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First of All with Victor Blackwell

"Sesame Street" Legend Reacts To Purge Of DEI Initiatives; Venezuelan Trump Supporters Fight To Preserve Policy; States Fight Back With Thousands Of Federal Workers In Limbo; "Sesame Street" Legend Reacts To Pressure On PBS Over DEI; Man Pleads Guilty In Shooting Of U.S. Teen Ralph Yarl; Missouri Sues Starbucks Over Its Diversity Programs; Military Cuts Recruiting Efforts At Black Engineering Event. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired February 15, 2025 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: And their mission statement that I found online, we'll share that with you. Sesame street legend Maria, actress Sonia Manzano will be here to react. Also, I speak with a lawmaker in a city with a large Venezuelan population who Trump supported or supported Trump, I should say, for president. Now they're asking the president to reconsider a recent decision impacting thousands of migrants.

AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR: A lot going on. We'll be watching.

BLACKWELL: Thank you very much. Let's start the show.

Well, first of all, the White House might want to know what these federal workers do before they fire them. The Trump administration fired workers from the agency that oversees America's nuclear weapons. One person told CNN no one asked what they did. Across the government, thousands of now former federal workers are waking up without jobs. And while this is going on, there has been some frustration that Democrats in Congress have been slow to respond. But now states have entered the chat and one leaders there is Elon Musk, they're going after. They say that his job, his role is a constitutional threat. New Mexico is leading 13 other states in the federal lawsuit.

And the state's attorney general, Raul Torrez, he argues that empowering an unelected billionaire to access Americans' private data/funding for federal student aid, stop payments to American farmers, and dismantle protections for working families is not a sign of President Trump's strength, but his weakness. New Mexico is also where we're seeing the first member of the Biden administration officially jump back into campaigning.

Deb Haaland served as interior secretary. She was the first Native American to serve in a president's cabinet. She's now running to be governor of her home state.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) DEB HAALAND, (D) NEW MEXICO GOV. CANDIDATE: New Mexico is rich in

tradition and spirit, rich in natural resources. So why can't our families pay our bills? Crime, poverty, homelessness, addiction, they will keep pulling us down if we do the same things and expect a different result. Every single New Mexican has a role to play in our future.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: If elected, she would be the first Native American woman to be elected governor in the United States. And she'd lead a state that could be impacted massively from cuts proposed so far.

Here to talk about that and her campaign is former Interior Secretary Deb Haaland. She's joining us from Las Vegas where she's receiving an award from the National Native American Law Students Association.

Congratulations on your award. Thank you for being with me.

HAALAND: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: So let -- I want to talk about your campaign in just a moment, but let me start here. More than 2,200 of the federal workers yesterday who were fired were from the Interior Department, which you led just a little more than a month ago. What's your assessment of these cuts so far?

HAALAND: Right. Thank you so much for having me, Victor. And of course, as you mentioned, at the top, these people do important jobs, that's why they're there. I mean, we do everything. Everything happens at the Department of the Interior, from managing our public lands to funding scientific research to making sure that children in tribal communities have good schools to go to. These are jobs that are important to the future of our country. And it's so, you know, since Trump has been in office, he has just caused a tremendous amount of chaos in my state of New Mexico and certainly across the country.

Chaos and cruelty are what have defined his administration thus far. And yes, I think it's going to be, you know, people are struggling. They're going to struggle more under this president.

BLACKWELL: So let's talk about your candidacy for New Mexico governor. Start off the top. Why are you running?

HAALAND: Thank you so much for that question. And of course, as I mentioned, people are struggling. It's tough out there to make ends meet. And I know what that feels like. I struggled myself, raised my kid as a single mom. You know, you don't know whether you can pay groceries and, or buy groceries and pay rent in the same month. And currently, the folks in Washington, namely the White House, they don't understand New Mexico. They don't understand people like us.

