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>>> THERE IS ONLY ONE SENATE RACE LEFT IN THE NATION.
I PROMISE.
I PROMISE. IT’S THE RUNOFF ELECTION IN
MISSISSIPPI SET FOR NEXT TUESDAY
BETWEEN THE INCUMBENT APPOINTED
REPUBLICAN SENATOR CINDY HYDE
SMITH AND THE CHALLENGER, FORMER
DEMOCRATIC CONGRESSMAN AND
SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE MIKE
ESPY.
ESPY. THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A PRETTY
EASY RACE FOR HYDE SMITH, A
REPUBLICAN RUNNING IN A DEEP
SOUTH STATE THAT TRUMP WON BY 18
POINTS.
POINTS. BUT THEN HYDE SMITH STARTED
RUNNING INTO TROUBLE OF HER OWN
MAKING.
MAKING. SHE WAS CAUGHT ON CAMERA SAYING
IT’S A GREAT IDEA TO MAKE IT
HARDER FOR LIBERAL FOLKS TO
VOTE.
VOTE. SHE WAS FOUND TO HAVE POSED IN A
CONFEDERATE SOLDIER’S HAT AND A
GUN.
GUN. SHE MADE THIS UNBELIEVABLE
COMMENT.
COMMENT. >> IF HE INVITED ME TO A PUBLIC
HANGING I’D BE ON THE FRONT ROW.
>> VOUCHING FOR HER FRIEND
THERE, IF HE INVITED ME TO A
PUBLIC HANGING, I’D BE ON THE
FRONT ROW.
FRONT ROW. THAT COMMENT CROSSED THE LINE
FOR A NUMBER OF COMPANIES,
INCLUDING WALMART.
INCLUDING WALMART. AND NOW TO A BIZARRE THAT TOOK
PLACE LAST NIGHT IN THE ONE AND
ONLY DEBATE BETWEEN THE SENATE
CANDIDATES.
CANDIDATES. IT WAS NO ORDINARY DEBATE.
HYDE-SMITH DEMANDED NO AUDIENCE
AND NO PRESS BE PRESENT.
THAT THE DEBATE BE ORGANIZED BY
THE MISSISSIPPI FARM BUREAU
FEDERATION WHOSE TOP MEMBERS
HAVE ALL DONATED TO HYDE-SMITH.
BUT THE NOTE PADS CANDIDATES
WERE SUPPOSED TO USE TO TAKE
NOTES DURING THE DEBATE.
HYDE-SMITH’S CAMPAIGN DEMANDED
ACCESS TO THEIR NOTE PAD AN HOUR
EARLY AND THEY APPEARED TO USE
IT FOR A CHEAT SHEET: CHECK OUT
THESE HUGE PILE OF NOTES IN
FRONT OF HYDE SMITH.
SHE REPEATEDLY LOOKED DOWN AT
HER NOTES THROUGHOUT THE DEBATE
THOUGH AT TIMES IT DIDN’T SEEM
TO HELP TOO MUCH.
>> TONIGHT YOU HAVE HEARD TWO
CLEARLY DIFFERENT, OPPOSITE,
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ME AND MY
OPPONENT.
OPPONENT. >> SHE ALSO RELIED ON HER NOTES
IN MAKING A STILTED NON-APOLOGY
FOR THE PUBLIC HANGING COMMENT.
>> YOU KNOW, FOR ANYONE THAT WAS
OFFENDED FOR MY -- BY MY
COMMENTS, I CERTAINLY APOLOGIZE.
THERE WAS NO ILL WILL, NO INTENT
WHATSOEVER IN MY STATEMENTS.
>> MIKE ESPY, THE DEMOCRAT, AN
AFRICAN-AMERICAN, SAID THE
DAMAGE HAD BEEN DONE.
>> I DON’T KNOW WHAT’S IN YOUR
HEART, BUT WE ALL KNOW WHAT CAME
OUT OF YOUR MOUTH AND IT WENT
VIRAL, YOU KNOW, WITHIN THE
FIRST THREE MINUTES AROUND THE
WORLD.
WORLD. SO IT’S CAUSED OUR STATE HARM.
IT’S GIVEN OUR STATE ANOTHER
BLACK EYE THAT WE DON’T NEED.
IT’S JUST REJUVENATED THE OLD
STEREO TYPES THAT WE DON’T NEED
ANYMORE.
ANYMORE. >> JOINING ME NOW, JACKSON FREE
PRESS REPORTER, ASHTON PITMAN,
AND DEREK JOHNSON WHO PREVIOUSLY
LED THE NAACP MISSISSIPPI STATE
CONFERENCE.
