♪♪♪ >> Stephen: HEY, EVERYBODY,
WE'RE BACK WITH SENATOR CORY BOOKER.
WE WERE TOGETHER, I THINK, IN JUNE OF 2020, AND ON THAT NIGHT
TWO THINGS T HAD JUST HAPPENED.
I BELIEVE THAT THE -- IN LAFAYETTE SQUARE, NOW "BLACK
LIVES MATTER" PLAZA, TRUMP HAD SENT OUT FEDERAL MILITARY
TROOPS, FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT TROOPS TO PEPPER SPRAY, TO GAS,
TO RUBBER BULLET PEACEFUL PROTESTERS SO HE COULD HAVE HIS
BIBLE-HOLDING MOMENT, AND I BELIEVE THAT WAS THE SAME NIGHT
THAT RAND PAUL PREVENTED THE PASSING OF THE ANTI-LYNCHING
LEGISLATION IN THE SENATE.
YOU WERE A LITTLE UPSET THAT NIGHT.
HOW DO YOU FEEL WHEN YOU SEE THE LACK OF PREPAREDNESS BY SECURITY
FORCES ON THE DAY OF THE PRESIDENT'S RALLY COMPARED TO
HOW THE "BLACK LIVES MATTER" PROTESTORS WERE TREATED ON THAT
DAY AND ON MANY DAYS IN MANY CITIES?
>> I MEAN, IT'S THE HURTFUL HYPOCRISY THAT THERE ARE MANY IN
THIS COUNTRY WHO KNOW VERY WELL THE DIFFERENT TREATMENT THAT IS
GIVEN TO DIFFERENT GROUPS IN OUR NATION, AND I KNOW THIS FROM
GOING TO UNIVERSITIES LIKE STANFORD AND YALE AND WATCHING A
DRUG CULTURE THAT EXISTS IN MOST COLLEGES WITH LITTLE TO NO
ACCOUNTABILITY, AND I WATCH WHAT HAPPENS IN THE COMMUNITY I LIVE
IN NOW.
WE HAVE TWO DIFFERENT JUSTICE SYSTEMS, WE HAVE TWO DIFFERENT
LEVELS OF TREATMENT AND, SO, YEA, IT HURTS AND IT, FRANKLY
ENRAGES ME.
AND AGAIN, WHAT MAKES ME MORE WORRIED IS NOT -- IS NOT SIMPLY
THAT THIS EXISTS, BUT THAT SO MANY PEOPLE ARE COMFORTABLE WITH
THIS.
IT DOESN'T DISTURB THEM AT THE CORE OF THEIR BEING THAT THEY
KNOW THAT MY JUSTICE AND YOUR JUSTICE ARE INTERWOVEN,
INTERCONNECTED, AND, THEREFORE, IF YOU ARE FACING THIS KIND OF
HYPOCRISY THAT BEARS UPON HOW YOU PROTEST OR HOW YOU DRIVE
YOUR CAR OR WHAT HAVE YOU, THEN I HAVE AN OBLIGATION, YOU AS MY
BROTHER OR SISTER, I HAVE AN OBLIGATION TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT
IT.
AND WE'RE FAILING IN THIS COUNTRY, AND IT'S A POVERTY OF
EMPATHY TO ALL WHO JOIN TOGETHER IN COMMON CAUSE TO DEAL WITH
WHAT I BELIEVE IS THIS PERSISTENT DISLOCATION THAT
EXISTS WITHIN CRIMINAL JUSTICE, ONE LAW ENFORCEMENT, WITHIN OUR
SOCIETY.
>> Stephen: BEFORE WE GO, I HAVE ONE COMPLETELY UNRELATED
QUESTION TO ANYTHING WE'VE TALKED ABOUT SO FAR, BUT IT IS
AN ENTERTAINMENT SHOW, AND I KNOW, BESIDES BEING A SENATOR,
YOU ARE A HUGE NERD.
( LAUGHTER ) I ALREADY KNEW THAT YOU WERE
DATING ROUGH CZARO DAWSON -- ROW ROSARIO DAWSON.
WHAT IS IT LIKE DATING HER?
>> I DON'T CALL HER A DROPOUT TO HER FACE BECAUSE SHE ACTUALLY
TRAINS IN MARTIAL ARTS NOW.
>> Stephen: SURE.
IT IS PRETTY EXTRAORDINARY.
WE ALL ARE INCREDIBLY BLESSED, AND THAT IS ONE OF MY BLESSINGS,
AND, YOU KNOW, I PRAY ON THIS MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY THAT WE
ALL CAN BE ONE IN THE FORCE, SO TO SPEAK, AND, GOD WILLING, MAY
THAT FORCE BE ONE OF LOVE FOR ALL OF US.
>> STEPHEN: SENATOR CORY BOOKER, EVERYBODY!
WE'LL BE RIGHT BACK WITH A PERFORMANCE BY "INFINITY SONG."
♪♪♪