And so I feel very confident that my leadership that I've gained over the years has given me the experience necessary to lead this state, to lead my state of New Mexico, to make sure that we can have a brighter future. So, you know, as secretary of the Interior, I led a workforce of nearly 70,000 people. And so I understand what that is like too. And I'm ready to put my leadership skills to work for every New Mexican. And if folks want to learn more about my campaign, they can go to debhaaland.com .

[08:05:30]

BLACKWELL: All right, so you're a Democrat and you say that New Mexicans are struggling with crime and poverty and addiction and times are hard, struggling to make ends meet. You're a Democrat. So is the now two-term governor of New Mexico. So are both chambers of the state House. So is every member of the United States Congress representing New Mexico. So are both senators from New Mexico.

So if they are struggling, and we're only three and a half weeks into a Republican presidency, the Democrat Joe Biden was in obviously before. Aren't they struggling under Democratic leadership?

HAALAND: Thank you for the question. And I mean, look, when our governor was sworn into office, you know, a few months later, we had this really terrible pandemic. I think that a lot of states across the country are still reeling from that time. And we know who was in office when that started.

And so I feel very strongly that we are, you know, we're working to move things forward and I want to keep doing that good work. Under, you know, in New Mexico, our governor raised the pay of teachers, right? Working on ensuring that our schools have what they need to give children every opportunity.

BLACKWELL: Madam Secretary.

HAALAND: So I will continue on that trajectory.

BLACKWELL: I understand that in your ad you say that New Mexicans won't climb out if they continue to do the same thing.

HAALAND: Exactly.

BLACKWELL: So if we put party aside, let me ask you specifically, what will you do differently to help New Mexicans climb out versus what the current Democratic governor, Lujan Grisham, is doing?

HAALAND: So for starters, on my campaign, I'm in the middle of a launch tour. When I return to New Mexico later tonight, I will visit southern New Mexico. One of the things I want to do is travel the state and listen to New Mexicans. I want them to tell me what are your struggles? What are your hopes and dreams? How do you see our state moving forward to a brighter future?

BLACKWELL: So I'm not hearing a policy difference yet. Is there not a policy difference? Because I want to move beyond New Mexico, but is there any policy difference that you can point out that, you know, today you do differently than the current governor?

HAALAND: Of course. Well, what I'm trying to say is that it's hard for me to know exactly how to change policy if I'm not listening to people and how they see the future of our state. So I really want to make sure that I'm talking to folks and hearing from them directly, talking to law enforcement, making sure that folks have a voice around the table so that we can make the decisions that are necessary so that people can do better.

BLACKWELL: Is New Mexico a sanctuary state? And this is not a quiz. I'm not trying to stump you. I've just looked for it and found answer, different answers online and in policy about sanctuary status. I know Albuquerque is a sanctuary city. Las Cruces is. Santa Fe is. What should be the role of law enforcement in the state cooperating with deportation efforts by the Trump administration?

HAALAND: So I, first of all, I want in New Mexico, we want every community to feel welcome. We want every community to feel safe. There has been so much fear instilled in communities across New Mexico because of this president. And, you know, we've had federal law enforcement questioning Native American communities of their citizenship status, detaining Native folks who have lived, you know, whose families have lived there since time and memorial about their citizenship.

So there is a lot of confusion. There's a lot of fear that has been caused by President Trump with respect to this issue. And so I'm just saying that we care about our communities. Kids need to be in school. They can't be afraid to go to school. Parents need to be able to support their children by going to work. And so I think we're going to do everything we can to keep those communities safe.

[08:10:09]

BLACKWELL: Keeping communities safe. But to the specific question under Governor Haaland, will state law enforcement, if it is your druthers, and again, the Democrats run the state political infrastructure there, should state law enforcement cooperate with federal efforts for mass deportation? I mean, you're right on the border.

