

[08:45:02]

Episodes of "A Different World" start streaming September 24th on Netflix. We'll be right back.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a different world than where you come from. It's a different world than where you come from.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: This story felt backwards from jump. An LAPD officer recorded his colleagues making alleged racists, sexist, homophobic remarks. And it was the whistleblower facing jail time for doing it so secretly.

Officer Daniel Flores gave about 90 recordings to superiors last year.

[08:50:02]

And last month, Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman, his office filed 16 felony eavesdropping charges against Flores. This week major update. The DA said that he reduced them to misdemeanors after considering the criticism.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NATHAN J. HOCHMAN, LOS ANGELES DISTRICT ATTORNEY: So we thought, okay, it is so important to make sure that legitimate whistleblowers are incentivized to come forward. And we thought we have to deal with the charges in this case that have sent the wrong message. That's, you know, this is the live and learn. Because we thought we had made it crystal clear what we were deterring, which is illegal conduct, and what we were incentivizing. That line got blurred. So now we have to go back and make sure it is absolutely crystal clear what is happening in this case.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Officer Daniel Flores is with us now, along with his attorney, Alan Jackson. Gentlemen, welcome to you both.

Daniel, let me start with you. So the D.A. dropped the 16 charges, or at least reduced them to 16 misdemeanors, but he says that you should still face consequences.

You are a law enforcement officer who broke the law there in California. What's your view of how this has happened over the last year now and where your case stands now?

DANIEL FLORES, LAPD OFFICER FACING CHARGES: Well, it's definitely been a tough year. Do I agree with the total outcome? Obviously not, because there's still 16 misdemeanors over my head. But, you know, I had to do the right thing morally and ethically.

There was so much evil going on within the walls of LAPD. Something had to be done. I had to take a stand. I had to stand up for what was right, because I didn't take an oath to the police department. I took an oath to protect the citizens of Los Angeles. And that's what I was going to do. I was going to protect the city of L.A. and the citizens that we serve.

That is our job. That is what we do. We serve and protect the citizens of L.A., even if sometimes you have to sit in the hot seat. And that's what I did. Did I ever expect it to go this way? Absolutely not.

BLACKWELL: Alan, let me come to you. The D.A. said the message that whistleblowers who engaged in lawful means to gather evidence was being lost, he says, in the media and with the community. Here's more from his announcement.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOCHMAN: The response back in many different quarters, whether it was from community members, elected officials, various individuals, was that this type of prosecution, because we used felony charges that could result in state prison, would actually chill legitimate whistleblowers who were potentially thinking of coming forward to because they would be worried about being criminally prosecuted from the District Attorney's office.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: So now reducing them to misdemeanors, you think this is no harm, no foul, that concern has been erased, Alan?

ALAN JACKSON, ATTORNEY: Not at all. Not at all. I think it's an important story because it's a story, at the end of the day, it's a story of courage, Daniel showing the courage to go after, to root out evil, to root out bigotry and bias and misogyny and homophobia within the walls and the halls of LAPD, and then getting prosecuted and persecuted himself for doing exact. No, the message is an awful message. We're going to protect the bad cops by going after the good cops. That's the message that's been sent. At the end of the day, I'm happy that the DA's office has reconsidered. I'm very disturbed and troubled that the charges were brought in the first place. No charges should have ever been brought. He didn't commit a crime. He was doing exactly that which we want good cops to do.

I mean, that's why we have them, you know, with a badge and a gun and with the authority that they've got so that they can, when they see bigotry or bias or whatever, whatever other misdeed is going on, that they root that out and they report it the correct way, which is exactly what Daniel did. And then he found himself being marched into court facing charges which have been now basically completely dismantled. Which we're happy about.

BLACKWELL: Yes. Because I don't want the secondary point here to be that you heard some things from fellow officers that made you concerned, Daniel, about their impact on how they do their job and the people that they're charged to protect and serve.

And so my question two part here. Do you regret doing this? And now are you able to do your job? I mean, they now know that you recorded what they said and took it to higher ups.

FLORES: No, I do not regret what I did. And I hope I inspired others to stand up and take a stand. Even if you may have to go and sit in the hot seat for a little bit, it's worth it. Because we as a nation, racism, there's no room for that, especially in law enforcement.

And we have to take a stand. And that's the bottom line.

[08:55:02]

Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, you know, they took a stand and we should model those individuals. And I hope through my story, I hope that I inspire others to come forward and not be afraid, not be afraid to do the right thing because in the end it's morally and ethically right.

BLACKWELL: Officer Daniel Flores, attorney Alan Jackson, I thank you both for sharing your story.

Remember, if you see something or you say someone that I should see, tell me. I'm on Instagram, TikTok, X, Bluesky and you can listen to our show as a podcast. First of All, is also now streaming live and available anytime on the CNN app. For more information, visit CNN.com/watch.

Thanks for joining me. I'll see you back here next Saturday at 8:00 a.m. Eastern. Smerconish is up next.