CONFERENCE. LET ME START WITH YOU, ASHTON.
WHAT -- GIVE ME SOME BACKGROUND
ON HOW THIS DEBATE CAME ABOUT
AND HOW THE HYDE-SMITH PEOPLE
NEGOTIATED FOR IT.
>> SO FOR MONTHS, BOTH MIKE ESPY
AND CHRIS McDANIEL WHO WAS A
REPUBLICAN OPPONENT BEFORE THE
NOVEMBER 6th GENERAL HAD BEEN
ASKING HER FOR A DEBATE.
SHE REPEATEDLY REFUSED.
FIRST SHE SAID THAT SHE DIDN’T
WANT A DEBATE BECAUSE -- OR SHE
COULDN’T DEBATE BECAUSE OF HER
SENATE SCHEDULE.
SENATE SCHEDULE. BUT THEN WHEN THE SENATE WENT ON
RECESS SHE SAID, WELL, ACTUALLY
SHE DIDN’T WANT A DEBATE BECAUSE
SHE THOUGHT McDANIEL’S
SUPPORTERS MIGHT COME AND BE
RUDE AND BOO HER IF IT HAD A
LIVE AUDIENCE.
LIVE AUDIENCE. SO THE DAY AFTER -- THE DAY
AFTER THE NOVEMBER 6th ELECTION,
SHE APPARENTLY SPOKE WITH FARM
BUREAU AND BY THURSDAY MORNING
SHE HAD PUT OUT A PRESS RELEASE
SAYING SHE HAD AGREED TO THIS
DEBATE.
DEBATE. AND WHEN I CALLED THE MIKE ESPY
CAMPAIGN THAT MORNING AFTER THE
PRESS RELEASE.
PRESS RELEASE. THEY HAD NOT EVEN SEEN THE RULES
OF THE DEBATE OR SEEN THE TERMS.
THEY HADN’T ACCEPTED IT BUT SHE
ACCEPTED IT IMMEDIATELY.
I’M ASSUMING, YOU KNOW, SHE MUST
HAVE ALREADY TALKED TO THEM
ABOUT WHAT THOSE TERMS WOULD BE.
BUT THE ESPY CAMPAIGN DID NOT
EVEN KNOW THE TERMS AT THE TIME
SHE ACCEPTED.
SHE ACCEPTED. >> DEREK, TALK A LITTLE BIT
ABOUT HOW YOU’RE VIEWING THIS,
HYDE-SMITH’S RACE WHICH SHOULD
BE A WALK FOR HER GIVEN THE
CONSERVATIVE VOTING HABITS OF
THAT STATE.
THAT STATE. >> WELL, HER ACTIONS, HER
STATEMENT IS CONSISTENT WITH THE
RACIALIZED POLITICAL NATURE OF
MISSISSIPPI.
MISSISSIPPI. IF YOU USE RACE, RELIGION OR
REGION, YOU CAN GET VOTERS TO
VOTE AGAINST THEIR INTERESTS.
OF THE STATEMENTS SHE MADE, HER
POSING FOR PICTURES WITH
CONFEDERATE ARTIFACTS ON, THE
NATURE BY WHICH SHE HAD THE
CONVERSATION DEALING WITH VOTER
SUPPRESSION IS A TRUE INDICATOR
OF HER CHARACTER, BUT NOT
UNUSUAL FOR MISSISSIPPI.
UNFORTUNATELY RACE IS A TOOL
THAT’S OFTENTIMES WEAPONIZED TO
TURN OUT A VERY CONSERVATIVE
BASE.
BASE. >> YEAH, LET ME FOLLOW UP ON
THAT.
THAT. THERE’S A LOT OF PEOPLE WATCHING
THIS SAYING IS THIS HURTING HER?
THERE’S AN INTERNAL POLL THAT
GOT LEAKED.
GOT LEAKED. DO YOU THINK THE KIND OF
CAMPAIGN SHE’S RUN AND THE
MISSTEPS SHE’S HAD, THE THINGS
SHE’S SAID, DO THOSE HURT HER
POLITICALLY IN MISSISSIPPI BASED
ON YOUR EXPERIENCE?
>> NATIONALLY IT MAY HURT HER,
BUT THE VOTERS SHE’S CATERING
TO, IT MAY BE MORE APPEALING,
MAY BE ENERGIZING.
THE THIRD CANDIDATE IS CHRIS
McDANIEL.
McDANIEL. HE’S A TEA PARTIER.
THOSE INDIVIDUALS SUPPORT THIS
TYPE OF POLITICS.