HAALAND: Yes. I mean, there are so much that this president is doing that is illegal. And so it's hard for me to talk to a hypothetical, but I think that what's happening is --

BLACKWELL: Well, it's not a hypothetical. The question's been answered in Albuquerque, Las Cruces, and Santa Fe. There are certainly sanctuary states across the country that the president is targeting. We know the sanctuary cities he's going after. Should New Mexico be a sanctuary state?

HAALAND: I'll tell you what happens when you have mass deportations. You end up deporting a lot of folks who shouldn't be deported. And so I think, I would do everything I could to protect the communities in my state of New Mexico.

BLACKWELL: All right. Secretary Deb Haaland, thank you so much for your time.

Hispanic voters return Trump to the White House. The Venezuelan community was a part of that big effort. But now some say they feel blindsided by the president's move to end a program that gave migrants from Venezuela temporary protection from deportation. A leader in one of the biggest Venezuelan communities in the U.S. Joins us with what his city wants from the president.

Plus, PBS is having to deal with the purge of DEI offices and initiatives. The Sesame Street icon who played Maria for decades is here to share why she's so concerned.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:16:41]

BLACKWELL: Some Venezuelans who supported candidate Donald Trump now find themselves at odds with President Donald Trump. The administration is ending temporary protected status for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans who are in the U.S. legally under the program.

Three days before the end of the Biden administration, the Homeland Security Department granted Venezuelans an extension. But a few days later, the new administration reversed that decision and has now announced that protected status is ending. 350,000 Venezuelans will be at risk for deportation in April.

Congress created the Temporary Protected status program in 1990 to prevent deportations to countries dealing with natural disasters or civil upheaval. Migrants are here legally, but they do not have a pathway to citizenship.

The announcement posted in the Federal Register says that the Secretary of Homeland Security has determined that Venezuela no longer continues to meet the conditions for the 2023 designation. But a lot of Venezuelans say that it's still not safe to send people back to their home country as long as Nicolas Maduro is in power.

40% of the people who live in Doral, Florida have Venezuelan roots. Rafael Pineyro is one of them. He's a member of the City Council in Doral.

Councilman Pineyro thank you very much for being with me. Let me start here with what this cancellation, the uncertainty means for your community.

RAFAEL PINEYRO, DORAL CITY COUNCILMAN: Well, first of all, thank you so much for the opportunity, Victor. It's a great pleasure to be with you this morning. As you mentioned, close to 40% of my community are Venezuelans.

I was born in Venezuela. I came here 26 years ago with my family for the same reasons that a lot of Venezuelans are here today, which is escaping back then from the Hugo Chavez regime, now the Maduro's regime. It is certainly a reason for me, not only I have the obligation, but certainly I feel the duty to represent my community and to tell the administration that, yes, I'm a Republican, by the way, but when things are generalized in a way that they're portraying, all Venezuelans are members of the trend that I want, I come forward and say, I'm not trained at Iowa. My family didn't come out from a mental institution.

So here I am. We passed a resolution this past Wednesday where we're urging President Trump and his administration to help us and to help our community to find a permanent status here in the country. We have good Venezuelans, professionals, good families here in our communities. And that's the reason why I decided to speak up and to represent my community here in South Florida.

BLACKWELL: And speaking of those generalizations, here's Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on revoking Venezuelans' protected status.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KRISTI NOEM, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: For 18 months, they were going to extend this protection to people that are on temporary protected status, which meant they were going to be able to stay here and violate our laws for another 18 months. And we stopped that. We are going to follow the process, evaluate all of these individuals that are in our country, including the Venezuelans that are here and members of TDA.

Listen, I was in New York City yesterday, and the people of this country want these dirtbags out.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[08:20:03]

BLACKWELL: Want these dirtbags out. Listen, the administration knows that TPS doesn't protect violent criminals. It doesn't protect drug traffickers. They can deport members of Tren De Aragua without revoking TPS. So the question is, why did they?

If they knew everything you told me about the Venezuelans in this country, why did they do it? What's your assessment? Why do you believe they did?

PINEYRO: Listen, I understand at the same time we had to restore law and order in our country. The four years of the Biden administration with open border policy was certainly a disaster. Now we're paying the consequences of that open border policy.

Now what we have to focus on is on certainly finding a way for these good people. And again, low Biden, Biden Venezuelans are in the country. And let me tell you something. When you see the migrants in Doral, for example, and you compare with the Venezuelan migrants in New York City or Chicago or other communities, we're talking about two different groups.

The Venezuelans here, they have been able to open their businesses. They work. They take their kids to school every morning, as I do, as we all do. And they have been able to find the United States as their home country now. So I understand that we have to restore law and order. Those are bad.

They have to be deported. Question that. But again, we have to find a common ground and hopefully a solution for these minutes.

BLACKWELL: Councilman, Trump national is in Doral, right? He knows the community. It's not as if this is some epiphany that there are Venezuelans who own businesses or there's a law-abiding community of Venezuelans. He knows the community.

Listen, is this a surprise though, because JD Vance said this on the campaign trail.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JD VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF USA: We're going to stop doing mass parole. We're going to stop doing mass grants of temporary protective status. Of course, you're going to have people fleeing from tyranny. But that happens on a case-by-case basis, not by waving the magic government wand and giving millions upon millions of people who don't have the right to be here legal status. It is a disgrace. And Donald Trump is going to stop it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: I mean, this was part of the campaign premise. That's the closing days of the campaign. So while you make the case that there are law-abiding Venezuelans here under TPS, they knew that and still said that you no longer fit the, it's a, that's contrary to the national interest to permit you to stay in this country.

PINEYRO: Well, and that's the part that we certainly, we disagree on. I mean, the fact that the situation in Venezuela hasn't get better. As a matter of fact, it's actually worse now.

Five days ago, when you see the latest report of political prisoners in Venezuela, we're talking about 1,200 political prisoners still in Venezuela. So when you talk about deporting Venezuelans back to a country where again, there's no difference for me between Venezuela and Cuba at this point, they're under a regime. And another reason why we have to find or work together is to remove the cost of the issue. And again, the cost of the issue is Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela. Otherwise, we wouldn't be talking about this.

So I believe that at this point, and as a matter of fact, Victor, we have people waiting for their political asylum cases to be heard for 10 years, 15 years in some occasions. So again, it's a whole immigration chaos that we have been dealing with for four years in this country. And I think it's about time to take case by case. Absolutely.

BLACKWELL: Well, the President has decided and the Secretary of Homeland Security that all Venezuelans under TPS can go. They could have continued to deport members of Tren De Aragua without revoking that status. Councilman Rafael Pineyro, thank you so much for being with me.

PINEYRO: Thank you for the opportunity, certainly.

BLACKWELL: Certainly. So this next story brought to you by the letter D. The Trump administration's crusade against diversity programs is impacting everything from the Department of Education to now PBS.

Sonia Manzano, who we all grew up watching as Maria on Sesame Street, says she is concerned. And she joins us next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:29:00]

BLACKWELL: We've been committed to covering the DEI purge that's been escalating for more than a year now, and it's happening seemingly everywhere. But this latest case, it really stood out to me.

PBS has shut down its diversity, equity, and inclusion office. Public Television is a private, nonprofit corporation, but it's feeling pressure from the Trump administration. And the headline made me think about how a lot of us grew up on shows which were on PBS and they prioritized diversity, different people in different parts of the country coming together.

So I went to the PBS website, actually looked up the PBS mission statement, and I'm going to read you something I found here. This is a part of the first line, as it was on their website just days before January 20th, the Inauguration Day.

"It's to educate, inspire, entertain, and express a diversity of perspectives." Today, everything on that page is the same as it was before January 20th, except one word. They replaced the word diversity. It now says a variety of perspectives. So even in that context, diversity is now such a vilified word that PBS needed to delete it from their mission statement.