AS A RESULT OF THAT THIS IS A
WAY TO APPEAL TO THAT BASE, TO
GET THEM TO MOVE OVER TO SUPPORT
HER CANDIDACY, WHICH COULD BE
ENOUGH TO PUT HER OVER THE TOP.
>> ASHTON, AS I WAS WATCHING THE
SENATOR LAST NIGHT, THE FIRST
EXTENDED BIT I’VE SEEN OF HER
REALLY, I THOUGHT TO MYSELF THIS
IS A UNITED STATES SENATOR HOW
EXACTLY DID SHE END UP HERE?
WHAT IS THE BACK STORY OF HOW
SHE ENDED UP BEING THE U.S.
SENATOR?
SENATOR? >> WELL, FIRST OF ALL I WILL SAY
I HAVE TALKED TO McDANIEL
SUPPORTERS WHO ACTUALLY AFTER
THOSE VIDEOS WERE ACTUALLY EVEN
MORE UPSET WHO SAID ORIGINALLY
THEY WERE GOING TO VOTE FOR HER
AFTER NOVEMBER 6th, BUT THEN
THEY DECIDED THEY COULDN’T DO IT
AFTER THOSE VIDEOS CAME OUT.
THERE ARE SOME WHO WERE TURNED
AWAY BECAUSE OF THAT.
>> THAT’S INTERESTING.
>> AS FAR AS HOW SHE CAME TO
THIS, WHEN SENATOR COCHRAN
STEPPED DOWN GOVERNOR BRIAN
APPOINTED HER.
APPOINTED HER. SHE SERVED AS THE COMMISSIONER
OF AGRICULTURE AND COMMERCE IN
THE STATE.
THE STATE. GOVERNOR BRIAN APPOINTED HER.
A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE UPSET BY
THAT.
THAT. SHE WAS FORCED UPON THEM.
THERE’S A LOT OF PEOPLE IN THE
REPUBLICAN PARTY WHO FEEL THAT
WAY.
WAY. SOME PEOPLE CONSIDER IT MITCH
McCONNELL’S DOING.
McCONNELL’S DOING. THERE’S A LOT OF ANGER ABOUT
THAT.
THAT. >> THAT’S INTERESTING, DERRICK,
LOOK A DEMOCRAT WINNING THE RACE
IN MISSISSIPPI IS A LONG SHOT, A
BLACK MAN FRANKLY BEING ELECTED
U.S. SENATE FROM MISSISSIPPI HAS
NOT HAPPENED SINCE
RECONSTRUCTION.
RECONSTRUCTION. BUT THERE DOES SEEM LIKE THERE
IS A LITTLE BIT OF A POLITICAL
OPENING HERE.
OPENING HERE. WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF IT?
>> IT’S NOT SUCH A LONG SHOT IN
MISSISSIPPI.
MISSISSIPPI. MISSISSIPPI HAS THE HIGHEST
PERCENTAGE PER CAPITA OF
AFRICAN-AMERICANS THAN ANY OTHER
STATE.
STATE. WE HAD A DEMOCRATIC BODY STATE
ELECTED FIELD UP UNTIL 2003.
IN FACT, CINDY HYDE-SMITH WAS A
DEMOCRAT.
DEMOCRAT. SHE SWITCHED PARTIES WHEN SHE
WAS A STATE SENATOR.
SHE RAN FOR STATE AG AS A
REPUBLICAN, AND SHE WAS
APPOINTED TO THIS POSITION.
BUT IT’S NOT A LONG SHOT FOR AN
AFRICAN-AMERICAN TO WIN
STATEWIDE.
STATEWIDE. IT’S NOT A LONG SHOT FOR
DEMOCRATS TO WIN STATEWIDE.
IT IS TRULY AN INVESTMENT IN THE
STATE’S INFRASTRUCTURE.
STATE’S INFRASTRUCTURE. THERE ARE MANY MORE PEOPLE WHO
ARE SEEKING A MUCH MORE
PROGRESSIVE OUTLOOK ON HOW
GOVERNANCE SHOULD TAKE PLACE.
THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI REFUSES
TO ACCEPT AFFORDABLE CARE ACT
FUNDS, AND IT’S CAUSED MAJOR
PROBLEMS ACROSS THE STATE IN
TERMS OF CLOSING OF RURAL
HOSPITALS.
HOSPITALS. YOU HAVE A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO ARE
NOW MORE ANGRY ABOUT WHAT’S
TAKING PLACE BECAUSE THERE HAVE
BEEN SO MANY PROBLEMS THAT HAVE