One show synonymous with PBS, Sesame Street, a friend many of us grew up with was Maria. Sonia Manzano played Maria for 44 years. She won 15 Emmys as a writer for the show, also a lifetime achievement Emmy. And Sonia Manzano is with us now. Sonia, so good to have you on the show. Good morning to you.

SONIA MANZANO, PLAYED "MARIA" ON SESAME STREET: Good morning. A pleasure for me to be here.

BLACKWELL: And so what's your reaction that the word diversity, even in that context, in the mission statement? I can't tell you who did it, but it was pulled from PBS Central mission statement.

MANZANO: Well, certainly I'm dismayed and sorry that this initiative is being examined so harshly. And I'm gratified, though, that PBS is still committed to showing a variety of people on their programming, as it has been doing for 50 years, something that's very important to me. I was raised at a time where there were no people of color on television at all.

And I remember watching a lot of TV wondering where I was going to fit into a society that didn't see me because I wasn't represented. But then came "Sesame Street," and all of a sudden I was. And I know it's made a big impact on people, and I know that having a diverse group of people on "Sesame Street" has impacted many.

BLACKWELL: Also, you've created a program, "Alma's Way", which is on PBS Kids, has been on for several seasons. Let me show you something else I found. This is from the PBS Foundation. This is the fundraising arm of PBS. It's on their values page, coincidentally, next to an illustration of Alma and her family from your show. And five days before the inauguration, the values page read, at PBS, we're committed to sharing unique perspectives and insights so we can promote learning and advantage -- advance understanding. It's the core of our mission that our content reflects our audiences and our nation with respect to race, ethnicity, religion, age, gender, sexual orientation, disability status, veteran status, income, geography.

Through this work, PBS can continue to grow as a place where everyone feels welcomed, celebrated and connected. That was five days before the inauguration.

Today, race, religion, income, gender, all that's gone. They took all of that out of its values page. And so the question is it more than rhetorical? Is this changing the texture of PBS and what it does? If they feel that they have to pull that out?

MANZANO: Well, I'm sorry that they feel they have to pull it out this idea of diversity that has been a pillar of society ever since I was growing up. This notion that we should all strive for an equal society has been around before "Sesame Street," before PBS.

I remember when I was a kid in the South Bronx celebrating Brotherhood Week. And every year we had this celebration, and they would tell us about different cultures and different religions. So whether society reaches those goals or hits them left or right, or we're right on it or we're not right on it's a goal that we all have, that we've had since the 50s, that we had with President Johnson and the Great Society when the Civil Rights Movement happened. And "Sesame Street was", of course, a result of that.

So this -- I feel that these kinds of racially charged mandates are distracting to the work that we all want to do. And this is an opportunity for me, to quote the great Toni Morrison, if I may, who said, the very serious function of racism is distraction. It keeps you from doing your work. It keeps you explaining over and over again your reason for being. Somebody says you have no language, and you spend 20 years proving you do. Somebody says your head is in shape properly, so you have scientists working on the fact that it is. Somebody says you have no art, so you dredge that up. Somebody says you have no kingdom, so you dredge that up. None of this is necessary. There's always one more thing.

[08:35:02]

So I think that these mandates don't do this or make us run around saying, how am I going to respond? What does it mean? And really, it's a distraction keeping us from going out and helping somebody or going out and writing that next kid's script that you know is going touch somebody the way that Roosevelt Franklin, a little black puppet on "Sesame Street" Questlove talked about how seeing Roosevelt Franklin made him think that puppet has something to do with me.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

MANZANO: And that's, you know, that's the work and that's the joy. And apparently we will continue to do that.

BLACKWELL: Sonia Manzano, I'm so glad you joined me. Even just hearing your voice is nostalgic, no matter what we're talking about. But I'm glad you joined me for this topic. Thank you so much for being with me this morning.

MANZANO: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: So if you've been to a Starbucks recently, have you noticed that it's become more female and less white? The attorney general for Missouri claims that's the case and is now taking legal action. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:40:54]

BLACKWELL: All right, now to some stories that hit my algorithm this week that you might not have seen on TV. First up, this is a real quote, a real quote from a lawsuit Starbucks is facing in the first big legal fight over DEI in corporate America. More female and less white.

This week, Missouri's attorney general filed a suit accusing the coffee company of violating federal laws and state laws against race discrimination. The lawsuit also argues that Missouri residents have been harmed by DEI slowing down people's coffee orders.

One of the programs Republican Andrew Bailey is targeting Starbucks mentorship program connecting minority employees to senior company leaders and its goal of achieving 30 percent minority representation at all corporate levels and 40 percent of all retail manufacturing jobs by 2025.

Now Starbucks says their programs and benefits are open to everyone and lawful and that its policies are designed to ensure the strongest candidate for every job every time.

There's a big update in the case of the homeowner who shot a black teen who rang his doorbell by mistake, 86-year old Andrew Lester. He was scheduled to stand trial next week after shooting Ralph Yarl. But as part of a plea deal, Lester pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of second degree assault as opposed to first degree assault.

The new charge carries a sentence of up to seven years in prison and Lester will be sentenced on March 7th. Yarl was 16 years old when the shooting happened in April of 2023. He survived and has since graduated from high school. He was in the courtroom for the plea change yesterday.

Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski is trying to reverse a Trump executive order that changes the name of the tallest mountain in North America. Alaska natives call it Denali. It was named McKinley in support of the presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896 and the U.S. formally recognized that name in 1917.

Nearly a century later, President Obama restored the name Denali, but Trump changed it back the day he was inaugurated. Senator Murkowski wants to end the back and forth with an act of Congress.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. LISA MURKOWSKI (R-AK): When Alaskans leave our home state and boast outside to people, whether we're spinning a globe or just talking about it, we say, that's Denali. That's the great one. She's out today. So that is why today I have introduced legislation that would officially restore the federally recognized name of this quintessential mountain as Denali.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Both of Alaska senators are backing the measure, and if it passes, it will require the mountain to be referred to as Denali in any laws, maps, regulations, documents, papers or other U.S. records.

It was once a hub for recruiters to find talented engineers, but this year, annual conference attracting top students is getting snubbed by military recruiters. A founder of that conference joins us next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:48:20]

BLACKWELL: Today, in my hometown of Baltimore, a conference bringing together thousands of black engineers wraps up, become everything you are conference. Previously known as the Black Engineer of the Year Award Conference attracts top science and engineering students from high schools and colleges and professionals as well.

For years, it has been a recruiting ground for the military and defense contractors. Not this year. Organizers of the conference say those recruiters have pulled out, including from the Army, Navy, Air Force, National Guard and Space Force. Tyrone Taborn is with us. He's the founder of the conference. Tyrone, good morning to you. We've been talking about you --

TYRONE TABORN, BEYA AWARD CONFERENCE FOUNDER: Good morning to you. Thank you for having me.

BLACKWELL: Thank you for being here. We've been talking about DEI on this show and I don't want people to believe that every time recruiters meet with a group of black people is the DEI initiative. These are the best available candidates in many ways. So in your -- from your perspective, was this a DEI initiative and what's your reaction to the withdrawal from these branches? TABORN: The Becoming Everything You Are event that's sponsored by the

ABET accredited engineering -- historically black engineering colleges has been around. Now this is our 39th year. This has never been about anything about DEI. This is a scientific conference.

It is a professional development conference. It brings together not just Black students. About 40 percent of the students attending this event and professionals aren't even black.

[08:50:00]

Overall of these years, you know, this is an overreaction and it's horrible for our nation that's fighting against China and it's fighting against other powers that want to dominate in technology. Students showed up here in Baltimore with preplanned interviews, Victor, with the military, with federal agencies and they showed up here with these things predesigned. And three weeks ago every federal agency pulled out, including NASA. All of the military pulled out. Pressure was put on defense contractors. Lockheed Martin for example, stood strong. They're here. Apple is here, Google is here.

So at a time when we need the most technical talent for our military to remain strong, we've just said to an entire generation of kids, no matter how hard you work, no matter how brilliant you are, there's no place for you.

BLACKWELL: Let me read out more of the people who pulled out here.

TABORN: And I just think it's overreaction.

BLACKWELL: Let me read out more of those who pulled out here. The CIA, National Security Agency, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency, as you said, NASA from the private sector, SpaceX, Booz Allen Hamilton, Naval Nuclear Laboratory all withdrew.

Let me read this from the military.com on this decision. The same army recruiting unit that would have attended BEYA instead participated in a National Rifle Association sponsored event in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, a predominantly white gathering that recruiters acknowledge is less likely to yield high quality applicants. Your reaction to that?

TABORN: It's true. I mean and that's the signal that we don't want to send to our best and brightest scientists and engineers. Again, an overreaction. Victor, I hate to say this but I don't hate to say it, but I will say I don't think the President knew about this. I think the White House is looking at this event right now understanding it's an overreaction.

And I simply wish that the powers around really talked to people and understood that. We have now created a situation where the nation may not hire all of the engineers and scientists that they need. And they could have gotten them here at this event as they have been doing. Imagine this for 30 -- this is our 39th year. For 38 years the military has been recruiting and participating with us. And finally, just let me say this. Last night we honored the best and brightest in the military. Not one

person showed up. But yet at the NFL they did an honoring of the veterans and they were able to attend the NFL. So it's just not the National Rifles Association. But it's about why focus in on something that simply had the word black in it?

BLACKWELL: Yes, that's something that obviously we have focused on this show. And of course the underlying narrative and concern here is that the military, especially the Army Corps of Engineers, is still struggling to hit recruiting goals, and they have been for several years. Tyrone Taborn, I got to wrap it there, but I thank you for your time this morning.

Classes in session at Hillmantok University. How a social media post meant for a class of 35 got seen millions of times and sparked a digital movement.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:58:17]

BLACKWELL: If you've ever watched the Cosby Show or A Different World, you know Hillman College, the fictional school that gave the world a glimpse of life at an HBCU. It's even inspired a lot of people to attend an HBCU.

Well, now Hillman is getting a digital life as Hillmantok University. Dr. Leah Barlow is a professor at the real life HBCU North Carolina A and T. And she started a digital HBCU movement basically by accident when she posted a TikTok meant for her class.

Well, that video blew up with more than 4 million views and thousands of people following her class account. And now it has grown into a project called Hillmantak University. I spoke with Professor Barlow about its success, which also comes at a time of uncertainty for education and diversity programs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. LEAH BARLOW, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, NORTH CAROLINA A AND T: Actually went in, of course, wanting to provide accessible education to my 35 students. But to see that turn into something that is reaching so many people while my vision started off with limited to my institution, I'm glad to see that it's taken off beyond that.

Well, I think it's just a wonderful opportunity to engage our own autonomy and agency as it pertains to learning. Right. There is no stop on learning. We can all have an access, get online, share information and go from there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: There's a range of classes popping up on Hillmantak too. Professor Barlow says she's seen gardening, how to make a blanket, chemistry. One personal favorite is a cooking class called We Got Food at Home. Professor, Dr. Leah Barlow, I see you. And keep up with the show on Instagram, TikTok, X and Bluesky and you can listen to our show as a podcast. Also, remember to tune in for the season two premiere of Have I Got News for You. That's tonight at 9:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific right here on CNN.

[09:00:00]

Thank you for joining me today. I will see you back here next Saturday at 8:00 a.m. Eastern. Smerconish is up next.